Pleasant ride in an original 1984 F150!

[1986F150Six]

Yesterday, my son drove us to church in his truck. I bought this truck from the original owner in 1999 and gave it to my son when he entered the Army in 2005.

The engine is a 4.9L with 4 speed manual and 3.55 rear gears.

This truck now has 261K miles with zero internal engine work. The feedback system is still functional. It was about 35F; he depressed the accelerator 1 time and it started immediately. The tachometer showed about 1300 RPMs until he "blipped" the throttle prior to engaging reverse, when the engine speed decreased to ~1100 RPMs. As we left our house, the engine torqued up the hill with no strain. Within approximately 1/2 mile, the idle was ~750 RPMs.

Gear changes were made with no noise or difficulty and this is the original transmission.

I have watched the truck being started and there is no smoke or clatter. Following him, I have never observed any smoke even when decelerating.

He changes oil every 5K miles using Rotella T5 10W-30 and a Motorcraft FL-1A oil filter.

It was a nice drive spending time with my son!

[kramttocs]

[grumpin]

That is cool!

[Gary Lewis]

That's special, David!  Must be a good, good feeling.  

[Rembrant]

David,

This is great stuff, thanks for sharing! It sure is a nice feeling when all of that original stuff is still working well. There's a lot of pride in that. Stuff doesn't stay in good condition and in good working order by accident.

[Ford F834]

This is a wonderful post David! It’s hard to put a price on the value of enjoying a vintage vehicle, and impossible to to put a price on sharing that moment with your son. I am envious of how well everything still works! That is very impressive indeed... especially given that it’s the feedback carburetor system. He should be proud!

[Machspeed]

He's had that truck for 15 years, he obviously cherishes it and must really like it. I suspect, part of that is because you gave it to him. That, my friend, is pretty special!