Possibly buying 79 F150

[mcampau]

Im looking into buying a 79 4x4 F150 2 door extended cab tomorrow morning. From what the current owner has told me it has the 400m with a manual trans. The current owner thinks it needs a new clutch and some of the floor sections in the rear of the cab are getting a little "crusty". Is there anything else specific that goes really bad with these trucks to keep a look out for? Mechanical issues are no big deal to me but I like to keep floor pan replacement and inside corner rust repair to a minimum. Thanks for any help or thoughts.

 

[73F100Shortbed]

Truck looks decent from the pictures. Check to see if the cab mounts are rusted out where the cab bolts to the frame. I would see if you hear any weird noises when it runs. Let it run until it warms up and definitely test drive it if you can. Keep in mind that you are buying an old truck so expect to have issues, but I would check the same stuff as if you were going to buy any used vehicle regardless of age. I would say the biggest thing would be looking for excessive rust since they are all prone to it. Make sure the frame is solid.

 

[mcampau]

Buying older cars is nothing new to me, I've been driving and restoring 60's and 70's cars for about 15 years now. I'm just not aware of any of the common or hidden issues on these F150's. Bad cab/bed mounts are fairly common I take it? Im not terribly worried about the 400m being that good since Im planning on replacing it with a mildly built 460. Thank you for the response.

 

[73F100Shortbed]

Yes the cab mounts are common as well as rust over the wheels on the bed sides. Those are the most common issues I know of. From the pictures it looks like a nice start for a project.

 

[m78]

Post your vin #. Lets see what ya got.!

 

[LEB Ben]

Above the drip rails is a bad place for rust to start as well. Typically, I like bringing a magnet and sticking it on the body periodically to make sure no bondo is covering up rust (if it sticks you're good and probably only used to smooth, if not, too much bondo for me). Alot of owners don't like that, and a knock with a good ear will tell you the same thing.

 

[DNFXDLI]

Not a 400M...just 400 ...and you can wake that puppy up easily without an engine swap!

 

[Austin]

Supercab is a Supercab is a Supercab! Buy that sucker!

 

[rjphillips]

Looks pretty nice for the year. At least the 460 bolts up to the same trans the 400 had. Like the extended cab.