1951 F-1 winter project

Thought I would post some pics of my winter project, 1951 F-1 since there isn't much going on here, might give you guys something to look at and you can feel free to make fun of me if you want....

Here is what I started with, picked up a chassis with a 351 Windsor and an FMX, got it running that same day, chassis has been blasted and painted, new brake lines, shocks, leaf springs, shackles, pins, bushings, e-brake cables, u-bolts, king pins, alternator, and all new drum brakes out back. Not bad for $450.00






The engine was mounted 4 inches too far back and the cab would not fit, so after I got it running, I raised the engine up and cleaned and painted it, then moved it forward, tacked in place for now.



Then I took a Mustang shorty header and cut it to pieces and moved the outlet so it would clear the steering, brakes, engine mount, etc. This is my first attempt, so I know it's ugly, but it will work and the headers were free, so.....



Then it was drag the cab in for mock up and make sure it all cleared, all is good, so time to weld in the engine mounts and see about making a transmission mount.



I just noticed the cab and the bed look like they came from the same truck, but the cab is off of an F-4 and the bed is from another truck.



More parts.



Well the weather had gone to shit, and my garage is small, so instead of putting the cab back outside, I figured I might as well start working on it and do the transmission mount later. I hate sanding.



I have a couple spots to patch at the rear of the cab, nothing too serious, but the one on the passenger side is rusty and mashed in a little.




The cab right behind the driver was pushed in 3/8 of an inch and was very lumpy, I pushed it out with a port a power and began hammering. I forgot to take a pic before I started, but trust me, it was much worse. I beat it for a while, then threw some spray bomb at it to show me the low spots.



More to follow, stay tuned.....

 

Love the f1s.. Post plenty of pics

 

Any close up pics of how that tranny crossmember was modified?

 

I haven't done it yet. When I got the truck the crossmember was pretty hacked up, so I'm trying to decide if I want to fix it and modify it to fit the new transmission, or leave it and make a whole new one.

 

Looking gooood !!!! Keep us up on your progress.

 

Welcome to the F1 club!

 

I want to be in the F-1 club!

 

Thanks Green Monster, been in the club a while now, this is my second 51, and I helped friends work on two others, a 52 and a 48 (all with Ford engines) and I am hoping to be driving this one by Spring-ish but I will have to stop and do a little work on my Roadster and my Comet at some point.

 

Going to be watching this one...

 

Sweeeet!!

 

I was tired of sanding and beating on the cab, so I decided to make myself a good working steering box and column. I tore 3 boxes apart before I got enough parts to make one good one. Then I had an automatic column from a 55 F-100 and another stick column with factory blinkers, so I decided to make 1 column for the automatic with factory blinkers. The 55 column is about 4 inches shorter, so you have to chop the end off another one and weld on the additional 4 inches to make it fit the steering shaft. The idea was to make the 51 appear as if it came factory with an automatic and factory blinkers. I didn't want to have to put an aftermarket shifter in the floor, not that there's anything wrong with that, I just thought it would be a little different and kinda cool.

This is the sacrificial 3 on the tree with the blinkers and the auto column is in the backround on the floor.



The column torn apart, cleaned up and painted, I tested the neutral safety switch and the blinker switch and they both work.



Then it's just jam it back together with some lube in the right places and.... Presto!





Next up is the mangled steering wheel.....

 

Got me some new old skins for mock up. They look good, but i think they are fairly old so I probably wont use them.

 

Anyone know any tricks to clean up these whitewalls if I do decide to use them?

 

May sound funny but wet sanding will really clean up those white walls. It will remove the yellowed layer and get you down to fresh white.

 

Well, I tried that and with minimal results, I thought the white rubber was fairly thick, but I just about went through it. I tried some bleach-white and it helped, but they are still pretty yellow.

 

The transmission crossmember is on the books for tomorrow. My mount needs to be about 6 inches back from the original mount and who ever hacked this chassis up before I got it, cut a big hunk out of the factory crossmember. The question is, do I rebuild the factory crossmember and make a mount off of it? Or do I make anew mount to bolt in behine the original? Either way, I need to make the original crossmember (at least the center) removable, or I will have to remove the engine or the cab to take the transmission out. Has anyone done this before? I was hoping to get some input about what works best. Thanks.

John

 

For those who are interested, I made my transmission crossmember finally. Someone had cut the center of the original one out so the transmission pan would clear, but they had the engine back 4 inches too far so I was left with a large hole. Here it is before.




Here it is after making something to fill the hole, it's not completely finished, going to make a gusset and fill in the top.

 

Sweet build!

 

Looks like you are off to a great start!

 

Thanks guys, I did not get much done in the last 2 weeks, then I figured out it wasn't going to put itself together, so I went back to work on it.

 

Finally got the transmission mount in, beat my welder into a coma and two hundred and something dollars later, it seems to work better.

 

kick ass project for sure!

 

Got my exhaust hooked up, sounds pretty good, ran vacuum line for trans, got the carburetor on and tied up the plug wires for now, probably going to get new ones.

 

Not sure if I mentioned it, but I'm poor. So instead of buying a steering wheel to fit my column, I tried my hand at rebuilding the piece of crap I had.



The back



After repairs




All done! No show piece, but not too bad for a first attempt.

 

great progress so far . keep at it .


.

 

I use a little bit of gas on a clean rag to clean up the whites on my bikes. Seems to work well. Gets the yellow-ness and chain lube right off them. If the tires are for 15" rims and you want to part with them, let me know!
Kevin

 

Looking good!! Keep the pictures coming.

 

Thanks guys! Kevin, the tires are really cool, but not in very good shape, using them for mock up and maybe some driving around the block.

JW

 

Looks good!

 

So for those not paying attention, I am broke-dick at the moment and I needed cab mounts. So here's what I did. The material used is Delrin plastic, very durable stuff.

Delrin stock



Cutting OD to size



Drilling ID to size



Finished bushing, 3 more to go



All four with the sleeves pressed in



Pressed into cab mount dog bone



All done, just needs paint



I know, I'm a cheap ass. But they are fifty bucks plus shipping, and I need to save my money for stuff I can't make.

JW