Hello all! My name is Tom, and I just purchased a 1956 Ford F-100 BBW Longbed truck from NC. I live in NY with my wife and 2 dogs. I am 30 years old, and used to work as a marine engineer on ships on the Great Lakes, but got sick in 2011 with heart failure. I have had a heart pump for the past 3+ years and am awaiting a heart transplant. I carry an 8lb bag that is attached to me at all times with the batteries and controller for the pump, which has made working on trucks a difficult task. I was a very active member on the FSB forums, as I have owned several Broncos throughout the years. This will be my first encounter with a real classic pickup though. My dad and I are super excited about this truck. Currently, it has a straight 6, 3 on the tree manual that runs and drives. The truck arrived only a few days ago, and the driver said he received offers on it all the way up here lol. The rust is not too bad, front fenders have some holes, inner fenders are pretty shot, 2" hole in driver side floor pan, rear cab corners, the bed front wall is shot. One of the previous owners welded angle iron onto the bed and rigged it to fit a shortbed tailgate . They also welded a heavy duty steel plate OVER the original wood bed. The wood is rotting away underneath, and I would really love to get the truck back to the stock bed. Other than that, it appears mostly original, so a great foundation to build on. I am no purist by any means, but I love to try and keep the stock look. I guess that is WAY more info than necessary right now, so on with the photos! These are the pics from ebay that sold me on the truck, I knew I had to have it!

 

Looks like a very good truck to start with!

 

Welcome Tom! I'm guessing that if you have experience with Broncos, rust repair is second nature. Enjoy the journey.

On the personal side, I applaud you for determination and maintaining a focus forward. Organ transplants are truly modern miracles and, for most, the ultimate kindness from strangers. I wish you a short wait on 'the list'.

 

Welcome to the forum. I like your idea to maintain the stock look.

 

Thank you all for your support! I may be jumping the gun, but I found a truck bed that would be PERFECT. Straight, rust free longbed, and even has the notched out wheel well for the spare tire that I like the look of. I can probably get it pretty cheappreciate, but the kicker is that it is in CO, and I am in NY. I'm assuming shipping would cost me enough to kill the deal right? How rare are these longbeds, should I wait for a closers one or jump on this one?

 

Here is the ebay listing. The guy states he needs to sell it before he moves in 12 days or he is going to scrap it. And not to be afraid to send an offer. So I'm thinking 200-300 could score this, just don't know how to ship it

 

That does look like it is in good shape from that one picture. It would cost you an arm and a leg to ship to NY. I hope somebody buys it so it doesn't get scrapped.

But beware, that bed is from a 57 and up truck. It will fit 53-56 but the fenders are mounted higher on the bedsides so you have issues with the running boards mating with the rear fenders.

What is wrong with your bed besides the angle iron welded on at the end bybthe tailgate?

 

Its the wrong tailgate, and the front panel is shot. Rear stake pockets are pretty rough. I want to switch to the spare mounted on the bedside with the notched out fender. So what I look at is if I was to replace each piece individually, vs having a full bed, almost bolt on ready could be worth it. Im having trouble locating a larger tailgate for the longbeds. Are they this hard to find?

 

Mid Fifty (and others) sells them for $400.

 

Tom, I was sitting on my fat a$$ yesterday. Not working on my truck because my lower back was "stiff". I read your introduction post and immediately went out and worked on the truck for as long as I could. Shame on me for being such a creampuff and bully for you and your tenacity. My father HAS a heart condition and I have seen first hand the amazing things that the doctors are doing. I know they will match you with a heart that can keep up with your iron willpower. Matt

 

Matt, thank you for your kind words, it put a smile on my face on a rough day today.
I found a tailgate online, straight and solid, shipped for $250. I should be able to sell mine for at least that. Probably could have gotten it lower, but it looks like it wont take much to clean it up. I have a bunch of parts from mid-fifty going out today. New tail light complete setups and seatbelts so I can get it inspected. Getting a set of Coker whitewalls offline as well to replace the rotted out tires on there now. A guy has a speedometer cable for me to pick up, but my wife has all 3 sets of my keys to my car, and the truck cannot make the drive right now! Radiator leaks like a siev when shut off out of the top. Need to see what it will cost to repair locally, or ill need to replace that too.
I noticed there is the Ford Nationals in Carlisle PA in June, which is about a 4 -5 hour drive. Im hoping I can get the truck out there, if not, I definitely want to check it out. I bet I can find a lot of good parts I need there. Has anyone been there before, or going this year? Ill be in vegas the week before, so Im either going to get a bunch of parts, or beg for change at the event

 

I will be at Ford Carlisle. I have a vendors spot, #E-99. Stop by to see me.

 

If you haven't gotten a good long bed by then, you might be able to get one there. If you want a new one you could call a repop vendor and have them bring it to Carlisle to save yourself a lot of freight. I got my bed from MidWest Early Ford last year and picked it up at Carlisle. Dennis Carpenter will be there also.

 

I have a long bed, just that the PO rigged up a shortbed tailgate to work. And the front panel is rusted pretty bad.

 

Yea I know, but thought you were looking for a better one. You can buy just the front panel then. Years ago I had a front panel made by a local metal shop. I gave them my old one to copy. It was cheaper than buying a repop.