to come for information. It's a straight 6 and his grandpa bought it a month before the current owner was born and he'd like it restored with a couple of modifications. I've seen it before, but I really didn't look to close to it's condition. He said it currently runs but its a bear to drive. He'd like to have power steering added on along with A/C (I was thinking Vintage Air) and he'd also like to change the rear gear in it. Any idea what rear end came in a '59 3/4 ton? (I'm guessing it's not a 9", maybe a Dana?) what 4-speed tranny? (I'm thinking it's not a Toploader, not sure of name of it, I guess it has a granny gear) What is the model of truck? (is it an F-200?) It's got some surface rust, but he said he wasn't aware of any rust thru (though I'm sure there is some). I've told him names of people to take it to to get the various things done to it, but he doesn't want to deal with the hassle and it was suggested that maybe I do it. He asked me how much it would cost to restore, I told him to do it right, I could easily see 20k-25k sunk into it (didn't bat an eye). Without seeing pics of the truck (which I hope to post), do you think I'm far off? What should I charge to oversee this restoration? I was thinking 10% of the total cost of restoration (25k = 2.5k to me), does that sound reasonable? too much? too little? How hard is it to find parts for these trucks? I'm in Oklahoma City and I'm aware of Obsolete Ford down on I-35 South, I intend to get a catalog from them this week (I was just propositioned with this last night at church). I know Mustangs and Fairlanes and Galaxies and Falcons and such, been a fan of the '53-'56 trucks (a friend had a '56 big back window) but don't know much about the '57-'60 models. Thanks for any links you might know of for me to peruse, I'm writing this at work, so I won't have too much time to research until this evening, I just thought I'd post here and maybe get a jump on some leads before doing a blind Google search.

Larry

 

Welcome! I'll try and answer as many questions as possible. The staright six is a 223 and a very dependable motor.

Power steering can be added. It might be harder since your dealing with 8 lug heavy duty front end.

The model is a f-250

There are alot of parts being made of the 57-60. The place where money comes is body work. There's not alot of patch panels being made. Luckly, these trucks are still plentiful in the dry climates and panels are still fairly cheap.

As far as the cost, I think I'll have close to $15,000 in mine including the orignal cost. Body work is what might make mine more costly. I'd give him a high estamate until you see the truck.
The easiest way is too keep it looking stock but with more modern easily avalible parts(I wish sometimes I had gone that route). He's adding A/C and pwr steering so orignality isn't at an all time high.

Hope this helps, A few more will be around to help soon. -4speed

 

Thanks Mr4speed. Patch panels or replacement panels was one concern. I think he said the bottom of the tail gate was rusted pretty bad. I believe it had been in a barn when he got it and its been in a shop since. Wiring was another thought, guages and such. Any ideas on the name of the rear end and the tranny? Glad to know about the 223, any relation to the 200 or 240 straight six? (or even the 300?) Are there any companies that make a power steering add-on that doesn't replace the steering box? The stuff he'd be adding I'd like to be as bolt-on as possible to where it can be removed with as little evidence that it was there as possible, but replacing some steering parts is a little further than I'd like to take it if possible. He has no intention of ever selling it, and even restored, I'm not sure how much it would be worth to someone. (I'm not even sure if it's 4x4 or 4x2.)

Gear Vendors OD is a possibility I guess too.

Larry

 

223 is related to the 215 but the 240 and 300 are a different family. Almost all the steering kits I've seen use a toyota box with a ram that mounts the to the beam. I want to say dana 44 for the rear but I'll have to look it up. The tranny is a new process which I'll also look up. taxijack.com/bj/index.com -is a good source for 57-60 info as well. A f-250 six cylinder wouldn't be a very desirable truck to sell, so its good to know that some body wants it. Get on ebay, they have a ton of parts. dennis-carpenter.com and order a catalog(I really like his stuff). macsantiqueautoparts.com is another good source. The tailgates are almost always rusted, but I have a feeling a repo is in the works. -4speed

 

Thanks Mr4, YOU DA MAN!!!

I'll try and check those out tonight when I get home.

 

Hello, i've been looking on this forum for quite awhile now and i just wanted to say its great!! there is alot of very helpful and useful info. Up until Feb. when i got deployed to kuwait i was working on my 49 F-1. This might need to go in the engine forum ,sorry if it does. My truck has the 239 Flathead that needs rebuilt. It runs but would like to tear it down and check it out before that i run it. My question is that I have a 215 out of a 52F-2 that i rebuilt about 6 years ago and never ran, it has a 4 speed tranny. Would this be a descent engine to run until I rebuild my flathead or should i look for something else in your guy's opinion. thanks for any input you have

 

Hi Larry,
The rear axle on the '59 F-250 (both 2WD & 4WD) is the Dana 60.
1959 F-250 rear axle gear ratios are........

If you have a 223 six cyl. .........4.88 to 1
If you have a 292 V-8 ..............4.55 to 1

'59 F-250 4WD has a Dana 44-4F front axle, with 4.55 to 1 ratio.

 

Thanks Kenny!!! I should be able to put a smaller gear in there pretty easily then.

I ordered the free catalogs from Dennis Carpenter and from Mac's (thanks to Mr4speed) but couldn't get the TaxiJack site to come up, only got Taxi's.

I was just thinking how cool a late model EFI 300 with an AOD would be in there with some smaller gears.

Larry

 

Welcome Larry!
If you can hunt one down, power steering was a factory option on the 60, which is pretty much the same truck, except it looks cooler. Good luck with the truck.
Here is a link to Backroad Jack's,the taxijack 4Speed mentioned.
http://www.taxijack.com/bj/index.htm


Bob
1960 F-100
1995 F-150

 

I saw a nice black '59 F-100 on my way to work today, I actually passed my exit, then passed the guy and hit the next exit so I could see all sides (but the right) of the vehicle. I knew it was a '57-'60, but am not up to the differences on the grilles yet, I confirmed its age on Backroad Jack's site. If anyone knows this guy in the OKC area, let me know, I want to find out if he has any parts vehicles.

Larry