First 60's Ford
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First 60's Ford
Alright guys so I've had a lot of dentsides but this is my first 60's truck and to be honest I know nothing about them. On an spur of the moment thing I bought a 65 F100. The badges on the cab say Twin I Beam and Custom Cab. Is this a pretty usual model or is there anything unique about it? Also, has anyone gone to power steering and power brakes? If so how difficult is it? I'd also like to go to an electric choke. I've tried searching the forums but came up empty if anyone has a link to a thread that has a run down on these trucks to where I can learn a lot about them I'd appreciate.
Postmaster
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 3,613
Likes: 6
From: Coal country
Welcome to our forum! Many of us call the '61-66 trucks Slicks.
Tell us a bit about yourself, there might be someone near you. What about your truck - engine, transmission, etc?
You will find a great deal of advice here on those very subjects, many of us have made those upgrades and posted how to do them, and solved problems that may arise. They are relatively easy and inexpensive, if you buy a donor truck. The reason they are easy with a donor truck is that the frame dimensions under the skin are the same from the front bumper to the back of the cab, in the years '65 - '79.
Your best bet for a donor truck is a '73-'79 for disc brakes and power steering.
Most of us will advise you to get one that has the engine/transmission setup you might want along with disc brakes and power steering. One good thing is that after you harvest the parts you want, you can often make a good bit of money back by selling the parts you won't use.
If you go to power steering, you will need to make some changes to the steering column, as the '65/'66 column is too long to use without shortening, or using the donor truck column.
Try searching again, there is a vast amount of help on both these subjects.
Glad you joined us all with a Slick of your own, they are some of the best Ford trucks out there.
Tell us a bit about yourself, there might be someone near you. What about your truck - engine, transmission, etc?
You will find a great deal of advice here on those very subjects, many of us have made those upgrades and posted how to do them, and solved problems that may arise. They are relatively easy and inexpensive, if you buy a donor truck. The reason they are easy with a donor truck is that the frame dimensions under the skin are the same from the front bumper to the back of the cab, in the years '65 - '79.
Your best bet for a donor truck is a '73-'79 for disc brakes and power steering.
Most of us will advise you to get one that has the engine/transmission setup you might want along with disc brakes and power steering. One good thing is that after you harvest the parts you want, you can often make a good bit of money back by selling the parts you won't use.
If you go to power steering, you will need to make some changes to the steering column, as the '65/'66 column is too long to use without shortening, or using the donor truck column.
Try searching again, there is a vast amount of help on both these subjects.
Glad you joined us all with a Slick of your own, they are some of the best Ford trucks out there.
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It's a 240 with a 4 speed tranny. I'll post pics later. It's two tone baby blue and white . So what your saying is I can buy a dentside for a donor truck and use the entire power steering and steering colum from it into my 65?
Fleet Owner
Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 24,552
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From: Creedmoor, North Carolina
Cab & front clip are bolt hole exchange. Any alignment issues will be in the bed area. You may have to add plates to make the bed holes work. There was 4 in added to the rear of the cab behind the rear mounts in 73 so the rear wheels wont look right in the openings. If you have it jacked up you may not notice.
John
John
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So bye adding a new battery, a new positive lead to battery and replacing the really worn out fuel filter she's running. Plugs look horible so those will be changed out tomorrow and I noticed I'm leaking some fuel out of the bottom side of the carb...debating on rebuilding or going with a new one. Digging the new ride...really don't see anyone else my age (21) rocking these old trucks. Point of this truck is to self teach myself mechanical and body stuff. Also managed to finally learn to drive a stick today (Yeah I know laugh it up) Almost seems better to go straight to second and just skip first all together but not sure if it's bad for it?? Can't seem to post pics from my phone so I'm going to jump over to the computer and post a couple pictures of it..doesn't look pretty at the moment but she will get there with due time.
Also...any way to reduce engine and road noise inside the cab?
Also...any way to reduce engine and road noise inside the cab?
Post Fiend
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 19,311
Likes: 97
From: Waterloo, Iowa
You can find a 1965 Ford Truck Shop Manual, either paper reprints or on a CD fairly reasonable price from a number of vendors. This would be a good companion for your truck because just about everything will need attention by now and the manual will tell you how to do it at least in general terms. Pickup trucks were not fashion items in those days and creature comforts were rare. So they were probably pretty loud back then, too.
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Postmaster
Joined: Apr 2002
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From: Coal country
Note that some minor alterations are needed, but none that require serious welding or special tools. All of them, though, have been addressed here multiple times.
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Assuming the floor and firewall are sound (no rust through), close up any openings as best you can and insulate. I put down dynamat, some jute and a vinyl pad, and the difference was significant. (I was running with just bare floors before.) It's still no Lincoln, but at least I can talk to other people in the cab.
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