If you are interested in the JAG IFS.There are several guys on here, using them. my build thread is in my signature. I would say more but i am on my cell phone.

 

I did the jag front end in my 49. I will let you know how it handles in a year or so when the rest is done but the bolt up was really easy. I went with the soft mount using the original mounts and had it completely installed in about 9 hours. That included fabbing the shock mounts and the carriers for the front arms. Everyday XJ has a great selection of jag parts for a really great price. 48steel has an awesome writeup on how to soft mount the jag IFS and Jeff and Nicholles site is really detailed if you want to weld it right in. Both of these people were great help in answering my questions too.

 

Ive been looking into the crown Victoria swap. What are your guys thoughts on that?

 

Hey Gick,
Welcome aboard! Nice looking truck - your cab looks great inside! Floors looks solid - much better than what we started with. Be kind to your hood & the doors - there aren't any reproduction ones out there. Hmmm...

Fenders - You can decide whether to keep those or not. Fiberglass ones are $250 or so each & very sturdy.

Front Suspension/brakes/steering - We went with the Mustang II IFS - pretty expensive for what you get - $2500 for parts then installation.
You have to cut into your frame & weld it on - not easy to get right - Our truck still doesn't track like you would want. Very time consuming (4 mos).. A lot of people have had success with the Jag front end or refurbishing the stock front end. The crown vic is much too wide for the
F1's - look up at the "beginners document" on this site - it goes through
a lot of IFS options & widths, etc.

Good luck over there. Looks like a nice start.

Ben in Austin

 

Hello I have been working on mine and so far all looks well. 1948fordpickup.blogspot.ca.
Tom

 

Decent looking truck, lots of potential. I have a '49 F1 in about the same shape, or worse, most likely. Keep plugging away at it, and it will come together. Thanks for saving another one from the crusher, or the rust monster.
Mike

 

So Ive pretty much decided on going with a mustang set up with shockwave air bags. Also the more i look at the boy the more i lean towards doing a fauxtina paint job. Its just so pitted and a lot of rot that it would take a ton of work to get it nice and smooth and straight to do a traditional paint job.

 

Nice project! Love the paint scheme idea's! I've been thinking about doing something similar with my 48!

 

Ive been slowly dis assembling some parts and pieces in my off time.Its gonna take a lot of work to get the body nice and smooth. It has a ton of pitting. Im waiting on a gasket for my dads sand blaster so i can experiment with that. Im gonna do the rust removal then prime everything just to stop the rust process then start on the suspension. Ive been adding up my cost and right now im right around 17000, so this is gonna be a very long term project as i have less than 4,000 to my name right now. Plus i bet itll be over 20,000 with all the little things i havent taken into account.

 

Oh and I almost forgot, the guy dropped off the 429 yesterday. Its a 71 out of a galaxie wagon whatever its called. Got it for a cool $100

 

 

I had a 69 429 in a 73 F250. Best engine I ever had. Got 10mpg empty or loaded with 10K and would pass everything in sight short of a gas station - and that was when gas was .89 per gallon and I was making around $5/hr while going to college. I remember parts were a bit of a shock when I was used to buying SBC parts. They are very proud of BB Ford parts. Enjoy.

 

Hey guy i need some advice. Ive been debating in my head whether i want to go with an ifs or just go with a drop axle and maybe lowering springs. Ive pretty much thrown out the idea of air bags just because of the extra cost and hassle. The truck isnt gonna be a road racer or anything so i figured a drop axle would work fine, but i wanna build this truck so that when im finished with it i dont have any regrets about it. I dont wanna be wishing i had ifs after i put the drop axle in. so what are your opinions?

 

I think the key is deciding what you want to use the truck for. I know for me, our truck is only going to be driven around town and at cruises.

I like the look of a lowered truck, but I really want to keep my truck as close to original as I can just because it is more than a truck to me, it is part of American history. I mean really, that baby rolled down an assembly line in 1949!

Just keep in mind that you can always do the drop axle/springs in stages to spread out the cost. First the axle, then springs, then disc brakes.

 

Well... If you start with a drop axle, you can always go back an put in an ifs later. Realistically, you a can pull off the front clip and the engine in a day.
This would get you on the road sooner and for less money....and... you might like it. If you get it on the road and really hate it, you can circle back, do the ifs, and your complete focus would be on the ifs & you'd already be done with the rest of the truck.

Just my $0.02 worth

Dan