Hello Everyone,

I am new to restoring classic pickups. I have a chance to buy a 1956
F250. I am concerned that i haven't seen a lot of them being rebuilt.
Are they that rare or am i just missing them on the web. Are there any concerns that i should know about before getting this vehicle? Are the parts for the 1953 to 1956 F100 all interchangable for these 3/4 ton trucks?
Also what is the wheelbase and weight of this pickup?
I would appriciate any information on these trucks.

Thanks in advance,

Sherman

 

welcome to the board Sherman
i too am just starting out with the classic pickup scene. i'm sure there are many folks on here to give you their input and help better than i can. but i'll start off...i also am rebuilding a 56 f-250 and have found that most parts are the same as the f-100 but not all. the cab, hood, inner fenders, grill should all interchange. possible hard to find parts would be running boards, tailgate, and bedsides, if yours are unrepairable. the wheelbase is 118" a good source for parts would be joblot automotive out of NY, they deal with the larger truck parts. and you can buy all the replacement brake and suspension parts through them. hope this helps.
Josh

 

Hi Sherman,

Josh is right on in his response. Check out his gallery and take a look at my web site (below) if you want to get some ideas about what you can do and what it will take.

I definitely wouldn't be afraid of doing an F-250 instead of an F-100. Most of the differences are in the rear end - axle, box, and fenders. There are several other places where the F-250 had options different from the F-100 such as the transmission but they usually don't cause major headaches when restoring/rebuilding. Absolute best advice I can give you on this issue is to buy a shop manual at the online store. Best money you'll ever spend on your truck and the specifications section in the back will show you almost all of the differences between the F-100 and F-250 at a glance.

Your 1956 F-250 looks to be in a lot better shape than mine when I got it. Enjoy your project!

 

 

Thanks Josh and George for your response to me questions.
I have went ahead and bought the pickup or i should say, Ol' Blue as the pickup has been named now by family members.

I will have to go to Oklahoma next month to pick it up and haul it back to Flagstaff.

George you have a great web page for Earl! I will be looking forward to the finished Earl. I will get pics of Ol' Blue and post them here for ya.

Thanks,

Sherman

 

Well Sherman, I think every old effie should have a name. Ol' Blue sounds just fine! Can't wait to see the pics.

 

i finally got around to taking the pictures of my f-250. just the frame right now, with brakes and steering. i'm still trying to find the before pictures...it was in pretty rough shape. what do you guys think of it so far? glad to hear you bought the truck Sherman, i'd be interested to see some pictures of it.
Josh

 

Josh,

It looks great and you're sure getting there a LOT faster than I am! Just seeing another F-250 go through the restoration process brings a tear to my eye.

 

Finally! Found a sight about other pickups like mine. A 1956 F-250. Taking it a part is a lot easier than finding parts. Will running boards from a f-100 fit a f-250? If not does anyone have a location to order them? I am planning on using LMC out of Kansas, but they don't have running boards or box parts for a f-250. Look forward to more conversations. Dads56

 

Dads56
Welcome to the forum it's great to have another F-250 owner on here. Don't forget to post some pics in your gallery. I have not seen anywhere that has running boards for our size trucks, fortunately mine are ok. The boards from an F-100 would be a bit short with the longer wheel base of the F-250 the distance from the front of the box to the front of the rear fender is longer.

LMC has lots of suspension and other parts for our trucks and there are other places as well, Mid-Fifties, Dennis Carpenter etc.

What are your plans? Complete restoration, make it a daily driver, move to the dark side with large powerful engine etc. What ever they are it will be great.

Take a look at the link to Earls World in the post above yours I'm sure it will prove very informational.

Have a great day....

Bob G

 

Welcome dads56, congrats on your 56!
The link to Earl`s world and his 56 F250: http://www.clubfte.com/users/earl/index.html

 

I've been searching the wonderful Web without much success. My dads pickup was purchased new and used on the farm until 1979. So it is on the "used" side. The body and fenders are in surprisingly good shape, its the running boards and the missing endgate that concerns me. I can remeber playing in the woods as a child and using the endagate as a door to my fort after my dad removed had discarded it when he made his own endgate to haul grain.Man what I'd give to have that back now, sadly it's about 15 feet deep in a burried scrap pile somewhere. I am struggling with how to go about this, some say change it to a 12 volt others say not, one keep it stock the next says spice it up, you know how it goes. I plan on keeping it fairly original. I have it down to the frame, but now I'm not sure if that's even far enough, looking at taking the leaf springs apart also.

 

Too bad about the tailgate but take your time, it`s surprising parts like this turn up. E-Bay is just one of the places that comes to mind, FTE is another.
If it really is a 1956 it should be 12 Volts already, as far as I know 1955 was the last year of Ford using a 6 Volt system.

 

I've got a tailgate from a '55 F-250 that should fit if you're interested. PM or e-mail me offline and I can send you some pictures. Unfortunately, I'm in TX but FedEX ground is pretty reasonable.
Good Luck!

 

Running boards on the 53-56 F250's should be the same as a long bed F100. You have to be careful though because the 53-56 F350's with a step side box were longer and had a longer running board. So if you are buying on line from a source like fleabay be sure to check the length. I don't think anyone makes the long bed running boards. Ford used basically the same long bed step side up until the 70's so finding used is do able.