OK.... I might have made a HUGE mistake,, maybe not. here's the long and short of it. my wifes 97 neons fuel pump went out the other week and while it was getting fixed she drove my scion xb for a couple days. LOW AND BEHOLD, she has decided she needs a new car now...... granted she has been driving the neon for 13 years but I'm just not buying a new car. SO!!!! I told her that I would buy and old pickup, get it running as a daily driver and she could have my scion xb. I found a person that has 4 53 to 56 ford f100's and f250's. we struck a deal and I get to cherry pick all of the parts off of all 4 trucks whatever I want until the truck is finnished. they are all in pretty nice shape, the best complete truck has a hood that says F250 on the hood,,, BUT,,,, is has 5 bolt wheels? is this a true f250? or do you think someone swapped the hood? I don't want to sound stupid,, what are the major differences between the f100's and f250's of these years???? they are all 1953 to 1956. is there some way to tell the difference easily? is there any huge advantage to one over the other for a daily driver? what I am trying to do is get a daily driver up and going "relatively" cost effectively... NOT CHEAP,, just got going all out. any help or tips would be GREATLY appreciated!!!
I think the f250 hood is as you suspect a transplant, a f250 should have 8 bolt wheels and a full floating rear axle. As far as which year to choose the 56 came with a 12 volt electrical system, and if it has the big rear window it potentially has more value then the others. Lots of parts available for any of them. Best of Luck, Bruce
As the guys above have said, sounds like the hood has been swapped. The early F100's make for great daily transport ( aawwright maybe I'm a little bi***ed!) . Don't forget to join the social group here on the hamb - friendly helpful people. .
53 ,54 have the same springs as do the 55,56 F100's. Good luck with yours. Im still working on my 56. Hope to have it ready by early summer next year. Get side tracked sometimes.
On the same subject. I have a buddy with an F250 and looking at it are the fenders different than the F100s? The front wheel openings seem huge.
The bigger trucks F600 etc had the bigger openings to accommodate the larger wheels & tires. It could be that your buddy's truck has those. My old '56 was an all original F250 , eight lug 16.5 split rim etc when I bought it, but after going through three parts trucks, all of which were F100s, I can clarify that the fenders are definitely the same. In my '56 album there are pics of the truck before I converted from F250 to F100 and a fairly clear shot of the 8 lug and original stock fender. Damn, now I miss my truck all over again! Oh, another difference, the '53 to '55 trucks had a flat windshield, the '56 was curved.
On the other hand it could be a 250, Thats what this one was but I shortened it 8 inches behind the cab and wacked about 12 inches off the back. This one still had the old bulldog type 4 in the floor and ran out pretty good, not sure if the f100s had that??? slid f1 hubs and backing plates rite on the f250 axle, then changed the rearend to a five lug,also put this old bed, and some running boards on it.....It still showed its true iden***y on the ***le tho. (took a few leafs out front and back to get it a little lower also) This is as far as I got. Im back looking for another 56 project is why I found this thread.
The Jalopy Journal
