Hey guys, first a little about myself since this is my first post. I am a Mustang guy, I currently own 10 of them. Our "family" vehicle is an 07 F150 FX4. I have run across an older F350 that I am thinking about getting. The guy who owns it says it's a 1953, but DMV lists it as a 1954. don't know much about these older trucks as I've always worked on Mustangs. I tried a VIN lookup, but the letter for the engine code doesn't match up with what I found. The VIN is F35V4C13XXX. Sorry, I didn't want to put it the last three digits, I had someone snipe me on a Mustang doing that one time. Can anyone tell me anything about the truck based on that VIN? Also, where would be a good place to find values? The truck is solid, but he has done a few things to make it more road-worthy and I know it would take some work to get it back original. I'll try to post some pics later to see if anyone could help me out on a value. Any help would be appreciated and thanks again. Kip

 

I'll let others go over the specifics of the 53-56 body and chassis style. What I know about are the wheels that will be on the truck. You'll see that it has six lugs on a 7.25" bolt circle. The wheels will look from the face like they are one piece wheels like any other, but they are not. They are multi-part and most certainly the worst of the breed. I'll post some pictures below to help you see what I'm talking about. On the last picture the mounting is different than yours, but the wheel is similar. These wheels are today known as "widow makers". The technical term is Firestone RH-5°. You've not said whether the truck is a single or DRW model, but either way replacement wheels will be a challenge to find. Tubeless 17.5s became available in 1956 and are probably your best option if you can find them. Stu

 

53 = flathead...54 = overhead valve

 

That is the front wheel for sure. The duals in the back look a little different. I can't post pics yet, but I will as soon as I can. I just don't know what it is worth. I know I haven't seen many of these trucks in person. I am so used to being able to find everything so quickly about Mustangs and there is not near as much stuff out there for these trucks. Everybody here seems to know quite a lot. I'm sure if I end up with the truck, I'll be on here all the time.

 

welcome ,glad someone else is rescuing the bigger trucks ,you will find a lot of help here,good people,and amazing info..is yours a flaty ..we still used flathead V8s in canada..in 54..looking forward to pictures..

 

This usually works, except in Canada. (your location isn't shown)

If the grille has two downward pointed teeth, it's a '54. F350's are usually worth less than an F100 due to desirability. But if the condition is really good, can still demand a pretty penny, as there are really no repro parts available. Welcome to FTE, BTW. (I'm a Fox Tbird guy myself)

EDIT: Sorry, I stepped on Ken's toes.

 

He's in North Carolina guys. Check his profile. Which might say that it's a good rust free southern truck.

I agree totally with what SVOKip and Ken said. Anybody can pick up the phone and order parts or a whole F-1/100 truck out of a catalog. It takes some doing and resolve to rescue one the bigger models, especially the tonners.

Back to the wheels, I've seen the tubeless 17.5" DRW style on Craigs List several times in recent months, so it's not a deal breaker. Stu

 

it's all good ..and lot's of parts interchange ,an' I wear steel cap boots so carry on. this way we all learn something..if you like a challenge get the 350 you won't blend in with the crowd of "little trucks"....

 

Welcome to the forum, Kip! I'm a Mustang guy, too, as well as a Ford guy in general. Decoding your vin, it breaks down to F-350, V=engine code 239 OHV engine, 4=1954, C= Chester assembly plant (I have no idea what state that's in, but someone here does), and the rest is your consecutive unit number.

As noted, many of the basic parts will interchange with the F-100, so things like trim and seals and interior, etc, won't be an issue. Exterior-wise, the hardest part will be restoring the bed, since replacing the long bed panels will require custom fabrication. No one reproduces any of that stuff. The wood is no problem, though. Mechanically, the F-350 is all it's own for brakes and suspension, so that may pose a bit more difficulty finding replacement parts than the lesser-payload bretheren.

If you ever have any questions or need advice, this is the best place you'll ever find it. We welcome your involvement.

 

Chester is in Pennsylvania, just south of Philly. That is where my 54 F-100 was built....

Newbie, buy the truck, you won't regret it!. They are a lot easier to work on than cars... Is it a flatbed? as opposed to an express bed (traditional pickup bed). As said earlier those are not reproduced...

 

If it is the express bed(pickup style stepside bed) it will be 9 ft. long. The F250's had an 8 ft bed. Also, the running boards are longer than on the F250's. I also assume far fewer F350's were made and I don't know of anyone that makes reproduction running boards or boxes for these. Still they are cool trucks and you don't see many around.

The express bed and the running boards would be the two things that would be hardest to find if they are in bad shape. Other stuff interchanges from 53-55 F series. A F350 will probably have the fenders with larger wheel openings than on an F100 and some F250's.

I hope this helps.

 

He says it has duals on the back, so I think that means it's a flat bed. The dually pickup beds came along in the '70s didn't they? Stu

 

Stu, you're right, I missed the reference to the duals in the later post.

 

my running boards are shot..making new ones from diamond plate aluminum ..if you can't find it ..build it ..I understand the fenders are the same 350 to the 700 series trucks.. although I may be wrong ..on the front anyhow..

 

Thanks guys. It has a flat bed on it, but the guy bought the flat bed just a few years ago and it is not anything close to original. The truck has running boards, but he said he got those from an f100, so they are a little short. Overall the truck appears to be solid. The paint is chipping in places so there is some surface rust, but not bad at all. The frame and chassis are very solid and I didn't see any rust on first inspection. He changed the gauges to some after market one but he said the wiring harnes was made just for the truck and the wiring was not messed up. It has different gas tank because he didn't want to spend the money on an original one since he had planned to use this truck as a work/advertisement truck. He is asking $3500 with the bed and $2500 if he takes the bed off. I really think it it would be a nice project, but so far the wife isn't digging it.