My 48 Chevy that is slowly becoming my shop truck sitting on a 75 3/4 ton frame. And my sons 78 f250 that he lets me use for a work truck till mine is on the road
I wanted to expand on my '75 F100 story a little. I was never much of a ford guy. About 12 years ago a guy I worked with told me his brother died and he and his sister were cleaning out his house in a city about an hour and a half away. He said because he knew I played with old cars he wanted to know if I wanted to buy his brother's old ford truck.. I asked how old. He wasn't sure. He told me it was a V8 and 4x4. I was still not much interested. He mentioned it was a manual transmission and I was a little more interested. He said I could have it for a few hundred dollars because they were just going to scrap it otherwise. He said one of his brother's friends had been working on it and it was pretty close to being back on the road....he thought. I said, fine I will take it. (sight unseen) Had I seen it I would have declined. THIS is how I found the truck that was "almost back on the road". I was shocked but I was already there with the trailer so what the hell. The truck came with a new-in-the-box Edelbrock 600cfm carb and new tires that were each worth more than I paid for the truck so I was fine money-wise but I really thought at first I was going to haul this thing back to town and scrap it. My neighbors were not happy to see it arrive at my house on the trailer! I soon decided I would get it running and just use it as a beater to haul firewood out of the woods and not worry about cosmetics....Anyway. things snow-balled. The more I looked, the more I realized the suspension and frame were really solid despite its outward appearance. I started pulling dents by welding old nails to them and using a slide-hammer on them like a budget stud-gun. Ordered new wheel-arch sections for the bedsides and welded them in. Rebuilt the full-of-mud 360 FE. Pulled the whole thing off the frame in my 2 car garage and painted the frame, then painted the truck with rolled-on rustoleum. Anyway, there are a lot more pics I could have posted but out of virtually nothing, I wound up with a pretty darned cool old 4x4 that still earns its keep on a regular basis. I think even with the engine block machine work and rebuild kit I put this truck together for less than $3k. Drives real nice too.
78 f250 I just started re repainting tonight for my boss. His father in law bought it locally brand new
Been watching this truck roll around my area for quite a few years now, never been up close. Several weeks ago, at the grocery store it pulls up and parks right next to me. Older fella gets out, I intercept and ask a few questions. Did you buy it new? Yes. Is the truck always garaged, again, yes. Now here's the good one. How many miles on the truck? His answer, 460,000, it's on its third motor! These photos don't do the truck justice, taken on a nice day following weeks of our rainy Northwest winter weather, truck needed a bath. A tiny bit of rust down low and a few dings in the trim. Just a neat old truck.
The fleet number on the capper would explain the miles, but sure do make me question if he bought it new. I have a few drivable vehicles here, but I haven't had to put fleet numbers on them to keep track of them. hmmmm
My brother bought this truck new in 2005 and passed away in 2006. I’ve been caretaker of the truck ever since. It takes care of all my towing and camping duties.
66 F100 390 C6 , AC , Power Steering , Power Disc , 3.25 axle . 3rd time to redo it . My Bud has owned it for 40 plus years .
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