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Was there a factory hood molding on the center of the hood of 65 f100 custom cab? I have 3 holes down the front half of the middle of the hood on my 65 behind the v8 hood ornament.
This truck has been in my family since the mid 70s... it was purchased from the original owner. Dad had it repainted some time in the mid 80s. To his knowledge, he doesn't remember there being anything there. But who knows before he got it from my grandfather, or the original owner.
So, what are your thoughts? Internet searches haven't yielded much information.
Someone may have added a custom trim strip or something at once point. Back in the day they used to sell all kinds of aftermarket universal hood ornaments and trim pieces in the JC Whitney catalog.
Ok, great. So not available as a factory option. That’s helpful.
So, what about dealer installed?
I spoke with my dad about it again last night… he said that he does vaguely remember a strip of chrome with a ball type ornament towards the front. I showed him a picture of a 57 fairlane hood ornament and he said it was similar to that, he thinks. So, that’s a direction at least.
He did also say that he knows that he and my grandfather definitely didn’t add it, and he seriously doubted that the original owners, the Fishers, an elderly couple who bought the truck to deliver groceries from their small local store, would have added it. They weren’t the kind of folks who would not have wasted money on ornamentation, according to dad, as Mr Fisher passed away within a year of buying the truck, and Mrs Fisher just used the truck to putter around town for the next 8-10 years. Then she sold it to my grandfather.
So, with that information, could it be a dealer installed thing?
People did do a number of things back in the day. With nothing but the 3 holes in the hood it doesn't give a lot of clues. But people have been known to put all manor of ornaments on the hood. Here's some examples in this thread. I like the refrigerator door handle on the hood of TK65. Classic! Whether or not a dealer put something there would likely be speculation at this point unless there was some documentation as to what was done. I haven't seen any other hoods on here with the same holes in it so might have been something unique to this truck. Very hard to say.
Grandpa put one of these on his hood in 1964 when he also put the 390 in it from a junkyard Galaxie, dad took it off in the 70's. holes are still in the hood.*
The other thing to consider is dealerships wouldn't normally have added anything to a truck that was custom prior to the truck being purchased and the purchaser requesting something as part of the agreement. Yes, mirrors, the Bendix AM radio and the tool compartments wouldn't be out of the question to do the dealer prep on prior to purchase to make a truck more appealing to some. But a hood ornament wouldn't have been likely since things like that if FMC found out they might cancel your franchise. Similar to how they would sometimes cancel a franchise if they sold a vehicle that they were not supposed to sell. So, if the dealership did it then it would stand to reason that the original purchaser would have had to request it.
Grandpa put one of these on his hood in 1964 when he also put the 390 in it from a junkyard Galaxie, dad took it off in the 70's. holes are still in the hood.*
I saw that one in a forum search... I found one for sale on ebay, but it only has 2 studs which equals 2 holes... my hood has 3 holes...I do like the looks of that one.
The other thing to consider is dealerships wouldn't normally have added anything to a truck that was custom prior to the truck being purchased and the purchaser requesting something as part of the agreement. Yes, mirrors, the Bendix AM radio and the tool compartments wouldn't be out of the question to do the dealer prep on prior to purchase to make a truck more appealing to some. But a hood ornament wouldn't have been likely since things like that if FMC found out they might cancel your franchise. Similar to how they would sometimes cancel a franchise if they sold a vehicle that they were not supposed to sell. So, if the dealership did it then it would stand to reason that the original purchaser would have had to request it.
Logical thought. I am still not convinced though. The area where this truck was bought new, is a rural small town farming part of NC. I just wonder if the dealer might have had something laying on the shelf in the parts room and decided to try to "doll up" an otherwise plain Jane truck to help try to sell it. That's obviously nothing but speculation of course. I'm really hoping to hear from an original owner or family of original owner of a truck, where something like this has happened, that can verify that something like that was happening from time to time, even if not common practice. The reality is that I will never know for certain, but if someone can say that they have an example of what I'm suggesting, then I can assume that my truck might have had something like that.
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