I hope this post is in the right area regarding Uni vs non-Uni. I've got a 1963 F100 Unibody longbed. Except it's not a true Unibody any longer. The cab looks original but then there's a gap and some different long bed on the frame. Different looking accents around the rear wheels and round tail lights. I first noticed this when I bought a Unibody tailgate and it would not fit. It was too wide, too tall or too long, I forget which. I did find a tailgate that looks and fits nice, but don't remember what year it was for and had to cut a 2 inch strip out of the middle to make it fit my truck. It seems Ford changed Unibody construction methods and parts during the middle of the run of my truck due to complaints of the body twisting and warping when under load.

It also seems due to financial issues, many parts were one-offs or "experimental" (my word) and specific to only the 1963 f100. If I can locate and upload some pics I will ask you to say is this truly a Unibody? Is this information correct? Was there a 1963 f100 223 3-speed 2wd that wasn't a Unibody?

I'm looking for a Pitman arm that is splined and slotted at the drive box more on that later and pics.
Looking for a round taillight assembly with 2 prong original plug and 1157 bulb socket and bucket.

Tell the guy trying to remove brake drums to relieve tension on the shoes via the adjuster and gently heat mating surface of drum to hub flange. Also, there may be threaded holes in drum body to run screws into, thereby pushing drum off axle.

More on the road bodywork repairs.

Notice 2x4 door framer/rocker panel.

My 1963 f100 daily driver since 1992.

 

Looks like your common 63 wrongbed type.

 

Post a pic of your warranty plate if it's still attached to the glove box door and we can tell you if this truck started life as a UNI or not. I suspect not like Robert probably does.

 

I'll get the vin and placard from the door. So, Ford did make a regular and Unibody f100 223 3speed 2wd in 1963?

I assume this is posted in a good location for now. Did you look at the pics? Maybe you have a guess as to what bed is on that truck? I know it'll be easier to guess when I post some more numbers.

 

A little more info about the forums. You are posting in what is called a "Sticky" thread which is a shared thread for categorizing a particular set of information.

If you want to start a new thread on your truck go to this link

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/forum40/

and click on the "New Thread" button just above all the threads. Since your's is 99.9% not a UNI that should be the correct location.

In 1963 Ford was doing the final phase out of the Unitized body. While they were still available in 1963 Ford also offered the Styleside and Flareside with the separate cab and bed. The 4x4 trucks ONLY came with the separate cab and bed like yours. All three trucks were available with the 6 1/2 or 8 foot beds. So, there was a Styleside with unitized body, Styleside with nonunitized body and Flareside.

It would not be common for anyone to cut the bed off of a uni and graft a regular cab back to the uni cab and then find a "wrong bed" as we tend to call them. The bed on your truck is what Ford used but they were originally designed for the 1957-1960 trucks. They were also used on 1961-1966 Ford trucks, all years, in one form or another.




Here's one of the pre-1961 trucks with the same bed on it. This one a 1958.

That style of bed was first used in 1957. Here's a picture of my Granddad next to his 1957 holding a beauty of a Salmon. You can see this bed is same style as your bed, but the lines match the front fenders and rocker panel on the older generation of trucks. The 1957-1960 Ford trucks were called "Third Generation" or commonly referred to as a Fridge. The 1961-1966 Ford trucks were called "Fourth Generation" and our own JoWilker is credited with the common term "Slick" for our trucks. That's where the web site name Slick 60's came from.

 

Thanks for all that helpful information! So if I'm looking for bed parts I need to look for 1958-1960 stuff? Here's the data plate from the door.

F10JP400503 122 B F100 81A A 12 5000 114 3600 44

1963 f100 with a factory 1958-60 Styleside 8 foot bed, I guess. Making this NOT a Unitized body. Is that correct?

My 63 F100 with some tail gate I had to cut to fit.

Dupli-color mirage paint changes from green to purple to brown depending on light angle. Pretty cool but I scratched it all to heck putting in the windshield. I'll redo all that again this summer if they still make that paint. At least some of the interior can look OK, while the outside keeps getting lap patches with self-tapping screws and roller paint jobs with air-dry fleet enamel $28.00 per gallon.

My 1963 F100 non-unitized body? Is this looking good from afar, but far from good looking?

 

Yes, the truck is a conventional cab Standard Cab, so not a Uni. I can't see the 5th digit of the VIN but I suspect it is probably a P which would be the Twin Cities, MN assembly plant.

F10 - F100 4x2

J - 223 1V 6 cylinder

P - check to make sure - Twin Cities, MN assembly plant

400503 - 1963 - Assembled April 1963

122" Wheelbase.

B - Caribbean Turquoise color code

F100 - F100 4x2 5,000 Lbs GVWR

81A - Standard Cab

A - Ford HEF-Y 3-speed standard transmission

12 - Ford 9" 3.89:1 ratio (3.3M) - non-locking

5,000 lbs. Gross Vehicle Weight Rating.

114 net HP @ 3,600 RPM

44 -Twin Cities, MN Sales Office

If it were a Uni the BODY code would be either 66A or 66B.

Bed parts for a 1957-1960 Styleside is correct.

The tailgate on the right is the type, for example.

 

Thanks for the information. It's getting slightly more difficult finding good parts for the truck, (fr.brk drum, pitman arm) but knowing it's got 1958-60 bed parts is great news. I posted the text from the data plate under one of the pics, it is indeed the letter "P", making this a Twin Cities assembled truck.