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Just bought my first Ford. Camper Special Question.
Hi Guys. I just bought my first Ford yesterday afternoon. It's a 1973 F250 Camper Special. It currently has a camper on it and I was wondering how difficult those things are to remove. I don't think it's a factory camper on it, but don't want to damage my truck trying to take the camper off incorrectly. Also, how difficult will finding a tailgate be?
A picture would help a lot. "Camper" can be anything from a plastic cap to a 12' overhead. Either way, it shouldn't be difficult if you are careful. The biggest job will be getting rid of the camper. Assuming you don't want to restore it and keep it, you might want to remove it at the landfill.
There is no such thing as a Ford factory camper, so it is definitely add-on.
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A picture would help a lot. "Camper" can be anything from a plastic cap to a 12' overhead. Either way, it shouldn't be difficult if you are careful. The biggest job will be getting rid of the camper. Assuming you don't want to restore it and keep it, you might want to remove it at the landfill.
There is no such thing as a Ford factory camper.
Since you only live a coupla miles away, waltz on over. I'll show you factory photos and parts catalog pics of both types of Ford campers (shell and overhead) and the Ford M Series Motor Homes.
Ford offered these 1973/76, and if the camper has compass point emblems on its sides, it is gen-u-ine Ford.
The fibreglass shells were usually tu-toned. And...if it is a genuine Ford camper, it's worth something as 1973/79 owners want one, but...few find them.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WGP1973 Welcome to FTE & the SoCal Chapter.
1973/79 F100/350 Stylesides use the same tailgate. Tailgates can be hard to find, as they are easily stolen on trucks of this vintage and are plagued with rust issues and/or damage.
I'll call a pal of mine who owns a large truck dismantlers yard on Alameda (he has none), and have him run it on the wrecking yard parts locator hot line.
If you need anything else, I'm not that far from RPV...where I'm getting a Basset Hound puppy from a breeder in a coupla weeks.
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Bill // Retired Ford Parts Manager // SoCal Chapter member // Part Number Research: 1928/2001 FoMoCo vehicles.
You are probably the only one left in Southern California who knows that!
Do you have any idea of their popularity, i.e. sales numbers?
Pop
Rural Ford Dealers had asked Ford to provide the two types of campers (edit: shell and overhead, so someone won't confuse these with a truck model ), as there were no RV dealers in their areas, so Ford introduced them in 1973.
Neither sold worth a hoot, because most of the dealers that bought them were rural.
The dealers couldn't compete with the prices RV dealers sold their units for (as usual Ford overpriced the campers), so 1976 was the last year, but some dealers were stuck with them well into the 1980's.
Why Ford even bothered with their M Series Motor Homes, I dunno. I've seen exactly one, and another showed up here on FTE recently.
Dunno how many camper shells, overhead campers and the M Series were sold. The info is prolly available from martiauto.com as Marti has all the original FoMoCo data that pertains to 1967/79 FoMoCo vehicles.
In the late 1980's, FoMoCo was planning to THROW AWAY all the '67/79 info. Kevin Marti, a Mustang 'nut' in Phoenix AZ found out about FoMoCo's plan and got ALL of it.
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Bill // Retired Ford Parts Manager // SoCal Chapter member // Part Number Research: 1928/2001 FoMoCo vehicles.
My advice: take it slow, keep it as level as possible, don't do it alone the first time, and make sure you have a clear escape path in case things go south. I dropped mine into the neighbor's hedge. Minimal damage to the camper but it took all day to jack it back level and onto blocks. Good luck!
Thanks for all of the info guys I'll post some pictures tonight. A friend of mine suggested I buy an aftermarket reproduction tailgate. I'm leery of this because of the quality of steel used to produce these things.
Im new to the 73/79 era but my parents owned a 78 F150 4x2 with a camper special, though the camper was removed. So Id have to argue the 73/76 timeline.
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There are no codes within the VIN or stamped on the Warranty Plate that define a Camper Special.
The only way to tell if a truck is a real Camper Special...or not, is by the taillamp harness.
The taillamp harness on Camper Specials has an extra feed wire/plug. This was used for the pigtailed wire/plug Ford provided for all Camper Specials to be used for camper lights.
Just because a truck has a camper shell or overhead or frame mounted camper, does not mean it's a Camper Special.
Prolly 90% of these trucks with some sort of camper mounted on them were not Camper Specials.
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Bill // Retired Ford Parts Manager // SoCal Chapter member // Part Number Research: 1928/2001 FoMoCo vehicles.
does it have a floor in it? If not just lift it by hand from inside and walk it back and out onto saw horses like ya would a topper as that is about all that is.
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-Marv- one of 
), as there were no RV dealers in their areas, so Ford introduced them in 1973.
