Hi Guys
Very happy to say, I have finally fulfilled a lifelong ambition and just got a real American pickup!

I have have had a few varied GM cars over the years, the last being a corvette.
So now I have sitting on the drive an very large brown 1965 f250 camper special.
Auto, with front discs with a 352, bored out to 360 during a rebuild in somewhere called backers field in the US.

So I,m a total truck virgin with a list of stupid questions as long as your arm.
I thank you in advance for all of your expertise and patience .

Many regards from the UK

BArry and Lynn

 

This is probably Bakersfield, a city located in California's Central Valley, about 100 miles north of Los Angeles.

Welcome to FTE

The disc brakes have been swapped in, as originally 1965 F250 2WD's came with 12 1/8" x 2" front/rear drum brakes.

btw: I've been to the UK twice and have owned a few British cars: 1952 MG-TD, 1953 Triumph Mayflower, 1956 Jaguar XK140, 1960 Cloud II Roller, 1962 Bentley Continental Flying Spur.

 

Hopefully when the disc brake conversion was performed they also added a dual chamber master cylinder for safety (not required by law in the U.S. until 1967 model year) and maybe even the brake power booster as there's plenty of room under the "bonnet". The 352 (5.8L) engine has a 4.00 inch bore. The 360, which was one of the factory truck V8 sizes starting in 1968, has a bore of 4.05 inches. The stroke for both engines is 3.50 inches. Your petrol consumption figures are likely to be quite alarming. We didn't worry about such things in 1965. I spent 8 years living in the UK in the 1970s and 80s as a member of the U S Air Force and have also owned several British cars. Great times! Ask any question you like - we're here to help.

 

Wow, that a list! v impressed with the Bently, must have been very special


Thanks for the info.

 

Good info, a brake booster is first on my list as the brakes are pretty heavy for my wife.
Always happy to hear from an ex service man, we don't live to far from Mildenhall, so luckily get to meet a few. Glad you enjoyed it whilst you were here.
As you say the fuel consumption, as you say, it is a bit alarming. On the way back home, 100 miles of motorway (70 ish), lots of A roads and some pretty bad traffic jams it did about 10/12 to a UK gallon. Trying to find out if that's normal, or I need to fix something.
Truck starts and runs beautifully, perfect tick over and clean as a whistle, but It may need setting up more.
It has a Holly 4 barrel (not sure which one yet) on a adaptor plate, hooker headers and an electronic ignition of unknown origin that doesn't have any vacuum feed ?


I think the biggest thing at the moment is the gearing, its doing about 20 mph per 1000, about twice that of my Vette


thanks for all of the replies


Barry

 

As it happens, Mildenhall was where I spent my eight happy years. Was back there last year and appalled at how run down they've let it become on the rundown to closing it. Made me very sad. Your F250 CS was intended more as a brawny work truck than the F100 version. Consequently, it left the factory with a 4.10 heavy duty Dana rear axle which is not very motorway friendly. Staying with Dana ratios, you're only going to find a 3.54 ratio which will help some. You're probably going to have to change axles to do better and then you get into going from 8 lugs (F250s) to 5 lugs (F100s) so it's a bit of a pain in the bum. Your fuel mileage is pretty close to what you should expect. It has the aerodynamics of a barn door, after all. You might squeeze a couple of more mpg out of it but that's about all. Post your warranty plate information and we will decode it for you - then you'll know how your truck left the factory 51 years ago. Hope you enjoy it.

 

Super Sabre

Yea it's a real shame that Mildenhall is closing, they has been a great community there for decades.
Thanks for the info, looks like It may be worth looking at LPG!

Not sure how to post a picture on here so this is what's on the door

WB. 129
Model f250
Colour B
Body G81
Trans G
Axle 24
Max weight 75000
Cert 172
HP 4000
DSO 71

So far I'm well happy got a grin every time I go near it


Cheers

 

You didn't include the VIN from the warranty plate. It should start out F25 - which equals F250 truck, 2 wheel drive. Next would be either D (1965 model year) or Y (1966 model year) either of which equates to 352 cubic inch FE V8 with 2 barrel carb. I'm guessing the next letter is R which would mean it was assembled at the San Jose, California assembly plant. If not R, please correct me. The next six numbers will identify what month and year the truck was built. 1966 model year production started in August, 1965 which sometimes causes some confusion as to which year the truck is. 129 = your wheelbase in inches (Remember those?) F250 = 7,500 pound (Remember those?) Gross Vehicle Weight rating for a ¾ ton truck. B = exterior colour Carribbean Turquoise - which is not brown. So is your truck very dirty or did some previous owner paint it? G81 is an interior upholstery code I can't decode as it's not in the '66 truck shop manual which leads me to believe your truck is a '65 (as you said), but it would have been compatible with a turquoise exterior. Number Dummy will have it. G = Cruise-O-Matic 3 speed automatic transmission. 24 = 4.10 gears in a Dana 60 non limited slip axle. 7500 = Maximum GVW rating. 172 @ 4000 is NET horsepower rating and rpms where achieved. If you have the stock oil bath type air cleaner on your engine the decal says 208 hp. That's the GROSS hp rating. DSO 72= Los Angeles, California, the District Sales Office through which the truck was initially ordered. The auto gearbox doesn't help the fuel mileage. People also have a tendency, when changing carburetors, to go too big. The 4 bbl Holley that was added should be 600 cfm or even smaller. Fitting smaller primary jets can possibly help. Having said that, if it starts, idles, and runs well, it's sometimes better to leave well enough alone. But I think you MIGHT be able to do 20% better than you did because your mileage is what we might expect from U.S. sized gallons and the Imperial gallon was 20% larger. Now if you're talking miles per litre I'm out of luck. Glad you're enjoying it.

 

C81: C = Medium Green Crush Vinyl & Medium Green Ladder Pattern Woven Plastic / 81 = 81B Custom Cab.

 

Thanks for the great info, amazing how much you guys know.
Been ferkling around under the truck and found a few bits.
No on the Carb is 80570 which I think is a vac secondary 570 com Holley , is this an appropriate model ? Is the standard air filter good enough for this?

Cheers

 

The original carburetor would have been an Ford (Auto-Lite) 2100 series 2V

The original air cleaner would have been an oil bath.

 

The Holley 4 barrel carb you have is modern and shows 570 cfm of air flow, which is appropriate for your 360 cubic inch engine. What I wonder about is the adaptor you say it's mounted on. So it's not sitting on a Ford or aftermarket (Edelbrock, for example) four barrel manifold? It's a four hole adaptor transitioning into a two hole? If so, that's not ideal, but once again, if it's running well it might be best to not mess with it. Intake manifold remove and replace exercises on the FE V8 are frequently fraught with oil and vacuum leaks and the OE (Original Equipment) cast iron manifolds weigh a ton. Not recommended unless really necessary. The stock oil bath air cleaner would be fine with it. If you have an aftermarket paper element air cleaner it just needs to be of a reasonable size for good air flow. So what city/town do you live in/near? I wonder if I know it (I should). I still have several friends and relatives in the area. Good luck.

 

Thanks for all the great info
It looks like the original ford iron item it's certainly magnetic!
The lump cteently has an aftermarket paper filter about foot across and 2 inches deep.
The original one I was given is a couple of feet actress and thinner
It looks like it should have been an oil bath, but currently has a paper filter in it.
I must work out how to post pics so I can show it off

Cheers

 

Sorry forgot to say, I live near Wisbech in Cambridgeshire, about 40 mins west of Mildenhall

Cheers

 

You literally live just down the road from my sister-in-law who lives in Tydd St. Mary. I also have a friend who's a retired mechanic who used to run a (proper) Mini garage in Sutton St. James. He built a '67 Cooper S for me back in the day. He has a '90 Chevy Silverado pick-up and a '67 Mustang fastback among others. I'll tell them to keep an eye out for you. Small world!