Papa Smurf
 

So a 13.5 hour drive to from Golden, CO to Casper Wyoming and back to Golden during a crazy snow storm makes me the new owner of a 1977 ford turd.

I'm nicknaming him Papa Smurf...

It's my new DD/project. Major plans I currently have for this truck is to do a 4wd conversion with 1 ton running gear suspension front and rear. (Dana 60 front, sterling in the rear). When I do the swap I'll lift it for 35's. Also, work on the interior, it's pretty nice inside but still have plenty of interior projects, including adding factory A/C.

Re: Papa Smurf
 

That thing looks super clean!!"thumbsup"

Re: Papa Smurf
 

Yea besides some minor dents and some surface rust it's in great shape and it's mostly factory parts. Here's an interior picture

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/3D...=w1024-h576-no



I've got some rust remover and por15 coming in the mail next week. So I'm gonna start addressing the surface rust before it turns bad. And I just got plates for it so I can start working on getting it in good driving condition. Right now I know it needs rear tires, some brake work, and I'm sure more will pop up once I start driving it.

Re: Papa Smurf
 

Love that era of truck. Just missed out on a 77 regular cab 4x4 460 high boy with the divorced tcase.

Re: Papa Smurf
 

It's gonna have dents dings and rust, IT'S ALMOST 40!

Wish my 73 was that clean

Re: Papa Smurf
 

Very true. I've been watching the craigslist for 3 months waiting for a short bed to pop up in good shape for less than $5k. This was the first one I found.

I really wish the truck I bought had 4 wheel drive, But at least I already have a kp d60 and sterling axles laying in my driveway for the swap :twisted:

Ugh, I have too many damn projects and not enough time or money todo them.

Re: Papa Smurf
 

Been there and done that before, I can share a bit of hard earned wisdom with you: focus on one project at a time. :mrgreen:

Re: Papa Smurf
 

Just got some new shoes for the truck. It had 95% tread BFG KO's up front and bald tires in the rear. Turned out KO's are now special order tires and while cheaper than KO2's they had a pricey shipping fee :sad:. So I replaced the bald rear tires with KO2's and am going to deal with mis-matched tires for now. Fortunately, I like the KO2's better.

I'm going to go down to a shop tomorrow and probably get the brake lines flushed out and bled. Hopefully that'll get my brakes working better. It doesn't quite feel like there's air in the lines but pumping up the brakes helps stopping power. I popped open the master cylinder and the fluid is a very nasty brown so I bet there's a bunch of water in the fluid that is compressing (vs air).

I've never been very good at bleeding brakes so I'll let people who do it for a living give it shot. Sears said they'll do the brake flush/bleed for $40, well worth it in my mind instead of having to roll around on a dirt driveway and fighting with bleeder valves.

Re: Papa Smurf
 

I'm almost 40 too, and I think that truck is in better shape than I am:shock::ror:

Re: Papa Smurf
 

Right there with ya:lmao:

Re: Papa Smurf
 

OH BOY!!! I think I found the goal. (And yes I know this is a photochopped picture)

Re: Papa Smurf
 

Lots of custom fabwork there! Get to Work!

Re: Papa Smurf
 

Unfortunately, that's the easy part.

I need to come up with a massive wad of money before I get started. And probably finish my jeep I've been letting sit in the driveway under a tarp because I'm too lazy to put a serious effort into working outside on a dirt driveway next to a window where the neighbors kid takes a nap all the time.

But there's plenty of other little things I can do to it.

Re: Papa Smurf
 

Found something that's real and kinda similiar. I could of sworn I've seen more old fords bajaized but I can't really find anything. Anyone know where to look? Or of anyone selling parts (fenders, etc)

http://i591.photobucket.com/albums/s...rewCabFord.jpg

Re: Papa Smurf
 

He's coming along slowly. I got the carpet out, changed the oil, and got some tunes working over the weekend.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ta...=w1215-h911-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/gF...=w1215-h911-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/5w...A=w684-h911-no


Yes, I know that the amp and subs aren't fixtured in any way. This is a temporary experiment. Now that I know the old kraco radio can make some halfway decent sound I'm going to get some new speakers for the doors and ditch the subs. Eventually I'll do front and rear speakers, maybe a sub. But that requires more effort than I want to put into the sound system at the moment.

I have some rust remover/resolver I'm going to use to try and kill as much of the rust as possible. Then coat the entire floor with POR 15. Once all that is done and I have a couple hundred to spend, I'm going to buy sound and heat insulation for the floor and put in new carpet. I also have a rear bench seat to replace the jump seats that came with it.

Re: Papa Smurf
 

There a couple bump side ford Baja builds on pirate in the desert section.

Re: Papa Smurf
 

Damn that's a solid cab! You'd NEVER find one it that kind of original condition around here. "thumbsup"

Re: Papa Smurf
 

Pretty hard to find "rust" free trucks up here too. People keep telling me I'm crazy for spending 4 grand on a 77 2 wheel drive f150. But the truck is rust free, runs great, drives great, and a very rare body. Extended cab short beds are pretty hard to find (this is the first and only one i've only seen this old), and the guy I bought it from says having front and rear fuel tank flaps is pretty rare too. And its the sexy two tone paint.

It has cruise control too, I can hear stuff clicking when I turn it on, but it doesn't maintain speed. So I need to somehow simulate going faster than 35 mph so I can diagnose what's wrong with it.

Now I just wish my powerstroke would sell so I can dump a ton of money into this truck. I'd really like to go to fuel injection and hopefully get my 5.8mpg at least above 8mpg, I hope for double digits. I've drove trucks with 460's before and got between 8-12 mpg. So I don't know why this one is so thirsty, might need to get a transfer tank in the bed.

Re: Papa Smurf
 

Unless the speedometer cable goes into the cruise box all that needed to simulate 35 mph is to bump the idle up. Most of the older systems set the speed via vacuum readings.

Re: Papa Smurf
 

It's ran off the speed cable. There is a speed sensor on the fender well. The speedo cable from the tranny connects to one side then a cable connects to the other side that then goes to the speedometer.