Well I got this phone call from a friend of mine and he asked
if I was interested in buying a old Ford Econoline truck?
I asked what year it was and what kind of shape it was in
and the grand daddy of all questions, How Much!!!
I was in Utah at the time at a show and I told him to get more
info and I'd call him when i got back to SoCal.
So heres what I found when I went to look at it.
It was a 1965 Heavy Duty model that was used as
some sort of refridgeration truck. It had health inspector
stickers in the windshield and these holes in the sides
of the bed I'm assuming for freezer doors? And judging by
the rust at the back of the cab it had leaked water down
from the cold air unit.
Because it's the Heavy Duty model it has the beefy
suspension and best of all a 9" rearend.
What I liked about this little truck was all the
original parts were there and in good shape just needing
some elbow grease. Check out the cool horn ring.
Even though it was all there (minus the tailgate) it needed
alot of work. I found out the thing had been sitting in a
field in Hemet for the last 25 years.
It came stock with a 240 inline 6 cylinder and a C4
auto trans with the short tail shaft. And the best part was
IT RAN!!!
The tires even held air. They are 14" and all of the wheels
had the original hub caps!
The shop where it was at had fab'd these side panels
where the hole's were to try to make it look more complete.
They were just tacked in from the rear and
need to be flush fit.
So I got it home and only shell'd out $400 bucks for it!
After lots of debating based on avalibility of parts both
OE and aftermarket I decided to sell the A100 truck
and do this one up insted. So stay tuned as I make
a plan for the little pickup. I have something
way cool in mind! Until then.....
.JPG)
I used to drive buy this A100 pickup everyday on my way to and from work. It was off the main road and you could bearly see it through all the trees and brush around the property it was on. I always wanted to go down and check out, cause I'm just that way when I see cool stuff. I'm always pokin' around places I probably dont belong.
So one day I'm driving down to San Diego to pick up materials for a job I'm working on, and I thought I wonder if that ol' truck is still sitting in that guys yard? So off the freeway I go and the property is now fenced in. I couldn't see the truck and I thought oh well and passed the lot and made a u-turn. On the way back guess what I could see? You guessed it, that ol' truck. So I'm thinkin',sneek back there and check it out!!!!
.JPG)
So I walk back behind this shed and this is what I found! It's a 1964 Dodge A100 Pickup. Lucky for me the guy was home and was sayin' goodbye to the wife on her way to work. I asked if he was interested in sellin' that ol' truck behind that shed and his wife took over and said "YES THAT THINGS FOR SALE,GET IT OUT OF HERE"! So a deal was made and two days later we were dragging it out of the place it had sat for almost 15 years. It was housing everything from rotted wood to dead rat's. I hate rat's!!! This is the view through the windshield into the cab area.
I found out that the ol' truck had given years of service as a service truck for the U.S. Navy down in San Diego. I think he said on Coranado Island. It was retired from service sometime in the mid 90's and one of the guys from the navy bought it when it went up for sale. It was driven by that guy and the guy I bought it from for about 3 years and than due to carb problems at was parked and left to be forgotten until the day I went to drag it home.
And so here I am with My new truck! My wife was trying to be as positive as she could since I had discribed my new diamond in the rough as just that a jewel. I now know that each of our definition of a jewel is very different. But she was still suportive about the project just the same. For about the first week everytime she looked at it she would just laugh. This is the first car project I've had since we got married (so far so good).
The guy I got the truck from had tried to fix the carb problem and lost interest and this is the result of 15 years of neglect. We had to dig all the ice plant out from under it and remove all the rotted wood from the bed. The tires amazingly all pumped up and after moving about 6 dead vehicles we got it on the trailer and on it's way to it's new home!
After about 2 hours with a putty knife, shop vac and an air hose the inside of the cab was in very good shape. And the best part of the deal was this thing was all there. Nothing had been removed from the truck or butchered up. It was very complete ( I really scored ).
The real score was when the guy said he had some stuff for the truck in the shed and comes out with these seats that are like brand new!!! These seats are the same ones that came in all the cool Mopar muscle cars and I hear are worth some cash!
After seeing the truck for the first time up close and seeing what great shape it was in, I had to have it. You gotta love California cars! I wasn't really excited that it had a slant six in it even though I'm told they're pretty good motors, so my first order of business was to yank that boat anchor out in favor for a much better set up. Now I'm not one of those purist type's so performance and reliability are more the direction I'm goin.
.JPG)
The truck came standard with a 216 slant 6 cyl and a 3 on the tree set up. Here's the tiny little trans after years of faithful service. But it's time for some new motivation to get the ol' truck back on the road agian. I want to be able to drive this thing all over the place and the most reliable and best performance combo (best bang for my buck) was to go with a 350 out of an early Chevy 1 ton and a 700R4 from a donor Asro van.
.JPG)
With the engine out and the inside of the cab all apart I took all of the engine dog house down to bear metal and will metal finish it and than off to the powder coaters once I get the rest of the truck pulled apart and see what else will get that treatment. So for now thats where I'm at.
This is a 1/24th scale Econoline that I have ( Pinstriped by Jeff Styles ) that is what I'm shooting for as an end result for my project. It's very close to the look of an A100 truck so It's a good guide to look at as I plan the build. So there is the first installment of project A100. Check back and watch as I bring this ol' truck back to life.
