Hello From Germany

[Chrappi]

Hi, my name is Axel and I am a mechanical engineer from northern Germany.
My wife mentioned the other day, that she thinks our '99 Jeep Cherokee XJ looks a little bit lonely and needs some company. ...and she wants a Pick Up Truck."Something like Clint Eastwood drives around in 'Grand Torino'". So her wish is my command
On Sunday we will check out a '68 F-250 and a '71 F-250 and I am pretty excited if we will adopt one of them

Anyways I am looking forward to join the old F-Series community and participate in a lot of interesting discussions!

[sargentrs]

from Georgia! Can't wait to see what you end up with. Be sure and keep us updated!

[Ohiotinkerer]

from ohio.........oder herzlich willkommen von Ohio - I'm hard pressed to remember alot of German from living 5 years there but still can speak it a little.......

Looking forward to see what you get!......

[390FE1972]

from Colorado!

[popeyes71]

from California! Share when you get her!

[Chrappi]

Thank you for your warm welcome!

Unfortunately the two ones, that I visited today where already sold but I immediately got infected by the F-Series virus.
I had 3hrs of great talking to that guy. He is specialized in importing Oldtimers and especially old Ford Trucks from the US to Germany
By end of the year he'll be travelling to California for 3 months - just searching for and buying old cars for his customers.

So I am checking out Craigslist and Facebook marketplace for California cars right now and giving him instructions what to look for.
What selling platforms would you recommend other than these?

[Chrappi]

I just bought myself a F250 Ranger XLT in San Diego - but it's a 73 dentside, so I guess I will have to change the forum, as there seems to be no fordification.net-forum

[DuckRyder]

You can post about it here.

[Chrappi]

Here is my '73 F-250 Ranger XLT Camper Special - 460cui.

Right now I have to train myself in patience, waiting for her to be shipped all the way to northern Germany.
First things at home will be:
- getting the underbody sealed and general rust prevention
- changing all fluids (coolant, engine oil, transmission oil, differential oil, power steering oil?)
- general checks (brakes, shocks,...) and minor adjustments to pass the german safety test and get my german vehicle registration

Ford1.jpg

Ford2.jpg

[sargentrs]

Congratulations! Very nice truck. Be sure and let us know when she gets home.

[Ohiotinkerer]

Good looking truck! How strict is the inspection on something like that nowdays? I know when I was there in the 80's my ex wife's family (she was German) said it was a pain in the rear on a newer car and they didn't inspect an American owned car near as strict as they do your cars.......curious what all you have to do to get it registered.....

[Chrappi]

How strict is the inspection on something like that nowdays? I know when I was there in the 80's my ex wife's family (she was German) said it was a pain in the rear on a newer car and they didn't inspect an American owned car near as strict as they do your cars.......curious what all you have to do to get it registered.....

First there is a general safety/mechanical check on brakes, shocks, tire wear, backlash on steering and wheel bearings...such things. They are very strict on this and no exceptions are made, regardless of the age of your car.
But as long as you love your car and maintain it well, that's nothing to worry about. Never had an issue with that.

The other thing are compliance issues. A lot of car parts have to have something like a DOT/SAE imprint. That can be be tricky with US-cars over here as DOT/SAE is not always accepted, but an european equivalent is needed. That's more strict on newer cars, some exceptions are made depending on the year of build.

I will have to change the headlights to others with an european approval - but 7" headlights are also very common here, that's no big deal.
An emergency/hazard light function is mandatory - I think, the F-Series got this already. But even if not, that's just little bit of wiring.
I don't expect major problems in getting it registered.

[Ohiotinkerer]

Thanks for the info Axel! It's been quite a while since I was there and couldn't remember how all that worked!.......

[DuckRyder]

That is a good looking truck.

Let us know the progress of transport and I know I would love to see a project thread about the whole process...

Will they make you deal with the side markers will you get a pass on that? I seem to recall that when we were importing BMW and Mercedes in the late mid to late 80, the scoop was that amber or red side facing lights were Illegal in ECE.

I want to put some E-Code headlights In my truck, maybe I should get it running again though...

[hot-rod]

Hi Axel,

on board. Nice, another guy form germany
Did you find a way to convert to power steering? My truck also doesn't have a ps


best regards
Dirk