1975 F100 Ranger

[TexasTrash75]

My 75 F100 Ranger trim. Today’s “chrome trim” basically. That’s my dad with the truck.

Sponsored

 

[rang19ca]

That's a cool looking truck.

 

[2.7EcoBoost]

Love the mid-late 70's F-Series and Bronco. Found a 79' F-250 a few years ago. It was very much worth a little effort to save. Guy wouldn't even consider an offer and said it wasn't for sale. Now, it's starting rust through almost every panel. So sad.... Nice truck btw!

 

[P. A. Schilke]

My 75 F100 Ranger trim. Today’s “chrome trim” basically. That’s my dad with the truck.

Hi TT75,

I had the same exact truck in these colors...Oxford White and Parrot Orange...however a bit of a confusion. In 1975, Ford launched the F150 which makes me wonder if this in really a 1974, the last year of the F100. I certainly might be wrong as I was so young back then. Is it possible your truck was titled incorrectly by model year.? Thanks for the memories. I loved my Truck....A 300 cid strait six with a Tremec 3 speed column shift, manual...I even had the tag of the trans at the time....Inspected by Garcia...trans was from Mexico... 300 was bulletproof. I barrel Carburetor fed the motor through a log style manifold... I modified mine with a topper, added cruise control (A feature for only the V8 auto to of the line XLT). I had a clutch switch to delay cruise when the clutch pedal was depressed. I adapted the automatic clock spring and steering wheel and got the embellished Coca Bola horn pad with the cruise control switches in bedded in the horn pad. Modified the EGR system, Rejected the the carburetor. Thought about the mod to a tubular manifold with a Holly 600 cfm Holly vacuum actuated secondary, but decided to leave enough alone. I replaced the distributor with a breakless distributor with a knob on the dash to adjust the spark advance so while cruising I could ram up the spark until the motor rattled and then back off a degree or two. Fun times...

Now I just leave the vehicle stock except for minor stuff like tailgate lettering, bed power and so on....leave well enough alone.

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

 

[Mick Carlson]

Hi TT75,

I had the same exact truck in these colors...Oxford White and Parrot Orange...however a bit of a confusion. In 1975, Ford launched the F150 which makes me wonder if this in really a 1974, the last year of the F100. I certainly might be wrong as I was so young back then. Is it possible your truck was titled incorrectly by model year.? Thanks for the memories. I loved my Truck....A 300 cid strait six with a Tremec 3 speed column shift, manual...I even had the tag of the trans at the time....Inspected by Garcia...trans was from Mexico... 300 was bulletproof. I barrel Carburetor fed the motor through a log style manifold... I modified mine with a topper, added cruise control (A feature for only the V8 auto to of the line XLT). I had a clutch switch to delay cruise when the clutch pedal was depressed. I adapted the automatic clock spring and steering wheel and got the embellished Coca Bola horn pad with the cruise control switches in bedded in the horn pad. Modified the EGR system, Rejected the the carburetor. Thought about the mod to a tubular manifold with a Holly 600 cfm Holly vacuum actuated secondary, but decided to leave enough alone. I replaced the distributor with a breakless distributor with a knob on the dash to adjust the spark advance so while cruising I could ram up the spark until the motor rattled and then back off a degree or two. Fun times...

Now I just leave the vehicle stock except for minor stuff like tailgate lettering, bed power and so on....leave well enough alone.

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

Yep, a 300 straight 6 with a manual transmission is so nice... I bought a brand new ‘88 F150 with that setup for less than $9k. The ride of my new Ranger reminds me of that truck. Feels like a Ford to me. That’s one of the reasons my Ranger is so special to me.

 

[Snorebaby]

Hi TT75,

I had the same exact truck in these colors...Oxford White and Parrot Orange...however a bit of a confusion. In 1975, Ford launched the F150 which makes me wonder if this in really a 1974, the last year of the F100. I certainly might be wrong as I was so young back then. Is it possible your truck was titled incorrectly by model year.? Thanks for the memories. I loved my Truck....A 300 cid strait six with a Tremec 3 speed column shift, manual...I even had the tag of the trans at the time....Inspected by Garcia...trans was from Mexico... 300 was bulletproof. I barrel Carburetor fed the motor through a log style manifold... I modified mine with a topper, added cruise control (A feature for only the V8 auto to of the line XLT). I had a clutch switch to delay cruise when the clutch pedal was depressed. I adapted the automatic clock spring and steering wheel and got the embellished Coca Bola horn pad with the cruise control switches in bedded in the horn pad. Modified the EGR system, Rejected the the carburetor. Thought about the mod to a tubular manifold with a Holly 600 cfm Holly vacuum actuated secondary, but decided to leave enough alone. I replaced the distributor with a breakless distributor with a knob on the dash to adjust the spark advance so while cruising I could ram up the spark until the motor rattled and then back off a degree or two. Fun times...

Now I just leave the vehicle stock except for minor stuff like tailgate lettering, bed power and so on....leave well enough alone.

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

They still had them around even after that. I don't know when they discontinued them. My father had a 1977 F-100. Basic truck with no power steering, no power brakes, 3 on the tree, no radio, no A/C, no cigarette lighter, 302 V-8. I learned to drive in that truck. Kept it in the family until about 2001.

 

[TexasTrash75]

Hi TT75,

I had the same exact truck in these colors...Oxford White and Parrot Orange...however a bit of a confusion. In 1975, Ford launched the F150 which makes me wonder if this in really a 1974, the last year of the F100. I certainly might be wrong as I was so young back then. Is it possible your truck was titled incorrectly by model year.? Thanks for the memories. I loved my Truck....A 300 cid strait six with a Tremec 3 speed column shift, manual...I even had the tag of the trans at the time....Inspected by Garcia...trans was from Mexico... 300 was bulletproof. I barrel Carburetor fed the motor through a log style manifold... I modified mine with a topper, added cruise control (A feature for only the V8 auto to of the line XLT). I had a clutch switch to delay cruise when the clutch pedal was depressed. I adapted the automatic clock spring and steering wheel and got the embellished Coca Bola horn pad with the cruise control switches in bedded in the horn pad. Modified the EGR system, Rejected the the carburetor. Thought about the mod to a tubular manifold with a Holly 600 cfm Holly vacuum actuated secondary, but decided to leave enough alone. I replaced the distributor with a breakless distributor with a knob on the dash to adjust the spark advance so while cruising I could ram up the spark until the motor rattled and then back off a degree or two. Fun times...

Now I just leave the vehicle stock except for minor stuff like tailgate lettering, bed power and so on....leave well enough alone.

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

Good catch on the year. Here’s a build sheet from Ford.

 

[Deleted member 1634]

I was able to drive a 1974 F-250 for work when I was a teen (I'm relatively young, compared to most of you haha, so that was 2008). That and a 1980(?) Dodge Ram dump truck were the old vehicles us summer workers got to drive. Man that Ford was fun. 4-speed manual that was not quite connected properly, so when we naturally climbed the ski hill with it for fun, the whole transmission and gear lever were swinging away underneath smacking me in the leg. haha But really, that was the only thing wrong with it. Only have like 35,000 miles or something. No rust, which is surprising for being 34 years old in the UP of Michigan. Boy did that engine scream when going down the highway at 60 though. haha They ended up selling both the Ford and the Dodge at the end of that summer and bought a brand new 2018 F-350 dump bed to replace them both. Put them up for $500 each. One of my biggest regrets is not buying it. Would've been a cool college car. All the city kids would've gotten a kick out of it. haha

 

[Pvsaint]

I had a '75 F-100, bought new, with the 360 engine and 4 speed with 4WD. The F-150 used regular gas and the F-100 had to use unleaded. A constrictor in the fill neck had to be removed to use regular gas.

 

[FunInTheSun]

I had a '74 F100 once. It was a beater that I bought from the Shipping Department at work. I was severely strapped financially, and it was quite throughly flogged. Had the 302 and three speed automatic. The paint was in the condition you'd expect of a vehicle that was 20 years old and had never been washed, much less waxed in over 15 years. The driver's side rear fender was caved in about 8 inches, and the truck was three colors Blue, primer, and rust. The thing drove decent, but the "Twin I Beam" front suspension was worn, so I had to keep changing the front tires every 5000 miles or so, because I couldn't afford the alignment (I seem to remember the process involved bending the goddamn beam... But I might be misremembering.) It was north of $600, which for me, might as well have been a million. So I bought used tires for $10 each and kept on truckin' until the reverse gear went out on the transmission, and that was the end of that. I paid more for the registration and license plate, than I paid for the truck... LOL $75 for the truck, and $135 for the registration... Tough times. Young and stupid. LOL I'm older now, but not much smarter.

The only customization I did was washing and well, I tried to wax it once, but that was futile. I trimmed the dual exhaust tips at a 45° angle for coolness LOL... It sounded neat, anyway with the 302, but it was a real eyesore otherwise...

Sponsored