What's your story?

[Greg D]

Some of us have other automotive addictions too. Some started as just car junkies. We all have a reason/story behind why we are into these old trucks along with or rather than something else. They are not exactly a "mainstream" vehicle addiction although they are gaining in popularity.
I bought my first one in about 1993 - base model Caribbean Turquoise 65 LWB with a bad 240-6, I picked up a used 300-6 and dropped it in - paid $200 for the truck $75 for the engine. I gave up on it and sold it because I had no fabbing equipment - and no money to pay someone to fix the rust - couldn't find any patch panels either. Dang shame - the body was arrow straight. I still drove it for 2 years cause I loved the truck.
I saw it sitting in the back of a little corner used car lot and just had to have it, here I am 7 of them later - been stuck on them ever since.
How did you end up a Slick owner or lover?

[supersmitty]

Well I started with a rebuild on my uncles 49 ford F1 that had a 292 v8 out of a T-bird. I really like the truck and its style and so my fixation on trucks began. I soon aquired a 93 s10 4x4 that me and my boss swapped a 350 TBI engine into. It was fun, fast and cleaned up real well but I wanted something older and something that people would stop and ask me about. So I put the s10 for sale or trade and came across a 59 ford F100 in craigslist. I called the kid and asked if he would trade. He said the 59 was in really rough shape and that he had a truck that was in better shape and a better trade for what I had to offer. So we met up and he pulled in with a 65 long bed that had some dents and a bit of rust but was solid and ran great. I agreed on the trade and my slick fascination began.

From there I have gutted the truck, repainted it a second time to a color scheme I like, and done a bunch of upgrades.

Theres still nothing like something old and unique and around here there isnt alot of them around and since I joined this site I am really glad I own it.

[DukeRoche]

It was just a life long dream of mine to own an older Ford truck to fix up. My dad and I never had a really good project to work on together so I figured this would be something that me and my son could work on and learn things together. I originally wanted to find an old F1 but couldn't find one in my price range. Was just fooling around on eBay and saw a 64 F100 for sale for about $600 near an area in Ohio that I had family in. (I was stationed in Texas at the time). Contacted the guy for info, found out the exact time it expired, placed a bid of $700 with 10 seconds left and won my truck. It was not until I joined this website that I found out it was called a Slick. That was roughly 3 years ago. Going to pick it up from family soon and bring it to its new home where I can begin working on it for the first time. Named it the Green Machine. Dream of owning one fulfilled, not to get it fixed up and ready for SS 2012

[castruck_1964]

Cool post Greg
Always was attracted to old trucks over cars.
wanted an Effie but could not afford one. Was 19 at the time
First truck I bought and drove was Cas
Friend of mine who was a bodyman had it for sale.
Thought she had cool lines bought drove her for a couple of summers
tucked her away for the winter even back then.
blew up the 292
then decided to do some up grades the rest is history.
See the saga of castruck in the projects and builds.

[Anthony]

It is a long story but I think you will enjoy the read....

Sorry to say but I am in to old trucks in general rather than just the slicks. My story started with a '67 ford many years ago, [albumimg]4985[/albumimg] and has traveled through time and make. After the '67 I did a '80 J-10 which I have not one pic of and after that went several years with out an old truck. It took me 14 years after the '67 to save up enough for another "old" truck. I looked high and low and ended up with the '69 GMC. It wasn't exactly what i wanted but would fill the itch for a while... [albumimg]7854[/albumimg] I used the '69 for my work truck and hauled everything in the bed.... yes, I mean everything. Got tired of the 10 miles to the gallon and put it up for sale. When it sold, my wife found my dream truck....a '63 Econoline pick-up... [albumimg]4233[/albumimg] and yes, this is my dream truck. I used to ride around in one of these when I was 3 and I can still remember riding in it. I must say that I do tend to lean towards the Fords. I think they have better body lines and more character. When I was close to finishing the '63 Econoline I went looking for that elusive Classic 4X4. Well, this is what I found... [albumimg]5780[/albumimg] an all original '66 F-250. (yea, right it wasn't all original) Well, $700 later I drove my next project home. I was home free, One to drive and one to tinker on. The perfect set up. Well as my luck goes, the Econoline was hit and totaled... [albumimg]4234[/albumimg] So, as the story goes, I had to have something to drive.... here is the only car.. a '74 Maverick... [albumimg]5090[/albumimg] Drove this along with another J-10 for a while... [albumimg]7595[/albumimg] as the '66 has been going through its transformation. [albumimg]5899[/albumimg] Maverick lost engine and sold J-10 so now I drive a '80 Dodge... [albumimg]7855[/albumimg] Still working on my Slick so it can be my driver. Well, since I have had my slick I think I like it the best out of all. It really has a lot of character and I am seriously already thinking of another Slick. 2 wheel drive short wheel base or uni to hot rod... dreaming...... Sorry for the long story but we all like pics and this really is how I became a SLICKAHOLIC.... Eventually will be done, hopefully, at least enough to get to Slickstock... [albumimg]6839[/albumimg]


(P.S. All pics are of the end results, Except the Dodge, not what I started with )

[BMJ's 65]

Grandpa bought the 65 brand new. He used it for his plumbing and elictrical business all it's life. I was born in 74 and from my earliest memories, the red Flareside was always in the driveway at Grandpas. My cousins and I climbed all over that truck. He had a vise mounted to the rear bumper that we used for squishing what ever we wanted to squish. On the day of my sixteenth, he sold it to me. I drove the 100 miles back to Lincoln with my dad behind me and loved every minute if it. Been hooked since,,,,,,,,,,, Learned never to open the foot vent in vintage iron at 55 in that truck. I can still taste the mouse nest

[Anthony]

hadn't laughed that hard in a while....

[Phil]

when I was 16 my neighbor buddy scored a 69 Sport coupe Camaro.
We ran the numbers and found out his $2500 netted a 6cyl car with a
swapped in 1970 LT1/Muncie M22 and a 12 bolt rear end.

The 1st sideways burnout had me hooked.

We cleaned teh car all up and he drove it a couple summers. He added an
SS, and RS vert and 7 parts cars.

Fast fwd to 19 yrs old. Dad gave me a 73 Gran Torino. triple brown.
:vomit: Never thought much of it but one day I offered a gal I was
crushing on a ride to class. We walked up to the car and she said, "you
have a cool car. Its like a giant shoe". Stupidest thing I ever heard but I
loved Fords ever since.

The gal I DID get shot me down about buying a motorcycle but said I
should get a muscle car as a compromise. I scored a 70 Torino and that
got me actually wrenching. My 1st NEW car was a 91 F 150, then a 92,
then a Ram, now a 95 biut in there I scored my dream Slick. A 62 SWB.
But I parted with it for practicality reasons.

In the middle of all this my buddy Scott Gladieux died at 38 years old
from Leukemia. He had gone through a bad divorce just before and hid all
of his Camaro parts. He died and she never got em. Someplace there is a
cache of 396s, hoods, trunk lids, doors, glass, and a 350 LT1.

Scott gave me the bug and some days I could kick his butt but most I am pretty grateful for it.

[aarons428]

i started driving my dads 84 ford f-150 351w 4v had a blast driving it. when it came time for me to buy my own vehicle i knew it had to be a pickup. i found a 65 lwb with a 240 6cyl and manual. i loved this turck. i worked for a farmer whos sons we gearheads. they showed me how and wahat i took to make real horsepower. i think they invented "truck pulls". my dad had a 66 ford ltd with a 428 in it, it got totaled out by a little chebby celebrity and i told my dad that we needed to combine our vehicles. so thats how my truck got its go power. but never knew about my disease untill GregD showed up at the shop i work at and told me about this website and all the people that LOVED these trucks like i do. now i cannot live without a slick in my garage or driveway.[/u]

[tbritt]

not a long story on this end but growing up it was all Che-- a 47, 52 then a 56.....all nice rides for a teen. Then joined the Navy in 63, didn't need any wheels then..came away from Nam in 67 and bought a 67SS 427 Che-- man was I up town then....ran across a Army aution in S.Carliona in late 67 and picked up my 65 stepside have had it ever since, my grandson will get it in a year or so..he's 16 and ready like all of us were at that age....check out our album and whatch the build.

[charliemccraney]

I was 16, about to get my license, and so I needed a vehicle. I wanted something old because I hated working on some of the newer vehicles I helped dad with. Trucks seemed to be cheaper than cars so I decided o get a truck. I really liked the body of the late 60s Chevy C10 but they seemed expensive. So one day while browsing through some used car magazine, I found the truck. I checked it out, liked it, and spent most of my life savings to buy it. I paid a lot more than it is worth but I didn't know that then. I drove it home with my learners license. It would only shift into 2nd and 3rd and, at that point, I had not driven many manual transmission equipped cars so it was an exciting trip home. I didn't notice it was a unibody at first. I had noticed something different about it but I couldn't put my finger on it. It's been 11 years. I have much more money and time in it than it's worth and I'd have it no other way.
I got into the hobby because of my dad. We never had enough money to restore anything. He would do his own repairs and I'd help. The truck ended up needing more attention than I had expected so I did the repairs with his help. Pretty soon, repairs led to modifications and so now I have a hot rod pickup truck that is nowhere close to finished. I think it helped me to discover my passion.

[macgiobuin]

I lucked into mine. I was needing an extra car due to work/school schedules conflicting. I just wanted a "beater" to get me to and fro relatively safely. An acquaintance heard me bemoaning my lack of success and said he had a couple old trucks sitting in his barn that he'd sell me cheap. I went to themiddleofnowhere, Georgia and saw my baby with no hood, no exhaust, bad brakes and a worse bed floor....love at first sight. A few thousand $$ and several years later, here we are.

[jwh f-100]

When I was 13 and my brother 15 my dad had a couple old fords he wanted us to have.. My brother ended up with a ’53 f100 and I got a ’53 2dr ranch wagon. When I turned 16 the wagon was not ready so I bought my first dent, a flatbed ’79 f100 2wd.. My brother and I always argued about the lyrics in the Eagles song, "flat bed ford or flat head ford"

While I was driving the dent and my brother was driving his ’53 dad found another old ford truck at a local dealer. He suggested one of us boys should buy it. We had no interest, “It had a ugly wood bed” So dad bought it and packed it away..

So 2 bumps, one Datsun 280z, and 3 dents later my son was on the way so I sold my toy, a sweet ’79 f100 4x4..

A few years later it became time to get another. (still had the wagon but it was very rough) So I nagged my dad to sell me that Ford he had packed away. Yeah the one with the “ugly wood bed” I stuck my nose up to 15 years earlier. Lucky for me he let loose.

A couple months later I emailed a guy ( WK ) and at the end of the email I typed “ P.S. you still have that truck? I just bought a ’62.” He sent me to a place called “slick 60’s”

Hopefully this summer I can finish the truck, then plan to build a hot rod, someday restore the 280Z, and someday build another truck so I can give it or my slick to my son..

[dwbr]

i always liked old fords, had a 77 4x4 i was working on, but then got married, then 2 kids, wife decided she didnt like to work anymore, so sold the 77, after a divorcee and remarriage, she also had 2 kids, and we both had full custody, with 4 kids in the house, school etc,, well one by one they grew up and moved out, my new wife new i wanted an old truck, so after a few months of discussing, and bonus time, i bought my 65, my dad had a 66 when i was growing up, so that's the lines i went with, one thing my wife didnt seem to understand is that i wanted an old HOT ROD truck,when we first got the truck we drove it around on sunday, her little pomeranian sittin the the seat between us,, she liked it, then when i put the 514 stroker moter and all the parts associated with it, well she dont like and her little dog dont like it, and now thew wont go cruising with me, she complaines when i idel down the driveway that im shaking all the windows and pictures in the house.. so now im looking to buy and old convertible, would like to get like an fairlane 500 or falcon or galaxie
________
how to roll blunts

[Lowell]

I had a 86 Bronco at the time (1998) and wanted something better to haul stuff so started looking around for an old pickup. Would have liked to have found a 48- 51 F1 but there scarce around here. Was driving around town and spotted the 65 swb in the back of a house that had belonged to an old guy that had passed on. I bought from his daughters for $300 and drove it home. The body was really rough and rusted out in all the usual places and then some . It had a rebuilt 240 with very low miles and all the mechanical part was in good shape. Finally got started fixing it up about 4 years ago. Besides all the dents and rust holes,the PO had put on two coats of paint with a brush!! Would have cost a fortune if i had paid to have all that work done.Found out about this site from 64f100 at a car show.

[oldtrucks]

I've been a Ford man most of my life. While attempting to complete the 10th grade I bought a 37 ford pickup and wound up spending the rest of the year in the auto shop where I completely rebuilt the drive train in this truck and drove the thing for about 2 years. Never did finish 10th grade by the way. In the mean time I began apprenticing in a body shop where I learned how to make em new again. I can't remember a time in my life after that that I haven't had a truck of some kind or another. Life went on and finally a few years ago a friend of mine came to me with this project to build a vehicle sponsered by our local Chamber of Commerce and settled on building a "truck". Not knowing what truck it might be we went on the hunt and when we found the 61 UNI there wasn't any turning back. The results is the truck in my signature. I own a 62 now and if I were to have the money and space I would "rescue" every UNI I could get my hands on. I am truly hooked on the SLICKS. Trucks in general are my passion now for the most part I like the 50's, 60's and 70's better than any other years. Can't feature a life with out one. I really enjoy these forums too.

[Mr. Jones]

I didn't start out with any interest or passion for trucks of any kind.They were just another tool, use them up and get another one.Bought my first slick in 82,a 66 F-100 long bed custom cab super clean and straight.Moved up from a Toyoto, needed to hual more tools and ladders......a few months later I'm sitting in a friend's truck eating lunch looking straight at the front of my 66, something happened to me..... all of those flowing lines and curves.My life would never be the same,Slickasitus is terminal and it hit hard.
1984 I needed a dump truck for a job, saw an ad for a 66F-350, had a 10' Omaha Standard grain bed with fold up side racks and a 12,000lb.Heil hoist,PTO,NP435 and 5:88 gears.Still have that one, sitting out front right now.Since 84 I've replaced the engine twice, both 300's, brakes three or four times, sheet metal fenders, hood, grill, core support.Trashed the wood bed and built an all steel bed.Broke an axle or two, blew out the 5:88's installed some 4:80something's, painted it Rustolum smoke Gray with a brush.Turned out looking good.
Bought a few parts trucks, became a parts horder, started going to swap meets....
2001, saw an ad for a 66 F-250 Camper Special, rust free,60,000mi....$1,900...drove it home.......three months later I'm walking out of the Lawerence, Ks.swap meet and some guy drives in front of me and stops to let people go by.He's driving a 66F-250 Custom Cab, Camper Special, totally straight and it's for sale.I drove it home the next day.
May of 2012, found Slick 60's and joined.
Aug of 2012 went to LMC to get something, the parking lot was full of Slicks.Parked got out I looked at them and they all looked at me then this really odd duck wearing a top hat walked over to my truck.....the rest is history.
The End...

[ICEMAN6166]

had bumpsides for nearly 20 years, sometimes several at one time
sold a 76 f250 4x4 i had , and was looking around for a new truck
wife told me i should look for something different
one day driving home from town we saw the 63 for sale at the local dirt track speedway
had to stop and look
had that funny looking exhaust that wrapped around the front of the engine and a bed that did not seem to match the cab
inside the seat had a cool ford logo embossed in and a very nicely curved dash and shiny instrument panel
was not much rust and seemed to run pretty good on the test drive but the steering was kind of tight
did not bother me at all because i had noticed the leaf spring front end and straight axle so i thought easy to add a 4x4 front axle
gave $1500 i think and took it home
was about a month or so later, we had just got this thing called web tv and i found the yahoo slick 60s site
was totally shocked there were so many other of these trucks still around and what these other guys and yes even girls were doing with their slicks
thats really about when i bit the hook hard. within a years time i had a bunch of slicks and was selling parts on evilbay.
about that time we got into towing and having a way to get non running trucks home really made the disease progress

i will however say that my interest in the 60s vehicles is not limited to slicks, as we have had plenty of other 60s vehicles as well, mostly but not always Fords

[Sinc]

My Slick story starts back around 1995. My oldest daughter was in high school and about to get her driver’s license. She had a whole list of possible cars she wanted to own. Of course, we couldn’t afford any of them! Then, one day she came home and announced that she wanted “a truck from Alabama”. We had no idea where that came from (it might have been a lyric from some song – I still don’t know), but she stuck with it. Also, we don’t live anywhere near Alabama.

A few months went by and we were driving through central Pennsylvania on the way to Thanksgiving dinner at relatives. As we were passing through a little town my daughter starts yelling “That’s it! Stop the car!” There in a parking lot was one of the roughest looking 1963 F-100s you’ll ever see, with a For Sale sign in the window. We stopped and looked it over. It was rough all right, but she fell in love with it (truth-be-known so did I). There was no one around to talk to, so we continued on our way. I didn’t tell my daughter at the time, but I jotted down the phone number on the sign. A few days later I called the owner and we set up a meeting to look the truck over. One thing led to another and we ended up buying it.

The truck had a used up 292, three-on-the-tree, an Indian blanket covering the front seat and rust spots everywhere (we liked to call it patina). But, it had a LOT of character! So, my daughter (at 16 years old) taught herself to drive stick, with no power steering and no power brakes. She did great! She drove that beast to school every day and showed a few boys a thing or two about driving. She even drove it off to college eventually. However, in her senior year of college she had to do an internship in center city Philadelphia. There was no way she could drive and park the Slick in the city on a day-to-day basis. So, we bought her a more manageable vehicle and I took over the Slick.

From that point on I had big plans for the Slick! But, that’s a story for another day…

[orangeRcode]

Been a car guy since I was probably 10. Fell in love with Mustangs due to my step mom's 67 coupe that came into our family with my folks marriage when I was 7. Loved that little car. Dad sold it when I was 12. I bougfht my first car from lawn mowing money when I was 16. It was a 67 Fastback, 289 4bbl and 4 speed. Smoked like a freight train. I rebuilt the engine that first summer with alot of help from my dad. Fast forward 35 years. I've owned a dozen Mustangs and currently own 4 (2 of which my daughters are driving). My youngest is 12 and he showed an interest in pickups. I've always been fond of 60s era trucks due to my grandpa having a 63 style side and I learned to drive in a 62 Dodge pickup with a slant 6 and worn out 3 on the tree.

I've always been a Ford guy so naturally I started looking at the blue ovals. Really wanted to buy a 59 short bed. I knew where one had been sitting for several years. It was owned by a farmer I worked for in high school and college. He still owned it but wouldn't sell to me because it was his first truck. Sad thing is it's sitting and will likely rust away and never move again. Anyway, found the Slick 60 website and started thinking more about a Slick than a Fridge. Met some really good people who helped me find a great truck. Thanks TruckRat. My boy loves the truck and has already claimed it as his. He's helped me work on it some. I'm hoping to foster a love of trucks/cars like my dad did for me.