As some of you might know , I,ve been clearing out all the 55 thru 59 trucks I,ve had . I down to one now & hopefully sell it soon . I found & bought these 2 farm trucks , a 53 & a 54 . Both run & drive & have lift beds on them & good titles . Something I can fix up & actually use on the property . I got the pair for 1500 delivered from 100 miles away so I think I got a good deal . These are the pics He sent Me . I,ll update this thread as I go along . I,m not near familiar with these years of trucks so I,m sure I,ll be asking for help . . Thanks Bob Well I,ll have to wait for the pics, as they failed to upload for some reason .
that is cool cowboy.. where bouts in kansas are you located. im in the kc area Olathe to be exact. but i grew up in northwest ks, Colby.
Hi Wolf , I,m just north , northwest of Wichita a little bit , We Were more in the country , But The citys keep moving closer to Us, Allthough We are still very Secluded . The first truck, the 54 6400 got here last night, It started right up & I backed it off the trailor . I bought them site unseen & have to say I,m very happy . This trucks never been touched body wise & what paint is there is Factory . A little bit of rust in the front floorbards , & a Small rust hole in one of the rear cabcorners & that appears to be it . The wood floor in the Flat lift bed is rotten as well as the side board wood, Which is no big deal Because I have new treated wood to replace it . But the truck is 100 % complete I think , Including the steel for the stakesides .Unless Someone can see if anythings been changed . He said this is the rough one. . I,ll get the other thursday nite & post some pics . I,m really looking forward to fixing them both up , Anyway If Anyones interested I,ll keep the updates here. Thanks Bob
You did good. The dash is unmolested, neither the radio grill or fresh air louvers are creased (very hard to straighten), and it has the fresh air deluxe heater which helps keep the windshield from fogging up in bad weather. A thing I like about big trucks is the grill and most body panels are up high enough they don't get the damage that 1/2 tons do.
Thanks Guys , I piddled with it a little bit yesterday , When I got it off the trailer it was spittin & Sputerin so I Drained the old Gas out of it , ( Looked more like varnish ) put new in it & it Puurs like a Kitten now . I Really cant believe it , It Just fires right up , no exhaust leaks , Cant hardlly here it run & ALL the guages work . the lift works perfect to . Heck the Tires aint even to bad & the carb looks like a new one . Its hard for Me to beleive the other ones going to be the better one , Cant wait untill it gets here tonight . Only bad Is neither Have any brakes , I,m assuming the master cylinders under the floor board Like the 55,s ? Also I still have a stockpile of parts for the 55 thru 59,s , Like the Pedal type Starters /generators & stuff . I,m curious as to wether Those are the same or are these are different ? Anyway i,ll have lots more Questions when I have a chance to mess with them a bit more . I really need to get My big shop cleaned out so Hopefully I can get both trucks inside & look at them closer . Its been quite a few years since I,ve had a project I actually wanted to work on that I dont need to sell . so I,m really looking forward to these . Thanks again . Bob EDIT / Yep the M,Cylinders in the same place . I just found it & it dont even have a lid on it . The other one should be here anytime . Pics of it tommorow Hopefully .
Well Heres the 53 -6400 . The Trucks not as nice as the other , But the bed is steel so very little to do there . Cab corners are a little Rusty but the rest of the cab is solid & the top looks to be full of Bondo but doesnt appear to be to bad from the underside of the roof . The drivers door is also gutted , But most parts are in the seat except for door glass . Also no breaks on this one . This one has also been converted to 12 volt but does have some messed up wiring . But it did start & I drove it where it sits for its first Feild pose . Many Questions to follow I,m sure , . Thanks Bob
Great Finds!!! Love the straight bodies and that you have a place where they will be of service! I'm guessing you have a big barn to work on them as a typical garage probably wouldn't be deep enough. I look forward to the updated pictures as you go along with them. Which one first?
Hi Zig , The 54 will be the first , I,ll just get the minor things going on the other one so I can use it around here this year . Yes I have a 40x60 metal building , which the middle 30'w x 40'd is a dedicated work shop , I might have to do some Rearanging , But I,m hoping I can get them both in for the winter . Thanks, Bob
Wow ! Boy howdy , ya done real good Cowboy ! . TWO straight runners for $1,500.00 , _both_ have factory fitted heaters and two speed rear ends ! one has a working PTO and hoist even . This is sweet and yes , all your 6 volt spares will fit and work on these , 12 volt starters are different but you can use a TF gennie to upgrade the AD's to 12 volts & just keep 'em finely tuned so the old 6 volt starter won't burn out when operated on 12 volts.
Thanks Nate , They Both have Working pto,s & hoists actually . I got the 53 in the Shop yesterday , The Wiring leaves a lot to be desired but it shouldn,t be to hard to sort out . I,ll get some under hood pics today . Bob
Heres a couple of pics of the engine compartments . First 2 are the 54 & the other 2 are the 53 , Not much to look at , But if anyone has any comments or suggestions feel free to say . Thanks Bob
Comments ! ZOW ! you have the rare and desireable factory posative crankcase ventilation with the metal tube ! I don't even have the tube part The valve on the firewall ~ is that for the hoist or the two speed rear axle ? .
Hi Nate , I,m not sure which part or tube your talking about . I,m gussing Since both trucks has the tube that comes out of the lower part of the block, The 54 is the first pic & has the Longer tube with an additional tube that runs from that . I Recon thats what You mean. Thanks for the info . I just figured that was added on later . The Valves on the firewall are for the 2 speed axles . I haven,t had a chance to mess with the 54 yet. But I been fighting the 53 , Wirings perty messed up, & the fuel was Really bad . But I got it Going perty good so far & Cleaned out , Hopefully more fuel run through it will clear it out . Now for the Questions. I,m not sure what They are listed at Weight size . The only brake parts I can find from Our host only go upto 3/4 & 1 ton . The tag on the inside of the door frame on the 53 lists it as 13,000 lbs gross weight . So am I out of luck Buying new master cylinders & brake parts . Or would the one ton be the same ? Also the drivers door is gutted for some reason & I,m curious if theres any chance that the guts , latches & such would work from the 55 thru 59 stock I have ? I,m gueesing Probablly not . Its been Years since I messed with the AD type trucks so I need as much help as I can get . I dont even Know if theres Manuals for these larger sized trucks or what differences there may be with them . Thanks for any info you can provide . . Bob
This & That The rare tube I was talking about is on the inverted Road Draft Tube , it's for the PCV system a good thing to have , if the old valve is there , remove it and soak a few _days_ in your favorite cleaner before flushing out and re-installing . The door guts must be from a similar AD door , just match up the typ : vent wing or not and you'll be in like flint . May I suggest getting the cheap (often FREE !) door off some old BIG 'Bolt sitting in a hedgerow as folks just can't grasp the idea the doors are the same as is all the cab . This way you'll usually get all the ' just - So ' clips , screws etc. . The '53 , just charge the battery and run a jumper wire from the starter to the coil , 12" of wire and two alligator clips , get some miles on it so the fuel system cleans out and don't forget to CHANGE THE OIL as soon as it gets hot , don't sweat the small stuff , buy the cheapest oil you can find , just get some fresh oil in it before it tosses a rod . you'll prolly change it again shortly anyhow (I would) Plenty of time to sort out the rat's nest wiring later , right now you need to begin tuning , greasing and adjusting EVERYTHING on the entire truck ~ gear oil , flush the brakes , so on and so forth .
Great info thanks Nate . . I got the fuel system flushed & lines blowed out , Put new fuel hoses & a new filter . Drained & flushed the cooling system & changed the oil , Actually none of it looked bad except for fuel & it had good antifreeze in it . Also I wired another switch in the dash that will work for now & it fired right up & purrs like a kitten . They Screwed up the lid on the master cylinder & I cant even chisel it off but I,ve got it soaking . If that dont work I,ll take it off & see if I can get a new one . Then Bleed & flush the brakes . Also I,ve got to put a new exhaust donut in it & I aint looking forward to that . I allready sold all My good exhaust manifolds so My luck I,ll break the ears off of it, . I will take Your advice on the door , since I just checked the prices Of the vent windo assembly & other guts . Their sure proud of those items . . So hopefully I can find a good door assembly . Thanks for the help & I,ll keep Ya,ll updated on the slow progress. . Bob
Crank 'N Hope Well ; The M/C cap is a common problem , I've gotten a few loose with either water pump pliers (" Channel lock ") or , in extreme cases , battering a BIG screwdriver's tip right into the middle of the raised square portion of the filler cap & using a crescent wrench on the screwdriver's shank as you lean down on it , by then it's junk anyways so who cares . Luckily the cap is a standard size so the one from an old Mustang or other pre - 1967 American car / truck will fit - if it looks right , it is . Wipe out the M/C's resivoir with a lint free towel (think blue windshield towels) before filling it , you might just get lucky and it'll bleed out and work , K.I.S.S. ! remember " The Stick Trick " ~ it really does work on old squishy brakes . The exhaust manifold nuts , you can ever so carefully cut them off with one of those <magic> cutoff wheels and a tiny $15.00 die grinder , or , if you have a " Hot Wrench " you can wire brush the stud & nut then carefully heat up the _stud_ until it's cherry red then rapidly cool it off by spraying with your favorite penetrant until it's cool to the touch , then loosen the nut as the rapid cooling of the stud will usual contract it sufficiently to crack the bond between rusty threads , go easy and DON'T apply force until it's cool to the touch or you'll snap the stud off .
Thanks again Nate for the good info . I Remember seeing some of Your posts before on the stick trick , So I,m glad You mentioned it here also . Still no luck getting the MC lid off . They Broke off the whole nut looking thing on top . No biggy If I can ever get it off as I have some old MC,s off the 55/59,s still . I,m still soaking the exhaust studs to , Trying to not have to use the hotwrench because of all the old fuel fumes . So Hopefully They,ll come off fairlly easy they dont look very rusty . Whats the best Penetrate You,ve found Nate or Anyone else , all I,ve got is WD40 , surelly theres gota be something better then that . Anyway thanks again . Bob
