OK, the gallery is built. Let's see if I can keep it updated regularly.

 

Didn't see Nuthin there that would cause me to pull out the Gun.
The front cab edge has been discussed in several post and repaired successfully.
The other rusted areas should have been issued part numbers from Ford when the strated the F1/F100 Series.
Check the cab corners, the door pillers and the cab mounting areas real good. Poke around with a big screwdriver, if its bad you'll know, if it's good the scratches are an easy fix..

(I had a house South of Denver with the same type of View, it's awsome.)

 

While the weather's still decent, I'd get as much mud and grime off of everything (engine, frame, etc) as possible. Nothing is worse than storing a vehicle over dirt - it holds moisture. Get it all clean and dry, and get a dry place set up where you can store it while you work on it (indoors?). Having a clean truck pays all kinds of dividends.

 

I noticed the ribbed front bed panel in one of your photo's, I was thinking they were all smooth. Were the '56 model years ribbed?

 

Ribbed front bed panels came on long beds for added strength. Short beds had smooth front panels.

The long beds are also "wide beds", 54 inches wide vs. 48 inches on the short ones. It's tough to find replacement bedsides for the long bed, with those little wheel tubs. I don't know if anybody makes them. The front panel and tailgate are reproduced by Mar K in Oklahoma city. http://www.mar-k.com/catalog/catalog.asp

 

Yes, once he's running, I have cleanup plans already made. He's got his own bay in my garage. (When I built it, I built one bay about 3 feet longer than the other with Old Horse in mind.) The cab corners and pillars and mounts are all good, I had a close look at them, already. How much progress I make over the winter will be largely determined by how much I get done while he's still at the shop... before I bring him home.

Aside from the clear need to repair the drip edge rust as soon as possible, I want to drive him for a while before I decide on my next steps. I'm leaning toward keeping him totally stock with no modifications at all. Driving him regularly will tell me if I still feel the same.

Thanks for the comments and insights.

 

Hey Karen, that seat looks great. Is that a kit or did you go to a shop? How much?

 

Thanks!

I got the foam forms from MidFifties (around $150 or so IIRC) and had them sent to a guy in Canon City. He tore the seat down, cleaned it, painted it and then rebuilt using material I ordered through him... Standard burlap backing and the top is quilted onto 1/2 foam. The material and labor cost me $300.