Long story short, I now own a 1966 F100 longbed. Pretty stoked about it, to be honest. The seller is a friend of mine and is finishing up a few things that need to be done (wrapping up a few things with the Painless wiring harness, mounting the fuel cell); I'll pick it up when I get back to the US in late April.
I know that I'll need to install modern seats and three-point belts. From what I've read, any Ford truck bench seat up to 1996 should fit the rails; I'm not too worried about building mounts for the shoulder belts, but that will need to be done.
It also doesn't have A/C and I live in Phoenix, so I'm thinking that a call to Vintage Air might be in my future. What should I know about installing a Vintage Air A/C system?
1966 means it's emissions exempt here so I'm not worried about that. It's running a fresh 352FE with a 2-barrel (EFI system included but not installed) in front of a T5 trans and a 2-piece driveshaft. The wheels are not to my taste but it does come with an OEM set with rubber.
Anything else I should know up front about a truck of this vintage?
NOHOME
MegaDork
3/27/25 9:56 p.m.
Drive it "as is" and get to know and trust it before you mess with it. Looks like a nice truck.
By the way, I might be the only person who prefers long-bed classic trucks to short-bed versions. If I am going to drive a truck, the "Function over Form" button is going to be on permanently.
In reply to NOHOME :
Exactly so! I was stoked to be able to buy this long bed. I want to do long-bed things with it. Same principle: If I'm making the compromise to drive a truck, I want to do actual truck stuff.
If the fuel-injection is Fitech, don't let it within 10' of your truck.
thats a good looking truck and I agree on the wheels. Some modern wheels can look really good but that style is not one I'd pick!
i would say like any vehicle of that vintage in your area, assume all rubber/plastic parts are more shadow and dust, and have a replacement lined up before trying to remove any of them.
NOHOME said:
Drive it "as is" and get to know and trust it before you mess with it. Looks like a nice truck.
By the way, I might be the only person who prefers long-bed classic trucks to short-bed versions. If I am going to drive a truck, the "Function over Form" button is going to be on permanently.
You are not. I've been saying the exact same thing for years. Long bed is only very slightly heavier but offers obvious utilitarian benefits as well as a better ride.
A 352 can run really well. My dad had a '65 for years in the 1970's. It was an exceptionally strong runner. All the "knowledgeable" guys at the filling station he owned said it was a 390. When they finally took it down for a rebuild they found a garden variety 352.
I have Vintage air in my Mustang and love it.
I have to say stay away from Resto Mod air,I did an install on a 67 F100 and under dash is terrible . Very tight and the instruction basically say "put it in". They have fancy brackets and control panels ,but one of the brackets wouldn't work. We also did a lower dash that looked nice but created other install problems.
Vintage air "sure fit" is the way to go because of the hard lines used under dash for the hoses,including the heater. Resto Mod is all hose under dash so there is some bulk to deal with.
Good info so far; mostly what I expected, but it's definitely good to know to stay away from Fitech and Resto Mod air.
I have a 3" binder full of receipts and build documentation on this 352 and it looks to be done rather nicely. There are some smaller things that will need to be done (I can't recall if the door seals have been done recently -- good callout on those) and some slightly less-small things, but overall it should just run and do truck stuff. It looks like aftermarket wheels are cheap (<$100/ea) so there are options there, but probably seatbelts and AC should come first!
When I start driving this, am I obligated to wear a plain white tee-shirt while behind the wheel?
Being in Phoenix, you should be ok with no fresh air intake on your a/c. My brother had one in Idaho in a 66 Chevy pickup. He tore it out as it was lousy in the winter. Couldn't keep the windows clear.
I put Vintage Air in my C10, it was an easy weekend job (although we left a plug in one hose and connected it, which I didn't realize was possible.. LOL). I did feel like the fan was noisy since it's under the dash and not out on the other side of the firewall like OEM stuff.
On my current (long bed!) Dodge 1st gen Cummins, it had air but I replaced the old Dodge condenser, dryer and lines with Vintage Air parts and kept the Dodge evaporator core and controls in the cab. Works great!
Note if Vintage doesn't have a Sure Fit kit for your truck or engine combo, they sell hard lines in 6" length increments and they're easy to bend with a brake line tubing bender. That's what I did for the Dodge.
