On Monday afternoon I'll be looking at a 66 F 100, 6 cylinder, auto trans,
original wheels, hubcabs, interior is all stock. Body is a 15 footer, no rust,
no body damage. Original paint, in OK condition. I'm experienced with old trucks and early Ford cars, restorations, etc.
Need some guidance please as to what to look for the problem areas,
etc. I'll ask if I can check the engine with a vac gauge.
Any idea what these trucks are going for $$? Checked some value guides and they are in the $2K range and up, realistic real world values would be a huge help. It is a short bed too, norcal truck.

Thanks in advance

 

Rad cradles are almost always rusted out and almost impossible to find. 66 f100 is a one year deal on this part so no repro!

Oh almost forgot to say Hi and welcome

 

some one also sudjested, body mounts when i was looking over my 63

welcome to the forums wga is it? i have poor memory...

 

WGA, I don't understand your 15 ft reference. Pickups are often referred to as long bed and short bed. Longs are 8ft and shorty are 6ft.

In my area a lot of pickups can be found for under two grand. Body would be most important to me, rust free and straight would be a huge plus. The underside is most critical, core support, front cab mounts, and mid cab brace ends are places to look for rot.

What is the asking on the truck?


John

 

I think by 15 footer he means it looks good from 15 feet away.
Linky to my "what's my truck worth?" page: trkvalue

 

Dwight, My truck must be a 50 footer then.


John

 

OK, just drove this truck, nice condition, 54,000 original miles, owner added power brake booster. Second owner, no rust. Faded original paint,
some dents, engine oil leak, engine runs on. Asking price $4800 but
would take $4000
thoughts from you guys aprreciated.

wga

 

Would need to be pretty cherry to bring that in my neck of the woods.

If you like it and have the jingle, jump on it. You can spend way more than that on one trying to make it nice.


John

 

Excellent article. Just one question. Is a Mercury truck of equal condition as valuable as a Ford?

 

needs body and engine work? four thousand dollars? what's he smokin'?

 

Like others mention 4K for a daily driver is tough to buy; but as John mention, you can easily spend more than 4K to bring a 800 to 1K truck to a solid truck. Its hard to determine a value over the net and especailly without pic's.
Hope its a solid, well preserve buy.

Mitch

 

It''s real easy to spend tons of money on these old rolling piles of misery.

I'm guilty as sin.

From 1981 thru 1985, I poured over 10 grand into my 1965 F100.

That's 10 grand in 1980's dollars.

The engine at 157,000 miles broke a valve keeper...that lunched the engine, but it was rebuildable.

One thing led to another, and I was in the right place at the right time.

I worked for a dealer that sold parts to employees at dealer net.

I ended up doing a frame off, and since some of the mechanical parts were free (ALL new genuine Ford engine, transmission & rear end parts-gotten legally, btw), if added up, the figure would be over 15 grand.

I searched everywhere for new parts that were not available any longer. There was no ebay OR internet back then. Found some of the parts in Hemmings, and others in dealers attics and basements.

I found, for example, a new radio in Texas, a new deluxe heater in Nevada (of all places) and a new anodized grille in a funeral home in Alabama.

Back then, I had a side business selling NOS parts at swap meets and in Hemmings. I cleaned out over 300 dealers obsolete parts inventories from all over the western US.

Painting and rechroming the pile cost me an additional 3 grand several years later.

Will I ever get my money back if I sell it?

Hell no.

 

But it sounds like you have a heck of a truck. At least it's better then spending the money on booze and drugs!

 

Mercurys bring a premium, yes, particularly outside their home country. However, they have to have the tailgate and the emblems to justify any price differential. How much more? Very hard to say, as we see so few and virtually none I've found have been for sale.

 

Cool. Has anyone ever heard of tailgates and other fairly easy to remove items being stolen from trucks?