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So I’ve been on the hunt for a father/son project. He wanted a long bed regular cab. I wanted cheap old iron. Well I found both: There she is in all her glory. Cab is in decent shape at first glance. Corners and steps are solid, but time will tell when I pull the mat and clean the interior. No hood on this one. The seller gave me a lead on a localish guy that has one. You probably also noticed that the engine is missing. This will be an undoing theme: hood, engine, transmission and rear axle were scavenged from this Idaho gem. I would of liked to have gotten the hood, but the rest I’m planning to have fun with… This is probably the best angle of the bed. The floor has a couple rust holes you could fall through. Of course the 2-3” of dirt in the bed probably acted as a sponge the last 40 years. The bed sides are kind of gorgeous, in a patina kind of way. Possibilities here include full bed replacement or just welding a donor floor in place of the old one. For the time being a sheet of plywood is probably easy/safest. On the upside I did get the tailgate with the sale. If the plate is honest, the truck has been off the road since ‘71. Makes for 12-13 years of service. Likely it was used on the farm for longer than that though. Either way, this was used hard and put away wet more than once.
Hopefully I’ll get some time to cleanup the interior this weekend. It’s got a lovely mouse house theme going on…
And the fun begins. Make a budget. Then triple it.
The wife has plans for the house that need to happen first. I’m finishing up another build right now, so this is gonna have to wait a bit.
That’s ok though, I still don’t know what I’m planning for it. I’m fairly certain it’ll be awd or 4wd, but I’m not sure of the means at the moment. I’m intrigued by the idea of a awd canyon cruiser, as I already have a built 4x4.
For the time being I’m just gonna get an idea of shell I picked up.
Well congrats on the new truck. Glad you are willing to rescue what remains. You are a man of vision. Should be a fun process.
Vision or delusion? I’m not sure I can tell where I am at the moment. One minute I think I made a good choice and the next I wonder how deep this rabbit hole goes.
Time line on this is going to be slow due to the usual factors. I do think this will be a patina build, at least until the drivetrain/brakes/steering/suspension are sorted out. Good news- it does have a steering wheel!!
I haven’t searched yet, but anyone got any pointers for a floor for the bed I could easily graft in? This one is shot, but if I’m aiming for a patina build, I’d like to keep the matching bedsides. If there was a likely junkyard candidate that’d be best.
I do look forward to the discovery and planning though. If I can get the kid in the garage at the same time, then all the money will be worth it.
So it was a chilly, but sunny day. Better get the interior cleaned out. Two bags of mouse stuff, not to mention the 10-15 pounds of dirt. So what did I find? Mostly as I thought it would be and one thing I should of seen on the initial inspection. First the floor: All in all, not really to bad. I think that the glass being intact save the cab from a worse fate. Cab corners are pretty solid front rear. The steps have a little bit of rust on the leading edge of the passenger side step, but it should be manageable. This side was good in terms of decay. Dash is solid and half the ***** are intact. This is one area I really want the original look. I’ll probably not use the original seat, but when I look at the dash I want to see original stuff on the dash. I may have to compromise some one the gauges though. I think I’ve found most of the cluster, but it’s in so many pieces…. I couldn’t see the floor above the cab mounts due to the dirt and mouse bedding, but I could feel that they were gone. Getting the mat out, sweeping the loose debris and pressure washing showed the area to be about as one might expect. The mat is in serviceable condition- kinda brittle, but I was able to remove it in one piece. The headliner was beyond droopy, but I saved it as a template for a later day. Gas tank and back of cab were shockingly good. Nothing but smiles. Didn’t even break any bolts pulling the tank. Speaking of which, how much does this tank hold? Here was an area I should of seen, but honestly I didn’t think to look. The header on the drivers roof is paper thin. On either side of this piece it good, so hopefully I’ll be able find a patch panel. Sun visors have lost their covering, but they look pretty simple in design.
The guy that sold the truck to me gave me a lead on someone selling a hood, so I moved on it. Living in a rural area has many perks, but parts availability is not usually one of them. When this possibility came up I took the risk. Not positive about it being the correct year, but the seller said it was. It was $100 and in similar condition as the rest of the truck.
the seller had a red hood that likely would have matched the red of the truck. It would of been the same price, but it had one or two rust holes. I’d rather deal with dents and a color change then rust demons. There’s a ~6” crease in each side, but like I said it matches the rest of the truck. Rust is all superficial. I’m missing the latch catch and both emblems. Is there anything else I should be on the hunt for? So I’m no expert on these hoods. Seller claimed it was a 58-59 hood. I know the ‘60 had “mail” slots, but what are the other telltale sign of year? The reason I ask about the vintage is the holes didn’t want to align initially. With a little persuasion from a ratchet strap the holes lined up. Not a lot of movement was needed, maybe 1/4”. The wife helped me mount it, trying to wrestle it by myself was frustrating. Although this is where having the engine out was really helpful- I was able to stand in the engine bay. So this is how it looks. Hinges are not currently budging. I’ve given it a couple treatments of PB Blaster to aid it along, but no movement yet. I’ll keep soaking the pivot points and if that doesn’t work, I’ll move on to heat. I’m not sure the daytime temps are helping, but I’m guessing it has more to do with sitting in a field for 30-40 years. On the bright side at least they’re stuck up, not down. I’m sure that’d be a real PITA to work with.
The guy that sold the truck to me gave me a lead on someone selling a hood, so I moved on it. Living in a rural area has many perks, but parts availability is not usually one of them. When this possibility came up I took the risk. Not positive about it being the correct year, but the seller said it was. It was $100 and in similar condition as the rest of the truck.
the seller had a red hood that likely would have matched the red of the truck. It would of been the same price, but it had one or two rust holes. I’d rather deal with dents and a color change then rust demons. There’s a ~6” crease in each side, but like I said it matches the rest of the truck. Rust is all superficial. I’m missing the latch catch and both emblems. Is there anything else I should be on the hunt for? So I’m no expert on these hoods. Seller claimed it was a 58-59 hood. I know the ‘60 had “mail” slots, but what are the other telltale sign of year? The reason I ask about the vintage is the holes didn’t want to align initially. With a little persuasion from a ratchet strap the holes lined up. Not a lot of movement was needed, maybe 1/4”. The wife helped me mount it, trying to wrestle it by myself was frustrating. Although this is where having the engine out was really helpful- I was able to stand in the engine bay. So this is how it looks. Hinges are not currently budging. I’ve given it a couple treatments of PB Blaster to aid it along, but no movement yet. I’ll keep soaking the pivot points and if that doesn’t work, I’ll move on to heat. I’m not sure the daytime temps are helping, but I’m guessing it has more to do with sitting in a field for 30-40 years. On the bright side at least they’re stuck up, not down. I’m sure that’d be a real PITA to work with.
Looks like '58 hood. '59 dips down over grille. My '59
Ooohhh, I like that!! I’ll keep an eye out for that style hood. I’ll probably make due, unless I stumble across a correct unit. On the other hand I’m fond of the ribbing on the earlier hood too.
This made me think about the VIN coding. The truck came with a 1967 title, bill of sale & 1971 registration. These are always fun for me to ogle- when they aren’t recent. I guess the vin code is good to know, but I can’t see it going back to stock. It’s simply missing to many pieces.
So a little before the time I saw the ad for truck, my neighbor gave me this trailer.
Someone made a trailer out of what they had. I picked it up the day I got the truck. Story is it came with her house when she bought. I’m not sure if she ever used it. I’m pretty sure it’s been sitting the eighteen years I’ve lived here. Love those wheels. Are those 6 lug ford wheels?
Tires are also a bit vintage as well. One was able to hold the weight, the other one had a lovely flat spot. Made for jumping jack all the way home. Kids got a kick out it. So here is the only downside to the story. See I need a rear axle to make this truck a roller, then I can take it off the trailer easily. I had assumed the person who made the trailer had just back halved a whole pickup and therefore it’s have a 9” under it.
Well, I still might swap the axle. Temporarily, it’ll allow me to move the truck a little easier. Anybody see why this won’t work? I haven’t taken a tape measure to the axle yet, so maybe it’s another hair brained idea.
Last edited by Archie’s Beater; Nov 23, 2021 at 09:57 PM.
Reason: Fat thumbs
Pb blaster did the trick. The hood is down and moves freely Happy days. The truck looks lightly less derelict now. Well sorta… Clearly this is not the right hood though. The pictures actually look better then real life. Oh well, it’ll have to make do until I find a 59 hood.
I’m surprised Ford made so many changes in a 4 year body style. Must have been a lot of competing ideas floating around. If I have it right, each year has its own hood?
57 had only two headlights
58(&57?)had ribs going front to back
59 dropped down to the grill
60 had “mail” slots
I’m still learning, but that’s ok.
I’m still having fun.
