Ive got an '72 F600 single cab flat bed on our family plantation that is in a sad, decrepit state. My brother, our caretaker (whose also a machinist), and myself want to bring it back to its HD Ford glory. Id be safe to say it hasnt been cranked over in at least 20 years. I know better than to try and get it running. The motor needs to come out for a massive overhaul. Cylinder re-bore, head job, etc. At this time it hasn't been touched at all. Im assuming all the drum bakes are frozen and possibly the axles. The tranny will likely need TLC as well. Body seems to be in decent shape and the frame should be "OK". This truck has lived its life in South Carolina for the most part and still remains there.

The Plan:
- Restore its functionality
- Fix up the interior
- Strip the flat bed entirely of its rotted wood
- Rebuild bed using new wood with benches running from cab to end of bed that face each other. High powered sound system built into benches ((4) 8" Marine grade coaxial JL speakers & (4) 10" JL Subwoofers) along with coolers built inside of hinged bench seats.
- Sand inboard metal & frame of the truck and paint gloss black
- Sand & paint OEM wheels gloss black
- Sand and paint cab in OEM Ford dark green fleck with tan Oaks Plantation logos on the doors.
- Attach skeet thrower on the left or right corner at the end of the bed.

Things I'd really like to know (im not near the truck atm so I cant check):
- What motor came with these trucks? Is it cheaper to rebuild OEM or is there a simple drop in crate motor option?
- What tranny(s) are in them?
- Is it a 24v or 12v system?
- Parts... am I in for some trouble finding them?

Basically this will be a monster party wagon for the property but act as a heavy utility as it was designed for when needed. Im asking for any info about these trucks. I found what looks like some sort of shop manual but I could really use more info. Can you all help me with spec sheets? What are common problems with this truck? Hiccups/gremlins...What should I be privvy on checking? Im having a hard time finding info so anything would help!!!

 

Welcome to FTE!


The easy one here is that it is a 12v system.


Engines? 300 straight six, 330 or 361 were the factory offerings. 391's were not available from the factory in a "600" series truck, but it could have been swapped in.


Transmissions? 4 speed, 5 speed manual sticks of several different configurations and manufactures, or the Allison auto was a option, as well as possibly a C6 Automatic.


Medium and Heavy duty trucks are build very differently from light duty pickups, with many more drivetrain options, axle options, payload packages etc to choose from. For example, that F600 could have a factory rating (GVW) from 15k to 23k depending on how it was spec'd out.


The vin and warranty/rating plate info would be a big help to try and figure out what it came with from the factory.


David

 

David, you are AWESOME! Great help. Ill dig up more info on the truck as soon as I can, I got call the caretaker to get any other info such as a VIN and Ill post it ASAP.

 

I managed to get some pics sent to me by our good friend Stan. What do we have here? I see its got a V8? I see Ford written on the valve covers but not sure what to make out with the rest of the writing. It appears to be a '73 according to its registration. Its VIN is: F60DCR24797. Googling doesnt pull up anything. Cna anyone help Identify all the functions fo the levers?

Edit: I figured out the valve overs say "Power By Ford". Im curious as to why the carb and air filter housing has so much oil spray!? Call me an idiot but is there some reason the valv covers could be leaking under presure to cause spray? I see there is a re-breather going into the air filter housing... could there be a bizarre reason its causing oil leaking/spraying? Im racking my brain here as to why there is so much oily crud in places oil shouldnt be.

 

(Mods, delete please)

 

I'm rackin my brain too. Valve cover spraying? Oil where it shouldnt be?
Typical wet oil cleaner that needs a good cleaning I bet there is rust pin holes
they all do that. Typical oil puddle infront of the dist caused by the wimpy
intake gasket most likely the rear is wet too. Velocity type governor typical of
a 330 V8 From the pics, it looks good from here & and should run alright.
Me, I'd change oil get it running, then go from there. It dont look beat to death
to me....
sam

 

Great pictures, thanks for posting them. It looks pretty straight, but rusty unfortunately. Defiantly looks fairly unmolested and not all cut up. Heater core is disconnected I see.

Gotta ask though, what kind of budget do you have for the repairs? 5k? 10k? 15k?


Personally I agree, get it running first if you can and then go from there, figuring out just where you want to go with it, a restoration or something just that drives, and then off road, or on the public roads?


As to the levers, looks like one is for the parking/emergency brake and the other is for the bed lift?


D

 

Engine is a 330 2V Heavy Duty V8 (indicated by the fourth digit "D" in the VIN). (And assuming it hasn't ever been swapped out with another motor).

Your truck has an oil-bath air cleaner. It is missing the air intake snorkel, which has probably contributed to a fair amount of the oily mess.

Your gearshift lever has a hi/lo button for the 2-speed rear end. The short lever next to the gear shift is the parking brake lever. It looks to be engaged. Squeeze the movable handle and push the lever forward to disengage. The remaining tall lever undoubtedly engages the PTO to lift the bed. Not the same setup as what I have for my dump bed, so don't know how this lever operates.

A lot of stuff to learn about on these old beasts, but they sure are fun.

 

The 1973~'79 medium duty F-500/600/700/750 truck cabs, hoods, and doors are quite similar to the same year of light duty pickup trucks. There are some minor differences. For instance, one noticable difference would be the exterior door handles. The medium duty trucks have push-button handles, while the light duty trucks have lift handles. The doors as whole units are interchangeable between light duty and medium duty trucks. The door handle types are NOT interchangeable between doors, however.

The dashes on the 1973~'79 medium duty trucks are quite similar or identical to the dashes on the light AND medium duty trucks of the 1967~'72 F-series. Once again though, there are some exceptions on a few different years, so you have to be careful.

There are several companies nowdays that offer replacement parts for older light duty pickup trucks. LMC Truck out of Lenexa KS is one such outfit. They have online catalogs with great illustrations of the parts they carry. You would need to look at two different catalogs - the one for '73~'79 Fords for cab, hood, & door parts, and the '67~'72 catalog for dash board, heater, and related parts. If a part in your medium duty truck looks exactly like a illustration in their light duty catalog, then YUP! It's probably the same thing and will work in your truck. Dennis Carpenter is another such outfit, and there are more, I'm sure. A good Google search should find plenty.

Other parts sources may include NOS (New Old Stock) at Ford dealers, or salvage yards, or swap meets, or you might even try perusing craigslist for a parts truck. I still seem to always see an interesting truck or two on craigslist in my part of the country (midwest).

For the specialized F-500/600/700/750 medium duty parts (front grill, fenders, steps, bumpers, etc.), you will be limited to NOS available at Ford dealers (availability somewhere between next-to-nothing to "not at all"), or salvage yards and craigslist (much better chances).

No doubt about it, you will have to get inventive if you want parts for older, medium duty trucks. But that's all part of the fun!

 

Hmmm, one other thing - Looking carefully at your pictures, sumthin' tells me that you have those dreaded Firestone RH-5° rims (A.K.A. "Widowmaker" rims), by far the worst of the bunch.

You can take a lot of the danger out of these by simply limiting the air pressure to approximately one half of the maximum rating on the tire. For instance, the tires probably have somewhere around 90~100~110 Lb. psi max pressure noted on them. Check the pressure in your tires and put no more than approximately 45~55 psi maximum air pressure in them, about half of what the tires say. You should be safe enough to push, tow, or even drive the truck around at this lower pressure without worrying about blowing the rims apart. With new or good condition tires, you could probably safely go up to 2/3 the rated pressure, but on your old tires I would limit it to half the pressure.

You will want to do some research on split rims and learn as much about them as you can. There's plenty of information and advice for split-rim wheels in this large truck forum (do a search) and other web sites to boot. Be safe with these suckers. Think about it, they ain't called "Widowmaker" for no reason, ya' know.

 

But, don't confuse regular split ring style split rims with the widow makers, they are vastly different.


Have to be careful using the word split rims in conjunction with widow makers because some think / group them all together in a "all bad" thought process. Regular split rims, with the split ring, if assembled correctly never fail, but for safety's sake and due to a few being hurt, most of the time it is recommended to use a cage when first airing up the tube.


Sort of like the 2 stroke and 4 stroke thing, some people think that all 2 strokes pollute more than 4 strokes, and that is not the case, DFI 2 stokes actually have less Nitrogen Oxide output due to lower combustion chamber temps than a 4 stroke.


But people tend to limp them all together into a thought process of "all 2 stokes bad, all 4 strokes good" when really there are significant differences, and some 2 strokes in reality can be better!


D~

 

F60 = F600 2WD (gas).

D = 330 2V Heavy Duty FT engine.

C = Oakville Ontario Canada Truck Assembly Plant.

R24797 = 1973 / 2/73 (February 1973) production date is printed on the Vehicle Certification label (5th pic in post 4).

176" Wheelbase.

M = Wimbledon White.

F602 = F600 2WD (gas), 19,200 lbs. GVWR

4 8: 4 = Black Vinyl / 8 = 81A Standard Cab.

A = New Process 435 4 Speed Manual Transmission.

F23: F2 = Eaton model 15201 Two Speed Rear Axle / 6.33/8.81 / 15,000 lbs. Rear Axle Capacity // 3 = Ford 6,000 lbs. Capacity Front Axle without P/S.

19,200 lbs. Gross Vehicle Weight Rating.

22 = Charlotte NC Ford District Sales Office, where the original selling dealer ordered the truck from.

btw: LMC is a middle-man operation, uses the J. Paul Getty method of making a buck. Despite all the parts shown in their catalogs, they have almost none of it.

So, when you send in your order, they use your money to buy the parts elsewhere, from auto parts stores, other repro parts sellers, NOS parts from FoMoCo dealers, obsolete parts vendors.

They mark up the prices when doing this and pass along the extra shipping charges to you!

 

That's absolutely correct. Couldn't have said it better myself.

Best thing for remmy123 would be if the rims turn out to NOT be the Firestone RH-5° split rims. But if they are, then he's been warned, and given a some safety tips to help deal with them.

 

Hey Forumers!

If you're ever in the Lenexa, Kansas area, be sure and stop in at LMC Truck. I live about 70 miles away from there and stopped in to buy some parts a few years ago. The showroom isn't very big at all, maybe about the size of a 6-8 car garage. It is very clean and modern looking, and has a couple of restored early-mid 70's trucks sitting on the floor, a Chevy and a Ford. The parts counter has parts books for all the parts they carry. Chevy, GMC, Ford, Dodge, Vans, and more - seems like they are continually expanding. And they actually have some nice, pleasant, personable parts people behind the counter, unlike those crotchety, old, egotistical, cantankerous, know-it-all fogeys that ran off more potential customers than they ever hoped to keep at the old mainstream car & truck dealerships.

Okay, so the showroom may not be very big, but the building it's housed in is... um... er..., well, let's just say that it is bigger than some small towns. Probably has to be for ALL THE FRICKIN' PARTS THEY KEEP IN STOCK. I'm also pretty sure with a business of their size, they obtain their parts straight from the manufacturers wherever possible and are not just acting like a "J. Paul Getty" type middle man.

The very best part of all is their catalogs. They are very well illustrated, easy to read, well laid out and organized, and totally free. You can look at them online, download them online, send a request and they will mail a hard copy to you at no charge, and of course they are available in the showroom absolutely free. Prices are shown on everything, and a lot of parts are available either individually or as grouped as sets. For somebody wanting to learn all about the parts that make up their ride, these catalogs can't be beat as a free reference guide. Try getting that at your local Ford dealer!

LMC's prices are probably no better or no worse than your local auto parts dealers. I have no affiliation with them, so whether I buy from them or not, or whether others buy from them or not, makes no difference to me. Matter of fact, I can find some things cheaper locally and don't hesitate to buy them here. OTOH, LMC Truck carries things that I could never find at my local auto parts stores or local salvage yards, so I am extremely glad to have a quick, easy source to get these parts at a reasonable price.

 

I've been an FTE member for 8 1/2 years, have read 1000's of posts where members said they bought parts from LMC.

But when some opened the LMC boxes, found boxes inside with Dennis Carpenter, NPD, Mac's, Blue Oval Truck Parts, other repro parts sellers and NAPA marked on them.

I recall that one member ordered a 1975/77 F100/350 Speed Control only steering wheel and horn pad. Opened the LMC box, inside were two Carpenter boxes.

When he checked the prices at Carpenters website, found out that LMC had added several hundred bucks to Carpenter's prices.

And btw, I've looked thru LMC's catalogs and VIN decoding info. All are rife with errors and omissions!