I recently bought my grandpa's 1955 Ford F-250 after he passed away. He got it about 5 years ago and got it running just recently. I believe it has a 292 8 cylinder in it but not quite sure. It is a 4 speed though. I know very little on fords, sorry I was raised a chevy girl, I Know. I want to restore this truck because I never got to know my grandpa and he restored a 55 earlier and this was going to be his second. I know kind of where I got to start. Just wondering if anyone has some advice on this kind of truck. Funds are limited since I just started college but I know I can gradually start on fine toning the motor and replacement of a couple other items. So any advice to start out?

 

Welcome to the site.
You have come to the right place to get advice and information. Everyone on here will be willing to help you. There are several people that have the same truck as you and are going through the same experiences. Good luck on your new project.

Is it driveable? Does it leak, oil or water or rain? Does it sound good?
Give us lots of pics...we like those, and don't be afraid to ask dumb questions.

 

Read the "READ FIRST: Help for all you Newbies" sticky at the top of the forum page. Great place to start.

Welcome to FTE!

 

It is driveable. When we hauled it home we drove it around the farm and there are no working brakes so them are on the top of my list. Also it seems that a brake is dragging because when I push the clutch in, it almost immediately stops when trying to shift into second.
As far as I can tell on leaking, no I don't believe it is leaking any fluids. Haven't had a chance to clean up the motor yet but haven't seen any leaks yet. The windshield and back window will need to be replaced but no water is going through them either.
Thanks

 

Welcome to FTE and those of us with 48-60 trucks. I have a 54 F250.

Don't get in a hurry to tear things apart. Take time to figure out what you want to do with it and if it will run and drive, maybe drive it as is for a while.

 

One thing to start with is to observe which wheel or wheels are dragging. Then find the adjustment on the back of wheel (behind the brake drum) and adjust it to see if that helps. You will see a small rubber kind of thing, pop that out and turn the starred roller up or down with a short handled flat scew driver. See if that helps. There is a tool for this you can buy at most tool places.

 

Ya I will try that adjustment on the wheel and see if it helps. I will probably try that once I go through the brakes to get them working. I want to get the brakes working before I keep driving it. I also heard that the rims need to be replaced due to they are is split rims or two-piece rims. I can't remember what they are called but I heard this wasn't good. Is that true?

 

For rims, you can use any Ford or Dodge 16 inch 8 bolt rims up to about '99 if I remember right. Chevy rims will work to for the front axle, but the center hole is not big enough to go over the rear axle.

 

I also have a 54 F250 that I have had less than a year and have been fixing up, back to original. Brakes were one of the first things for me also. In my case the master cylinder was dry, but after filling it up, it held fluid and I got some pressure on the pedal. Brakes were pretty non existant, after pulling a couple wheels, I found all the brake cylinders were full of crud and frozen in place. Tried rebuilding one of them with a kit, don't waste your time, I was able to buy new ones at NAPA reasonably. If any of the pads are wet from fluid, replace them, again I tried cleaning them to no avail. I also pulled the master cylinder and gave it a good cleaning, I bought a kit for it but it didn't have the correct size piston, etc. I just put it back together and it has worked fine ever since. While you have the master cylinder off, blow out the brake lines with air. (Easiest to do this while you have the brake lines off of the brake cylinders) Replace brake fluid and bleed off any air. Make sure none of the lines have any leaks, you will probably be good to go.
Ask lots of questions. Everyone on the Forum has been great answering and giving valuable advice. Good luck. It's habit forming.

 

Welcome to FTE and the '48-'60 forum! I concur completely with Cabledude. Waste no time getting started on repairing the brakes. The best advice I can give you for the brakes is to REPLACE EVERYTHING! New master cylinder, hard lines, hoses, wheel cylinders, and shoes. If it has been sitting long enough for the brakes to quit working, then it's a certainty that the entire hydraulic system will be riddled with rust and useless. The stock brake system on these trucks uses an antiquated single circuit hydraulic system and ANY leak ANYWHERE in the system will take out the entire brake system. You can try to cut corners and reuse stuff, but you will end up replacing it pretty quickly anyway. The cylinders will all either be rusted to the point of being siezed or pitted badly and leaking. The parts are cheap. Replace them.

Once the brakes are perfect, move on to the electrical, suspension, and steering. After any problems there have been attended to, the mechanicals should be in good shape if the driveline is solid. Then you can move on to body, paint, and interior. Mechanicals first, though! Don't bite off too much at once, enjoy the time you spend with it, and make grandpa proud.

 

if it's an original engine it's the baby Y block 239 cid ,,,54 and 55

 

indeed , welcome to the mad house ! i won't scare you like i did cbutcher ,as some were telling me i was running the newbies off before we had a chance to mess with ya's !!! i also concur on the brakes . my current and forever 53 1/2 ton , and the 52 customline 2 door i bought that was the first thing . brakes completely gone through . i from experience with my 53 wouldn't mess with rebuilding the master cylinder as mine went south on me twice . oreilly's carries 'em for your f250 under part no. mc509400 for 115 bucks . my 53 is also parked and apart mostly due to electrical gremmies that i kept patching for ever to keep feeding my need for driving it , and my 52 is getting a rewire at present so yep make it no. 2 .oh yeah , get ready to find out once you start down this road with the old fords there is no cure for this disease other than to buy more ....................................

 

Welcome, there are alot of folks on here to get good knowledge from. How are you wanting to fix up the truck, are you wanting to stay original or do you have plans on upgrading certain things more over to the darkside (motor, brakes, tires, etc). These are 2 important questions you need to ask yourself before you get going to far. For ow if I were you I would drive it around abit and let the truck tell you what it wants to do, then once it tells you go for it and have fun with it...

 

Thanks for all the info. I was planning on keeping it original. I want to restore it like the other one my grandpa did. Yes as of right now I will just be driving it around as is when I get the brakes done. I still don't know if it is a y block 239 or a 292. I don't know my motors. My grandpa is the one who did the motor and didn't even tell my uncle what it was. I'll have to get some pics on here soon of it.
I will surely be checking into getting a new master cylinder and brake parts. My uncle will be watching my every move once we start that I know. He restored a 46 ford and put a 460 in it. He is a ford man all the way so when he found out I bought this truck he said he would help for sure. Also thanks on the rim advice. I wasn't sure what kind of rims would fit on there or size wise so I will be looking for the 16" 8 bolt rims.

 

Since your uncle put a 460 in the 46, he is probably a good source for help on this project. You are lucky to have someone to help guide you.