History of This 1965 F100

This truck has been in my family for forty years. Its first build was in the early 1980's by my father. He took the 1965 truck and dropped in a 390, C6 transmission, 9" rear end, power steering and brakes. Around 1992 I bought it and rebuilt everything he did and a fresh paint job. I drove it for a few years before parking it. It was garaged for 10 years before I had to move it to a shed. It sat in that shed for another 10 years. It sat for a total of 20 years until the spring of 2018 when I pulled it out of the shed, dusted it off and began to bring it back to life.

This is what the truck looked like when I got it in about 1992.

 

Around 1992/3 I pulled the old 390 and replaced it with a new/rebuilt crate engine. I remember the old engines timing chain was so lose that I could almost squeeze the chains together. I also replaced the C6 Transmission with a rebuilt one including a shift kit.

 After the Engine and Transmission were in, I started with the body work. I hired a local shop for this.

Below is the finished rebuild from 1993 (photos taken in 2008). The rims and tires were added around 1998 just before I parked it. From about 1999 until 2008 it was garaged. In 2008, after settling into my home, I created space for it and moved it from the garage at another residence to a metal shed at mine. There is sat covered in the shed for another 10 years.

In 2018 I pulled the 65 out of the shed. Overall, I was pleased with how well it stored. When I put it away, I covered it with a few large 100% cotton blankets, then an old car cover that didn't fit and then a big blue tarp. I tied it all down tight so that wind would not move the cover around.

After taking the covers off I found it to be dusty and it was obvious that it had been leaking fluids. The coolant is gone and the radiator shows many leaking areas. Oil is still there but tranny might have drained out. It was leaking when I parked. There is a lot of rust under the hood. But I have seen much worse and am pleased.

Here are the pics from March 2018.