so a friend sent me a Craigslist ad for this 1963 F250 the other day and thought it would be perfect for a body swap on my 1962 F250 4x4. The ad was weird and I was skeptical. The guy posted it for sale and I emailed him daily. No response! Then I check the ad on a Saturday evening and it said to meet at an address with cash.

I hate those situations because he is looking for a bidding war. Me and my daughter pulled up and there was about 8 guys standing around looking through a fence at a vehicle. We couldn’t see in the fence because we were down the street a little ways due to my truck and trailer. I told my daughter that most likely we will not be coming home with the truck. So the owner finally pulled up and opened the gate and all the guys started shuffling in. We get out of the truck and walk into the gated area and when we walked around the shop all the guys were standing next to a 73 camero. I thought to myself it’s my lucky day! I asked are you guys all here for this, looking at the camero. They said yes. So when I figured out who the owner was I waited patiently and pulled him aside while all the others were bickering over the Camero. I told him I was the only guy there for the truck and made a deal with him, shook hands to finalize the agreement.

Lo and behold the truck was in far better condition than I ever had imagined! It was very original and little to no rust at all. The two doors were repainted but couldn’t detect any body filler whatsoever. Has these funky lights that look factory bolted to the fenders. It was coated with dirt from sitting outside for so long. Like a calcium crust. Engine bay is completely original. Opened up the door and inside the cab looked extremely good. Glass had all the original markings.

After I got it home I started to pressure was it and that is when I started to lose my mind. When I sprayed the fender wells the red paint came clean, the inner support for the fenders was black and factory looking. The frame had a lot of black paint still intact. Under the cab was factory black paint. I was on to something here! Started to blow off all the much that had accumulated over 15 years of sitting. That is when I realized that this was a gem. All original paint and in great condition. Tires have no cracks whatsoever. All the factory hub caps, split rims. It was all there. Inside then can I pressure washed the floors and some of the dash. That is when I looked at the Speedo. It says 25,954.9 miles reading. We are thinking that is accurate due to the condition of the truck.

I am replacing the fuel system (carb, tank, pump and rubber hoses) . The truck runs like a sewing machine with gas poured into the carb. The oil looks like new. All the steering and brakes feel great and the 3 on a tree is not sloppy.













I will post updates as we go. Here is teaser on a little hand buffing

 

Congrats on your new truck, you’ve really got a nice platform to begin with. Clean it up, replace parts as necessary , and then drive it for a year or so. You’ll learn what you can live with in stock form, as well as what you want to add/change.

 

What a great find. Here in the mid-west that would be at least a $4-5K truck. Thanks for sharing.

 

great find. congratulations!

 

Looking good !! BUT......the grille points to '65, and the Twin I Beam badges on the fenders means '65 or '66....so this may not help with your body swap plan, as the Twin I Beam cabs don't have the step wells like a straight axle cab, so this means it will not be a direct bolt on to your '62 4WD chassis. But a little work on front chassis mounts beats the hell out of a whole bunch of Rust repair on your '62 cab
***Don't forget to save the Warranty plate off the '62, otherwise the Warranty plate and chassis Vin won't match!

 

You are correct. It is a 65. The ad told me other wise and another member informed me about the correct year. I will not be swapping this body over. Just going to keep it stock and cruise it. It’s too original to take apart and I was having guilt thinking about pulling it apart even though that body would look stellar on a 4x4 chassis. I thought I would never say that! I will be looking for another one to do a body swap with.

 

I'm diggin' the Hercules Hercumile tires. The whole truck is a time capsule. Very cool find!

Oh, and the front fenders lights are definitely Ford factory correct. Might have been added later but correct ones like those are hard to find.

 

X2 on those front fender lights. The whole truck is awesome!

 

That is a great looking truck!! I can’t believe the difference when you cleaned it up

 

Thanks!

I did more on the hood last night. I am going to have a friend finish it. I don’t have the time really.

 

WOW! Super find on this truck. One of the nicest I've seen. Enjoy it.

 

Congrats. It is amazing how paint can clean up. Looking good.

 

Well the carb came in the mail so I robbed the gas tank out of the 62 4x4 replaced the fuel lines installed the carb, added another inline fuel filter and she fired right up! My friend Max started buffing the truck out more and it the paint is looking pretty good. The only downer is that someone painted both doors and we are trying to figure out how to remove the paint. At the least I need to wet sand them to make them smooth like the rest of the truck.

took it out for a drive and it runs like a top, I had to websearch “three on a tree” to figure out the shift pattern. Never drove a three on a tree before. Everything in the dash works minus the fuel gauge. All the lights in the dash, turn signals, headlines, brake lights and even the dome light.

still need to clean the glass and finish buffing it out. I will post updates as we go.

 

The reason your turn indicators and high beam light up with the lights on is because the little card board tubes are missing..

 

they are not lit, my stupid IPhone 12 has some super long exposure setting that I can’t turn off. Literally it is like night vision.