Long distance search for a 1974 Ford F250

G,Day all and I hope you;ll welcome another POM into your midst. I was doing my usual surfing for trucks utes pickups and came across your forum and thought it would rude not to join . Anyway I have a lot to add in the future but in the meantime I,d be grateful for any help you can provide in finding my dads old truck. Last known in Melbourne and probably broken by now But hey you never know. have a look here...

www.ford-trucks.com/forums/840526-1974-australian-f250.html

best wishes and a Happy new year to all "MO"

welcome along uteman ,was this effy cleveland powered?

Hi Mo and welcome, it looks like one of the earlier ones that had the steel dash? I bought one a couple of years ago, same spec, 302 and 4 speed. My old man had one when I was a kid as well. There is quite a few floating around, don't know how you'll go locating the exact one, but you never know. All the best, Cam.

Heres your pictures off the Ford Forum.

Hi Mo, just read a bit more on the Ford forum, that clears up the question about the dash, here's your picture.



Actually I think we may have discussed the old efee's before. I had the feeling they were made here, It's a Falcon steering colomn and a Cortina dash I think. The Canadian ones I thought were the f250 4X4 which had the steel dash.

Ute man, the F -250 photo's show a truck Cleveland engine with a 2 barrel Carter carby fitted. By this it should be a 302 cubic inch engine (5.0 litre). The steering column is out of an XA Falcon and it has a Ford Cortina instrument cluster (all factory fitted) as part of the local build rules that applied at that time. The TE Cortina Ghia model instrument cluster at that time had an engine rev counter & oil pressure, water temperature & ampmeter gauges & were easily fitted into the effie dash. A wire was added to the wiring harness connector from the ignition coil to activate the rev counter. This was & still is a popular conversion. That must have been a late build truck in 1974 because the earlier build vehicles had a convex side body line where the one in the photo has the concave line of the later models (up to 1980). These model F series trucks were Australian build vehicles being built in Brisbane. Cheers Mate & welcome to the forum. Have a happy New Year. Tim

Hello All and thank you for the welcome. Thanks for copying the pics across BIGCAM and for the info TIM. I originall posted those on a US Ford F Series website but think I better "cut and paste" all the text I wrote as it might fill in a few blancs for you. and well here is What I posted on the US site ....
Hello The forum and I hope my first post is of Interest to you all ? A bit of a long story so bear with me. My family immigrated to Australia in the mid 1960s , My dad was a farm worker and Although we had lots of trucks (not new) he usually had a Ford of some kind. In 1974 My uncle bought a Ford F250 from BYRT FORD in Wollongong ( just south of Sydney ) The truck was was about 4 months old. After about a year he sold it to my dad. That Truck became an old friend and we had it for over 25 years. Me and my 3 sisters learned to drive in it (the sisters before they were all 10 !!!) It covered a lot of miles and my dad who doesnt know what "service" means had 3 engines and 5 clutches in it (lots of towing)I returned to England and my dad sold the truck in the late 90s. I did not think about it much then. But recently I have started to wonder if the old girl still survives in Australia or has been broken for spares. I would love to buy her back and maybe get her restored . So maybe oneday ? I was 11 when we bought her and I loved it. Heres what I remember about her
She was fitted with a 4.9 litre (302 Ci)and a 4 speed manual gearbox. She had Split wheel rims ( I remember 1 tyre fitter nearly killed hisself whilst fitting a tyre to the rim ! The locking rim sprang off and nearly took his head off. It missed and went through the asbestos sheeting on the roof of the shed leaving a perfectly round hole. Believe me that stuck in the mind of a 12 year old)I think the Colour was POLAR WHITE ? And I think she was made in Canada ? Its all of great interest to me. I am a bit of a pick-up fan and have 4 others (not Fords) in various states of (dis)repair .
The fact is that the general concensus seems to be that right hand drive F trucks were made in Venezualla . I always believed it to have been made in Canada. That truck was bullet proof ! apart from normal hard work wear and tear it never ever went wrong ! My dad was not big on service or oil changing and after the 302 died he had a 351 installed. I thought this was great because the first thing I done was to flip the air cleaner lid over so the 4 barrel "roar" was more audible.
I had not heard or did not know the Cortina car dash was used ? as the photo shows the dash was plastic (good quality plastic though lol) from end to end. Am i right in thinking that the 73/74 US truck still had some painted metal exposed in its dash ?
My Dad is 72 now and talks of that truck with affection. So I,d love to find it. Last year I am sure it was on the dreaded E##Y ? So I have a starter point in trying to find it. Heres the pic that was on E##Y , my father swears that this was his truck , unfortunetly there was no side or back shot. I wish i had followed it up.

This week I have bought a 250 brochure from EBAY Australia so when it turns up I will post some pics from it on this thread. Heres the cover.

I have tried revs but it seems you need the Chassis/VIN number to take it any further. I believe the truck may be in Victoria and will contact their Rego office (RTA?). But if its anything like Britain it would be like trying to get bloood out of a stone. I have often thought how hard would it be for the relevant Vehicle registeration department to forward a letter to the owner of a vehicle saying that somebody would like to Find/contact/buy your vehicle or number plate ? I would gladly pay

Mo, In N.S.W. It's possible to Track down current Owners of vehicles.

You need to apply through the "freedom of information"ACT
I understand, there is a LOT of rigmorale involved :'( :'(

I think Mammoth on here is familiar with the process.
Anyway good luck & happy hunting..

Thanks Hayseed Ill take that onboard. But I have a feeling that it may be still in Victoria and possibly Gippsland ? (thats if its not been shipped to China , which much British scrap has ) The photo above was a truck on Ebay in Oz and my dad reckons it was his one because of the dent under the letter D in FORD (done by a lawn mower chucking a stone up , he says >) I know its a very long shot searching for this truck but it held such great memories for me and my family that I would love to find it , thanks "MO"

hi mate all the best with the search.. it looks like a 1975 model to me . . .

g'day SholingUteMan and all the ebay shot shows the lower grille area just above the bumper to be different to the family pics?

might help from barking up the wrong tree!!

cheers and good luck with your search

ps it's actually showing a headboard for a tray body as well?...not that that means much.