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You are here: Home Tech Articles & Tutorials Identifying 1967-1972 Ford Pickups - Page 1
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Identifying 1967-1972 Ford Pickups

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Since Ford didn't make major changes between the various years of this era of pickups, sometimes identification can be a problem...especially when a previous owner has made any modifications or repairs. Use this guide to help you determine the correct year of manufacture of your pickup and accessories.

Grilles (and other trim level basics)

See Body Trim and Insignias for more detailed information on grilles and headlight trim.
See 1967 Ford Trucks Model Year Differences for features exclusive to '67 trucks.

1967
The new '67 F-series trucks were redesigned to a squared-off look with the headlights worked into the rectangular grille. The parking lamps were located under the headlights. The interior increased in size and had more glass. Three trim levels (base, Custom Cab and Ranger) were offered. The Ranger had color-keyed carpeting and door panels and plusher seats (in a cab that was 3 inches wider inside than it's predecessor) and chrome exterior trim (such as the grille) standard. Other improvements of the '67 model included larger tires, a bigger clutch and a heavier, stronger frame permitting increased carrying capacity.

1968
The grille got a new look. To comply with Federal safety standards, reflectors were added to the hood emblems and the rear of the bed. Inside, Ford improved the armrests, changed to safety door releases and breakaway window cranks, and redesigned the heater controls.
(The grille shown here is the optional Ranger version. The grille emblem was only used in '68-'69)

1969
The grille was the same as 1968 except that a groove was stamped on the center horizontal bar. Corinthian White was used for the standard grille which changed again midyear to anodized, and on Ranger models the groove in the aluminum grille was painted red. The headlight surrounds were painted black in the center and included the grille emblem, which was the last year this grille emblem was used. Starting in late-'69 a 302-c.i. V8 with 220 horsepower was now offered, in addition to the former engine choices.

1970
The grille again got a new look with a grid pattern. The parking lights were wraparound and rear side markers were added. The trim packages changed names - what was Standard became Custom and Custom Cab became Sport Custom. In addition to the Ranger, a new top of the line trim package was offered, called the Ranger XLT.

1971
The grille changed to six rectangular sections on each side of the center vertical bar. The interior had a new two-spoke steering wheel with a horn bar instead of the button. The F-100 hubcaps were passenger car style.

1972
The grille changed slightly to four rectangular sections on each side of the center vertical bar. Engine and transmission choices stayed the same. Power brakes were optional on 4-wheel drive trucks.

Instrument Panels

ABOVE: This is an example of standard instrumentation for the 1967-1969 Ford and Mercury models and included a steel surround (bezel). 1967 bezels were trimmed in white and '68-'69 versions (shown here) were trimmed in silver.
UPPER RIGHT:
Ford's full instrumentation package also included gauges in the lower two pods instead of just idiot lights and were standard on the Custom Cab and Ranger. The chrome-plated plastic versions were offered from '67-'69 on the Custom Cab and Ranger as well as on all '70-'72 models.
LOWER RIGHT:
The woodgrain cluster was introduced in '69 on the Ranger and used a Teakwood style woodgrain. Burl Walnut woodgrain was used for '70-'72 XLTs, which also had lower woodgrain panels and a plastic woodgrain 'modesty' panel below the RH side of the dash. The '70-'72 non-XLT Ranger had no woodgrain accents.

Note: '67-'70 speedometers had a red line above the 70MPH thru 100MPH markers (see top photo).  '71-'72 speedometers did not have this line.


(A = Wiring Harness Connection)
Pictured here are the differences in the instrument panels. The '67-'69 panels had a stamped steel rear gauge housing using individually-wired 1895 bulbs. The '70-'72 versions had a printed circuit board and removable 168/194 bulb sockets.
The early panel assemblies are not interchangeable with the later assemblies, although all bezels are fully interchangeable.
 

This is a comparison shot of the back sides of two '67-'69 instrument panels. The top panel has warning (idiot) lights while the bottom one has full instrumentation.

(Click the image at right to enlarge a comparison picture of the two styles.)

Although the '70 circuit boards do have a printed circuit board like the '71-'72 versions, the '70 circuit board is a one-year-only item...they are slightly different from the '71-'72 versions. The '70 harness connector is 1-1/2" high whereas the '71-'72 connector is 2-1/4" high (for the gauge version).

The '71-'72 panels have two styles...with idiot lights or with full-instrumentation (gauges). The circuit boards are different between the two, meaning that each style has it's own differently-sized wiring harness connector. (The gauge-type harness connector is larger than the idiot-light style.)

(Click the image at right to enlarge a comparison picture of the two styles.)

You cannot install a gauge-type panel in a truck originally equipped with idiot lights (or vice versa) without installing a matching wiring harness, because of differences in wiring for the ammeter in the harness under the dash and hood. The gauge-type wiring harness includes a shunt located between the alternator and the starter solenoid. Two wires come from the shunt to feed the ammeter. The gauge-type harness and plug for the instrument panel are also wired differently. Also, with the ammeter, the ignition switch feeds the "S" terminal on the regulator with 12V. With the idiot lights, the regulator "S" terminal gets voltage from the stator.

Essentially, it's a big swap to do for a oil gauge and barely-functioning factory ammeter. Go to the FORDification.com forums and do a search for "F600 panel" or "shunt"....the subject has come up many times there. If the purpose of your desire to add the full-instrumentation panel to your truck is for functioning gauges, you'd be better off installing a set of aftermarket underdash gauges. The installation would be MUCH simpler and the gauges much more accurate. However, if you're determined to do this with junkyard parts, then it's highly suggested you install the main and underdash wiring harnesses that match the instrument panel being used.

Steering Wheels

Steering wheels for all 1967-1970 models (pictured above) were the same and used a three-spoke design. The standard wheel (pictured above left) uses a simple horn button, while the Deluxe wheel available with the '69-'70 Ranger and Custom Cab packages incorporated a horn ring (upper right). The three-spoke wheel was used on '61-'70 trucks and on '60-'63 Ford Falcons

The 1971 and 1972 models (pictured below) went to a two-spoke design. The standard wheel (pictured lower left) had a solid black rubber horn button, while the Ranger XLT packages use the wood-grained version (lower right).

Safety Reflectors and Tail-light Bezels

1967
No reflectors

1968
Side reflector, no
rear reflector

1969
Both side and
rear reflectors

1970-1972
Rear reflector and lighted
side marker light

    Stricter new 1968 Federal safety regulations required use of reflectors at the rear of the truck. The 1967 models did not have any, while 1968 had side reflectors but none below the tail-light and 1969 versions (pictured above center) had them below the tail-lights and along the sides. For the 1970-1972 models, the rear reflector was reshaped as well as the side reflector, which was moved up into the side-panel ridge and illuminated from behind (above right). The bed/s quarter panel extensions on '70-'72 bed were redesigned to accommodate this lighted reflector. The ridge was 'cut down' about halfway and included a hole for mounting the light assembly. (pictured at right, click to enlarge)

     The chrome bezels around the tail-lights were optional for all '67-'72 trucks. Ford made two styles of tail-light bezels: The two-screw mount which fit models without tailgate moldings (see 1969 picture above) and the three-screw mount which fit models with tailgate moldings such as the Ranger and custom cab (pictured above in '67 and '68). (The '73-'79 bezels look similar but are larger than either '67-'72 style.)

'68 & '69 Camper Specials and F350's had front marker lights made by Dietz. They ran off a separate circuit with a relay and circuit breaker mounted on the passenger side. This circuit also powered the clearance lights on the roof and the marker lights on the stake & platform trucks.

'70-later got the wraparound turn signal lights in the front which made the front marker lights redundant.

DID YOU KNOW:
 
In '67 all cars (except Chrysler products) had to have front marker lights and rear reflectors.
 
In '68 all cars (except Chrysler products) had to have front and rear lights; trucks had to have front reflectors, hence the revised hood emblems on the Ford trucks to include a built-in reflector.
 
In '69 all cars had to have full-time parking and side lights; trucks had to have front/rear reflectors.
 
In '70 trucks had to have full-time parking and side marker lights.

The '70-up pickups have parking lights that wrap around the side which were considered acceptable as side lights too, as long as they stayed on with the headlights. A wiring change in '70 made the parking lights stay on with the headlights, unlike the '67-'69 trucks which had parking lights that were off whenever the headlights were on. (The '70 change was in the wiring harness, not in the headlight switch, which remained the same from the previous year.)

Fuel tanks
 

The fuel tank mounting on '67-'69 cabs is different than '70-'72. On the early cabs, the tank is bolted in from the inside. The interior cab support has three holes with J-nuts and the tank bolts into these. On the later cabs, the five reinforcing ribs on the exterior have an additional small angled rib drilled to accept a small carriage bolt, which extends into the cab support in the interior and is held in place with a small clip. The tank is then installed and tightened down with a nut. (You can see the heads of the carriage bolts in the green cab above.) Because of the 3-bolt design of the early tanks vs. the 5-bolt design of the later tanks, they are not interchangeable without drilling the tank lip. The later tank also is bolted in at the bottom flange, whereas the early tank simply sits in a pair of grooved plates secured by the rear cab mounting bolts. As a side note, all '67-'69 tanks are painted body color, while '70-'72 tanks are painted black.


Early-style fuel tank attachment, inside the cab ('67 F100)


Early-style tank installed


1967-1969 fuel tank  -  3-bolt top flange
(Note the differences in the lower tank flange between these two tanks.)

1970-1972 fuel tank  -  5-bolt top flange


Late-style fuel tank attachment, inside the cab ('70 F100)

 

Another thing to consider is that when the fuel tanks changed in '70, a larger fuel line size was used, which of course means a larger fuel tank fitting. If you ever need to replace your in-cab tank line, be sure to get a line from the correct year of tank...'67-'69 or '70-'72.

(Click thumbnail to enlarge)

Some '70-'72 trucks had fuel tanks with emission control plumbing. The extra lines went up to a charcoal canister located on the front right-side frame rail. Another hose extended from the charcoal canister up to the air filter housing. This allowed the engine to burn fuel tank vapors.

This style of tank used a non-vented gas cap, since the charcoal canister was the vent. Since the '67-'69 trucks had no charcoal canister, they utilized a vented gas cap.

The '67-'69 caps are not interchangeable with the '70-'72 versions.
(Click thumbnail to enlarge)

Hood letters: '67-'69 vs.'70-'72

There are two different styles of chrome hood letters. The 1967- 1969 style is smaller and has small ribs which run horizontally through each letter. The later style doesn't have the ribs and has a satin-like finish inside each letter. The '67-'69 style is pressed onto clips in the hood, whereas the '70-'72 style is held onto the hood with nuts from the backside.

In this photo, the '67-'69 style is on bottom and the '70-'72 version is shown on top. Because of the difference in size and mounting pin location, they are not interchangeable.

Miscellaneous notes

  Headliner trim: '67-'69 are 6-piece (white and chrome) and '70-'72 (white and chrome) are 4 piece. The early trim has separate rear corner pieces (accounting for the extra 2 pieces) whereas the newer trim has the rear corner brackets as a integral part of the side pieces. The trim sets are interchangeable for all years. Whatever's in a cab now would seem to be dependent on what the restorer/owner had in good condition on hand at the time.

  Sunvisors and mirrors: '67-'69 pickups have narrow mirrors. The '67 mirror bracket screwed into the windshield frame and incorporated the sunvisor's park slot. '68-later mirrors were glued to the windshield and had the park slot as a separate plastic piece screwed into the windshield frame. The sunvisors for '67-'69 had narrow cutouts to clear the narrow mirrors, but starting in '70 when Ford widened the mirrors by several inches, the sunvisor cutouts had to be widened.

So...to recap, there were three different style of mirrors and two different sunvisor styles:

  • MIRRORS: the '67-only mirror/visor bracket, the '68-'69 narrow glue-on mirror and the '70-'72 wide glue-on mirror.

  • VISORS: the '67-'69 narrow-notch and the '70-'72 wide-notch

 

Also, on the '70-'72 visor, the peg which parks into the bracket above the rear view mirror has a notch to hold the rubber tip, and the tip itself has a ridge inside to hold it on. The '67-'69 visors don't have these features. The later-style visors with this grooved tip can either be pointed (like pictured at right) or straight cut.

Here's a comparison shot of the two different sizes of mirrors, each with it's matching sunvisor. The top visor and mirror in this picture is the '70-'72 wide style. The '67-'69 had the narrow mirror style as shown on bottom. The mirror in this picture is the '67-only windshield frame style mount, whereas the '68-'69 trucks had a glue-on mount, similar to the '70-'72 style.

(Click to enlarge)

1967  vs. 1968-1972

Even though there were no major body-style changes for Ford's F-series pickups during the '67-'72 range, the 1967 pickup has many anomalies that aren't found on it's younger brethren. Therefore it's much easier to pick out an original version. Some of these differences are listed here, but for a more-complete tutorial, visit 1967 Ford Trucks Model Year Differences.

 Hood Side Emblems

The 1967 hood emblem (top) had to be redesigned for the 1968 (and subsequent) model years (bottom), due to the previously-mentioned Federal safety regulations requiring the reflectors on the front of the vehicle as well as the rear. The hood trim for other F-series models (F-250, etc. ) had similar changes. The mounting pins are in similar locations, so the two styles are interchangeable.


1967


1968-1972

 Doors and door panels

1967 Ford pickup doors (pictured above right) have the lever-style door release and no push-button provision for locking the door. To lock this door, you would push down on the release handle on the driver's side or pull up on the passenger-side handle.

The '68-'72 style (pictured below right) had a squeeze-type release and the door lock button.

Obviously, due to the differences in door opening and locking hardware, the door panels do not interchange, although the doors will interchange as a unit. The glass, hinges, window crank assemblies and vent window assemblies interchange, although the '67 vent window had a different style of vent latch handle:


1967


1968-up

Here is a comparison of the inner doors behind the door panels. You can see that the '67 door release mechanisms cannot be swapped with the '68-'72 versions without some major surgery.

 Heater / AC Controls

 

The '67 pickup heater controls (pictured above right) were the pull-cable style.

New 1968 safety regulations required a redesign of the controls for the '68 and later models (pictured middle right).

 '68-up trucks equipped with the true factory-installed air-conditioning/heater assembly had the slider controls to operate both (lower right).


1967


1968-up


1968-up

Ashtrays

There are three different ashtray styles used in the '67-'72 trucks. The C7 ashtray is unique one-year-only item, will not fit later trucks The ashtray receiver from a '67 pickup is attached to the dash with one center-mounted screw on top and two side screws (one screw along each side).

The '68-'72 ashtray receiver is held on by 2 screws each on top and bottom and has a ball-bearing track on each side. The handles of each are also slightly different. The '67 ashtrays are not interchangeable with the '68-'72 versions.

The D1 ('71-'72) ashtray is an improved design over the C8 ('68-'70) ashtray. The ball bearings are held captive so you don't lose them and is the replacement for the '68-'70 ashtrays. Pictured here is the '67 style (left) and the '71-'72 (right).


CLICK TO ENLARGE

 Radios

1967 AM radios were about as basic as you could get. They were smaller than the '68-'72 versions and thus the opening in the dash was smaller. A '68-up radio will not fit a '67 without dash modification.

CLICK HERE for '67-only radio dimensions.


1967

1968-1972 AM radios included pushbuttons for station selection, although a manual AM radio without the push buttons was available (below).


1968-1972


AM-FM radios were available in
the 1971 and 1972 models and included door-mounted stereo speakers.

 


1967-only radio delete plate

If you  specified the radio delete option, you'd get this
nifty plastic plate to cover the radio's dash opening. Pictured above is a '67-only version. The version for the '68-'72 radio (below) was larger, to fit the larger dash opening. The two styles are not interchangeable.

 


1968-1972 radio delete plate

 

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