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1961 Ford F500 project.

Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2022 11:47 pm
by JSinMO
This thread will primarily be about my efforts to bring this truck back into service and back on the road. If you will indulge me I’d like to start this with the story of the truck.
To do that we have to start at the beginning, or as close as we can get. February of 1970 to be exact. That’s when a farmer bought this truck from the original owner for use on his farm. The truck had been rolled on its passenger side by the original owner. How or why I don’t know. But the farmer made what repairs were needed including beating the fender back into shape.
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The truck spent its life on the farm primarily as a flat bed in the hay fields around the area bringing bales to the barn with the occasional trip to town of course. As time went on and the farming operation changed and grew. The truck had less and less work to do and spent more and more time in the shed until it was finally retired and didn’t leave the shed again. The last time it was licensed to be on the road was in 1987.

That brings us to today and my trip to Mr Gamms’s farm to bring the truck to my house. He relayed this information to me and now I relay it to you. He apologized for his poor body work. I told him had nothing to apologize for, nowadays they call that patina! He thanked me for purchasing his truck. He told me the man I was bidding against was a scrapper, had I not placed a bid at the last minute this truck would have been on its way to the scrap yard! He was greatful that I wanted to bring it back to life.

We had rain showers most of the day today and the field the truck was parked in was wet and the hill leading out of the field was muddy and rutted. Mr Gamm’s son said I’ll pull you up the hill, I said I know the brakes don’t work, but what about the emergency brake? Mr Gamm said yea it works. I’ll try to drive it up then. He just shook his head.

With that I walked to the truck and cranked it up. With some feathering of the clutch and throttle I started across the field. As I reached the bottom of the muddy embankment I gave the truck more throttle and the engine roared. As we made are way up, the rear end fishtailed as the bald tires pawed at the mud. The truck clawed it’s way to the top of the hill where Mr Gamm was sitting. His son said “ I can’t believe Herbie made it up the hill”! I said what did you call it? He said we have always call him Herbie.
Then I will too.

So this is Herbie the 1961 Ford that was 1 bid away from the scrap yard.
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I hope I can do Herbie justice and get him back on the road. I’d love to drive over to Mr Gamm’s farm for a visit!

I hope you didn’t mind the long winded story. That’s the longest rambling I’ve had yet!
To be continued…..

Re: 1961 Ford F500 project.

Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2022 5:27 am
by propane1
Just a great ramble. Great story. Nice that it runs and moves. That’s a good start.

Noel

Re: 1961 Ford F500 project.

Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2022 7:36 am
by DavidBarkey
Not everything can or is worth saving , but when the opportunity to save something of that age from scrap and have the story to go with it .
:thumbsup: :clap:

Re: 1961 Ford F500 project.

Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2022 8:52 am
by Spike188
First the Case started and runs and now Herby. You really scored at the auction.

Re: 1961 Ford F500 project.

Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2022 9:24 am
by JSinMO
Spike188 wrote: Mon Sep 05, 2022 8:52 am First the Case started and runs and now Herby. You really scored at the auction.
I feel incredibly fortunate! It’s always a crap shoot when buying old equipment especially at auction. The Case and Herbie both need a fair amount of work, but so far they both appear to be great candidates to bring back into service.

Re: 1961 Ford F500 project.

Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2022 9:59 am
by Eugen
Very nice story and great save from the dump. Even all the lights work! Great! :cheers:

Re: 1961 Ford F500 project.

Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2022 11:08 pm
by JSinMO
Since I need to go to town for some parts on the 446 before I continue, I decided to spend some time doing a clean up / evaluation on the truck. Firstly I was corrected by Mr Gamm yesterday. This engine is a 272 Y block with a 2 barrel carburetor
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So the list stars.
Definitely needs the carburetor rebuild, the Excelerator pump is non existent, and the choke is sticky.
I didn’t bother to pull a spark plug I’m replacing them. I need to at least dress the points if not replace them.

Next item: the hoist.
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It does function. However the PTO shaft and pump are covered in 60 years of grease and dirt so it’s hard to see what I have. The hoist controls are very stiff and difficult to move. So at least a clean up and lube and fluid check.

I think the cab cleaned up well
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I knew I wanted a flatbed. The gran box can be handy but it will be an obstruction for most of our uses. I had to use big brother for this job.
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The panels are almost 13 feet long and are much heavier than I had anticipated. Thankfully the 648 was up to the task.
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I like the look of Herbie as a flatbed!
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. The drivers side glass is cracked but it might live for a while yet. It needs 6 tires for sure. And of course it needs brakes. I didn’t dig into them today but I’m already considering a full replacement from master cylinder to wheels.

So I’d say mostly typical stuff for an old vehicle so far.

Re: 1961 Ford F500 project.

Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2022 4:49 am
by propane1
I like the look of the flat bed too. Looks great. Wouldn’t be a whole lot of difference in hp between the 292 of the 272, I wouldn’t think. The 272 will work just fine.
Thanks for the pictures.

Noel

Re: 1961 Ford F500 project.

Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2022 5:53 am
by Chad
Looks great! That's a nice story and that you were able to save it - gotta feel good about that (you and the previous owner). Overall it looks to be in very good shape considering the age and backstory. Looking forward to your progress.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk


Re: 1961 Ford F500 project.

Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2022 8:24 am
by propane1
Saw this this morning at Canadian tire. 3/4 ton.


Noel :D