Just got done buying a pre slick pickup tonight. It's a 53 OHV six Ford-o-matic. Dented up here and there, but not very rusty. I'm curious on the best decoder tools for the glove box tag. Any thoughts? How are the production codes decoded? The VIN is pretty self-explanatory. It's meadow green.

Is the automatic a rare option? And more importantly, is it desirable, or should I expect to have issues with it?

What carb should it have? The one on it now has a glass bowl on the front. I'll try to get a pic of it soon. It has a dashpot on it for the auto, so I'm thinking it might be original.

What else should I look for? Any thoughts?

 

pics... pics... need my fix...

 

Post the info off the tag or send it to me.

 

Excuse my ignorance...but what does pre-slick mean?

 

I believe in 1957 they went to the fleetside and the step side was an option. The fleetsides are called 'Slicks'.

 

Ahh that makes senses, thanks Grizz!

 

They made trucks after 1956???


lol

 

(sigh) A Fleetside is a Chevrolet as is a Stepside.

The new Styleside Pickup was introduced in 1957, it was more expensive than a Flareside Pickup.

Stylesides became very popular because the beds were larger, could haul more cargo. Because of this, Flareside production dropped off dramatically.

1957 F100 production figures: 6 1/2' & 8' Stylesides: 84,164 // 6.5' & 8' Flaresides: 15,541.

For many years, the bulk of Flaresides assembled were sold as "fleet vehicles" to the gov't, construction companies, and etc etc.

Dealers disliked Flaresides, because once the Stylesides were introduced, they became very difficult to sell...even when used.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The term Slick is a nick-name that is applied to ALL 1961/66 F Series trucks, from an F100 to a F1100.

The term was coined by someone years ago on the internet, because he said these trucks looked Slick! And the name stuck, but not everyone is aware.

I had never heard this term before I joined FTE. And...I owned a 1965 F100 Styleside from 3/1965 to 11/2009.

Slick 60's is a website (fordtruk.com) devoted to 1961/66 F Series trucks.

 

^There is no end to your knowledge, is there.......

 

Welcome back, Bill. Haven't seen you on here in a while. Where you lurking these days?

 

Lurking here on FTE, there's not much I can do in the 1948/60 forum and I miss my sparing sessions with 'Julie.'

I was gone for several weeks in November/December...Appendix operation, and had complications afterwards.

mOROBREATH: There is a limit to my knowledge inre to science, that's one a the reasons why I married "She, who must be obeyed" who is a scientist and a PE.

And, believe it or not, after nearly 21 years together, we get along wonderfully, because we are both opinionated crabby old grouches.

 

Thanks for setting me straight Bill.

I always called all smooth side pickups no matter who made them Fleetsides and the ones with running boards were Stepsides.

I never heard of Styleside or Flareside. I know better now.

 

Thanks for the info Bill, i am always in awe of your knowledge!

 

Thanks Bill for straightening the guys out on 'Slick'
I'm building a '66 right now from the ground up with a Crown Vic front suspension conversion, 5.4L DOHC V8 engine and a late model 5 speed transmission. It's covered in my blog, but lately posts have been about me buying stuff for the truck rather than fixing stuff on the truck. One day soon I'll surrender and pay someone to do the body work just so I can have the truck done.
I must say it will be wonderful to be able to order parts from a catalog for my project. Finding parts for the slick is more of a hunt since so little is actually reproduced and they usually need so much to restore them. Bill has been indispensable in the hunt for obsolete parts.
Anyway. Enough blabbering. Here's some pics:

 

Let me know what you see. I'm interested to know how original this truck is and if there's anything that needs obvious immediate attention. I can look at an old Mustang and tell pretty quick what's original and what's added and where the expensive and difficult repairs are, but this is my first 53.
My guess is that the 215 will be costly to work with if it needs more than a basic valve job and parts for the Ford-o-matic even more scarce. Anyone have any knowledge on that?