When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Welders are cheap but skills are required, but attainable. Matter of desire. There are plenty of nice trucks on Ebay and most are turnkey. If you want to cut and run I'm sure there are plenty of good parts you will have no problem moving on.
Don't get discouraged. All of those issues can be fixed. I believe the components you will need are all readily available. And, your truck is common enough that you should be able to find lots of stuff at scrap yards. Assuming your mechanicals are in working order, make a list of structural repairs needed. Then you can tackle them as time and $$ allows.
Depending on your goals, it's very rewarding to fix your own stuff. Welders can be purchased quite reasonably and are alot less expensive than paying someone to do that level of work. If you decide to do the work yourself, you will need to develop welding skills. There are a ton of resources online that can help. Then practice making those welds on similar material. And don't forget to ask for help. Welders, like many craftsmen, don't mind sharing their knowledge. I had a delivery guy come to my garage one day. He was a full time welder when he wasn't doing this side job. He saw me struggling with some floor pans and got off his truck to show me what I was doing wrong.
Excepting the cab corners, I have made all the repairs you listed and I am a novice welder at best. Good luck and don't give up on that cab just yet. Tim
Whole floor pans for the '65/66 2WD are not available in reproduction. If you don't already have the skills to do body work, the amount of time to learn to do it right is not insignificant. I would recommend finding a better starting point. Part it out if you can or rebuild the engine, rear axle, and front suspension and have them ready to install in another truck.
I use a harbor freight MIG welder that costs less than you paid for the truck, not junk its been welding fine for many years, as alluded to probably 9 out of 10 of these trucks in the wild need mostly these same things. I'd also advise you to get one and learn how to use it, I always say that torches and welders set you free. Good learning experience for a young whipper snapper like you, I worked in a metal shop and learned to weld when I was your age, it will serve you well as you continue with the madness of old trucks and anything structurally / mechanically really. And see, now you'll know right where to look the next time you find one in the rough.
Good luck,
Ed
BTW that's quite a nice tool box for a 17 year old
I use a harbor freight MIG welder that costs less than you paid for the truck, not junk its been welding fine for many years, as alluded to probably 9 out of 10 of these trucks in the wild need mostly these same things. I'd also advise you to get one and learn how to use it, I always say that torches and welders set you free. Good learning experience for a young whipper snapper like you, I worked in a metal shop and learned to weld when I was your age, it will serve you well as you continue with the madness of old trucks and anything structurally / mechanically really. And see, now you'll know right where to look the next time you find one in the rough.
Good luck,
Ed
BTW that's quite a nice tool box for a 17 year old
Yeah I got that tool box a couple days ago but I’ve taken shop class the last 3 years of my life I can lay down pretty nice beads I just need the welder
I guess you’re in high-school, or just past it? Borrow 5-6k from your folks, search out a nice running truck from the southwest or Cali, and you and you dad can do a fly-n- drive back to Kansas in your new running truck.
Or, years , headaches, and a fortune later, MAYBE be driving that one. More likely, you’ll sell it after sinking money into it, not even recouping the costs. I have seen this scenario countless times over the years. For everyone person that takes a project like this to completion, there are twenty, that do not. Most are gone from FTE in a year. Ask NumberDummy.
I guess you’re in high-school, or just past it? Borrow 5-6k from your folks, search out a nice running truck from the southwest or Cali, and you and you dad can do a fly-n- drive back to Kansas in your new running truck.
Or, years , headaches, and a fortune later, MAYBE be driving that one. More likely, you’ll sell it after sinking money into it, not even recouping the costs. I have seen this scenario countless times over the years. For everyone person that takes a project like this to completion, there are twenty, that do not. Most are gone from FTE in a year. Ask NumberDummy.
My dad does not like these older pickups he wants nothing to do with them
I was your age once. Growing up here in the land of make do. You want something to drive not a two year project. What I would do is get it where it will run and drive and maybe stop a little. If it will do that get some sheet metal and pop rivets patch up the floors so you don't get frostbite driving to school and have fun. You have the rest of your life to find another one or fix that one.
I was your age once. Growing up here in the land of make do. You want something to drive not a two year project. What I would do is get it where it will run and drive and maybe stop a little. If it will do that get some sheet metal and pop rivets patch up the floors so you don't get frostbite driving to school and have fun. You have the rest of your life to find another one or fix that one.
The only problem is my front cab mounts are so bad the cab tilts forwards slightly is there any way to fix that
Take some pictures of the pinchweld where the firewall meets the floor/ cab mount. Basically take a picture of the bottom front of the cab, by looking into the wheel well.
You may be able to slip a pan and cab mount under the existing rusty mess to get by until you have the tools/time or a donor cab is located.
To some point of some of the previous posters, I have a 66 that I bought off a guy who was driving it as is. The bottom half of the fire wall, both floor plans and cab mounts are made from street signs. I wouldn't try to go cross country in the truck, but it hauls firewood. He used it for the same although he was driving to his farm which was several miles down a heavily trafficked US highway.
The only problem is my front cab mounts are so bad the cab tilts forwards slightly is there any way to fix that
Like I said before this is the land of make do. The PO was a body man at the local Ford place for 25 years. He got this truck in 1982 and it was his daily driver until 2001. He said these cab mounts were on it when he got it.
These can be shop made out of 3/16 plate and installed with little more than an acetylene torch and a hand drill without taking the truck apart. I still have them so if you want to try it let me know and I will measure them an post the dimensions.
Rezvani's Latest Post-Apocalyptic Monster Is a Ford F-150 Raptor Underneath
Slideshow: Called the Fortress, the 850-horsepower pickup combines Raptor underpinnings with military-inspired features, survival equipment, and a starting price of $285,000.
