It looks like it has been worked on because you can see all of the pieces and there isn't 50 years of grime buildup on the axle. I would put it on jack stands and check out everything to see how tight or loose it all is....do that before formulating a plan for what to do with your truck.

On the rear end, that Timkin rear end probably has 4.85 gears...that won't be too comfortable above 45 or 50 mph. The popular swap on the F2's is to find a Dana 60 out of a newer F250. They came in a variety of gear ratios, so you'd have to figure out what you want and check the part ID tags at the wrecking yard to find the right one. The benefit to the F250 rear end is better gear ratios and you'd keep the 8 lug bolt pattern that you have now. If you want to change the front end to something like a Mustang II, you might be re-thinking the rear end to something like a Ford 8.8 or 9 inch with a 5 lug bolt pattern.

So here's the deal....you have to figure out what you want it to be when you're done, formulate a plan, then figure out how much you want to spend and see if it fits your plan. Factor in how much time you want to spend as well. There is absolutely nothing wrong with doing the basics now and get it back on the road...then do modifications incrementally over time.

Dan

 

err 3/4 ton. Hey thanks for this lead! And everyone else who has filled my inexperienced head with knowledge.
Havn't got much done lately, working too much! Will be starting up again soon, and posting photos soon. Have to wait until the pins in my wrist are taken out too. Those come out tuesday, and it's back to wrenching.


Hope this doesn't gross anyone out too much.

 

The Ford shop manual in the background is what we can focus our eyes on.

Man.....hope things get back to normal for you after that hardware is removed. That rig must be more effective than a good old fashioned plaster cast?

 

Hey TBH,
Well that looks painful! How did you do that?
At first I looked at the pic & saw wires coming out of that pin thing
on your arm - thought that's one of those new fangled electronic ones.

I'd go very slowly back into wrenching. Love your truck. So I see lot's of advice on your thread here - what did you decide to do to it next?

Ben in Austin
1950 F1

 

Well, to start to story from the beginning; January 27th of last year I got hit on my motorcycle. I recovered from that, and 5 months laster, I got an mrsa infection on my right arm, almost requiring amputation. 3 months later, I broke my wrist at a concert, right wrist.. Not the best of luck this past year. The reason it requires pins is because I broke it on the growth plate, where it connects to the hand.

As far as the truck, I'm taking the block to a rebuilding place, H&H, one of you suggested it. Then Im going to empty out the garage to make room, so I can start this project! My plan is to take everything off the frame, have it sand blasted and then repaint it myself. Hopefully the frame will not need much patched, it's pretty solid. There is a break of the frame in the back where it attaches to the bumper, But that's easily welded. SO I keep hearing the term "widow makers" in reference to tires or wheels. What are they and do I have them??? Taking a guess that they are the original skinny wheels?
In about a week from now, I'll be posting new updates and photos almost daily.

 

Well today we made a little progress towards getting the truck running. We took the block down to H&H in L.A for a quote. We are going to have them put in a thruster crank, dual carb manifold, and bore out the engine for a total of $4,000. This and a complete engine rebuild. All upgrades will increase the engine by 60hp. Got a qoute for dark cherry red paint. 1 gallon is 700$ WOW! We are thinking of going with a dark cherry red exterior and a black interior. Obviously we arn't painting anytime soon, but we felt seeing the paint was a motivator, as we could imagine the finished project.

After that, emptied out the garage and made a yard sale pile to raise money for the truck., Bought two new craftsman tool boxes for my old mans garage, where most of the work will be done. My old man has never owned a tool box in his life, he has insisted on the peg board method. I had to talk him into buying tool boxes.


The old man and his tool boxes, he looks so happy.

Family of fords, what you cant see is my ford explorer off to the left...

 

Thanks to Bessie for donating two y-blocks to my cause!

I did alittle cancer searching on the fenders and the truck bed, the PO didn't dissapoint.



Luckily it's all in easy to repair areas.. Just makes for more work. At times it almost seemed as if the PO caked fiberglass and bondo over the rust, without even sanding or cleaning the area. As soon as I stripped the fiberglass off, rust came pouring out... Who does that any why???... Well, I'm going to do more searching tomorrow, I'll post an update.

 

Hey T, just gonna leave this right here for ya

Ford F2 & F3


Great truck you've got there, if you wouldn't mind, could you take a shot of your rear axle with and without that hubcap? I'm trying to see if I've got clearance for 'caps on my '55

Keep up the good work!

 

Those are the brakes i'm looking to get. And sure thing! Next time I work on the truck I'll snap a photo.

 

Not sure if this is what you meant, I hope these pictures will work. If not let me know!

 

Alright everyone, So I have finnaly began taking off the paneling on the truck, trying to strip it down to the frame. I have run into a bit of a problem. Inside of the engine compartment, there are screws that have flush heads, no where to grip them. Well on the inside of the tire well they have a nut. I can't seem to remove the nut because as I turn it, the head of the screw turns. There is not enough room to fit a vice on the head either. I'm sure these screws are common place inside of the engine compartment, any tricks to get them off?

 

Angle grinder with a cut off wheel worked well to cut the nuts off the backside. I had the entire front clip off so it was an easy job to flip the clip upside down and work. Wear face protection, hearing protection and heavy gloves.

 

Well I was hoping to save the original screws, anyway to do this besides cutting them off?

 

Yup, angle grinder and cutoff wheel, then punch em right out. Thanks for the pics btw, that's what I was looking for!

 

You could try to take the nut off then use a punch to pop them out, but good luck. All those years of getting settled in there is pretty hard to un-settle.