hey everyone, i'm new to the 60's fords and i may be getting into one in a hurry. my dad is looking for an old truck like this and he wants me to rebuild it for him.
it's a 1966 Mercury former welding truck. 300 inline 6, np 435, and im guessing a dana 70 rear end. overall its not in to bad of shape. it fires right up and isnt full of holes.

the main questions i have is about the rims, they are 16" rims with the 6 bolt pattern, and bias ply tires. i read up on this setup a bunch and im still unclear about what is the best way to get new tires for this truck.

i am also not sure about the price, and niether is the seller for that matter. it was his dads truck since 1967 and we think has 215000miles.
its not in terrible shape but does need everything gone over. can anyone give me an idea what its worth?

anyway thats all i have for now, probably have more questions later.
heres some pictures

 

All I know is that is has a brake boost and th grill looks more to be a 65 then 66 but that's for a ford sorry but im still a nobe

 

Also, if you want to know more please post the vin#.
Alot of people here can tell you alot more about the truck after seeing it.
good luck with the restore.

 

Hey partner that Mercury brand may be a rare find not sure

 

Mercury's were sold in Canada...(this is where this truck is located.)Grille is definitely a 1965,
could've been swapped by the owner like I did with mine...but you should post the
data plate info (from the D.S door)...otherwise it's all a wild guess on what ya have.

As far as tires go, and there may be an argument on this, but if it has the older style rims, you should stay
with bias ply tires. I'm running tube-type ones. I went and visited a well known custom wheel builder in
Corona, CA, as I had the original 16" innie style (riveted) rims for my truck, and he said it would be a bad idea
to use radials on these older rims as there isn't a "safety lip" (as he called it) on the older rims for radials, and
also, the radials are much stiffer laterally and could compromise the rims integrity.
(I'm aware that guys do use them though).

These F350 rims are different I'm sure, but I'm guessing if they're vintage, they don't have that lip either.

My truck tire guys (for mine and our fleet grove trucks) told me there are plenty of good bias tires avail...and
they roll nicely (except for the first 5 minutes on a cold morning).

Best,
Jason

 

Running, driving and a good body. Here in the Indy area, that's probably a $2-3000 truck. It looks pretty nice.
If it doesn't say on the truck anywhere, you'll definitely want to check the VIN on this forum. I think F350s usually had a bigger wheel cut out in the front fenders. They didn't have that little crease and flat area accent at the bottom. I might be wrong, and it's probably not a deal-breaker if it's an F...sorry M250, but I just thought I'd bring it to your attention in case it mattered. Here's a pic of someone's F350. Look at the front fender:


Yes, that's from an FTE user's gallery. He has a pretty cool looking 48 F3 dump truck too.

 

"What's it worth?" Well, it's only worth what a typical old dual wheel flatbed truck goes for. Doesn't matter much if it's a '65 or '85. The uniqueness of the '65 (or '66?) makes up for the advanced age, high miles and less creature comforts, but a truck like that has very limited collector appeal. Probably worth half to 2/3 of what a 'normal' pickup would go for.

That said, brought across the border the Mercury-ness would increase it's value by at least half.

 

Like it was stated, these old trucks are only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Maybe the name will help but I don't think it will matter that much.

 

If the VIN is similar to this: 6813558L-195001C, it's a 1965.

If the VIN is similar to this: F35BC802010, it's a 1966.

Thru 1965, Canadian trucks have a unique to Canada only VIN

1966/68's are the same as US VIN's.

 

 

^ You were making "vroom vroom" noises weren't you!

 

Im guessing it has a 9ft bed so its not easy to change over to a box if that's what you want.

Unless you need that bed and a dually I would look for a F100 or SRW F250.

At some point a guy sells. That bed limits the market and those wheels scare off a lot of potential buyers.

I have been drooling over a 66 F350 flatbed for 2 years now. The guy hasn't been able to sell it. Im guessing the wheels and bed are the reason.

If you really want it, the "easy" way to fix the wheels is to install a rear from a later truck and send 3 of the wheels to have the centers welded onto modern rims. That would require that you carry 2 different spare tires but it is workable.

 

The data plate will be on door post between the hinges on a Merc.66 was on the door itself.Nice truck though.

 

Plus,I'm pretty sure that F didn't start til 66.So,It should start with M.