1977 Ford F150 – David S.
This is my 1977 Ford F-150! I purchased this truck in Topeka, Kansas eight years ago. I found this truck online and after a few phone calls with the seller, I wound up on a bus headed south with a pocket full of cash. I purchased the truck the following morning after a short test drive and a thorough look over. It checked every box for me! It’s a Ranger XLT, so it’s pretty dressed up and had a fair share of options. It’s also fairly uncommon for what it is. Being a ’77, it’s the first year of the F-150. It’s a Trailer Special, which means it received heavier duty suspension from the factory to allow it to easily tow trailers up to 6,000 pounds. A three-tone green Supercab isn’t the easiest thing to find either!
I had a truck exactly like it as my first truck right out of high school. I sold it and wound up regretting it shortly thereafter, promoting my search for another! It took three years to find this one on a farm in rural Kansas, so when I saw it, I knew I had to have it!
I drove the truck a number of years as my daily driver; even in the winter months. The 460 under the hood never left me stranded anywhere! In November of 2022, it was decided to finally do a restoration on the truck. It was fairly tired from being a farm truck in Kansas, and surely the Wisconsin winters hadn’t helped much either. The cab and bed had a fair amount of rust, as did both doors and fenders. Using a torpedo heater for heat and a borrowed welder, we began work on what would ultimately be the biggest project we have tackled to date! We both have extensive knowledge of cars, with him being a mechanic for the last 40 years and myself being an automotive body man/painter.
By the time we got done with the metal work on the truck, we replaced both front floors, both inner rockers were spliced and a portion of the rear floor was replaced. We opted to replace the bed, doors, and fenders. I chose to straighten and reuse the original hood. In late March, we brought the truck to where I work and I painted it over the course of a weekend. Over the next few weeks, we rebuilt the truck. The trim was mostly reused, after a thorough cleaning and polishing of course. The bumpers were polished and hung, and the glass was installed. We opted to add a decent amount of sound deadening to the interior, along with new carpet, a new dash pad, and a fresh headliner.
On April 24th, the truck left the shop under its own power on its maiden voyage. To date, we have logged over 5,000 miles on it so far. This winter, it will finally be parked and not driven in the snow! Next year, we plan to take a two-week long camping trip across the country, and it was an unanimous decision to take the old Ford. I couldn’t have completed this project without the help of my dad (Chris), my girlfriend (Leah), and of course LMC Truck!
