Hi, I am new on his website and also new to owning a 1965 F250. I have no real issues with this truck at all, and it appears to be pretty solid.
My question is. Is there away to find out who the first owner of this truck was? The reason why I am asking is that it is my belief that this was a county / state owned truck because of a couple of reasons:

1. No radio was in the dash at all.
2. Engine bay is a ugly orange (state or county color)

I am only interested in the history of this truck.
Thanks
Brian

 

Brian
I don't think there is any way to figure out who the original owner of one of theses trucks. There may be some way to track it to a fleet sale...The lack of a radio is pretty common. In fact that is a big plus in one of these "rolling piles of misery" (beatcha to it Bill!) A lot of these trucks had terrible holes hacked into the dash to fit anything from 8 track players to casette decks. Once the dash is cut, it is a lot of work to take it back to original. These old trucks were most often bought to work for the owners. The concept of a truck as a personal vehicle was still a few years in the future. I think the only radio available was an AM unit. There are used ones floating around out there if you really want one. I think the popular concept for a more modern sound systen is to mount it out of sight. Anyway, welcome to FTE. You will find all sorts of resources available to you here.

 

Things we take for granted today, were optional back then, including these examples:

AM radio, fresh air or recirculating heater, two speed wipers, cigarette lighter, seat belts, all outside mirrors, 4 way flashers, rear bumpers, the spare tire and the wheel.

There is really no way to trace the truck back to the dealership that sold it, because Ford tossed out all the records in the 1970's.

IF you have the original owners manual, dealers were supposed to rubber stamp their name/address/city/state/phone number into it, but not all did.

There was no set place in the manual for this info, so it could be on the inside/outside covers, or lawd only knows where.

From the DSO code, it is possible to find out what Ford District Sales Office in what city the truck was originally ordered from, but that's it.

The DSO code is reversed embossed stamped on the 3rd line of the Warranty Plate, which is located on the left door face below the latch.

DSO code examples: 21 = Atlanta / 34 = Indianapolis / 44 or 58 = Twin Cities / 54 = Omaha / 61 = Dallas / 71 = Los Angeles.

 

I kinda thought this would be the case, its just that I had to ask. Thanks for the fast response. I got the manuals now so time for some boning up .... Thanks again! Brian

 

A cherry dash is the most desired option for todays slick buyer....

Garbz

 

cherry equals uncut/hacked fwiw .....to add a bit to garbz note above...

As for original owner...Todays privacy stuff wont allow that..but in my case I was able to get the original application for title from my trucks original selling state(Or.) It gave me the selling dealer and so on...it was cheap and very valuable as far as documenting the history...I did make sure to say I needed/wanted the info for historical pourposes and also that Im the present owner of said truck. I dont live in Or., but it was still easy to get and fast too...gotta love microfiche :-)


- cs65

 

Thanks for the info cs65 ~ its time to get out of the past and head to current events My need now is to repair the turn signal issue the spring is broke and he horn does not work.

 

I bet you need a turn signal switch as the horn feed is part of the switch wiring. If you have a bad column bearing that will cause the shaft to be more free in the housing...and thus cut the wire...its what happened to mine...


- cs65

 

Before you do anything check the gap between the steering wheel and column. it is to be only 1/16" if it is more the tang that actuates the turn signals and the horn contact is to far away.

It is simple to fix. and real common due to sagging cab mounts and bad rubber pucks.

Report back the distance.

Garbz