ok....not that kind of stripper

By "stripper", I mean a stripped out, basic vehicle...few options, rubber floormats, radio delete, basic engine, etc, etc.

It's been kind of an unofficial mission of mine to find and save examples of these types of antique cars. (my current 66 F100 fits the bill nicely). I've had many of them over the years and have a soft spot in my heart for them.

All too often, strippers are cannibalized for parts, or are transformed into more dolled-up and optioned versions of their former self. Therefore, these vehicles become quite the rarity once they are passed the age of being "used cars".

But the reality is that more folks grew up with, and bought strippers than bought the top-end, optioned models. And, it's been my experience that the general public, at car meets, gas stations, etc react with great fondness to the strippers.

Anyone out there a fan of the strippers like me?

 

Well let me say this. Your truck is practically a King Ranch compared to mine. We have the same truck save a few details. 66 Shortbed, 240I, 3 Speed. No moldings, no radio, original style rubber floor mats.

The one feature I added to my truck was a valve for the heat. Mine originally had the shut off valve on the Thermostat housing. Someone took that off, and so I had heat 24/7/365. I installed a cable and a original style valve so I could shut it off.

Sticking with the stock wheels, and white hub caps. White bumpers are stayin. Grill is staying white. I still battle with whether to paint the truck the color I want or back to Windsor white.

I am adding a optional in bed Ford Tool box. Very rare on a short bed.

 

I gotta get in on this. my 66 f250 had no floor mats , 3 piece overhead interior, no door panels, the "low end" grey color bench seat and only 1 sun visor. The pass. side sun visor bracket holes were never drilled from the factory. I love the strippers I wish mine only had 1 window crank from the factory. Forgott one- the floor shift **** was hand stenciled "1966 ford" at the factory. [the last 6 was a little off from the rest]

 

No such thing as "radio delete." The AM radio was an option, if not ordered factory or not dealer installed, the dash is blank.

Basic 1965/66 F100 2WD Standard Cab: 240 I-6, 3 on-the-tree, short wheelbase Cab & Chassis w/dog dish painted hubcaps, black rubber floormat, non perforated headliner, one sun visor, painted grille, front bumper.

No radio, heaters (economy or deluxe), cuz both were options as was everything else, including 300/352, short/long Flareside/Styleside beds, stake or flat beds, rear bumpers, jack & spare wheel with/without a tire, outside mirror(s), Custom Cab, Ranger or Camper Special packages, overdrive, 4 speed trans, two speed wipers (1965, some 1966's), w/s washers and etc.

How many peeps on FTE, besides myself, bought one a these trucks brand new? AFAIK, no one.

btw: No such thing as any 4 speed shift **** marked/stenciled 1966 Ford (that's something a P/O did). The 4 speed shift **** has the shift pattern on it, and that's it.

 

[quote=NumberDummy;10297459]No such thing as "radio delete." The AM radio was an option, if not ordered factory or not dealer installed, the dash is blank.

So ND, if my truck was as far as I know from the dealer, No moldings, one mirror, 1 sun visor, no cable activated heater control, Windsor white, blue vinyl seat, white grill, steel wheels, white hub dog dish hub caps, is this about as basic of a truck as one would find?

I know while it is possible to get a more stripped truck I think this is at least close to as stripped as you would likely find on a lot in 1966.

 

Two whites were available, neither was Windsor. Warranty Plate: COLOR code C = Pure White / COLOR code M = Wimbledon White.

No COLOR code, the truck was painted a non standard color, making it a Domestic Special Order, the DSO code will have 6 digits.

Side mouldings were an option on all 1965/66 F100/250 2WD Stylelsides, 1966 F100 4WD Stylesides. Did not come with any package, ditto for tu-tone paint.

So, even Standard Cabs could have side mouldings, and/or tu-tone paint.

All outside mirrors were optional. The standard heater uses a manually operated shut off valve (C5TZ-18495-A) that is spliced into the inlet to heater core...heater hose.

The Deluxe heater has two additional cables mounted to a bracket-to the right of the steering column-bolted under the dash.

One cable opens/closes the heater water valve (C3UZ-18495-A). T'other cable opens closes the damper door that allows fresh air to enter the plenum chamber (heater box).

My 1965 F100 Standard Cab options = 8' Styleside Bed, AM radio, Deluxe heater, 352, Warner 3 speed overdrive, dual Western Jr mirrors, Dana 44 w/Limited Slip, tool compartment, cigar lighter, 7.75-15 b/w bias ply tires.

I added a 'gypo' rear step bumper (Ford didn't offer one until 1967) and 'gypo' hang-on A/C, cuz it was cheaper than the Ford hang-on A/C, accessory dash mounted clock, and the Custom Cab only blue floor mat w/black specks.

I didn't order this truck, someone else did. A coupla days before it came in (1/1965), he received a draft notice. The truck then sat on the dealers (Stockton Quincy Ford) storage lot for 2 months before I spotted it.

I traded in a urine yellow 1960 Olds Super 88 two door hardtop, financed the rest. Payments were $123.00 a month, a lotta money for someone grossing 5 bills a month, doing the parts counter schtick.

My dad (who was an Olds Dealer) was not pleased, said you're gonna have a tough time making those payments. But I knew otherwise, cuz I had just discovered that peeps paid BIG money for NOS obsolete parts.

That's why I bought the truck, cuz there was no room in the Oldsmopile for hauling boxes of NOS obsolete parts to swap meets. I paid the truck off in 15 months!

 

ND, my mistake, Wimbledon it is.

Compare lot trucks from 66 and 2010

1966 Basic heat 2 speeds, No cables, all one color grill, wheels, paint, no moldings, one visor, no radio. Roughly 3500lbs

2010 Heater controls with 4 speeds, 3 settings for where heat comes out, single color metallic gray, grey wheels, 2 visors, delay wipers, AM/FM radio, most likely with CD. Roughly 6500lbs.

I know you can get a more basic truck than this from Ford, but find one sitting on a lot waiting to be bought. The truck I just described I looked at on a Ford lot a year ago. Pretty fancy compared to my 1966 stripper.

Didn't mean to steal your thread Shortwide, just thought it was an interesting contrast.

 

gosh, i was thinking my 66F250 was about as stripped as it gets, but now i feel that the former PO (Stockton Unified School District) did a little extra embellishing. i have two sunvisors (DS is plain hardboard, PS is slightly wider hardboard, neither are padded). one DS armrest, but BOTH doors have interior handles (i never thought to consider that that was ever an option). i've got two camper style rear view mirrors. as far as i can tell, no hubcaps were included because i don't see any witness marks on the rims. i am looking to rehab my front grill and both bumpers in wimbledon white.

i really do want to swap out the front drums and manual steering with the units from my 74F250 when i'm done with it.

i agree with the original post and think there is a certain charm to these unadorned, honest trucks. i passed on several custom cabs with V8's before settling on the plain-jane with a 240 6cyl.

 

I was proud to take owership of my 65' on Nov 1966. Sad as to how I took ownership but proud to recieve it.

 

hooray for strippers... and bare bones slicks lol. More than just the unadorned these were the workhorses of the farm and fleet and have the battle scars to prove it. I'm reluctant to fix many of these on mine because I think they give the truck character. Like the bed and broken tailgate that is just too beat up to do anything other than beat on some more, touch up paint and repeat. I am going to replace the plywood bed this summer. Mine has a small swiss cheese of holes in the dash that are PO custom and who knows what? I think all this stuff is part of the original patina and I will probably keep most if not all of it.

 

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA,, I am the proud owner of a NEW set of ranger inserts for my 65'. They are red instead of black but I consider myself lucky to just have a new set since the originals are so faded out.

 

The Standard Cab grille was painted Colonial White (C/W), a bright white. Wimbledon White is an off white, sometimes referred to as cream.

Painted C/W front bumper was standard equipment on all except Rangers, which came w/a chrome front bumper that was optional on everything else.

Rear bumpers were optional. The Stylesides were available with painted C/W, or chrome contoured rear bumpers. Flaresides were only available with a painted C/W channel rear bumper.

 

NumberDummy....for what its worth, in my initial blurb, I wasn't saying "radio delete" to refer to anything in a Slick, I was making a generalization about the way stripper cars come from the factory.

Many stripped-out basic car models from the early 70s back, did have radio delete panels.

BroomfieldBum....no worries....you didn't hijack the thread.....just the opposite....I love stripper vehicles and yours defiinitely fits the bill.

Mine also has no passenger side sunvisor and still has the original little delete-metal-tab filling in that hole where the sunvisor goes.

 

I just sold the remains of an absolutely basic 76 Plymouth Valiant 4 door.....slant six, rubber floormats, plain, plain, plain. The last year for the trusty little Valiant.

The original owners managed to overheat it, early in in its life, when it had 39K miles on it, warped the head and just pushed into a garage in Lubbock and left it....for 25 years.

I bought it for $250, replaced the slant, and it was as good as new.....perfect paint, flawless interior, looked like a brand new car. And it was definitely a stripper car....very basic transportation.

It was my uber-reliable work car until a city construction dozer backed into it and crushed it...WHILE I WAS IN IT! The city's insurance company tried to give me $700 for it and I resisted until they gave me 4 times that amount.....used that to buy my current slick.

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by jalls1 View Post
i am looking to rehab my front grill and both bumpers in wimbledon white..
The Standard Cab grille was painted Colonial White (C/W), a bright white. Wimbledon White is an off white, sometimes referred to as cream.

Painted C/W front bumper was standard equipment on all except Rangers, which came w/a chrome front bumper that was optional on everything else.

Rear bumpers were optional. The Stylesides were available with painted C/W, or chrome contoured rear bumpers. Flaresides were only available with a painted C/W channel rear bumper.

i was hoping for a slightly softer look to the stark white, BUT, in a nod to oem specs, i'll reconsider my choice of white. i pulled a rear bumper off a truck the other day where the ends extend all the way to the rear wheel opening. i was happy to find it. there are two enlarged holes in my rear fender which suggests that my truck may have originally had some such bumper configuration. when i got it, it had a ghastly liftgate on the back, that dang-near tore the bed sheetmetal apart....

my original choice for wimbledon white was in part due to its resemblance to a vintage white used on old BMW 2002's back in the 60's called Chamonix. in fact, i bought a gallon of wimbledon white to paint one of my cars.

i guess colonial white and schoolbus yellow will be an appropriate combination.... thanks for the info.