Projects 51 Ford F1 daily driver

I picked up this truck a couple months ago as my daily driver. Not practical but I like it alot and enjoy the challenge. It has a 302 and a 4 speed manual, a pinto or mustang frontend of unkown origin(not M2). Body is in great shape as far as rust and dents/damage goes. The PO sanded the nice black paint that was on it and painted it with red oxide "because I like when they look old". Not my cup of tea but whatever. Heres how it looked when I picked it up.

I drove it all the way home to Costa Mesa from Big Bear City...sketchy but and adventure. It was a sunday when I picked it up. This happened on the 55 freeway on the way home from work. POOOFFFFF FWUD FWUD FWUD FWUD!

My plans are to put a jag frontend, and an 8.8 or 9"(whichever I can find that will work best) that way I have a safer, better ride and 5 lugs wheels. Right now they are mid 80's 14" mustang wheels. I want 15" wheels and moon discs.

 

Looks clean man, once you get the chassis squared up like you want itll be very nice and a killer daily

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I started with the fixing all the holes from the PO who liked using drill bits I guess and threw some dynamat to keep the heat and some of the road noise out.
Not perfect but it works and who will see it under carpet anyway. Heres the finished product....

 

Then the last weekend I moved on to the roof which had some gnarly rust building up when I got it home by the beach. Had to address that issue before It made holes and I wanted to get going on the paint anyway.

Backyard painting at its finest. I sanded it with 80 grit to get through the rust and to bare steel, cleaned it with acetone and used SEM high build primer, sanded again, primed again, and sanded again. Now here is what I am working with.

Once I have it painted I can put in the one piece glass kit that I got from classictruckglass.com which happened to be down the street from my work. Remember, this is my daily driver so I can't take it all apart and leave it that way. I have to get to work everyday. Baby steps.

 

Thanks GG, I'm hoping to get the frontend (already have it lined up) and the steering components and be able to knock it out from a Friday-Sunday. May be some all nighters that weekend... ha

 

No doubt youll be busy. I wish the body on my apache was the clean. Your gonna have a cool ass truck dude

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It had a little 12" 3 spoke gt steering wheel in it. Currently the power steering isn't hooked up so I needed a bigger/better looking wheel. So I ordered this puppy.

 

One of my favorite truck models! I have a 51 M1 that I am collecting parts for. I hope you'll be puttin' up pics as you install the new front end as I'm thinking about the same upgrade. Lookin' good so far!! keep at it!

 

Can't wait to see the weekend attack with that front end. Way to keep it on the road!

 

Cool truck, keep at it.

 

Truck looks freakin great, man!!!!!!!

I have that same wheel on mine too!

And i want to do the one-piece windows - when you do them, can you post pix of the brackets that space the C-channel inside the doors, and also the fuzzy strips!!!!!

You have just proved yet again that these trucks look awesome when dumped on their guts, no matter what wheels, no matter what paint!!!!

Super Cool!!!!

 

Once I get the paint on the roof done, that will be next, along with a vintage air heater that I picked up. I will post some pics tonight of the felts and brackets. Unfortunately its raining all weekend here and the humidity is 90% so I probably wont be able to paint. It was an interesting drive with no windshield wipers but RainX works surprisingly well compared to nothing at all. I am going to install the p/s pump, replace some bearings in the steering column and some other little stuff thats been bothering me.

 

Nice! Lookin good so far, Gotta love those baby steps! I've got a 64 Mercury Marauder as my daily now, just got her too...so it's been one thing a day so I can still go to work the next day haha.

 

I love it

 

looks like a nice solid body. These trucks make great daily drivers.

 

Congrats - Cool project. so, have you done/seen a frontend swap like you are planning?
is current frontend a butchered set up? since daily driver can you correct problems and use as is 'til you get a bigger window of time to do any major projects? imagine you could find 5 lug conversion or 4 lug 15" wheeels.

 

You're also embodying one of my other favourite phrases;

"One on the road is worth ten in the garage"

Absolutely sensational!!!!

 

If it's a pinto front end you should be able to use the aftermarket m2 5 lug discs

Oh and that is one very cool truck

 

Thanks guys, the frontend appears to be pretty butchered up. I may be able to salvage it but it is so hard to tell without having the front clip off to determine the extent of it. If I can save it, I will, I already got some springs and struts for $30 off craigs since the ones on it have been torched and one looks cracked in the bucket. The struts appear to have no oil in them since it is everywhere else on them. ha It would save lots of time if it really isn't that bad, and I can put some gussets and run the newer springs and struts. I've been reading a bunch of info on the install and seems to be relatively straight forward. I say that lightly, I know it is still a lot of work but not like making a whole new chassis.
Mark in Japan, here is the pics of the lower felts

the brackets that hold the upper channels in place, kinda hard to see but the left and right are pictured as they go in the truck as if you were sitting in it.

the upper channels

and the glass with the channels already in place

 

Nice DD! I envy you guys and your weather out there in CA... Here in MI my 61 Falcon pulls duty as a DD but this time of year I start to cringe while driving through the snow banks and salt piles!

 

Thanks Mate!

You're a champ!!!!!!!

 

Like your new ride !! And a daily drive at that. If you find your front end to much you might consider the Jag pretty easy swap on your truck. I did mine couple of days. Lots if info on them.Wait did I say couple of days,thats after a good week trying to decide to soft mount or solid mount.. At least you are on the super slab,Mine still in the garage.. No bueno!!

 

Nice truck. Subscribed

 

I am pretty sure that if I put the jag frontend on it, it will be rubber mounted utilizing the stock stuff that way if it gets worn out and needs to be rebuilt, I can unbolt it and set it on a welding table to work over it, not under it. Or if I tweak something whilst driving with purpose...I can easily replace it. haha

 

Hi Kevin,

while mine was being shipped over from the US, I prepared a Jag front end for it - 4 months of cleaning painting & hand polishing.....

When it arrived, some farmer had oxyed-in a Volare front end and chopped 2.5 inches out of the bottom of the frame rails to raise it up some.

In Aus, we need to get Engineer's Certification on mods....he took one look at it and said "cut the rails off at the firewall and start again....so my Jag frontend went in someone else's project, and we did a "Camaro" frontend (actually HZ Holden, but practically the same) in my truck.

Moral of the story...have a good look at your existing chassis rails and if they have been weakened by the Pinto install before you decide rubber mounted or weldin.

OH......I just remembered.....I have pix somewhere of an orange 56 F100 here in Melbourne with a killer Jag IFS install!

essentially, they made upright plates that BOLT solid to the outsides of the frame rails, then THOSE plates are welded & gussetted to the Jag IFS crossmember. Solid mounted, with all kinds of strength, with NO mods to the actual frame rails!!!!! I'll try to find the pix!!!!

 

Looks like I'm sticking with what I have for now. The whole frontend is a bit of a nightmare with plates welded to the frame and crappy welds galore. I put new springs in it after cutting a few coils out. The old springs were torched and one was broken. Replaced the struts, and now the strut mounts are flexing since they actually have pressure on them. I bought some urethane bushings and tabs and will make a crossmember so they don't flex in towards each other. Once I jump on it, I will take some pics for you guys to see the nightmare I'm working with...

 

Well here with go. Pretty scary. I think the PO was the leader of the M-I-C...K-E-Y Mouse club. This was the right side...

Driver side...

Here's the tabs I welded in tonight. Be gentle, I'm know I'm not a professional.

 

Here's the crossmember I made.

Not perfect but will do the job while still have access to the dizzy and everything else.


Next is the rear of the frame, I'm replacing the cross member and adding a bar to mount different shocks. Stay tuned folks.

 

Looks OK!

I'd want to tie those upper points back to the firewall (and maybe the base of the radiator horseshoe?) to prevent forward/backward movement.

Bit like an early Mustang???

 

Thanks Mark! It is an early fox body mustang suspension from what I've researched. The strut mounts are pretty wide at the base and there is a 1" piece of tubing down to the top of the coil bucket. I am going to add a 1/4" plate between the tube and the ugly strut mount you see from top to bottom. Then it will be a "T" resulting it less flex. So much work, so little time.