Bought a 73 F100 4x4

[whiskeydents]

Picked this up a week ago, drove to SoCal with a trailer to get it. 1973 F100 4x4 with a 360 and a 4 speed. First year of the “dent sides”. My dad had a 77 SWB 4x4 with a 4 speed which ended up getting parted out when I was in high school. My sister and I always gave my dad crap for letting it go and knew I wanted one similar when I got the chance.

Anyways, it’s mostly original other than some old body work on the driver side bedside. Guy I bought it from had a marti report done and it’s 1 of 8 for that model year. That’s due to its paint and trim code.

High pinion Dana 44, 4 wheel power drum brakes, no AC, power steering, limited slip 9 inch, single speed Dana 21/23 transfer case, and its in pretty good shape.

I know it’s a GM site but figured most wouldn’t mind seeing an old truck. Notice in the first picture the K25 hiding in the back waiting for me to paint it.

Morgan

 

[Shorty81]

Nice truck!! I've had my share of the 73-79 Fords. I'm a Chevy guy, but have to admit they were pretty cool trucks.

 

[Jawzjeep]

I love dentsides, sweet truck!

I have a 76 F250 in my driveway that my grandfather bought new. Im a very proud 3rd generation to drive it, and one of my boys will be the 4th.

Had Cope Bros build the 360 into a 390 with a nice cam back in the 80's. (Man, that makes me feel old)

I rebuilt the 390 about 5 years ago because I downshifted too hard or something and broke the gear off of the bottom of my distributor which made it instantly run like poo poo. Head gasket had some issues because my old man decided to try to change out only one head gasket while leaving the other side attached and just pulling up on the intake hard with a come along. So it was time to tear it apart anyway.

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Good luck with your new toy! I get a lot of Thumbs Up in mine and you will too.

I completely understand the sentimental aspect of your story there. My most prized possession is a 62 Dodge Power Wagon that was my old man's. He had a Power Wagon that he had to sell because of a growing family. In my neighborhood there was an old man who had one sitting in his carport for years and my dad would drive by it looking at it longingly. Finally when I was about 10 years old I said to go ask the guy if he would sell it and to my dad's surprise a deal was struck. I learned to drive, 4 wheel and hunt in that truck. So many memories!

Thanks for sharing! Old trucks are the best.

 

[whiskeydents]

Been busy with this thing since I bought it.

Rebuilt the 9 inch with new bearings, trac loc, seals, rear brakes etc. rebuilt the front end with new bushings, leveling springs, shocks all around, brake lines, and still waiting to pull the front hubs and press new drums and do the bearings and brakes.

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The truck got a tune up with new spark plugs, wires, Petronix module(wired a relay to give it 12 volts)

Then the original 2 barrel started to stick at around 1500 rpm. I found out the throttle shaft bushings were so sloppy that they were leaking vacuum and allowing the blades to hit the bores. So I bought a used Edelbrock 390 Streetmaster intake on eBay, and rebuilt an old Edelbrock 1406 that I had laying around.

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Truck got a new aluminum radiator and fan shroud at the same time along with a rebuilt power steering pump.

I then started to tackle the small amount of rust that was present in the floor boards on both sides.

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[whiskeydents]

Pics cont…

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[89Suburban]

Nice work saving the old girl, thanks for sharing.

 

[whiskeydents]

Been working on the 73

Rebuilt the steering system with a Ruffstuff specialties 1 ton steering kit I had to remove the power assist due to the pressure valve blowing up and replacement parts being fairly expensive so for now it’s manual steering.

I added a spartan locker in the front, new bearings and seals, new axle u joints, new drums and brake shoes, and hubs. I’ve had it apart 3 times chasing a leaking axle seal, of course the old one wasn’t leaking.

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I also refurbished a set of 90s Bronco springs with F250 overloads to level the back. New bushings and shackles. One thing I ran into was the center pin location on the later model springs were 1 inch further back than stock. So I drilled the spring plates and factory lift blocks to move the axle back to its original position

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I also scored a vintage Gem Top steel camper shell for it

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Right now, the truck is running and driving great but the motor is tired. I’ll probably be pulling it here in the next few months and either have it rebuilt to a 390/410 or swap in a 302/351w.

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[Normmus]

Very nice! Here's a couple Fords I used to own.

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[mlsceo]

Nice! I had a Camper Special for a while. Two tone red and white with the 460, deluxe interior, and every available option. We called it the torque monster, hellacious burnouts.

 

[legopnuematic]

That camper shell is the icing on the cake. Sweet rig.

 

[TotalyHucked]

Very cool truck! I've always liked both the bumpside and dentside Fords

 

[mcarlo86]

I’d stick with the FE blocks and build a 390…way better torque than a 302 or 351W.

 

[squaredeal91]

Your 73 is so cool, Cant help but tell another story.
I know how you feel whiskey. I myself am die hard GM but have a soft spot for 68-78 ferds. Drove friends 73 f-100 allot in early driving days. Always wanted to replicate my Grandpa's 68 f-250 cs with 360. Truck was nice inside and out but the Thing ran on 7 cylinders (#7ded) and blew smoke rings everywhere we went and was always on its last legs he said for years. When i was little i cut my fingers all up on the peeling chrome around the inside door handle lol. Lots of Good times and memories in that thing.
Oh and stick with the 360! There really good, you can probably trick it to thinking it's a 390 anyways.

 

[1STLS1]