I've been posting around for a little while here and asked some questions and I've finally decided to just start my own build thread. I'll be posting as often as I can to try and catch up to my where I am today. I'll start with a little background information on the truck. I bought this truck from my great-uncle, who is about 80 years old, who bought it from a neighbor farmer, who was the original owner, as far as I am aware, sometime in the 1960s. The truck was used by my uncle, (We'll call him Jr. from now on, because names are easier to remember, and it's what I'm used to calling him,) on his beef farm until he bought his first brand new truck, a 1974 F250. I should mention that, despite his age, Jr. still works on his farm, gets up on his tractor and does all the work he needs to do, all by himself, granted, in the past year, he's slowed down and downsized quite a bit. What ended up being my truck has been sitting in the woods since then. Jr. had always planned on getting it back together again and driving it in the local parade, but has started realizing the past few years that he wouldn't be able to get it finished and then approached my dad, who, with his own projects, notably his '67 Chevelle, wasn't going to have the time or space to work on this truck. This is where I spoke up. I had been looking for a project for a while and ended up buying it for $150. I've included some photos of the day my dad went down and checked it out, and the day I ended up coming out and we got it running.
EDIT: I can't seem to get the photos to upload, I'll try again in a little bit.

 

Here is some pictures of my truck as it sat in the dirt.

Front view, notice the blocks under the bumper to try and keep to front end up out of the dirt. That's Jr. in the background, always interested in what's going on with his truck.




Right side view, notice the cut off running board, missing box, and the moss all over. This truck was starting to become a part of the woods.




Bare back frame with junk laid on it. The box was taken off in a crude, damaging method. More on this later.




Here's that box I was talking about. Various damages to it. Basically a total loss.




Left side, not much different here except for the missing gas tanks, drivers side window, and running board.




Interior, lots of floor patching ahead of me.




Gauge cluster, notice the horseshoe around the steering column. One add-on I plan on keeping.

 

Sounds like a great truck story and a nice truck. I bought my 54 from my grandfather, who bought it new.

 

Now after viewing your pictures I see you do have some work to do. But it is a solid truck. Fortunately, they are now reproducing F250 beds and running boards. Years ago F250 and 350 guys had to make do with good used parts.

Keep the pictures coming as you work on your truck and welcome to FTE.

 

Thanks, there's quite a bit more story, just what I know, but I didn't want to bore anyone

 

I'm going to try and keep the pictures coming! Like I said before, I need to catch up to where I am in my progress today. I now have much more in parts to work with and I'll be uploading those hopefully very soon.

 

I look forward to watching your progress.

Go ahead and tell the story, we love hearing the history of these trucks.

 

Nice buy and yes, keep the pics and questions coming!

 

Got some spare time, but I'm on mobile, so no pictures, sorry. Anyways, I figured now would be a good time to tell the story of why the hood is caved in. I'll do my best to tell it, as Jr. tells the story way better. Well Jr and his neighbor were rounding up cattle when one of them got loose. So they cornered it with their trucks, front bumper to front bumper, and were trying to negotiate with this steer so they could get it loaded up. Well the cow decided that this wasn't a good idea and jumped backwards over Jr's truck, landing right on the hood as it tumbled over. Now, a caved in hood would do no good, so they did what any good farmer would do. They tried to fix it. They got the hood off and laid it down on the grass, where Jr got his stepdaughter to stomp it back in with her new tennis shoes. A fine repair for him, but its going to be much harder to fix the second time going through it!

 

Looks like you've got your work cut out for ya. I'll have to check back and see your progress.

 

Brought some more photos to feed your addiction!



First movement since parked in 1974






Inside of drivers door. Not perfect, but actually much better than it looks in this picture.




Clear view of the side freed from the dirt. Wheels came from the plow truck.




Does anyone know anything about this heater? Every one of these old trucks I've seen has a different looking heater and I don't know what's original.




More moss and green from sitting so long.




This picture most clearly shows the caved in hood from the cow (right side)

Time for another truck story! Driving this truck from Jrs to my grandma's (a couple miles of back roads) was my first experience driving stick, and not only that, but I had no brakes! It made for a very exciting trip with one too many embarrassing stalls, which wouldn't have been too bad if my dad didn't have to jump out each time to hook a 12V booster right to the starter to get it back running. But the most embarrassing part was right before the last photo was taken. Remember how I had no brakes? Well I sure forgot when I was getting ready to park it. So I brought it to park it at the top of the hill right next to the rest of the vehicles, where I always park. However, I pulled on the park brake just as I made it to the top so I rolled down the hill....Right into Grandma's planter.. Oops! Luckily it was an easy fix and I learned that an old parking brake is not ideal for stopping.

 

Too bad you aren't closer to Nebraska. I have a box, running boards, gas tank, and a few other odds and ends I have from my 54 F250. All I can say is be patient, everything you work on runs into something else, but over time it starts coming together and the results are worth the effort.

 

I'm not there in the posting yet, but I have most of the box parts now, the gas tank, but I am still looking for running boards. I'd honestly be interested if the Running boards were the right price and shipping wasn't too ridiculous.

 

Just thought I'd check back in and mention what all I've done since these pictures. So far, I have: Changed all wheel cylinders, changed a set of brake shoes, changed front outer wheel bearings, gotten a new title, pressure washed off all that moss growing on the side, set it up for basic street driving, (rear bumper, license plates, brake lights, haven't figured turn signals out yet,) and some other tune up things to make it run smoother and more reliably. I also made it out for the first ride last weekend, and had a blast, staying on the least busy roads, of course. There was a very strong pull left when braking, which I still have to get figured out, and the shifter was very sloppy (hard to find gears.) While on the ride, I decided to grab a couple photos while I could. Thanks for all the positive comments and offers for help! I'm caught up with where I actually am now and should hopefully be coming with more questions and current updates.



Made it to the gas station! First in 40 years.





I love the wheat field in the background with this one. Makes it look like it's back home.





I love how nice this door came out after pressure washing.





Here's my current setup to be street legal. Rear bumper is front bumper from 55 F350 parts truck, taillights are just normal trailer lights bolted onto a piece of angle iron bolted into the frame. Looking for a rear bumper and brackets if anyone has one for a 53-56 near me.





Gas tank came from someone local on CL, it came coated with POR 15 on the outside and absolutely perfect on the inside. This tank was taken care of, way better than the red gas can on the bumper!

 

Thanks for the pictures and stories, it looks like you are having a lot of fun.

If you unscrew the half dome looking cap holding your shifter onto your transmission you will find a metal dowel. The dowel will be in a hole in the threaded portion of the transmission top and it sticks out into a slot in your gear shift lever. That dowel is probably worn out. Replace it with a new dowel (you can make your own by cutting the end of a worn out drill bit that is the same diameter) and your shifting will probably get a lot less sloppy.