This truck fell into my lap. One of my best friends sent some pictures and a message asking me what I thought of this truck? It was a 1968 Ford F-100 short bed with dual tanks and a 390 FE with a manual 4 speed transmission. Other than a repaint years ago, it was all original with only 112K miles on it. I was told it just needed a carburetor. Asking if he was going to buy it, he said “No, I’m not into trucks. it’s for you!”. After some questions and finding out the asking price, I decided to make a run to Montana to pick it up. Driving 1,230 miles from AZ to Southwest Montana was pretty exciting to say the least. Seeing the truck in person and talking with the current owner, I found out that the truck has been in a barn for the last 18-ish years. It did need a bit more than a carburetor though. It had 5 missing lifters and pushrods. I got it home, ordered the parts, inspected the engine and found the internals very clean. There was a label maker sticker on the instrument cluster noting that the engine had been replaced at 87,650 miles. Only 25,000 miles on the new engine! And a quick measurement of the stroke shows it was upgraded from a 360 cid to a 390 cid and they replaced the factory 2bbl intake with a 4bbl intake.
After flushing the fuel tank, I installed a new carburetor, a belt, radiator hoses, fluids and the battery, it fired right up. A little fine tuning of the carburetor and it was good to go. I pulled some of the helper leaf springs from the rear and cut one coil from the front springs just to set it down a bit. I then rebuilt and flushed the brake system and added a power brake booster for a better stopping experience. 4 wheel drums are always better with a bit of power. I then ordered two 15″x 10″ wheels for the back and had them and the original 15″x5.5″ wheels powder coated to match the factory Wimbledon white paint, new tires and it was ready for the road! I’ve been driving it around to the local car shows and gradually tinkering with it. I replaced the arm rests, door locks, flasher switch, and little things like clutch pedal bushings, turn signal switch, etc…
The interior was all original and in need of some TLC. Even the seat had the original vinyl, but covered up with a cheap vinyl cover. I installed a carpet kit from LMC Truck and rebuilt the seat frame, I taught myself how to stitch auto upholstery, replaced the foam and stitched up new two-tone upholstery for it. I even re-upholstered the headliner to match. There are so many replacement parts that are available now from LMC that it’s a no-brainer when deciding to build a classic truck.