Saturday, March 13, 2004  -  I spent the whole day today at the salvage yard I visited back on Page 14. It turns out my showing up today was good timing...the owner tells me a car crusher is scheduled to visit his yard next weekend. There was a '67 and two '71 F-100s here that I spent right at 8 hours stripping down. I got a lot of good parts, most for my '67, but some for resale to finance my truck project. Here's a listing of today's score:

• pair of '67 doors (rust and dent free, West Coast mirror holes)
• '67 wiring harness (full-instrumentation)
• '67 instrument panel (full-instrumentation)
• '67 heater control cables
• '67 ashtray
• '67 turn signal lever
• '67 dog-dish hubcap (dent-free)
• '67 r/s headlight bezel (small dents)
• '67 turn signal lenses (one good, one with micro-cracks)
• '67 tail-light trim (several tiny dents)
• '67 hood emblems ('F100', NO pits, faded paint)
• '67 chrome styleside bumper with brackets and trailer hitch
• '67 fuel tank sending unit (perfect)
• '71 fender (rust and dent-free)
• '71 lower valance panel
• two '71 power steering/automatic steering columns

• several useable scuff plates
• two power brake boosters/master cylinders
• '71 Camper Special auxiliary fuel tank and access door (dealer-installed, outside of frame, driver's side)
• square-base antenna (excellent condition)
• '71 left/rear reflector
• '71 green passenger-side armrest
• '71 rear clearance lights (2)
• Camper Special emblems (one broken stud)
• A pair of Junior West Coast mirrors (great shape)
• '71 steel door panels
• '71 windshield washer tank
• defroster hoses
• heater blower motor
• auto transmission cooler
• horns (2 pairs)
• underhood jack and handle

Since my wife had to use the truck tonight to go to work, I ran out of time tonight or I'd have gotten more parts. And the best part about this whole deal? Well, because I give him all my truck carcasses to be crushed for scrap after they're stripped down, he cut me a good deal. I paid $100 for the whole lot! WOOHOO!!

There are two '73-'79 trucks with power disc brake setups that I've got dibs on, plus I'll be removing a set of 3-point belts from a '78(?) and from that '71 Camper Special I still want to get the complete power steering setup and the factory auxiliary tranny cooler. Plus he's got a Chivvy Camper Special truck with the rear sway bar that I'm going to get to mount on my Ford. I did some measuring a while back and it appears it would be a simple bolt-on.

I first started on the '67. I don't believe I didn't notice on my first trip there, but both doors are about as good as I've seen. No rust and no dents. A previous owner at some time had the West Coast-style mirrors installed, though the doors presently have the smaller factory style. Depending on which direction I take with mirrors for my project, I'll have some holes to fill. But considering that the original doors on my truck had the lower 3" eaten away with rust, I'm VERY happy. Also, the driver's door has a 6x9 speaker mounted down low. It doesn't look as butchered-in as some of his other 'custom' touches, though...and since I was planning on doing the same thing, it'll work just fine. I'll have to cut another hole in the passenger-side door to match.

Although I wanted to keep the unique '67 touches on this truck, I've been seriously considering using '68-'72 doors, with the different-style safety door release. As pointed out to me, the '67-style are more prone to being accidentally opened, especially with kids. Plus, since I have a pair of '68 doors, I figured I'd just go ahead and use them. However, after finding these, I've definitely decided to keep the '67-style doors. I'll just have to make sure any children riding in the truck are adequately belted in...as it should be anyway, right?

Fig. 1 - This '67 supplied a great pair of doors...no rust and no dents! Just a couple West Coast-style mirror holes to fill, unless I decide to go that route. I'm still debating.

Fig. 2 - The driver's door has a 6x9 speaker mounted low. You can see his version of custom door panels. He even coated the window crank and door lever on both side with foam and electrical tape, much like the steering wheel seen back on Page 14.

I DID find something interesting today. It's widely known that Ford stamped the truck's VIN on the frame in two spots, both on the passenger-side top frame rail (see 'Finding Your VIN Numbers'). However, while looking this junker '67 over, I also found another set of numbers on the outside front of the driver's side frame rail. These appear to be the frame's part number (see Fig. 3). I didn't check to see if the VIN also existed on the passenger side on this particular truck. I'm guessing this was a very early '67, and that later '67-up frames had the number stamped elsewhere, since this is the first time I've seen the part number stamped in this location...even my current '67 frame doesn't have this part number stamped here.

Fig. 3 - These are the frame part number stampings. This frame is a '67.