flyguy89

Just bought a real beauty of a 84 f150 inline 6 for a great deal. Problem is that it has some issues from sitting for so long and I have no automotive repair knowledge or experience. But I have the internet, the haynes repair manual, the original owners manual, and you guys to help me learn . It has 107,000 miles on it and looking at the title, it only had 1,000 miles put on it since 2014. From what I hear having an old vehicle like this sitting for long is actually a bad thing. Something about the rubber parts drying out and sediment ect. I had to get the fuel pump replaced almost immediately after purchasing the truck (part #E16010) when it broke down 20 miles down the road from where I purchased it haha. Shes a beauty on the outside but not so much under the hood. Oil leaks and screwy wiring being the biggest problem. The mechanic who put the fuel pump in called the wiring "mickey moused". It has an aftermarket trailer brake so it probably has something to do with that. I am planning to do an overhaul on it to do her good looks some justice and chronicle it here in this thread, and learn as I go. Hopefully this can help other people who just learning basic automotive repair with old ford trucks. First I will start out with the good, then I will get to the bad, then I will post my progress as I go. Here are some pics of her.

flyguy89

heres a link to a video of the start-up so you can see how it runs. The mechanic mentioned something about adjusting the timing because it runs a little rough.

flyguy89

As you can see theres a ton of oil buildup on the front of the engine (mostly from the cylinder cover). In some spots its 1/4" thick . It looks like it has never been cleaned. I included some pictures of the wiring that look bad and different from whats in the haynes manual.

flyguy89

So far I have started with the very basics. Got some seafoam system cleaner which I mixed with some gas in a gas can and poured in, changed the air filter because I could find it easily, got a digital multimeter which I will learn to use with some help from youtube, cleaned the engine up a bit starting with a flathead screwdriver (need a putty scraper haha) then some de-solve-it on a rag, got some overhead dome lights (912) just to find out that they do not turn off no matter what including turning the truck off and taking out the keys, tightened the bolts on the cylinder cover because they were so loose that I could turn them by hand, and opened up the radio to try and figure out why the channel dial doesn't work just to find the line that connects the dial to the electronics (some ancient technology compared to today) was broken so Imma have to just swap in a new one. Heres some pics of the goodies I picked up from the autoparts store and the engine (somewhat) cleaned

nfldfordman

Nice truck!

flyguy89

Today I am going to crawl underneath and try to clean it up with a wire brush. If you guys have any suggestions for cleaning a dirty engine I'm all ears. Theres so many nooks, crannies, hoses, and wires in the way it's a real pain in the rear end. I know if I disconnected some things in the way it would make life easier but I am not too confident that I wont mess something up when I replace it before I research it haha. Problem is I am still trying to figure out the engine's anatomy. So far my list of need-to-do's consists of:

*Figure out why the dash occasionally doesnt work on start up and when I *accidentally kill it (turn signals, heat, ect)
*Replace the front 2 tires (small craks from dry rot?)
*Replace as many gaskets as I can manage, especially the valve cover
*get the fuel gauge operational
*Get the second fuel tank to work
*replace the cracked gas pedal
*replace the radio
*figure out why the overhead dome light wont turn off
*get the stupid windshield wiper dial to go back on (don't know why this has proven so difficult)
*Replace the fuel filter as soon as I can figure out where it is
*replace a million other things I dont yet know where or how to do

If theres any other things I need to replace on a vehicle 33 years old with most of it's original parts and sat in a garage for years please let me know. I will try and follow the Haynes manual as much as I can and overhaul it as far as I can on my own.

Polar Bear F150

The bullet on the shifter is really cool! That alone probably makes whatever you paid worth it!. Good luck with the project and I'll be watching your progress with interest. Like the fact that you're willing to jump in with both feet and go for it.

flyguy89

Thanks Polar Bear, I too really like the shifter . Got the overhead dome light working right, turns out that the drivers side door wasn't quite latching because of some tape on the spindle thingy the door latches to. Also scrapped a ton of old oil debris off yesterday. I think my next step besides more cleaning will be to figure out the multimeter I got and try and tackle some of the electrical issues. Heres a pic of what Iv'e scrapped off and my invoice of what my mechanic recommends for the power to fuel pump. Still trying to wrap my head around the it.