1963 F-350 Cab/Chassis -- IT'S ALIVE!

[reflectionpoint]

Alright.. so I was talking to a car/bike/truck-nut friend of mine today at the grocery store about my '72 F100 Project and he said: "You know, I have a '63 F350 flatbed I'd sell you if you promise not to part it out"

I reluctantly declined as my finances are pretty well drained with family expenses and the little bit here and there I've been spending on the F100. He replied, oh, you can afford it, if you promise. Intrigued, I said that I would be willing to look at it with him and discuss it.

Long story short, I saw it tonight and will be getting the title Monday. He placed what he called a "gentlemen's price" (similar to a gentlemen's wager) on it of $100 to transfer ownership.

He said with the 390 that is installed at 4000RPM the top speed is about 57 MPH. It has a 4-Speed with a granny-low first, and a 5.13 pinion in the (monstrous) rear end.


Nice straight bodied cab, notice the original front bumper straddling the frame.


Door tag.

So.. I was thinking--maybe a tow truck? Possible Cummins swap? What ideas come to your head when you see a beautiful piece of machinery like this?

Also.. it has real-deal widow-maker wheels. I haven't even started to look yet, but obviously they need to go--anyone have any ideas in this arena also?

[91Bear]

Widow-maker? Why?

[reflectionpoint]

Widow-maker? Why?

This article explains it better than I can. They are called that because they have killed people, both due the negligence of the operator and due to poor design. The tire shop I work for will gladly work on any split rim except these 'widow maker' type rims.

http://www.fatfenderedtrucks.com/misc/VT1207a.jpg

[papabug71]

Man, I havent herd the term widow maker wheel in a long time. That truck is a time machine!

That old truck is awsome. I wouldnt worry about swapping a cummins in it. With 5:13's the 390 will provide all the power you will ever need. I wounder what the crawl ratio in compound is? SLOW would be a good guess.

Is the rear a DANA 70 ?

It would look NICE with a Western Hauler style flatbed on it .

[reflectionpoint]

I wounder what the crawl ratio in compound is? SLOW would be a good guess.

Is the rear a DANA 70 ?

It would look NICE with a Western Hauler style flatbed on it .

Well from what I read about the T-18 it should have a 6.32:1 first, so that would put the crawl ratio around 32.5 giving first gear the possibility (at 4000rpm) to reach a blistering 12MPH with the tires installed! The rear is indeed a Dana 70.

I was thinking Western Hauler or maybe a Tow Bed--hmm the possibilities. =) The PO told me he once loaded about 4000 pounds on the flatbed and the rear of the overloads just barely touched and the fronts didn't touch yet. Said it rode a LOT smoother though.. haha. Also told me about bringing a heavily overloaded trailer through the mountains; said he was fine going up, only scary part was coming down with the (at that time, unchecked) four-wheel drum brakes. =)

Another thought he put in my head was to graft 'two' beds off a '63 together and tub them to cover the duals, so you could have a real truck bed and it'd look like a real pickup--combine that with a gooseneck hitch and you'd have a cool lil tote'r.

And I know a cummins would be unneccesary--and really it would slow the truck down because of the lower MAX RPM.. but can you imagine? haha..I know I'm sick in the head.

[ezernut9mm]

sweet find. those front roll pans are very desirable. with the 132" wheel base i think a long bed will fit.

[rjewkes]

It would make a neat tow truck. why so slow for a 390 it should be possable to get a 75 mph max speed. is it the 5.13 that slows it up or is it becuase of the transmission or suspension?

And anybody else notice that while ford says the vin number isn't for title and reg especialy the older the car is, thats exactly what every state in the nation uses that number for?

[reflectionpoint]

It would make a neat tow truck. why so slow for a 390 it should be possible to get a 75 mph max speed. is it the 5.13 that slows it up or is it because of the transmission or suspension?

You're exactly right. The 'bigger' the ratio in the rear end, the slower the vehicle can travel. Also, having a low geared transmission (as is the case with this truck) adds to that problem. Basically, the drive shaft has to spin 5.13 times for each time the axles are turned. My '72 F100 with a 390 will run 100MPH, I've done it two or three times..by comparison, the rear end ratio is 3.50 and it weighs less..haha. Also, as a side note, this truck originally had a 292 Y Block which makes much less power (stock) than the 390--so it needed this gearing to do much of anything..now it's sort of a beast because of the gearing coupled with good FE Block power.

Another consideration, after I put all the specs into a calculator, it should go about 76 mph full out, but I don't know if the speedo is calibrated correctly?? Plus I would never want to drive this truck that fast unloaded...WAY to stiff in the rear, I'd end up flipped in a ditch somewhere after hitting a crease in the pavement..haha

There are other factors, such as weight, the driver's juevos/stupidity factor, etc. but in this case the reason it is so 'slow' is because it is geared for brute pulling strength, not for extensive highway travel (great wrecker, not so great of an interstate hauling rig).. hope that helps.

[rjewkes]

Sure does. I wonder if 4.55 or 4.11 would give it a mix of both good grunt and slightly faster highway speeds for when you have to take the hghway to get to a wreck?

[reflectionpoint]

Sure does. I wonder if 4.55 or 4.11 would give it a mix of both good grunt and slightly faster highway speeds for when you have to take the hghway to get to a wreck?

That'd be nice, except for the spring issue..which may be solved some other way. I really want to get the truck back into running-condition and see what she'll do and how she feels before I dig to deep in that beautiful piece of iron they call a D70 =)

[montyF350]

I've got a D70 in my '69 F350, with 4.56 gears and a granny first box. maxes out at about 70mph on the flat with a tail wind haha..

Oh and it has a 240ci six in it! poor thing screams its head off.. so i don't do it that often, usually 60 max. I drive it everyday to work. It was a wrecker when i got it, lengthening it at the moment and fitting a ramptruck body.

[reflectionpoint]

Pulled the truck home tonight behind the Explorer. Nothing was frozen up (brakes and such), rolled really nice, 40-45mph. I put a special cocktail in the cyl's before we left and part way through the trip I slowly eased it into 4th gear and it rolled right over and sputtered to life for a brief instant (no gas in the tank, so nothing to sustain it).. was kind of funny when suddenly I had power brakes.. haha. Anyways, seems like with a battery and good fuel it will be a running machine.

Will post updates / more pics in the next few days.

-~E

[ezernut9mm]

Pulled the truck home tonight behind the Explorer. Nothing was frozen up (brakes and such), rolled really nice, 40-45mph. I put a special cocktail in the cyl's before we left and part way through the trip I slowly eased it into 4th gear and it rolled right over and sputtered to life for a brief instant (no gas in the tank, so nothing to sustain it).. was kind of funny when suddenly I had power brakes.. haha. Anyways, seems like with a battery and good fuel it will be a running machine.

Will post updates / more pics in the next few days.

-~E

be sure to head over to "fordtruk" dot com and introduce yourself and your truck!

[reflectionpoint]

Well got a chance to go tinker today. The good news is.. after an hour or so, I got it running! The bad news is.. the in-cab tank has rust-through which I didn't notice until AFTER I had put fuel in it. I got the truck running by putting a length of fuel line into a gas can.

I have two bedside tanks on the F100.. I'm taking one off to use temporarily on the F-350 until I can either get a new in-cab or until I find a more permanent tank to put behind the rear-end inside the frame rails.

Bottom line. It does run, it moves under it's own power (if only a couple feet) both forward and reverse. I only let it run until it got to running temperature, then shut it down. I'll do this a few times before I drive it. Also--the oil looked great, nice and clean. Before and after running. I'm still going to change it next time I go out there though.

I'm all smiles

[reflectionpoint]

Well.

Went back out today to get it going again and thought I'd start making 'improvements' because I knew the fuel system wasn't happy.. it'd run but it wouldn't go much above idle and a few other symptoms. I had already changed the carb mounted fuel filter and I knew the fuel was clean and good so I focused my attention elsewhere.

I started my checking the fuel pressure and it was about 1.5lbs. haha. So I got a fuel pump. Then the carb gave up the ghost with all the new pressure.. it wasn't real great to start with so it wasn't a surprise. Bottom line, new pump and temporarily put my Edel 650 4bbl on it. Wow. What a difference. I could start it, rev it, hold an rpm. Sounded pretty nice..

After running it for about 20 minutes and coughing and choking on the oil and dust burning off the exhaust I noticed some fresh oil on the front of the engine. After cleaning the area off and running the truck some more--sure enough. The front of the intake gasket is leaking..crap..the rear as well upon further inspection.

Noticed a few other little leaks too. And some ticking on the left bank-could just be because it sat so long. Looks like I'll probably be pulling it and giving it a thorough once over before doing anything else.

Also had my step-dad-in-law (haha) look at it and he is excited and wants to help me stretch it and make it into that dovetail car hauler I was dreaming about. Said he's done a few trucks very similar.




Power seat in a slick? That's right!


Another Sunday sunset.