New 63 pickup owner from GA

Hey all, I'm Cole. I picked up a 63' pickup some months back. Here's some pictures of it.







Like a lot of these pickups, it has some cancer, and has had a hard life. Though the 170 does run well and doesn't smoke. I haven't really played with yet just changed the brakes, wheels, tires, and got all the lights working. Think I need to rebuild the carb too. My plans are to just get it reliable and drive it around home and enjoy it, and maybe try to fix some of the bad spots as I go.

Thanks, Cole

nice start. welcome to v.v.

Welcome to VV cole63. Looks like a nice truck. Make sure to start a build thread as you go along.

Welcome!!!!

hey cole, i'm coal!

Welcome Cole... I'm a newbie here too, you'll love it here, this place rocks

Thanks for the warm welcome guys! I'll be sure to start a build thread once I start.

Here's another 1963 pickup with those same extra lights on the front. Was that a Ford option?

http://charlotte.craigslist.org/cto/3844352522.html

Did a few things today to the truck. Put a driver side regulator in, because the old one wouldn't roll all the way up. Still need to do some work to the carb and a basic tune up; plugs, wires, cap, and button.

Welcome Cole,,, Tim in Kentucky should be close enough to help you on any parts that you may need, super guy and lots of help...
vic

Welcome aboard Cole! Looks like a nice project. Plenty of knowledge and advise on this site from people with the same passion. Thanks for saving another one!!!

Welcome Cole,

Those lights were standard on Government trucks. From the pictures I'd say Cole's truck was an Air Force truck. The lights were optional on all Econolines but you see them mostly on the Gov DSO's

Duane in Tennessee.

Ya to the military and  look closer-yellow paint under the white!!  Usually =air force!!

WELCOME to VV !!!! Cole (And Mad Jack) Good Looking project you have there with some history also I will be looking foward to the build photos..JOE VAN.................

If you look under the yellow it looks like Air Force blue. You can see some around the drivers side headlight and inside the bed. A couple of other places too. The Air Force bought a bunch of these in 63. Two for every flight line they had. A lot of them went into public service after the Air Force was done with them. That might explain the yellow paint. Hard to say. In 50 years a lot can happen.

Duane in Tennessee

Hey Cole

Welcome to Vintage Vans and good luck with the Econitis!

Why don't you bring the truck up to New Jersey for the
Northeast Gathering of Earlys Vintage Van Show.

Let's see how far along you've gotten.

Jim in NJ aka Casimier

Thanks again guys for the warm welcome. Yes, the guy I bought the truck from said his father bought the truck from the Air Force. Also, I didn't know that the turn signals were actually a factory option. Learning a lot already!

Just a quick update on the truck. Did a tune up with new points, wires, plugs, etc and man what a difference it made! Also, tinkered with the carb a bit and got it running better.

Congrats Cole, sometimes a little TLC goes a long way with these gems!

Would look good in blue. good to see another ga. boy in the game. where you at in ga. Cole i.m just north of columbus ga. (congrats on the truck bro. it'll be a cool one) RjC

Fordbird, I'm in west GA. Right on the Bama line. You close to Lagrange?

Took off all the old heater hoses and radiator hoses the other night. Going to get some new ones tomorrow. Also going to replace thermostat and valve cover gasket as well.

p.s I'm having problems with my turn signals. They didn't work when I first got the truck, but somehow they started working. Although, now they have quit working. Wiring under the dash looks pretty bad, but most everything else works. Anyone have any ideas where to start looking for the problem?

check for corrosion in the actual turn signal bulb sockets. Mine would only work once in a while so pulled all the bulbs and sprayed the sockets down with wd40 and let them sit for a day and installed new bulbs and now they work just fine. Also check for breaks in the wiring right where it goes through the floor in the left corner of the cab by the drivers left foot.

That is quite often the clip tha that  holds down the return canceling cam down is loose and or the cam itself is warped from the heat. There are two sliders inside the cam and if gummed up or dirty the turn signals will work intermittedly. With some pressure on the turn arm sometimes yes, sometimes no.  You can buy a new return cam from She-Mar or on Ebay occasionally.  BUT be careful to make sure you get those two sliders back in their original positions after you clean the contacts and install the new return cam.

NOTE:   I have seen countless turn assemblies with broken posts from people NOT CORRECTLY trying to remove the horn contact to gain access!!!!!!!!!!  You need to pry and NOT PULL the horn contact off of its each of three supports. It is an arrow type point that stabs into and expands into each of the three pillar supports. It WILL BREAK unless you carefully pry it off slowly. Use anything that will go across and then you can pry each one off one at a time. Those supports are old and brittle and weak when new.

Another trick that I use is to support the bottom of the turn lever post on a piece of metal, and smartly smack the top of the post back down and mushroom it over the new clip to ensure it is tight and cannot come off again. That turn signal assembly is no longer available, however I upgrade all of my steering columns to use the 68 to 74 eight wire turn signal assemblies that are identical to the 67 E flasher turn signal assemblies by milling a slot in the side of the early steering column and enlarging the turn lever post hole to match the 67 steering columns..
vic