Slick 60's

need help identifying a truck it is either a 77 or a 78 ford f150 it has the big single piece grill in the center but like the 78 but has the round headlight like the 77 other then that it looks like mid 70's the tag ont the door was a little faded sorry no pics yet it was dark when i saw it but going back tomorrow, also wondering if the steering column would fit into my 65 out of this truck.

The 78's had the big plastic grill that was supposed to look more big truck-like. The Custom (standard) cab has round headlights, but the fancier cabs had square headlights.

The 77's had two separate grille inserts (LH & RH), 78 & 79's had one wide insert, as ASTROWING mentioned, 78's had round HL's on low end trucks, XLT/Lariats had square HL's, all 79's had square HL's

James

hot_roder09 wrote:need help identifying a truck it is either a 77 or a 78 ford f150 it has the big single piece grill in the center but like the 78 but has the round headlight like the 77 other then that it looks like mid 70's the tag ont the door was a little faded sorry no pics yet it was dark when i saw it but going back tomorrow, also wondering if the steering column would fit into my 65 out of this truck.

78 should fit into a 65 F100. But the bigger issues are, auto tranny, 3 speed versus manual on the floor.

To keep the stock 65 wheel, you'll need to saw a bit off the end of the shaft, up under the horn cap. You'll also need to drill off the dash bracket from the 65 and attach it to the 78.. Lots of details, but doable.

Our good friends over at www.fordification.com have better FAQ on these swaps than we do, as it applies to more of their trucks (67-71). Might want to check out the pics and how-to there.

What you are contemplateing is what I did. Many others have as well.

Believe it or not but I parked next to a '78 this morning at work. It has the round head lights and is a custom cab. It has the grey plastic egg crate grill, which are for pretty big eggs; each cell is like 2" wide by 1 1/4" tall. My dad had a white '78 with the 302 and 3 speed transmission on the floor.

The steering column will not play well with an original steering wheel. The 78 got a newly redsigned column that is larger in diameter and has dual horn contacts. The wheel will still go on and I have heard of some people who cut off the extra horn contact but that leaves a single contact that does not ride in teh right spot and you can still see in around the steering wheel and see the turn signal switch so it probably wouldn't be nice to look at. 77 was the last year that has a column that is the same diameter as the early trucks. You can use the 78/9 columns, it is just that it would be easier to use a later steering wheel. Hawkrod

thanks guys appreciate the info but don't plan to use the original steering wheel going with a differnet one still wil be a ford though not aftermarket just was wondering what i would have to do to get it to mount to the dash and gearbox.