Going to pick up a 58 ford panel on Tuesday evening, can anyone share some info on these? I am up to date on the 53-56 f-100's but the 57-60 vintage I am a little lost with. I know I can get some parts for them through Carpenter and everyone, can you get fibergalss front ends for them? What the best front suspension swap? I have a rebuilt 9" Ford rear for it and a 351 w/ c-6 tranny. I definately want a cruiser. How rare are these panels? I have not seen many (or any) around.

 

Hello. Dennis Carpenter, LMC Truck, etc. all sell parts for '57-'60 Ford trucks .. though there are a few parts they don't carry (bumpers, door panels, etc.). As for the fiberglass front ends, I have seen them, but have no idea where they can be purchased. Also, the truck came stock with a Ford 9" rear.

 

Thanks for the information. Guess now I can use the 9" in my '55 like I originally wanted. Can I get the step plates or do I need to manufacture my own? How rare are 58 panels? Guess I will have a difficult time locating back doors if I decide to look for better ones huh?

 

You can get reproduction step plates (as well as step plate risers and rocker panels, if you need them) from Dennis Carpenter. I really don't know much about statistics regarding rarity.

 

You can find fiberglass parts for the 57-60 trucks at usbody.com.

 

Ford sold around 10 pickups for every panel. So, that'd mean on the order of 10,000 panels per year in the U.S.

There's weld-in IFS crossmembers to fit these trucks from various sources; that's probably the best route if you want a comfy low cruiser. Cost probably isn't much worse than doing a full rebuild of the stock front axle and converting to discs.

The mechanical stuff is identical to the pickups. Gas tanks are different, but it's the same tank that's used on some of the commercial Ford vans. Exhaust routing is different (because of the gas tank location). 1960 panel vans got a stronger chassis.

The body from the cab back is unique to the '57-60 panel trucks, which means there isn't enough demand to warrant anyone reproducing them. You can easily get the stop/tail light lens on Ebay (the one on the door), but the turn signal lenses are very rare. For what it's worth, the rear door handle is a standard size, so you can pick up a very close replacement from a commercial truck part supplier.

There's a guy near Vancouver WA who had a field full of '57-60 panel trucks (visible from I5). He was willing to sell parts, but he knew what they're worth. I haven't been that way for a long time, so I don't know if they're still there.

 

panel production for 58,

standard panel 6,560 units

custom panel 592 units

Hope this helps,
Kevin Bigwin

 

Thanks for all of the info!!!!

 

Ok, I brought home the 58 Panel, and would like to know if the frames for the 53-56 truck is the same as the 57-60 vintage? Also, are there websites available to find out the history of a truck? Bigwindow56 informs me that custom cabs are fairly rare. Just so happens, I was given 1958 custom cab panel truck. I am extremely interested in finding the history. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

The 57-60 frames are different from the 53-56s. Unfortunately, I don't think there are any sites to divine the history of any particular truck .. for that you'd need to go to the previous owners, I would think.