jgalley

Hey all, I've been on this forum before for my 89 F150, but I recently went out and got myself a cheap 4x4 project woods truck! It's an 85 with the straight 6 paired with the T18 tranny and a solid frame, but the body is rough to say the least. Picked her up for $300, and comes with most everything to get it started (supposedly it runs..) but I'll have to put the engine back together before I can find out for myself. It seems to be missing an alternator bracket that's tough to find, and the wiring is a mess, but the truck itself seems solid. Any advice and suggestions appreciated! I will be posting pictures eventually but I haven't got any right now unfortunately.

Steve83

My advise is: don't waste time putting a carb engine in it. Buy a good used complete 4.9L with all emissions, wiring, brackets, & accessories, and drop it in as a unit. That's what I did to my '83 Bronco ~20 years ago, and the engine is still running ~800Kmi later (in its 3rd chassis now) without a rebuild or any major repairs. Click my signature link & browse the albums for more info.

jgalley

Well supposedly the engine that's in there already runs, it's just got to be put back together. If it just won't run I might go down that road but it comes with all the good stuff to put it back together as a carbed engine

Steve83

There is nothing good about a carb; most-especially the 1bbl on the 300ci.

jgalley

Yeah the carb is definitely going to lack power compared to EFI but it's cheap and easy to work on which is nice, I don't want this truck to cost me too much money. I'm trying to slap this thing together as cheap as possible seeing as its already rough around the edges

jgalley

My '89 f150 on the other hand has got the big six in it too, so if this 85 ends up not working out I might take the 4x4 components and save them for a swap on my 89.

jgalley

Project Update! Both good news and bad news. First, though, here's a picture of the truck:


Like I said, body's rough, some through rust, but luckily the frame seems to be okay.

On to the news! Good news: the truck cranks when I jump the starter solenoid, but there's some open circuit from the ignition switch - working on that after I get the engine to fire.

Which leads to the bad news: there's no spark. I tested the ignition coil and ignition relay on my truck, and the coil was good. Relay was bad so I swapped it out. Still no spark. Traced some wires and found an open circuit, spliced it back together, still no spark. Using my manual's wiring diagram I see the negative terminal on the ignition coil goes to the starter relay, I think the problem is somewhere in there. I need to pick up a multimeter to be sure, but I took some pictures for reference.


The green wire leads to the ICM, and that's all. It's suposed to go to the tachometer but I saw it was broken. Gonna fix that eventually.
The circled wire is supposed to go to the throttle actuator (which I can't find, help would be appreciated) as well as the starter relay. It was broken, so I spliced it to what I THOUGHT was the right wire, but still no spark, so it may be the wrong wire. In order to test continuity, I want to be sure I test from this terminal to the right terminal on the starter relay, which one should it go to? I assumed the terminal that is attached to the positive battery post, but the wiring diagram is done weirdly.


Is that the right terminal to check for continuity? Thanks in advance for the help! Any other ideas as to why it may not be getting spark to the Ignition coil?

Bonus pictures:

'89 F150 - my daily driver!

And here's my '91 Ranger which was another $300 project, which is going to be my daily driver from now on when I fly back down to Florida for school. I'll be leaving my F150 home in Kansas to keep a truck everywhere I need . In the back is my buddy's '88 ranger, which he's driving while his '86 ranger is in the shop for a 302 swap. Both in fantastic condition.

jgalley

If anyone is interested in how this is coming along, the wiring has been fixed, for the most part. Still need to trace a couple wires for the electric choke and feedback solenoid on the carb. Any advice on finding those wires? In addition, the brakes have been rebuilt, and most brake lines replaced with fresh hard lines. I welded some exhaust together and am going to put that together when I drill out a sheared stud from the exhaust manifold flange. Alternator and Starter were replaced, new belts, new starter solenoid, and new fuel pump and fuel line. Am building a metal brake to shape out some sheet metal for rust patches, and will weld those on at a later date, and bought a paint sprayer to give it a fresh coat once that's done! Any suggestions on the paint scheme?

And last but not least, here's some actually decent photos of the truck!

Steve83

'80-82 grill
'87-96 bed (what's left of it) & rear bumper
'94-96 t/g

I wouldn't waste any time patching that crap. I'd pull the fenders, doors, & bed off, and replace them before any patching or painting. And I'd be on the lookout for a better '80-86 cab...

jgalley

By the sound of it you'd get a new truck entirely... I appreciate the input but your suggestions are to:

Get a new engine, get a new cab, get a new bed, get new fenders, get new doors. If only I were made of money, I'd have bought a cleaner truck to start