Hello all, this is my first post here. I've been loosely on the trail of this particular truck for a few years now. I just brought her home a week ago, bought from the original owner's son.



From what I gather, she was originally built in San Jose, bought in LA, and spent some time in the Imperial Valley. Everything is in pretty good working order, the 223 sounds great, brakes are strong, everything that's supposed to move does, and things that aren't supposed to move don't.
I'll be doing an "updated restoration" with her, just things to make the truck safe, reliable, and useful. Since I took these pics I've had some nice tires put on, changed the air filter & plugs, and ran a bottle of Lucas fuel cleaner through just for fun. I'll change the oil probably tomorrow once I get my hands on the filter.
I also removed the spare tire mount off the front and stripped the peeling paint off the chrome grille.





My 2 year old son is crazy about this truck!

 

Wow, That is one really nice fridge! You are fortunate to find one that is not only so original, but in good working order. Keep up the pics as you progress along. Cheers, and welcome to the official home of the fridge truck...... GB

 

Thanks!
And pardon me, could you tell me what you guys mean when you refer to "fridge" trucks here?

 

Think of a refridgerator from the 50's or early 60's. Square in shape, but rounded on the corners. Some of us call them a fridge because it's a good place to store our beer out in the shop, but once we finally get them licensed and on the road, that isn't such a good idea........

 

I figured as much.. makes me like it even more.
Cheers!

 

Great looking '59 indeed. Gotta love that paint, be a huge shame if you ever painted that. To many guys kill all the history of old trucks by making them too glossy.

I've got a 1960 in the same colors – the yellow and white on the dash is hard to beat for my money... especially with a little patina like you have. Well done.

 

Oh yeah also, it's hard to deny the facebook page for these late fifties F100s... It really is a huge group now, growing really rapidly.

Check it out:

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Nick.

 

Wouldn't dream of it. Even the black paint on the hood has grown on me; the original owner put that on to knock down on sun glare. He was a naval aviator and got the idea from aircraft. Adds to the history of the truck.

However, I may likely paint the inside of the bed since it's taking a beating. I'll just continue to add to the history there. :-)

 

What a beauty. Hard to find unmolested originals any more. Congratulations! Have Fun!

 

Beautiful truck. All you really need to do is keep it running! Perfect! Your family looks pretty happy with it! That is worth a lot.

Welcome to FTE!

 

You should get a copy of the copy before last of 'vintage truck' magazine. It's a bi monthly. Nice article about a yellow/white '59 long bed 1/2 ton fridge. Looks like your clone. I think it should be feb-mar or mar-april.

 

Sweet truck! Welcome to FTE!

 

Thanks guys. I'll check around for that mag.
I'll also post up some pics of the truck once we finish up the stake sides I'm building for it. It's looking pretty good.

 

Kool! We LOVE 59's...