Hiya yall, I'm new here. Been putting off starting a thread about this project until I had some pretty pictures for it. My dad's first truck was a 52 F1, and he's been wanted to get another for years now. We finally pulled the trigger on one a few years back. Came with a front disc conversion, and an awfully hacked up 12V conversion, as well as a running flathead V8. That engine is going back in, bored 50 over, with a dual carb intake. Stock 3 speed tranny is being swapped for a 3 speed with overdrive. Here's a few before pictures, overall the body was in pretty good shape. The interior had some pretty gross carpet-like upholstery. Goal for this project is a nice daily-driver with a bit of pep.
Here's a couple other pictures of the exterior. Our first steps were removing the body and engine to get better access to the frame.
We ended up having the frame, cab, bed, and doors (so, everything I guess) sandblasted. Figured it made sense to finish the chassis first. Replaced the leaf-spring bushings first. The chassis was painted with POR 15 covered in black spray paint. Also painted the drums and calipers red for an extra 2.3 horsepower. The existing brake lines were pretty dumb looking, so we made up some new ones. Also straightened up the front frame horns at this point. Don't have pictures of it, but we also put on new parking brake cables before moving the frame out of the garage to start on the doors.
Nice! I like it, and the direction you're headed with it. Now go have a sammich, you're looking a bit on the thin side... And....welcome to the HAMB
I'm pretty dadgummed (tm 3wlarry) impressed that the front fenders aren't rusted through where most of them are. Oh, yeah, if you paint the shock mounts red you'll get another 0.5 hp. b-t-w; if you decide to chop the top I believe that I've got extra door tops that will be a big help. Where are you? If you're close enough to pick them up you can have them; no charge.
We're not planning on chopping it, but thanks for the offer! And we didn't go for red shock mounts, but did do yellow shocks. And yeah, the lines are Ni-Cop, really easy to bend and flare.
At some point between the frame and doors, I also cleaned up the heater box. Core didn't leak and the motor worked fine, so it just needed a paint job.
Doors were next. Driver side had holes on the inside, Passenger was bad both inside and out. Patched the Driver inside first. Then the Passenger inside and skin. And that's where we're at now. Next step is gonna be the metalwork on the cab, then bondo on all the panels.
Started metalwork on the cab. Since we ended up buying an entire floorpan, we braced everything first. Cut out the floorpan and started doing minor repairs to the corners and mounts. The new floor fit pretty much perfectly. Then started cutting out the rotted bits on the lower firewall and patching. When the floor got in, we test fit the doors. Passenger hinges were pretty well warbled out, so drilled them straight and installed a metal sleeve. Then re-drilled the sleeves to match each other. Heating and bending the hinges got the door lines pretty good. Next step, body filler!
In the meantime, I got excited and painted the manifold and heads. Just gotta sand and polish the fins and letters now.
It appears you did this heating/bending with the hinges still attached to the body. Was there any warpage involved?
No more warpage than there already was (I think ). Only got the thinner part of the hinge hot, and bent it with some channel-locks. The sheet metal along that edge was pretty much all concaved in already, so its getting filler regardless.
Got tired of wet sanding and rebuilt the tranny. We bought 2 sideloader flathead trannys on ebay for $600, one w/ overdrive and one without. An R10 probably ain't the best option for my first transmission rebuild, but oh well. Everything turned freely, and the gears all seemed to work when we bought it. The snap ring holding the tailhousing is one of the most frustrating things I've ever had the displeasure of dealing with. Most of the internals seemed OK. The free-wheel cam roller cage thingy was flattened on one end. The synchros were a little worn down, and second gear was missing two teeth. Replaced the roller cage, both synchros, and second gear. Also picked up a 12V Solenoid. The governor appeared to ground out properly when spun. Everything went together pretty well. Threw some grey paint and stainless fasteners on it. Now just gotta figure out how we're gonna deal with solenoid clearance.
Been a second. We painted the entire exterior of the truck in July, but when we got to sanding, little bubbles appeared in the paint. After about a month of putting it off, all the exterior bits were sanded, and the cab was repainted. Used single stage this time since we have experience with it. Before that series of unfortunate events, we installed the engine and transmission. The cutout for the overdrive solenoid is pretty deep, but I'm optimistic. Also made up a little bracket to support the tranny. After sanding (almost) everything down and repainting it, the front clip was assembled and I started on the wiring harness. That scratch in my nice black radiator is from an overly excited pitbull trying to help with windshield installation. We ended up gluing the trim to the rubber before installation. And that's where the F1 is. Currently working on the wiring harness, interior and repainting the bed and rear fenders.
Hello, Great project you guys have going on there. You have made a nice transition and it is getting close to enjoying it to its fullest. We have always liked old Ford trucks. In our old So Cal neighborhood, there plenty of old trucks running around the city. Something about the truck design and all-around ability to be of use around the household jobs and stuff. We have seen quite a few and have seen some glimpses of others still cruising around. One day I will get photos of those we have seen from a far distance or a quick glance down a side street or two. But, here is one we saw in a large parking lot and my wife spotted it from quite a distance away. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/fat-fendered-pickups-lets-see-em.1240463/#post-14190789 Jnaki The owner just happened to get one of the coolest license plates for such a truck. You will have to see the complete truck to get the whole picture.
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