1971 Ford F250 Camper Special

Hello my name is Larry W. and I currently live in the great state of Texas.

I bought the truck in 1989 in California as a project to replace a 1970 F250 Camper Special which I’d restored back in 1978 (wish I had pictures to show of that one).  With a 11 ½ foot Dolphin camper slid in the bed we took fishing, camping, boating, to the desert with off road vehicles in tow, making great memories for my young kids.

I sold that 1970 F250 in the early 1980s due to the Gas Crisis (and always regretted that).

Later when OPEC loosened their grip on the US oil market, I started searching for a replacement of the truck I loved so much.

In 1989, I catch an ad in the local car trader paper for this 1971 F250 Ford.   “It don’t run, and had been sitting for several years. $600.00”.  I thought, “Wow Great”, so I borrowed a buddy’s truck and trailer to go check it out.  It was tucked deep back in behind this fella’s garage.  He said it had a blown head gasket.  I looked it over and it had some dents and a rattle-can white paint job but zero rust, a strong undercarriage, and everything was there.  And, yes it was a Camper Special!

So with a borrowed battery I got it to run enough to limp it out in the alley, where we loaded it on the trailer.

The restoration began, with the help with my 10 year old son and his 8 year old sister (pictured).  We started by pulling out that wounded 360, stripping her down to build it back up into a beefy 390.  Block machining, 390 rotating assembly, GT 390 bump stick head work to match cam.  Aluminum intake and some hooker headers.  Freshened up the C6 trans with a shift kit and seals.  She was up and running.  And for years it was used as my work truck around the property.

The truck became a sentimental attachment when we where out camping in California desert when I decide to teach my daughter Kelly to drive.  With lot of open spaces, why not, good idea right.  After a while she was doing so well I decided to let her do more and run a bit of lite off- roading.  Well we found a rut bigger than expected and bounced heavy through it, when we landed there was a loud whirling sound coming from under the hood, so I quickly reached and shut her down, ran out lifted the hood and found the battery had come loose and landed on the alternator, carving a hole in it and slinging electrolyte all under the hood.  Quick thinking I doused the engine bay with all the bottles of water we had stored in the ice chest in the bed.  With a badly wounded battery and miles from camp, I quickly set the battery back up in place and hoped she would restart.  Yes, it did and got us back to camp.  Needless to say, my poor daughter was truly upset feeling she had just ruined daddy’s truck and our chances for getting home safely.  Well that one incident set a bond between my daughter Kelly and this old truck.  And from that day on she always knew it as “The White Truck”.

For years after that, it became a strong work horse.  When we built our own home, it hauled lumber, rock, dirt, pipe, you know all that stuff (picture) and so marked another important bond to it in our lives.

And thru all those years, the thoughts of fully restoring her had never left my mind.  Enter 2020 and the isolation of the pandemic, so I keep my promise to myself I started the restoration.  First I put it up on the lift, cleaned and painted the frame and suspension, removed the bed to do body work and cross brace repairs, then removing the front clip and cleaning the engine compartment.  Once the engine was openly
exposed, I decided this was a good time to change out the 4bbl carburetor to a Edlebrock Pro 4 fuel injection system.  Now with all the panels and doors removed I proceeded with all the body, prep, and paint work.  Then I reassembled it with all new body seals and weatherstripping purchased from LMC Truck, knowing LMC would have all the rubber I needed to restore it back to factory.

I was very excited to find LMC Truck now stocked the 70/72 grille shells just in time for my reassembly.  With the new LMC Premium Chrome bumper, side molding, wheel housing trim, grille shell, headlamp bezels, and emblems, she was looking sharp.  Now a new carpet set, and bench seat upholstery cover and the help of two grandsons (picture), all it needed was a set of great looking wheels and tires to complete her great look.

Many thanks to LMC Truck.  If not for their large parts availability, I would have not been to build my dream F250 again.  Thank You.