It's a Mr. Softee Ice Cream truck with a 223 & automatic transmission; those components are easily identifiable and I can find parts, that goes for the brakes too. What I CANNOT find are headlight rings, tail lights, front turn signal light fixtures - not the lens or bulbs but the whole dang thing. also, I can't find gauges. The ones listed on all the online catalogues list like Vintage ford, Dennis Carpenter etc are not the same as the ones in the P-350 and I'm already "keeping and eye on eBay" but maybe there is a vintage bread-truck place out there? or some dude who is really into these particular weirdo trucks. or maybe the hamb community can steer me in the right direction. I've asked a lot of people that are in the "business" of Ford about parts that should fit my particular truck, but nobody seems to know. I'm coming to you guys! Is there a particular year of Ford truck that might have some compatible parts and pieces? ALSO! can anyone tell me why 1958 is left out of a lot of online catalogues? A lot of this parts list stop at 57 and start back up at 1960. What was happening with the trucks in 1958?
You could try the FTE forum......a lot of knowledgeable Ford truck guys there. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/forum268/
I googled it. Did Ford not change grills in the P series to match the standard Trucks? All I find have the 55 Truck grills in them. Ford did make a P series with the 1953 Grill in it. I happen to know that the P series 1955 Grill does not fit the F-100 series Trucks. The Wizzard
Hi ...I can't promise anything, but these guys have almost any kind of step-van parts you may need ..... www.millsupply.com/stepvan-parts/
Ford kept using that same '55 style grille up to '62 or so, I think. Saved on re-tooling costs I guess...
I think a lot of Mr Softee trucks were built on a basic chassis but were made by specialty body companies. I know a lot were built here in PA and you might check with this museum : boyertownmuseum.org located in Boyertown, PA in the original Boyertown Auto Body Works, Great museum,too.
that's the thing about step vans, there were some bodies built by the truck manufacturer, but it seems most of them were built by small companies on chassis provided by the big 3. Pictures.
Mr. Softee was started in 1956 and moved to Runnemede,NJ in '58 which is still their headquarters. Their website ays they modify trucks there and,while the '58 trucks are likely long gone, maybe their archives could help you figure out te original parts sources. Your truck must have been one of the first ones. Curious how it got that far west.
The Mr. Softee company is super pissy about people having these trucks. They take legal action about the name etc. They are as unhelpful as possible and with reason; An east coast competitor called Master Softee, has bought a few of these trucks and painted them to look just like a Mister Softee.... Crazy world of Ice Cream!
I have a 53 COE, the grille is 10" wider than an F100, the headlight buckets and rings are the same. Mine were rusty, I had some complete assemblies out of a 70's era Grumman bread truck, they fit just fine. Good luck, that is a cool find !
Yeah, I knew about Master Softee. As a kid, we thought the song was annoying and, of course, as soon as we hit puberty, Mr. Softee was hilarious. Still is, for that matter.
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...hop-and-test-driving.394430/full?d=1399653904 I know about 1959 Mister Softee trucks Boyertown Body Ford P350 chassis
Daytona, your headlight rings are plain old 53-54 ford F100 The taillights are from the company that built the body, I am sure they are standard truck lights from "Arrow" , "Grote" or some other manufacturer, take a close look and you should see a name or number on the bezel. They are just truck parts and should not be that hard to find, even Mill has some stuff https://www.millsupply.com/stepvan-parts/ Boyertown made the body on my truck, in 1959 the made 800 of them and they all went into Mister Softee's warehouse, when you signed up for a franchise you got a truck that was built in 1959, even if you joined up in 1966, you got one of the trucks made in 1959. I do not know who made your trucks body, but from the seam above ti windshield and down to the bumper is Ford P350
I removed everything out of the back mechanical room and replaced with a new Honda EU generator, electric water heater and an RV water pump. I could take a photo of it tonight, when I get home. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Here’s a mr softee scooter I put back together ! 3 wheel lambretta . Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Here’s kind of a close-up it’s shitty outside right now. Honda EU generator 50 amp shore cord with RV plug, the breaker box original Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Airbag compressor and RV water pump are underneath the generator, I remove the original gravity water tank and put RV tank underneath Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
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