Newbie Searching For My Forever Bullnose!

[MichelleB]

Hi everyone, my name is Michelle! I love cars and trucks! I have loved vehicles since I was 5 years old, now 33. My husband taught me how to work on them and I have worked with him at an automotive restoration shop for 3 years! I have many classic cars and recently my husband got a 1991 Chevy Silverado extended cab and it reminded me of how much I love trucks and miss them! I am a Ford truck kind of girl! I love them all, but have had a lot of good memories with Ford trucks! My first truck was a 1966 Ford truck with a 3 on the tree, which I got when I was 15 or 16. That was the first time I drove a 3 on the tree! My dad taught me and I killed it a million times on the farm! I remember how much laughing we did and how he kept telling me to start it back up and keep driving! We started working on it together, but sadly he lost interest and sold it. My dad had a 1978 Ford truck that I loved riding in too! He was going to give me that truck, but he blew the tranny, and he parked it in the woods, where I beleive it still is! So, some happy and some sad memories, but I decided that now the Ford truck I would get will be a bullnose! I don't have any memories with that era and will enjoy making many! I want to get one that is a good runner, but needs a few small things. I want either a 300 or 351, 2wd,  and 4 speed manual. I keep looking and hope to find my bully hopefully for Christmas or sooner! I want to put a big red bow on it! I hope to make many friends on here and learn all about these trucks! I mainly know about GM and a little about Mopars, hence I added a few of them to our collection! So, now Ford will be a new one for me to learn! 😊

[Gary Lewis]

Welcome, Michelle!  

I'll bet the folks on here will point out several trucks that appear to meet your requirements.  But you should share with them where home is and how far you'd be willing to travel for the right truck.

I think you'll find that the best selection is in the Pacific North West, but there are surely others to be considered.

[MichelleB]

Thanks! I hope so! I have been searching a lot for one! I live 65 miles south of Chicago. I have come to discover that all the bullnoses live in Missouri, Southern Indiana, and Kentucky! Haha! I really don't want to drive any farther than 3 hours of Wilmington, Illinois. I want to be able to drive it back home, but there would be exceptions and I could have it arranged to be trailered. It doesn't have to be pretty and mint! I just care about it be dependable, not a ton of rust but some isn't bad, 2wd, 4 speed manual, and either 300 or 351. I don't want to pay anymore than $2,000. I have seen some really nice trucks for $1,500-$2,000, sadly they were too far away! I need to be Fording down the road asap! Haha! I hope to learn a bunch on here too! Once I get one, I surely will be posting all about it and asking so many questions!!! I will be cleaning it all up and upgrading it right off the bat! 😊

[Rembrant]

Welcome aboard Michelle. Nice to see you joined up.

So, now we know the specs of what you're looking for.

What is the intended use for this truck? Work truck or farm truck? Cruiser? Daily driver with basic pickup duties?

[grumpin]

Welcome!

I have some family back your way. LaSalle Peru area.

[MichelleB]

Hi! Thank you! First off I love your Blue Mule!!! I already looked up your rims! If I get a truck with rims I don't like, I am getting those! My truck will be mostly for cruising and occasionally light duty use in the bed. Once I get my truck, I have friends with open trailers and want to learn how to pull a trailer. I may need to pull a few of my classics around sometimes and it would be nice to learn how to do that! I will drive it often too! It will be driven in winter too, but first thing I wil. Do is start rust proofing it and making it nice! 😊

[MichelleB]

Hi, thank you! Oh wow that's cool! I grew up in Plainfiled, lived in Minnesota for 7 years with my parents, and moved back to Illinois and have lived in Wilmington now for 12 years! 😊

[844rd]

Welcome Michelle!!

[Rembrant]

MichelleB wrote

Hi! Thank you! First off I love your Blue Mule!!! I already looked up your rims! If I get a truck with rims I don't like, I am getting those!

Well, I'd have to say that black rims are an acquired taste...lol. People either love them or hate them. The one big advantage they do have is that they're cheap...lol. I'm more or less indifferent...my old Blue Mule was supposed to be a project on a budget, and I just did not want to buy expensive (shiny) rims to put on a truck with blotchy faded and ugly paint. I think after I get it painted and prettied up, I will likely put some chrome or aluminum wheels on it.

So, I see your preferred Bullnose engines are the 300/6, or the 351...

No love for the 302???...

As the owner of a Bullnose with a 302, I'm well aware of the general consensus that the 302 was an awful engine for our heavy trucks. I personally think it gets a bit of a bad rap, and for a 2wd pickup should be perfectly fine for basic pickup truck duties. In any case, I just wanted to say that I wouldn't avoid buying an otherwise good truck just because it had a 302 in it.

5.0 Lives Matter!!

Good luck with the truck hunt Michelle! We'll be watching along.

[1986F150Six]

Welcome to the forum, Michelle! I, personally, am partial to the300/4.9L engine and look forward to reading what you and your husband come up with!

[Gary Lewis]

David - How about telling Michelle what your experiences have been with axle ratios on your truck as well as Daniel's?

That's because there were a wide range of axle ratios used with the 300 six during these years.  Seemingly much more so than with the 351's.  And, it makes a huge difference in the way the truck drives.

[1986F150Six]

<quote author="Gary Lewis">
David - How about telling Michelle what your experiences have been with axle ratios on your truck as well as Daniel's?/quote>

My son's 1984 F150 [4.9L] was originally equipped with 2.47 rear gears and the 4 speed manual OD transmission. It was a model set up by Ford for good gas mileage [and was]. While it was indeed capable of returning excellent gas mileage, it was a "dog' when it came to acceleration. At idle speed, it was going ~8 mph! On the highway, if you even saw a hill coming up, it was best to downshift to 3rd.

Years ago, the rear gears were changed to 3.55. The truck gave up about 3-4 mpg on the highway, but was much more pleasant to drive, especially around town.

My 1986 with 4.9L came with 3.08 rear gears and 4 speed manual O.D. transmission. It is basically stock with standard sized tires and does quite well regarding driving feel and fuel consumption.

If your "dream" truck has the 9" rear differential, I think 3.25 gears would be ideal. If 8.8" rear differential, I recommend the 3.08 ratio.

All of the above is based on standard sized tires being used.

Have fun!
 

[Gary Lewis]

Michelle - Here are some of my thoughts regarding what you should be looking for.

First, why exclude the 302 (5.0L)?  As you can see here (Engines/Windsor Series) when the 302 got EFI in '85 the power levels jumped up significantly.  (Click on the 302 tab, then the Specifications tab, and scroll all the way to the bottom to the 1986 spec's.)  At that point the numbers were better than the 351W 2V and not that much less than the 351W 4V, aka HO.

Second, you said "351", but you didn't say 351W or 351M.  And there's a big difference.  I'm a huge fan of the 335 Series engines, which includes the 351M and the 400.  But as you can see by what I say in the writeup, the stock 351M was wimpy.  They can built to have more power, but to really get good power out of them you need to slip a 400 crank in, at which point you have a 400.  But, that will be an expensive project.  (Been there, done that.)

So if you want a 351 I'd recommend you look for a 351W, which had more power in stock form than the 351M.  And that means looking at 1982 and later trucks, assuming it isn't a California truck, in which case the W came out in 1981.  (You can see the engine availability on the Engine & Driveline tab here: Year To Year Differences.)

Then there's the transmission.  For the 300 and the 302 there were actually two different 4-speed units.  One, the NP235, is an HD tranny and has a granny low and a 1:1 4th.  You won't need 1st except to start a heavy trailer or creep around slowly, so you'll drive it as a 3-speed.  And depending on your usage and the rear axle ratio you may find that 4th isn't tall enough for good economy on the highway.

But there was also a 4-speed with OD.  It isn't an HD tranny so wasn't put behind the 351W's, but was used with the 300 and 302.  David/1986F150Six has that one in his truck and it seems to work well and returns good MPG on the highway.  But, it might not be what you want if you do plan to tow a trailer with another vehicle on it.

As for a tranny behind the 351, whether W or M, it will be a 4-speed w/a granny 1st and 1:1 4th.  Some were T18's and some were NP235's, but it doesn't really matter as the ratios are comparable and both are good transmissions.

Having said that, if you decide you like everything but have to have an overdrive gear, a ZF5 swap isn't all that difficult, and it'll give you a nice OD for highway cruising.  But a used one will cost about $500 and it may have issues and they are expensive to have rebuilt.  I paid $500 for mine and then spent another $1000 for the rebuild.  They are good transmissions, but it is hard to justify the expense in gas savings.  However, the truck is also sooooo much quieter on the highway with the engine turning about 25% fewer RPM's.

[MichelleB]

Thank you! 😊

[MichelleB]

Haha! No I like the 302!!!! My husband said either get the bullet proof 6 or the 351 because you can't be cubic inches. If I find a truck I love with a 302 I will still get it! We have worked on a few Mustangs and they either had the 289 or 302 and they are awesome!

I really do like those black rims! What size did you get? I already have tires I like saved for a truck I don't have yet! Haha!

I can't wait to get one so I can share it with everyone and get to know all about it! 😊

[MichelleB]

Thanks for the info on the axles! I am not one for juyst looking at the pretty things on a vehicle! I truly look at dependability, functionality, engine sizes, trans differences, and gearing!

What is the difference between an F150, F250, and F350?

I have seen some nice F250's I am considering too! 😊

[MichelleB]

Oh wow, thank you for all of the info! I definitely will be running stock tires or as close to it and will NOT be lifting!

I will keep all these gears in mind! Will see what I end up buying and hope to make the ultimate truck! I want good gas mileage, decent power, better gearing, and a 4 speed manual to be upgraded to a 5 speed down the road! 😊

[Gary Lewis]

I'm not sure if the question about wheels/rims was to me or not.  But I don't think it was.

As for the differences between the trucks, there are a number of differences.  One is in the frame.  Go to the 1983 Light Truck Facts Book, click on Axles, Frames, & Suspensions tab and scroll down to the frames.  There you'll see that  F100's and F150's shared a frame, F250's had a bit heavier frame, and then the F250HD and the F350 shared a frame.

So basically three levels of frame strength.  And other things followed, like axles, springs, brakes, and wheels/tires.

[Rembrant]

MichelleB wrote

I really do like those black rims! What size did you get?

They're Cragar Soft 8's in black, 15x8 with 5x5.5 bolt pattern. Tires are Cooper Cobras 275/60-15. I think the whole works came from Jegs...or maybe Summit. I purposely went old school on this truck...I wanted 15" rims with 60 series tires. I know the style these days is much more towards larger rims and lower profile tires, but it's not really my thing, and the roads around here are really unkind to those set-ups. I've been building this truck as a driver...expecting at least a little bit of comfort out of it...lol.

It's interesting to see that you're such a big fan of the Bullnose trucks. I'm quite fond of them and always have been. I really like the styling of them.

The guys on here are REALLY helpful with info AND in assisting with locating difficult to find and obsolete parts. It's really neat, because there is a specialist on here for every aspect of the model, from electronics to interiors, paint, engines...all of it.

Gary has done a great job of getting everybody together here.

[Gary Lewis]

Rembrant wrote

Gary has done a great job of getting everybody together here.

Thanks, but I've not done much but set up the site and invite people.  Y'all are the ones that deserve the compliment.  You've pitched in to help each other in a remarkable way, and the tone of the conversations is as friend to friend - not adversarial or holier-than-thou.

Anyway, glad you figured out to whom the question was asked.