Hi All,
I recently retired and I plan to do a lot of things which require a truck. So, I’ve been browsing the usual sites looking for a daily driver/project. Thought I’d pick up a cheap 67-72 K20 but the prices are INSANE, so, I started looking outside GM. I’ve always loved the styling of the early Ford and International trucks.
I saved a bunch of ads but kept coming back to this truck. Finally, the night before we were due to leave on a 3 week trip (which we are on now, hello from Motel 6 in Spokane, WA), I called the guy, talked to him and struck a deal. We drove 2-½ hours from L.A. to his place. (By this point, my wife was slightly less than amused)
Project Dumpster Fire on YouTube
I met and talked with the owner and we went over the truck with a flashlight as there are no lights where he lives. He seemed like a really honest guy and knew the whole history of the truck.
It is a 1964 F250 4x4. It was originally a 6 cylinder truck, nothing fancy, no radio purchased new by the county of Los Angeles. In the pictures, you can still see the county ID number as well as several stickers outlining various county vehicle rules. It was ordered by the county without a bed. I’m assuming that they installed a flatbed or equipment bed of some type which they removed when the truck left county service.
The first private owner bought it from the county in the late 60’s-early 70’s. He used it as a chase truck in the Baja 500 among other things. Around the same time, he bought a new 1973 F250, which he promptly rolled. After the insurance company was done with him, he swapped the 360 and the 4 speed from the new but destroyed 1973 into this truck. As this truck still had no bed, he created the frankenbed that you see here. It’s the full bed off of the 1973 F250, with the sides cut off and Servis boxes bolted through 2x10’s into the bed floor. The boxes are tied to the leftover front and rear sections of the 1973 bed with about 150 tiny hardware store eye bolts! The amount of flex is unreal.
The original owner passed away a few years ago and his family asked their friend (the man I bought it from) to get it running again so that it could be sold. He did, then fell in love with the truck, ended up buying it and replaced the entire fuel system, rebuilt the engine and installed a dual circuit power brake system.
Eventually he decided to let it go to fund other projects (he’s mainly a Land Rover and Jeep guy).
This is where I come in.
I drove the truck 3 hours home on the freeway at about 65-70 (verified by my wife who was following in her car) With the 4.56 gears and 33 inch tires, that put me just north of 3000 rpm. It didn’t feel stressed at all, ran about 160 degrees and was smooth as silk. Seriously. I’ve owned and driven a lot of old trucks and the squeaks, rattles, gear whine and other asorted sounds that I’ve come to expect were totally absent. This thing runs smoooth! Also, it rides pretty well for a 60 year old ¾ ton truck. No slop in the shifter or steering column bearings at all.
My plans: As I said earlier, I left on vacation the morning after I bought the truck I haven’t had much time to crawl around it. I get home in 2 weeks and the truck will be my top priority. Oh, did I mention that it’s my only 4 wheeled vehicle? Yeah. I feel 16 again!
The first priority after a general once over is going to be the bed. This is going to be a “Use what you’ve got laying around” type of project. The Frankenbed has to go. I think I’ll mount the rear section with the tailgate to my garage wall to use as a drop down BBQ table.
I couldn't find very much on YouTube about these trucks (especially the 4X4s) so I decided to start my own channel. Feel free to follow along with nonsense:
Project Dumpster Fire on YouTube
I recently retired and I plan to do a lot of things which require a truck. So, I’ve been browsing the usual sites looking for a daily driver/project. Thought I’d pick up a cheap 67-72 K20 but the prices are INSANE, so, I started looking outside GM. I’ve always loved the styling of the early Ford and International trucks.
I saved a bunch of ads but kept coming back to this truck. Finally, the night before we were due to leave on a 3 week trip (which we are on now, hello from Motel 6 in Spokane, WA), I called the guy, talked to him and struck a deal. We drove 2-½ hours from L.A. to his place. (By this point, my wife was slightly less than amused)
Project Dumpster Fire on YouTube
I met and talked with the owner and we went over the truck with a flashlight as there are no lights where he lives. He seemed like a really honest guy and knew the whole history of the truck.
It is a 1964 F250 4x4. It was originally a 6 cylinder truck, nothing fancy, no radio purchased new by the county of Los Angeles. In the pictures, you can still see the county ID number as well as several stickers outlining various county vehicle rules. It was ordered by the county without a bed. I’m assuming that they installed a flatbed or equipment bed of some type which they removed when the truck left county service.
The first private owner bought it from the county in the late 60’s-early 70’s. He used it as a chase truck in the Baja 500 among other things. Around the same time, he bought a new 1973 F250, which he promptly rolled. After the insurance company was done with him, he swapped the 360 and the 4 speed from the new but destroyed 1973 into this truck. As this truck still had no bed, he created the frankenbed that you see here. It’s the full bed off of the 1973 F250, with the sides cut off and Servis boxes bolted through 2x10’s into the bed floor. The boxes are tied to the leftover front and rear sections of the 1973 bed with about 150 tiny hardware store eye bolts! The amount of flex is unreal.
The original owner passed away a few years ago and his family asked their friend (the man I bought it from) to get it running again so that it could be sold. He did, then fell in love with the truck, ended up buying it and replaced the entire fuel system, rebuilt the engine and installed a dual circuit power brake system.
Eventually he decided to let it go to fund other projects (he’s mainly a Land Rover and Jeep guy).
This is where I come in.
I drove the truck 3 hours home on the freeway at about 65-70 (verified by my wife who was following in her car) With the 4.56 gears and 33 inch tires, that put me just north of 3000 rpm. It didn’t feel stressed at all, ran about 160 degrees and was smooth as silk. Seriously. I’ve owned and driven a lot of old trucks and the squeaks, rattles, gear whine and other asorted sounds that I’ve come to expect were totally absent. This thing runs smoooth! Also, it rides pretty well for a 60 year old ¾ ton truck. No slop in the shifter or steering column bearings at all.
My plans: As I said earlier, I left on vacation the morning after I bought the truck I haven’t had much time to crawl around it. I get home in 2 weeks and the truck will be my top priority. Oh, did I mention that it’s my only 4 wheeled vehicle? Yeah. I feel 16 again!
The first priority after a general once over is going to be the bed. This is going to be a “Use what you’ve got laying around” type of project. The Frankenbed has to go. I think I’ll mount the rear section with the tailgate to my garage wall to use as a drop down BBQ table.
I couldn't find very much on YouTube about these trucks (especially the 4X4s) so I decided to start my own channel. Feel free to follow along with nonsense:
Project Dumpster Fire on YouTube
