1984 F250 supercab opportunity

[Paulco]

All

Looking for thoughts and advice, understanding it's very open question.

I currently drive a 1982 F150 Shortbed 302 4X4 automatic with 160K and lots of rust on the fenders and door post and some small leaks from various places. Have an opportunity to purchase a 90K 1984 F250 supercab 4x4 lariat manual with 460 engine.

The truck has had one owner, doesn't have any major rust (most is on the roof) the bonnet (Hood) has lots of paint worn off but no rust, has underseal underneath, interior is very clean. The price is 12K.

Test drove it and its was very smooth, anyone have any thoughts on moving from a 302 shortbed to a 250 super cab?

Will there be a massive MPG difference?
Is a 19 foot truck a nightmare on the roads compare to 16.5 foot shortbed?
Is 12K overpriced?
Are 460's more difficult to pass and emissions test?

Again I understand these are very open questions, just looking for thoughts.

Thanks
Paul

[Nothing Special]

My thoughts:

"major rust" on the roof would be a major red flag for me.  Rust on the roof will let moisture into the cab which will lead to all sorts of other problems.  If that's what this truck has the $12K seems way high to me (but what do I know).  If it's just light surface rust that could be another thing altogether.  But in the salt belt where I live there's no such thing as light surface rust, so I'm always skeptical when someone says that's all a truck has.

What kind of mileage do you get with the 302?  I'd hope it'd be at least 15 mpg, but I don't have direct experience.  The 460 will get 10 mpg if it's tuned up and running well.

A 19 foot truck is a dream to drive.  But you're the one will determine if it's a good dream or a nightmare!  I drive a crew cab short box (19~20 feet long) and I don't think it's a problem.  But it is a little hard to get in and out of parking spots.

No experience trying to pass emissions, but I wouldn't think it's be any harder.  Usually specs are in ppm.  A 460 puts out a lot more millions, but the ppm shouldn't be a lot worse.

[Paulco]

Thanks, yes I should have added it is very light rust from chips, the door gutters had minor surface rust as well.

I get 11-12 MPG from my current truck.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Long time F-250, 460 owner here....

The F250 should easily pass emissions if the AIR pumps are working.
The 250 460 was built to skirt the emissions rules for having a catalytic converter. (anything over 8,500# is a "heavy duty vehicle" and most 250's are 8,600)
You should see this reflected on the emissions compliance/vacuum routing sticker.

Expect 10.
Almost every 460 I've ever known gets 10.
Doesn't matter gearing, load, hills, city, highway, whatever..... 10mpg.

Gary claims 12 highway, but he has SEFI, a Zf 5 speed overdrive gearbox and drives on cruise control like the grandfather he is!

Man, with low miles, a D50 up front and no rusted out undercarriage that truck is a very good deal IMHO.

[viven44]

Now I need to really install that 650 AVS. On the Edelbrock 1411s, 8 is THE number for me.... more like 7 on the Bronco. But I also probably have a lead foot and value the smiles per gallon, smiles my 302 couldn't deliver

[ArdWrknTrk]

You think I EVER give my truck a break?  

ETA: I can't imagine your Bronco getting 7 when my truck has 4.10's and weighs 6,700 lbs.
I have to be going 100 mph to get it down to 7, and the proof is right here on the forum....

[viven44]

Well, I haven’t had a clean disciplined check to be honest. I’ve tried to measure it about twice now. Both times about 50 miles of driving and ended up filling about 8 gallons of gas….. but I also did about 30 minutes of idling to do diagnostics on ac system or power steering or just going around in Laps making adjustments to vacuum modulator…. How many miles is about 30 minutes of idling worth ?

[ArdWrknTrk]

That's way to short a distance, and undisciplined for me to measure.

But I know it's exactly 100 miles from my old house to the Fisher's Island ferry dock, and early morning, to get in line for the 5AM work boat I could make it in an hour flat (average, so this includes surface streets to and from the interstate)

Daytona is 1,100 miles -close- depending on the exact route.
I was usually dragging a 28' trailer full of motorcycles, tool boxes, EZ-Up pit canopies, etc...
Maybe 16 hrs if I timed my departure to avoid both NYC & DC traffic.
JAX was an outlier, and I never really knew what I would hit when I got to FL.

My Sister in Swarthmore was about 2.5-3 hrs depending on traffic, but I would often traverse the entire length of the New Jersey turnpike at close to 100mph (average) and could make it the 170ish miles in close to 2 hrs if I really had to.

The very worse I've ever seen was back in the '90's when we were buried in 30+" of snow, and then it kept coming.
I was about the only one of our 'friends' group both crazy enough and with a vehicle that could just storm through it.
The truck was constantly in 4wd, and spent a lot of time idling because it was freaking bitter cold.
I shuttled many people from and to work, collected prescriptions etc... for nearly three days.
I think THAT was 6 mpg, and believe me I went through a lot of gas.  🙄
They were clearing the roads with payloaders...  

I know 7.
I also know a whole lot of 10.

ETA: When your fuel gauges don't work, but you know you'll get 185-190 miles from a full tank, resetting the tripmeter at the pump.
I've done this for decades..

[Gary Lewis]

I can get 12 MPG, but not on cruise.  I have to feed it "by foot" and do it gingerly to get 12.  On cruise it'll turn in 11+ consistently if I drive 65 - 67 MPH and if the wind isn't hitting us head-on.

[viven44]

Okay this is probably Dallas suburban thinking but I was only quoting city mpg, not highway … my wife’s charger with the 5.7 Hemi gets about 14-15 doing school, grocery pickup but a solid 29-30mpg on highway… but the 29-30 is probably about 5% of the time so we don’t even think about it … when we are in Arkansas visiting family we are always traveling in the wide expanses of the country… and we can’t seem to get less than 25mpg … so I am probably quoting worst case figures on the 460.. speaking of the 302 … the bronco that i drove got only 10mpg and one time my co-worked asked me while going to lunch “you said it has a V8?”

With mpg difference that small 8 vs 10.. I would any day go for that extra torque … I know people in the suburbs probably look at those mpg figures primarily in a vehicle purchase but I think Car guys like us look at serviceability, provenness, torque, how easily can I remove that oil pan ?

[ArdWrknTrk]

And I already said "City, highway, doesn't matter...... 10 mpg"

I am speaking English clearly, no?

Edit: 10 is a 25% improvement over 8.
I don't know anybody else who would say 25% is not significant

[viven44]

I will need to do a highway run to validate what “works for me”. I trust you Jim, but I will need to verify it for myself  if what you are saying is correct (I hope it isn’t because I messed up my mpg calculation methodology) I should be getting only 7mpg highway.

But I need a better city figure as I have not been disciplined.. so for the OPs benefit I wanted to provide my worst case figures on the 460 at about 7-8mpg and 302 at about 10mpg

[ArdWrknTrk]

I'm saying that I could never get 7 "in town" and I either have to be going 100 or I have to be locked in 4wd, charging through snow banks and leaving the truck running nearly 24/7 to keep it warm in order to get down that far.

I've got no idea how a Bronco can get worse #'s than my 250 when I beat it mercilessly from every traffic light.  🤷‍♂️

[viven44]

All 3 trucks Big Red, Big Blue 2WD, 78 Bronco... about 7-8mpg for me with my "mpg methodology". I must be doing something wrong. (Big Red ran a new Holley 4160.)

[ArdWrknTrk]

Maybe you should find a 4180?
They are tuned about as lean as you can possibly go and still be a strong driving truck.

[viven44]

I have like 3 stock/original 4180s that I pulled from various trucks with 351W/460s.. all of them are very used and in need of a rebuild. All of them were running super rich and the plugs were fouled badly.... I dont know enough about them to know why they were running rich

[ArdWrknTrk]

Probably blown powervalve's.
The only other thing it could be is the floats are sunk or the needles full of garbage making them overflow.

They take a very specific rebuild kit.
Edit: 3-1346

https://www.amazon.com/HOLLEY-CARBURETOR-RENEW-REBUILD-CARBURETORS/dp/B07YZVR6DM

[CRittaler]

my $0.02.

Have a look at my project thread to see what the roof rust can entail.  I paid $1500 for my F250 supercab long box 460/zf-5 swap and had to work on it a ton to get to road worthy.

I admit my AVS2 is not perfectly tuned and my canopy is missing the front-top window so I get between 7-9 MPG currently.  I commute 30 miles each way to work and it's consistently in heavy traffic (yay I-5)

[Paulco]

Thanks

The rust on the roof is just surface rust.

Actually you made me feel better knowing that other folks use old trucks as daily drivers doing 25 plus miles a day each way.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Paul, if you have any rust on the roof pay special attention to the caulk in the rain gutters and seam continuing to the windows front and rear.
When water starts to get in there it will travel down the A&B pillars ending up in the kick or cab corners.