Hi, I'm a newbie to FTE as I just bought my old truck.

I was wondering if anyone knew details about the Unibodys. Even though the VIN on my truck says it was built in April of 1963, it's not a Unibody. I was told that during production the "flaw" was discovered (overloading the bed and not being able to open the doors) and that the rest of that year models were retrofitted with separate beds, like the model I have. Is that accurate? Also, from what I've been able to find in my research, my front grille appears to match the 1964 grilles instead of the '63s. The truck is in pretty good original condition and doesn't appear to have had many modifications.

Thanks!

 

retroluxe, Welcome to FTE the nations truck stop, and the 61-67 forum.

We have several members that are up on the Unis pretty good. I'll bet one of them will be here shortly to help you out.

John

 

Retroluxe F100s and F250s were available in all forms 61-63. Flareside, styleside, and unibody and in all configurations except no unibody 4X4. Some 250 and I believe all 4X4s got the carry over box from the 59-60s I've only seen short bed examples of these though. All longbed stylesides from 61-66 I've seen have the 65, 66 style box on them. Your Particular truck may be a 63 wich has had the later grille installed. Alot can be changed in 43 years. If you have more questions post your VIN if its not on the glovebox door clean the right frame rail over the front axle. That's where you'll find it stamped. Oh Yah welcome to FTE.

 

'63 Uni's have the VIN on the door. '61 and '62's have them on the glovebox door. My '62 short uni was built in late '61 but came from the factory with a '62 grille. My '63 long bed uni was built in Oct of '62 and came with a '62 grille also. I think they used whatever they had lying around.

 

Thanks for the responses. The VIN number is F10CE402948. It has what appears to be a late 50s bed on it. Here are a couple pics...

http://web.mac.com/retroluxe/iWeb/Re...files/32_3.jpg

http://web.mac.com/retroluxe/iWeb/Re...les/29_3-1.jpg

I guess I'm mostly wondering whether this kind of retrofitted non-unibody '63 is particularly rare or there a bunch of them out there.

Thanks again...

 

That is exactly what a 1963 non-Uni would look like.

Hope you are not disappointed.

John

 

Unibody Pickup: 40,535

Flareside Pickup: 35,963

Styleside Pickup: 76,728

4X4 Flareside Pickup: 967

4X4 Styleside Pickup: 2,809

Cab and Chassis: 6,686

4X4 Cab and Chassis: 179

Chassis and Cowl: 20

Chassis and Windshield: 19

Platform and Rack: 190

 

Thanks for all the info. We all probably hope we have the "rare" one...

Jeff

 

This has been a fascinating discussion. Since I was a kid, I've always wondered why it seemed that there were so many Ford pickups with "mismatched" beds. I've never heard this explanation. Cobraguy, thanks for the insight. Is there anywhere I might be able to read more about this?

 

blu, Ford had big plans to use the Unibody for all of it's pickups, but it turned out to be a huge failure. When they were loaded they didn't have the flex needed and doors would pop open along with other big concerns. It was a much hated truck, by those that had bought them. I find it very interesting to see them so highly sought after now.

I believe it was 64 when the new styleside bed was introduced and used through 66.

John

 

Note to all...please notice the bold print which I added to this post.

 

I guess truck buyers must have been less demanding in those days. Can you imagine driving away from the dealership with your new truck looking like that? Brand X dealers must have been snickering all the way to the bank that year!
At this point in time, does this bed/cab combo have special value?

 

Since they made the mismatched box trucks in 62 and 63, the same years they made the Uni's, (there is some question whether thay were made in '61), I don't know if Ford ALWAYS knew there was a problem with loaded unibodies or not, but it wasn't a sudden revelation in 1963, that's for sure. Also, I wonder why they would have made 3/4 ton unibodies if they recognised they had a problem.

Must have been pretty annoying to not be able to open your doors if someone dumped a half-yard of dirt in your truck

Cobraguy says he has not seen a longbox with the old "Refrigerator" style box on them, but ALL the 4x4's were longbeds. There was no shortbed 4x4 until the '66 F-100 styleside, one of the most desirable 4x4's IMO. The box matched on those, BTW. The wheelbase however was 121" on the longbeds with the Fridge box, it increased to 129" on the ones that had a matching box, in '66.

As for the VIN number and the model year, they stopped the model years in, I believe August, so a truck built in Sept '62 would be a '63 model.
In your case, retroluxe, your truck was built in Apr 1963, 4 months before the model year change, so I suspect someone just changed out the grille for a '64 grille sometime along the way. Maybe a previous owner wrecked the original, or just liked the '64 aluminum one better.

One thing that is rare on your truck is the shortbox aluminum trim that runs near the top. Unique to that one year of truck, I think, the '64's had a similar trim but a box that matched, and I don't think the trim is the same length.

RF

 

I think the fact that my truck is a custom cab in addition to being one of the mix n' match cab and bed models would explain also why the trim piece on the side of the bed actually doesn't line up with the trim piece on the cab. It seems fairly apparent that they were kind slapping these things together with pieces and parts to just get the model year over with. Thanks for all of your input, it's helping put the puzzle pieces together!

Jeff

 

Did I hear somone say UNI.
Just thought I would post so ya could see my 62 in my gallery.