1951 Ford Truck Project Pics

Here is my shop truck project.

I saw this while out on a motorcycle ride and drug it out of the weeds and mud- Especially when I saw the Flathead. Arizona plates...and a rust-free body to match. A gentlman's father purchased it years ago to restore and died a few years back so it sat.

Five-inch drop all around. I can post a bunch of pics of how this was accomplished if anyone is interested. Front was exspensive, but the back was free.

Seat was gone from rodents so it was re-covered in black/white hounds tooth.

New bed wood is cedar and should turn a nice gray color.

Disk brakes in front and a power assist.

Currently putting in a T5- five-speed from an S10.

Scott

 

looks good, i am building a '51 ford also. gimme some specs on suspension. thanks!

 

I'm in the market to lower the 51 I bought 2 weeks ago. Go ahead and post or P.M. me. Thanks Gary

 

Looking good, keep up the good work and post more. Great looking truck to work with.

 

Great ideas, stock front axle ? What are the disks on the front, how ya lower it ? Please tell ALL, am getting a 50 and like what your doing !!!!!

 

Yeah, baby! More F-1's..... So damn many made, and I am always surprised to take mine to a car show/driving event and only see a few others. Good start. Keep us posted.

 

More details, its looks great. I have a 51 F1 awaiting more motivation from me. and just picked up a 49 F1 last week.

Josh

 

Looks good, love that new cedar bed!

 

You got MY attention.....Give us some details on the work. More pics!!!!

The paint is perfect! Don't touch it!

 

don't forget us!

 

My fiance's 51 F1 needs to be dropped in the back something terrible. How did you manage to do it for free? Don't leave me hangin'! Nice find, BTW

 

For dropping the rear of an F1 you can play with removing leafs from the spring pack, Dont remove 2 next to each other , only every other one . Some may need to leave 2 in then take another one out. Most of the time it will depend if you have the old worn out ones or new springs. Naturally it will drop more with the same springs pulled from a set of old worn out springs

 

Here's mine.I pulled the ole flathead last week and cleaned her up and painted the firewall and all else i could get to.Reinstalled the motor last night.I will install a three inch drop axle in the front and reverse my springs in the rear in the next few weeks to come.I think this will give the ride height i am looking for.....We will see!!

 

cool truck

 

I'll start with the bed pictures since that is the easiest. I used cedar because it is cheap- About $70 at Lowe’s and it turns gray and dingy like the truck. I used the rough cut side up and hid the smooth side. I used a wire brush on the metal strips and then hit them with a coat of flat black. I re-used all the carriage bolts also. The only fabricating, other than cutting the wood to length, was cutting a step on the back edge of all the board so they go inside/under the rear lip and look nice. I also had to do the same down the two outer boards to fit under the bedside lip. Once it was all in place, I drilled the holes and put the bolts in. You will need a helper to hold the carriage bolts in the square hole while someone is underneath with a wrench.fficeffice" /><O></O>
Easy stuff and the pictures really say it all.<O></O>
Scott<O></O>

 

Lets see and hear the suspension info.....

 

Brakes:
The first ffice:smarttags" /><?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comtim</st1ersonName>e I pulled the truck apart to lower it I had to pull the brake drums off to get to the axle. As soon as I looked at the drums on the floor I knew they were not going back on. I ordered an entire kit from CPP and it will take about $822 to get it to your house with shipping- Ouch! This kit is absolutely expensive, but absolutely worth it in my opinion. I consider it one of the best purchases for the truck. The actual brake calipers, rotors and adapter stuff are really very easy to install if you have a working knowledge of how brakes work. The directions make it idiot proof too.
The master cylinder and power assist unit cost about $300 alone, but is worth every penny because it not only gives you the additional braking, but also has all the modern safety valves, dual reservoir, and proportioning valve built in. This is also a CPP unit and I would recommend installing just this unit alone to make a truck stop better. The fact that it is much safer is just of peace of mind. After the old reservoir is out, you just put the new bracket in place and mark two hole on the side of the frame, drill and then put it all in. I was really simple and all the linkage just falls into place. Very nice quality stuff. I felt I got my money’s worth on this entire brake system.
It had a double value for me though because I am also installing a T5 transmission out of an S10 (Five speed W/overdrive) and the old transmission cross member has to be removed or at least modified for the longer T5 to go in. As you can se in the pictures, the old master cylinder attaches to the transmission cross member. The new kit attaches to the cross member and then back to the frame to form a small box that is plenty strong enough to handle the brake action from the pedal.
Scott

 

looks good keep updating your post....old trucks rule.......

 

Brake rotors and calipers:
Like I said earlier, very simple, but if you are using this kit, read this part to avoid a problem with the adapters. The bearing adapters do not go over the spindles and I would not try to hammer them on. Use a strip of emery cloth to clean off any burrs and thin it down a little. It took a little ffice:smarttags" /><?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comtim</st1ersonName>e, but they slid on nicely with a few light taps with a pipe and more importantly- I will be able to get them back off if needed.
Here is how this kit saved me a bunch of $$$. I assumed that I would have to buy new wheels to clear the larger calipers- Not so. The stock 16”X 4 or 5” wide wheels fit fine with no clearance issues at all. The only thing is that I imagine the skinny rubber will now be the weak link in the brake system and not the old drums- In other words, I think the brakes will be fine, but the tires will lock up easily. A new set of wider wheels and tires may be in order, but for now I wanted to keep the old, stock looking wheels with hubcaps.
Scott

 

Front Suspension:
Here is where it gets expensive and you can learn from my situation- I paid the bill so please take advantage and save yourself some money and frustration.
First off, decide how low you want your truck. Mid Fifty has a nice guide to what each modification and/or part will give you. I wanted a low truck and didn’t really know what that was in inches, but I knew I would stop lowering when I got there. The problem with the internet is that you can see what trucks sit right, but do not know what it took to get it there. I will give you my recipe and you can use whatever you like or make your own if you don’t like mine. Basically there are two ways to get low- Spings and/or a dropped axle. This may get a little wordy, but there is a lot going on here to consider. If I leave anything out, feel free to ask.
Springs:
I wanted “low” so figured springs would do it easiest and cheapest. Easiest because all my research led me to believe that a dropped axle, in addition to costing $400, would cause “bump steer”, steering arm would hi the shock and also the drag link going from the pitman arm to the steering arm, that would contribute to more “bump steer” would be at a funny angle…and the cycle continued to scare me away. I decided to get the lowest set of springs available and purchased the “Monoleaf” front springs from MidFifty. First off, I will say that Candy at Mid Fifty is very pleasant to deal with and is very knowledgeable about her products. She is not a mechanic though so if you think she doesn’t understand something you think is right, then you need to make your own decision because you are looking at the truck. This caught me twice. I do not blame her a bit. It was confusing and she made everything right too.
I had to dig deep- About $450 for the “Durant” monoleaf springs. Theywere supposed to be a five inch drop…here is where you have to pay attention…from the height of “NEW STOCK SPRINGS”. I kind of feel this is a bit of an escape clause because none of us will have “new” springs to compare them to. I called and talked to Mr. Durant personally and he explained why the springs were so expensive due to forging and quality. I believed him and bought them. He was a very nice and helpful guy- Seemed like an old hot rodder selling products that he would want to use. I would buy anything he is selling, BUT I did not really feel happy with the front monoleaf springs for a couple reasons. First, when I spent that much money, I thought all my “lowering” problems would be solved in one nice product- They were not. When I opened the box and pulled out the springs they looked like…well…springs. They were rough textured, uncoated and raw looking. I still wanted to believe the “magic” was in the forged spring and would make it up to me once on the truck in ride height and ride quality. I haven’t driven the truck so I can not say anything yet, but I really hope for a nice smooth ride. As for ride height- I got 2”- maybe 2.5”. I was a little disappointed. Next ffice:smarttags" /><?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comtim</st1ersonName>e I would buy the “posie” dual glide springs that are $294 from <st1:City w:st="on"><ST1lace w:st="on">Speedway</ST1lace></st1:City>. Just my opinion and why, which is primarily money.
So when you are in this deep you have to just keep going until you are happy. I put the wheels on the truck and looked at the height and knew there was no way I could live with a two-inch drop. I didn’t feel that Mid Fifty or Mr. Durant misled me in any way, but also figured that this was the “Lowest” drop I could get from a spring and it was not enough so I was forced into getting a dropped axle- All my problems were solved! The drop axles that Mid Fifty sells are absolutely metal finished jewelry. CNC and just fabulous quality- This is what I expected and the bottom line on the dropped axle vs. the springs- a three-inch dropped axle is three inches- Period. I know because, as you can see in the pictures, I documented each part of this build. Together, the springs and axle gave me the 5+ inches I was looking for and I knew I was on the right track when I had to change my focus from lowering the truck to fixing clearance problems…bump steer…drag link…tires hitting the fenders…This was what I was looking for all along.
Scott

 

Clearance Issues:
After getting the ride height right I had to figure out how to make it work and be a drivable truck that I could put my family in. I thought I had three problems to fix- bump steer, steering arm hitting the shock and the drag link being at a ridiculous angle after the three-inch drop. After crawling around on the floor and lying on the creeper staring at the front end for a while…a long while… I realized I only had one problem- I had to fix the steering arm. The drop axle lowers the truck by raising the point where the spindles attach. The issue is that when the bottom of the axle goes down (or the spindles go up) the steering arm went up (since it attached to the spindle) and the bottom of the axle that is attached to springs that are attached to the frame that the pitman arm is attached to stayed down and now have a three inch different from where they used to be. The drag link is the arm that attaches the pitman arm to the steering arms and should be about level/horizontal. As you can see in the pictures, the drag link was going up radically in the front. After a lot of options were considered I decided to heat the steering arms and bend it down 2.5” to the drag link horizontal again. There is actually not much to this, but it is more than just bending something. I took a lot of measurements used the tape measure on the floor to keep bending the arms down until it reached the height I needed. When bending the steering arm you better eat your Wheaties or have a torch and a helper. You may want to have someone hold the torch and maintain a lot of heat, while your bend. I mounted a large vice grip right about when the steering arm bent upward because that angle point is where it needed to go down. Once the arm was bent down enough I had to heat the end of the steering arm near the ball to twist it back to a vertical position where the drag link could attach again. After this was done I checked for full range of motion from left to right and nothing hit- Not even the shock.
Scott

 

Rear Suspension:
Here is where I saved some money. The only issue is that you get a lot of lowering and you can’t really just get a little the way I did it. A lot of people said you can take out every other spring and I tried it and got the thickness of the springs in drop- ¾”. I am certain that when the truck is loaded down the thinner spring pack would have less flex and still give a little more lowering, but I wanted a lot. I did not want to flip the axle because there is little or no room left between the top of the axle and the bottom of the frame and I was not interested in a “C notch” in my nice old frame- Even thought the CPP kit is only $59 I tried something else.
Instead of flipping the axle on top of the springs I flipped the rear shackle mounts upside-down so the shackle is now on top. The hardest thing here is that the mounts are all attached with 57 year old rivets. I torched the tops off and then hit them with the air chisel and it was still tough to get them out. I just replaced the rivets with hardened bolts.
Rear Shackle:
The only issue here was that the sides of the spring would bind in the shackle and it was not going back anymore, but bottoming out. I used a cut-off wheel to clearance this a little and that changed the angle the spring could rotate back by a few degrees. Another issue in the rear is the longest leaf spring is too long when you flip the shackle. I cut 1.5” off the end and then used the old piece as a pattern and to mark and trim the angles to make it look the same as stock.
Scott

 

Rear Suspension Pics didn't come through-Here they are.

 

Looks great! Nice work and I love the new stance!

 

Rear Suspension:
Front Mount:
There is no shackle on the front so I just moved the mount up to keep the entire rear end level from front to rear for pinion angle issues. You can fine tune the pinion angle with 2-4 degree angled spring shims for about $10 each. I measured the space in between the bottom of the wood in the bed to the top of the frame before disassembly and had 2.5” in the front and about 2” in the back. Because the mounts have four holes in a nice rectangular pattern I just had to move the bottom holes of the mount to align with the top holes in the frame. The only problem was that now the top to holes on the front mount had nowhere to mount to so I made a bracket, or extended the frame “up” a little. After cutting out the bracket I couldn’t get a nut on a bolt in the “L” iron so I had to mark precisely, drill and tap so I could just run in a hardened ballot with a lock washer on the bolt.
After all this was done it cost about $10 in steel and bolts and it gave me 4.5” of drop. I still have the same amount of springs in the stack too. This is kind of important to me since this is my shop truck. I am a bike guy and this will be hauling a few old bikes around. Here is a picture of one built out of about four old bikes.
More projects if anyone is interested:fficeffice" /><O></O>
www.triumphchoppers.com/gallery/scott
<O></O>
Scott

 

Chassis Prep:
After spending all this ffice:smarttags" /><?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comtim</st1ersonName>e and money I couldn’t really put all of these nice parts on without a protective coating of some king so I decided to have all the new stuff and shackle mounts powder coated at Powder Paint Inc. in <ST1lace w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Lebanon</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">MO.</st1:State></ST1lace> They do a great job at reasonable prices.
For the under carriage I decided to at least spray a quick coat of paint on it to make it look clean. That kind of blossomed into a little prep work…a buddy offering up his power washer…add a freakishly weird 65 degree day in December…and you get two hours of cleaning stuff. After it all dried for a day I sprayed the frame, fender wells, bed under side, cab bottom and the old rear leaf springs. I used chassis black from Oreilly’s and it is about $45 a gallon and comes ready to spray. It covered well and was easy to hose on without any runs. This work will make the truck stand out. It will be dubbed a “Rat Rod”, but people will have to take a second look when they crawl around underneath.
More on the Transmission change later.
Scott

 

After all of my clearance issues were solved I was concerned because I heard a lot of the old steering arms cracked inside the “U” bend. I checked mine closely and there wasn't a crack, but my daughter and I had just heated this 57 year old arm yellow-hot and bent it twice so I was a little concerned. I made a template from cardboard and then cut it out of steel and welded it in just for peace of mind. Once it was cut out and tacked in place I put the spindle back on to check for clearance at a full left turn and there were no issues at all.
Scott

 

This is the greatest ever for F1 guys, Tech week post of the month! Year for that matter!

 

ya you are right about those arms cracking,I parted one of those trucks out once and found someone had welded a big ass bolt across that arm to repair it, thanks for posting all that, I wished there was more tech post.

 

I like it lots!!!!! Working on dropping my rear tonight...thanks for the tech about it not really being worth taking leaves out anf flipping the shackle instead THANKS ALOT!!!!!!!