The truck was special ordered, including special color, in January, 1977. Some of the items ordered were not available until after March, 1977. The truck came into the dealership, Haberfeld Ford (Bakersfield, CA) on May 2nd, our son's second birthday. The truck was promised to our son as an inheritance. On, 27, 1996, my husband passed away and the truck was passed on to him. 

 In 1981, the original engine, a 400 V8, was replaced with a 429 V8. Since the 429/460 engine series was not available below the F250 series, there was a lot of fabrication involved in the switch. There were a couple of kits available at the time for making the exchange, but they used the same motor mounts as in the passenger cars and set the engine higher to clear the front differential. Knowing that the weight of the engine flattened the rubber mounts over time causing the engine to drop, my husband wanted to go with the heavy duty truck mounts. To accomplish this, we purchased the front half of a matching frame from a junk yard. That allowed the motor mount stands to be reconfigured for the 429 while appearing to be stock. Another hurdle in the process of making the installation look factory was the fabricating of the oil pan. The 429/460 four wheel drive truck oil pan didn't clear the differential, plus the sump was at the wrong end to work. So to make the oil pan work, it required merging the bottom of the 400 pan to an Econoline 460 pan. 

  Many other things had to be done, but in the end it was difficult to detect that the swap wasn't factory. After 45 years, it is hard for me to remember all the details. I'm hoping to find some photos  of the process.