Hello everyone! I am new to the forum. I have recently bought a 1946 Ford F1? 1/2 ton pickup. I have no clue as to how many owners this truck previously had before me or what was done to it over the years.

The truck seems to be in decent condition for being 67 years old though it does have it's share of rust. It also has some damage on the driver side, cab corner was hit lightly and pushed back about 1" but can be repaired.

The odometer reads 50,286 miles and the truck seems to be 95% complete. Tailgate, running boards, heater box and mirrors seem to be the only original parts missing.

The flat head engine was not locked up and the truck did roll and steer freely but I have no idea how long it has been sitting but judging how I put my hand straight through the gas tank tells me it's been off the road and out of use for many years.

I bought the truck assuming it had the original flat head V8 in it but found out a few days later when I went to buy new wires, cap, rotor, points, oil and filter that it did not have the original engine. The numbers on the driver side cylinder head are 8BA and the parts guy told me that was a 1949 or newer engine after I explained to him where the distributor was located.

The very first thing I did was remove all of the spark plugs and flood each cylinder with Marvel Mystery Oil and then re installed the plugs and let it soak for a week.

When I went to work on the truck a week later I pulled all the plugs again and turned the engine over by hand. When I did this, the oil that I had flooded the cylinders with a week before had all drained down except cylinder #5. I believe on the left bank, all other cylinders were bone dry.

 

After I was certain all of the oil was out of the cylinders I put the old plugs back in. I drained the old oil and pulled out the filter, oil did not seem to have any contamination nor did the filter, new filter installed and fresh 30W non detergent oil poured in. I removed the gas line from the pump and cleaned it out, I had already removed the gas tank.

Checking out the cooling system that was bone dry I could not see any rust or corrosion buildup in the radiator tank. I did remove both water inlet hoses from the cylinder head and did not see any rust or corrosion there neither and both thermostats looked okay.

Not knowing if the system would leak or not I poured a fresh gallon of coolant in(still cold here) and added some water. There were not any leaks that I could find so I filled the cooling system completely(Big Mistake)and put the radiator cap back on.

Attempting to start the engine for the first time in many years did not go as good as some of those "it fired right up" barn find videos you watch on you tube like I have seen, this flat head engine did no such thing.

My truck still has the original 6 volt positive ground system and I will keep it that way. A previous owner in the past did install a new wiring harness front to rear but I do not know how long ago that was and most of the wiring seems to be in place except for the headlights and horns.

Getting the engine fired up for the first time took awhile. First, the starter did not want to do anything except drag so dad let me use a rebuilt starter for his 1951 Victoria that we are restoring.

After learning how to remove and install a starter on a flat head engine I found it to be the easiest starter I have ever replaced and once it was on I cleaned the battery cables/terminals and was good to go. It did take a few attempts but eventually the old flat head fired up and was running, not very good but at least it fired up.

 

Welcome to the madness of trying to rebuild a 46-47 Ford pickup. There is no "F" designation, only "pickup" or "truck" for these two years. They are the forgotten ones. '48 and above is easier to find things for, they are plentiful. But where is the fun in that?
We loves us some pictures when you get time.

 

that sounds good. it should be a good one to start with. get some pics posted if you can. i have not figured out how to do it yet. ( i'm new here too. )

 

The next step was to replace the old brittle ignition wires, install new plugs along with a new set of points that my dad already knew how to set since I have never done that before. Once the new tune up parts were on I could tell the engine started quicker and ran much better.

Then both water pumps started leaking and they are going to need replacement. The engine sounds good but it does smoke, not sure how bad it is but I think it might be from me flooding the cylinders with Marvel Mystery Oil and it will take some time to burn off any oil that went into the exhaust manifold but that's just a wild guess right now.

I will have some time to work on it this weekend possibly depending on the weather. I don't have any plans at this time to restore the truck and take away any patina it already has but simply do what needs to be done to be road worthy, dependable and safe. I will determine what to do when I find out more about the engine, as it sits right now there are no brakes and even if it did have brakes the tires wouldn't stay up long enough to get out of the driveway.

 

Thanks, I hope it turns out to be a good one to start with.
The reason you cannot attach pictures is because we are both new users of this forum. We will be able to post pics after the 10 day grace period has passed or we reach 10 or more post. I do have a photo album located in my profile so you can go there and see the pics I uploaded.

 

Thanks for the info on the no designation for these year model trucks. I have so much to learn yet but I am sure my dad will help to point me in the right direction the best he can. I will post more pictures when I am allowed to do so but since I am new to the forum I will have to wait.

 

Let me share a few things with you guys:

This is where I can find almost everything

Then there is here for some other things

And here too!

For some modern type upgrades, I go here. Smart guy too!

Like I said, welcome to the madness!

 

Welcome to the madness!!!

 

That is a heavy duty back bumper!!!

 

Welcome to the group, Grumpy! Always nice to have another member on board. Hope you enjoy yourself.

 

Thanks everyone for the welcoming and web links. I just got the truck to my house after my dad and I did a few last repairs. We had to make a few braces for the bed so it could be bolted down and we also straightened out some of the previous accident damage on the lower driver side cab corner, looks 100% better now.

We did run the engine for awhile and the smoke seemed to go away only after the engine warmed up so it's not as bad as I had first thought it to be but it is going to smoke a little unless the flat head is rebuilt. Strangely though the water pumps didn't leak an ounce but I know they need to be replaced anyway and are on the list of parts to get.

The transmission will not go into 3rd gear at all, 1st, 2nd and reverse are fine. I will need to investigate more on that issue later on. Clutch seems to be working properly. The engine temp stays at around 185/190 at idle with a short rev of the engine here and there.

As for the brakes, the master cylinder is shot(froze solid)and has been removed. I removed all brake lines from the wheel cylinders and blew them out with cleaner and compressed air and they are good to go. I will not bother trying to rebuild any of the brake parts to save a little time and everything will be replaced with new parts.

I will get the truck off the the trailer and into the garage tonight but I have to find a place for the Benz first and when I figure all of this out I will most likely put the truck up on jack stands and remove the wheels to inspect the drums and brake shoes.

 

The truck is now in the garage where it will remain for a few weeks while I take care of a few things. Not going on jack stands tonight as I am extremely tired from this weekends events and all.

On a side note: I have been reading up on the locations of vin numbers. The plate that is screwed to the inside of the glove box door has engine numbers of 806972 and I did find the same numbers on the top frame rail beside the steering box. Below the engine numbers are the model numbers 69-C

I know the engine in my 46 is not the original nor is the trans and both of those are a 49 from what I can tell(8BA cylinder head number.

There were 3 other numbers and 1 letter stamped on the top frame rail also. Here is how they are in order: 617C-806972 can anyone tell me if this is correct or am I reading them wrong. Are these numbers considered to be the vin number?

 

Here is a good link about serial numbers:


https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...947-truck.html

 

Thanks! I have been going through some other threads as well. I guess I will have to go back out there and clean more crud off of the frame rail to see if the star symbols are at each end as mentioned, if so then I now have a vin number to get the registration done with as I did not get a title with this truck.