Thanks for the inspiration! I know for a fact that's not the original motor, I'm pretty sure if it had a V-8 originally, I also kind of recall this motor being an upgrade from the original. I forgot to take a picture of the Vin. Doh!

 

That is not a rust bucket! You should see the metal I'm working with!

 

Throw some pics up so I can get educated.

 

I wouldn't even consider tackling that cab, just find anther one and swap them out. Even if you have to pay someone to lift the one off and the other one on, you can do everything else yourself.n

 

let me get this straight.........your asking if you should save a 59 4x4 half ton custom cab that has been in the same family........your family since new?????????? and you only have 7 to nine years for you and your son to work on it????????? aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...........ya! imho you need a cab. i would drag this baby home and tuck it away then start looking for a 59 custom cab driver in good shape. four guys can lift a cab, same with a box. find a clean one and rebody the whole thing if you have to. vin #s are easy if you have the right size drill bit. 59 was the first year of the factory ford 4x4 and this baby was a custom cab. you gotta save it!

after looking at the pics again im not so sure you need a cab. get that thing out a wash it off. it looks like a driver to me. keys are in it, air cleaner looks good, has a 292 y-block in it with custom exhaust. that right front fender looks great. your cab corners are better than mine. looks to have all the trim. steering wheel is awesome. take some ford 5x5.5 wheels and tires with you and make that thing a roller again!

 

Thank you for the inspiration! At this point I'm certain it's a no brainer that I should try to save it, now it's just the logistics of getting it in my garage. The brakes are toast as in the brake pedal doesn't move, so its going to be a challenge getting it off a trailer thats sloped downhill. I could try to get a fresh battery and move it with the starter as someone suggested to me in another thread.

 

Down hill into the garage? The walls might stop it from rolling.
A winch or come-a-long would help getting it off the trailer. Have some wheel blocks handy. If going up-hill to the garage is there any place to hook a winch to? Wife's car would do...
Be safe, and best of luck with this project.

 

there is a guy in southern nevada selling just a roof panel on ebay. Also, pretty much every 57-60 ford truck has the same rust issues like that one. They only rust out in those few places where the paint didnt go. everything else should be solid.

 

It's uphill to the garage I was thinking I could put a couple of concrete anchors in the slab.
Then saw them off when I'm done.

 

Going that route means I could do it myself. But that's a lot of cutting and welding vs just buy a rust free cab. This is the big question of the day, I appreciate the input on this issue very much.

 

That looks better than the one I am restoring right now. Big thing certainly is the frame.

 

From what I could see the frame looked good and I'm pretty sure this truck has never been in a serious wreck so I think the frame is straight.

 

I'd love to have one that "clean" to start a project.

 

Hey Chet, looks like you have plenty of truck sitting there in you driveway to push it in your garage with! I have done the old stick an old tire between the bumpers trick before but you want to go slow and be careful. Does your garage have a back door? Put a timber across the outside of the opening and hoist it on up in. Or, just get a couple of friends and you all can push it in there. I realize that these suggestion may seem a little far our but just trying to get you thinking in terms of getting that Fridge in your garage! I will warn you, you can get very attached so be careful!

 

My back door in the garage goes into the kitchen and your idea would work with the timber but it's would be real close to our built in very expensive fridge so I'm sure my wife would flip a noodle.

My tenitive plan at the moment is to take a trip over in my F250 with a floor Jack and some lumber to take the wheels off and see if I can get them re inflated. I know at least one wheel is un beaded in a big way and I'm not sure I could get it to re-seat with the ether and a match trick. Then I'd get a trailer the next trip and tow it home with the Beast. My F250 has a triton 5.4 and the OD switch on the multifuntion is busted so its a two trip deal.
My Cousin is very exited to know you guys have set me straight.