Never noticed...

 

I found mine on the 'ol Craigslist. '61 Uni shorty, 223 3-speed, ran perfect. Currently building a twin carbed, turbocharged 292 for it. Should be pretty cool.- Mark

 

CraigsLists here too ; )

 

Let's see, my current ride is 6's. My sweet 66. Found her in central CA a few years ago and had to hound the guy who owned her twice a week for over a year before he finally sold her to me for $500.00 LOL, she's a long way from done, but I'm getting there.
I wish I had known then what I know now and I'd still own the 53 ford swb, the 49 Chevy swb, the 58 studebaker p/u, the 68 dodge powerwagon, the 53 international and my uncle's old 48 ******* p/u.
(Mom always said I needed a garage with a bathroom and a bed & I'd be happy girl) LOL LOL LOL

 

My truck originally came from Texas. Hence the little rust/corrosion and still decent paint. It was driven up here by my much-older half brother (father's side) back in the early 90's, right around when I was born. Apparently he had owned it for several years before making the long trip up to Lawrence, MA, where my Dad owns an old textiles mill. Anyway, my Dad still operates this very old factory (it has been converted to producing cork) and my brother decided to leave the truck up here, stored in the mill for many years. As I grew, this mill, being my father's workplace, has become an icon of the beauty of age, imprinted in my mind. Since I was little I would go with Dad to work, running around the giant multi-layered factory, exploring its old corners and chambers. Granted, it wasn't very safe, but it was still a great experience, especially when I was younger. Eventually, at some time or another, I found the truck, covered in dust, in a more-discrete storage area of the building. Finally, when I reached the age of 15, my father and I decided to pull it out, and it would then become my first project vehicle. And that's just where it all began.

It's too bad that I don't have any pictures of it when it was resting in the mill, but it was a tremendous feeling to move it out from the dark depths and into the sunlight, a feeling that this truck is going to roll under its own power once again.

At this stage in my life I wasn't extremely caught up in the entire business of hot rodding and antique vehicle restoration. Though I could definitely appreciated the '64 F100 for what it was. Eventually we towed the truck home, and from there work began on it. I kind of have an agreement, or deal, with my Dad, brother (who is still in Texas), and myself. It's like a three-way ownership. My brother is the one who originally owned it, so he gets all the credit for its existence, and my father had agreed to financially support the project, and I agreed to be the mechanic, the one to spend the time and labor in bringing the truck back to life.

A year later.

And that's just about where we are now. In no way is the slick a restored classic, but it runs and drives like you wouldn't believe. Most of the money was spent in drivetrain work, mechanical components which needed freshening or rebuilding. We opted to keep the original engine, due to it being a very nostalgic and old school badass Y-block torque monster.

I am about a week away from receiving my license as well, which is just more icing on the already delicious cake. Oh yeah.

 

Mine belonged to my wife's grandfather. I'd known about the truck, and had seen it once in the farm shed. He sold the farm a few years ago, and my in-laws were going to sell the truck at auction, wondering what it was worth. My father in law and I got to talking, and felt it would be a shame to sell the old thing. He bought it from his father in law for $300 and towed it back from South Dakota, and gave it to me.

He had the brakes gone over, and the carb rebuilt, and I drove it up from Southern MN. I literally worked 40 hours a week over the course of a summer to get the thing looking nice, and probably spent more than it's worth. My in-laws were so impressed, they paid for the paint job and the spray in bedliner.

The truck is now retired to our cabin, and used for hauling wood and launching the boat, but I'm driving it the 180 miles home this weekend to put a floor shifter in it, as well as to show it to another slick owner from the board. I'd also like to shoot a picture of the old girl in front of the Ford plant in St. Paul, where she was built, before it closes down next year.

 

Thats a great story Chris...I thought the plant was already idled...I wish I were closer...Id take my lil truck 'home' too...the lil Ranger that could :-)



- cs65

 

Could I ask what you paid? It looks like a gorgeous truck. Usually the ones I see on CL are either basket cases or else people are looking to get ten thousand!

 

The plant was supposed to be shut down last year, but there was a surprising upswing in Ranger sales (the only vehicle they make there, and the only plant that still makes the Ranger), so it's open until 2009 now. It's really sad that they're shutting it down, as it's been there for over 50 years. The plant though is in a very nice part of St. Paul, and the land is extremely valuable.

When I ran the warranty no. on my truck, and found out it was built here, I knew I had to bring her "home" one last time. I did the same thing with my motorcycle (a Kawasaki Concours, built for 20 years in Lincoln, NE) and I have to admit, I was sentimental then too.

 

Well, my first (66 M100) was a freebie from my Dad, he got it from doing mechanical work on another vehicle and the guy couldnt pay. The second (66 F100) I found by accident at my Great uncle's while dropping off my Grandma one day. A week later and $500 and it was mine. The third (66 F100) opportunity came when a rear wheel bearing went on the F100 and I was stranded until my Dad came with a trailer. The guy reconized my truck because I coached his daughter soccer, asked if i needed a ride, then asked if I wanted another truck. 2 weeks later I had another, and my mom said she will kill me if i bring home any more.

 

well... many many moons ago.. saturday to be exact... i was in darrington visting my mom, and went to napa to buy a part or 2 for her car, so i could change the oil and what not... and there had been this truck, sitting in the pawn shop parking lot for a while, so i asked my mom to stop in really fast, so i could check the old truck out... i went and gave it a look down, checking for rust and what not... found a rust threw at the very back on the drivers side corner towards the buttom... and desided, this was a desent truck for its age... and what i thought the price was on it...

so i went in side to talk to the guy and see what repairs it might need in the near futcher... he said well go on out and start it up explained how to work the manual choke... and said it was a 63 f-100 with a 292... when i heard that thing fire up on the first turn of the key... i had almost fell in love instantly... i opeaned up the hood... and saw that motor spinin around.... and i pulled it forwards and back wards in the parking lot[no drivers liceness] so i walked back inside after shutting it off... and started talking with the guy, he said the owner wanted 2500 for it... but said he would probabbly drop it down to 1800 due to he had it sitting there for almost a year and no takers... so he called the guy up to make him the offer for me... couldnt get ahold of him... and left a voice message...

well my mom was checking out the books so we didnt leave right away... and right as we where walking out the door he the guy goes hold on hes on the phone now... and the guy hands me the phone and says 1500... and i told him i didnt have the cash with me right now... but in my bank... and said on monday i would come back... just make sure the paper work is there for it..

monday came around... got to the bank... got the 1500 and got a new bank card with my photo on it ordered...[not a detail to the story] and went to the pawn shop, had my dad take a look over it... he found a leak on the fuel pump, and where the throttle gose into the carb... well i desided, it shouldnt be to hard to fix... and walked back inside... laid the cash on the desk... and filled the paper work... went next door to switch the titles over... and drove it home....

so monday, march 17th 2008 i became the owner of an all original 1963 f-100 ford truck...

life long chevy guy by the way... i got the fuel pump thats going in on saturday... and a dump run on sunday... and maybe going to strap a chain to a few poles that need to be yanked out of the ground...

 

Well That motor spinning around thing? You might want to check the mounts. lol

Hey dont use bad words like Chevy around here! K

 

hey man, they never done me no wrong... owned ours since we FIRST moved to darrington about 17 years ago... with no problems... never actually hated ford... just never drove one, so i couldnt say to much about them...

the cool thing it though... i think this truck i just bought MIGHT actually be the truck my grandpa sold a few years ago for 3000...

but my new truck is just amazing... and plan on keeping it for the rest of my life...[and i just turned 18... so theres plenty of years before the keys leave my fingers...]

 

i got my 66 off my friends dad in 1975 i still own it, after many many up grades.i hope to be able to post pictures soon.

 

I got the one I have now and am getting close to the end of a five year restoration, I got it from a deputy US marshall. He was in charge of keeping the vehicles serviced for the Marshals office. I worked at the shop that did their service work. The truck belonged to his step son that was killed in an automobile accident a few years earlier. He wanted to keep the truck and fix it up himself. But after having the engine and rear end rebuilt, it was still in pretty bad shape. And he had to pay someone to do the work, he was not a Do it yourselfer. To make things worse it got hit pretty hard in a hail storm that broke the Windshield in several places and put some pretty good dents in the roof and hood. When it dents one of these trucks you know it was some good sized hail. That pretty well took the wind out of his sails as far as fixing it any further. So I offered to buy the Truck, he reluctantly agreed to sell it to me. I think the only reason he agreed was because he knew what I would do with it. I look forward to going to see him when the truck is done. I know he will be pleased to see that the truck has been brought back to life.

Bill T.