1951 F-1 winter project

Haha! I just noticed last winter I said I was hoping to be driving it by spring, then in the spring I said I was hoping to drive it by fall. Well shit, now it's fall so I guess I'm hoping to drive it by spring again....

 

Well I've been hard at it and I might be driving it this winter after all! I picked up a 27 T Roadster project and there's only room for one in the garage so I have to finish the truck. Here is some of the progress so far.

Front bumper from a F4, full of holes, bent and the brackets don't fit but It's all I have, so here goes.



The back side with brackets cut out.



Straightened, brackets modified to fit, most of the holes welded up.



Front holes welded up, can't decide if I like the fog lamps or not. I left one on there for a week and I still can't decide, I like it either way. Opinions?





I got this dumb idea to make an old voltage regulator appear stock but work as a 12 volt alternator regulator so I did this. I thought it was going to be easy and 5 hours later, viola! Before....



New VR guts mounted on a piece of Delrin plastic with Lexan underneath for an insulator.



Underside, factory insulator, the 2 flathead bolts (top left and top center) are studs threaded into the Delrin to hold it on and the lower left and lower center are through the factory steel bar and also threaded into the plastic. The top one on the right is just through the Lexan and the lower one is threaded into the factory steel bar to hold it in place. Rubber grommet for an insulator and it all checked out!



The finished product mounted and wired.



Gauges are in and wired, all seem to work except for maybe the fuel. Hard to tell but the dash lights and the lights in the Stuart Warner gauges are on. Blinkers work (original 60 year old blinker switch) horn, blower motor, ignition and start button all work. Still have to wire a few things inside and make it all neat.



The switch to the right of the column is a wiper switch from a 68 F100 that I cut 10-32 threads on so the knob would fit and hooked it to my 12 volt 2 speed heater blower motor. I think it looks better than a ugly bracket hanging under the dash.



All for now, back to work fitting the front panel on the bed.

 

Wow... looking cool!!!

 

Thanks! I have come to the conclusion that there are a LOT of bolts in one of these trucks! If the front fender is completely bolted on, it's something like 36 bolts to take it off.

 

Nice build brother, that Wheel Is a a 53-54 as you said Im using the same on my 30 coupe nice find too looks good

Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

Looking good

 

Making some progress!

 

Your doing great . Don't lose your momentum !
BTW - I have to change the windshield seal on my '52 F1 , as mine has hardend , cracked , and leaks a bit . I see your windshield is out - is it difficult to remove ? I imagine I will have to chip away at the old seal as it is not very flexible anymore ?

 

I had to take a razor knife and just cut the old gasket away from the glass. When enough of it was cut away, the glass came out real easy. I should have kept it for a template as there is a local glass shop that could make me a new one on the cheap but since I tossed it I have to try to find a junker to make a template from so make sure you keep the old one!

 

Thanks J W !

 

My favorite trucks and one of my favorite threads

 

Looking good!! If you aren't going to use the fog lamps, I'll take 'em!

 

Another update, got a few things done on the F1 this weekend. Garage is totaled, tools and parts everywhere, but at least I'm making progress!

I have an electric choke so no need for a cable, but I hate having an empty hole in the dash so I used an extra headlight switch bezel I had and put a 10-32 machine screw through it just to hold the knob in place



My buddy Vince spreading on some fiberglass. There is a thin coating over the entire roof, this cab was a work truck and was kind of wavy.




Got the roof pretty close, just need a thin coat of bondo and some paint!



I found a dome light switch from a 51 Ford Deluxe that might be perfect for my fog lamps if I can make it look right.



Something like this?

 

It's probably obvious to you guys by now, but there seems to be no rhyme or reason to the order in which I am working on things. On that note, tonight I decided to re-key the door lock. I have no idea why, but at least it's another bite out of the elephant.

 

I got the lock working, spruced up the window regulators, rebuild the door latch mechanism on the passenger side (still need to get the drivers side out of the door) and test fitted the hood. Does anyone know how to make one of these shut properly? it shuts fine without the springs, but when I have the springs attached I have to push the rear of the hood down to make it fit right.

 

Subscribed

 

Door latch mechanism tech. I don't know about you guys, but I HATE how the door handles on these trucks are always droopy so I decided to remedy the issue and I'm going to share it with you (whether you like it or not) so maybe you can undroop your door handles if you wish. I should have snapped a pic of how droopy the handle was before I started, but I forgot. You can tell by how crooked the square hole is that it was quite droopy.

Before. It was rusted solid, nothing moved at all.



Notice how crooked the square hole is in this pic? The mechanism is retracted so that's the angle of the door handle.



With the cover off. You have to bend the tabs back and if they break off I just weld them back on.



This is showing the wear. The piece I am holding has a turned down piece that the little piece with the square hole pushes against and it has a divot worn in it. The small piece with the square hole that is still sitting in the latch has the leading edge worn off.



Hard to tell since my pic is fuzzy, but the left edge on the part sticking straight up is worn away. You have to weld it and shape it to reduce the gap so it rotates the square back to the correct position.



Apparently I forgot to take any pics before I put it back together, I thought I had Anyway after welding the two surfaces that rub together and grinding them back to get the gap correct, this is what I ended up with.



Door handle is now level and mechanism is smooth as butter. I really don't know what the original shape of that piece that pushes the latch is supposed to be since I have only seen worn out ones, but I just take whats left and make it thicker.



Hope this helps, If you have any questions feel free to ask.

John

 

Looking great, keep up the good work.

 

ain't looks bad

looking forward to any updates

 

You da man! Thanks for showing your work on the handle rehab. That was a big item on my to-do list.

 

got to do my handles too! Thanks for posting.
btw Subscribed. Enjoying watching your progress

 

Thanks for the information on the droopy door handle repair will be pulling mine apart now

 

Thanks guys! One thing I forgot to mention is when I think I have the piece shaped right, before you put the cover on and bend the tabs back, you can assemble it and put a clamp on the cover to put the handle in so you can check for level. The last one I did, I had all buttoned up when I realized I missed the mark and broke all the tabs off removing the cover again to make my adjustment. Stay tuned, more to follow!

John