The Sixth Generation F-150

I always thought the sixth generation Ford F-150 (’73-’79) were the best looking trucks ever made. When I retired in 2017, I decided to buy one and do an off the frame restoration. This truck had always been on my bucket list. I finally found and purchased a 1978 F-150 Custom, 351M engine, 4×4, short-bed on Autotrader and was able to drive it the 400 miles home.

What makes this truck so cool is that it’s from a bygone era when pickup trucks were just basic no frills work horses. They have since morphed into the “family car” with all the bells and whistles money can buy. The 2018 Ram 2500 was the last big truck you could buy with a manual transmission. Ram’s three pedal option went away in 2019 and every other brand had already abandoned that option for their full-sized trucks long ago. Say hello to push-button and dial controls.

The truck had some circa 1980’s bling, like a chrome roll bar, running boards, grill guard, bucket seats, aftermarket gauges in the dash and a moon roof.

The first thing I needed to do was find a replacement roof, dashboard and original bench seat. I conducted an internet search an found an old 1978 F-150 Custom farm truck at a salvage yard in NC. After a phone call, several text photos of the truck, they agreed to pull the dash, bench seat and cut the roof off at the pillars and ship them to me.

To my surprise, I was unable to find a body shop that would even consider replacing the roof. Apparently, custom metal work is a lost art. Now what? I kept searching and luckily found A&M Automotive in Elma, NY. The owners, Mark and Amy, had just purchased the business and were going to specialize in restoration work. My truck was going to be A&M’s first complete restoration project. Instead of cutting the original roof off at the pillars, which would have caused problems refitting the doors and glass, A&M removed the skin and some roof supports from the salvaged roof and spot welded them onto the remains of the original roof. No one would ever know it wasn’t the original roof. The results of the body prep, paint, wet sanding and clear coat were impressive.

Not only did Mark and his crew prove themselves expert mechanics, but I’m also convinced they are magicians based on some of the problems (i.e. rust) they encountered and successfully resolved during the restoration.

None of this would have been possible without LMC Truck. I purchased too many parts to mention from LMC, including the doors, bumpers, all the dash gauges, seat restoration kit, radiator, hardware to trim molding, etc. These replacement items were all high quality and everything fit just like they were supposed to.

I look forward to showing this truck off and turning some heads this coming summer. Just the sound of this baby idling in a parking lot is enough to do that!