Hello all. I'm a bit of a new comer here as far as being a member/poster. I have been a bit of a silent observer foursome time. There is a lot of great information here. Thank you all for sharing your knowledge with those of us who are a little more green when it comes to this suff.
For about the last year I had been working, although only lightly, on a 1955 f100 with the original block that has been in the corner of a barn on our farm for nearly my entire life. That truck had been bought by my dad at an estate sale of one of his cousins. That cousins son has now started to show interest and because it was his dad's truck my father and I have decided to put it back in the right hands. I did die a little bit on the inside after that decision.
I've been looking for a truck since and... finally got one! It just came home earlier this week. It's a 1951 f1, but someone has swapped the original v8 flathead out for a 289 V8 with automatic transition.
Over all I think it looks good. However, I am from Michigan and more used to seeing rust buckets. This one came from Montana.








The cute girls did not come with the truck




My first post! I hope this works, pictures and all.
Thank you and let me know what you think about the truck!

 

Welcome to the forum. I was going to ask about the girls. That truck looks like a nice place to start, a few zits perhaps but nothing that can not be fixed. Keep us up to date on your progress.

 

You did great with both the post and the truck. It looks solid and far less rusty than the native versions from this area.

You did the right thing with the family legacy keepsake. Lineage matters and you can start your own with this one.

What are your plans?

 

I hope to keep it as original as possible. But to start I was going to see if I can get the 289 block running for now and leave that until I have the money to get a flathead to put back in it.
The previous owner did mention the gas tank needed to be cleaned, so tomorrow my brother is coming over and we are going to pull the tank and decide if we are going to clean it and seal it or just replace it.
Suggestions welcome!
Tomorrow I will get some interior pics for you guys to check out.
Thanks

 

Welcome! Nice truck and a cute pit crew there. Many ways to clean the tank but if you don't get it spotless you'll have problems. Learned that the hard way. Anyways good luck on your build. We love pics so keep them coming.

 

Good to see another 51 come along. If you clean your tank I've found if you take some short (8"/10") pieces of chain (one or two pieces) and really churn them in the tank will break up almost anything inside, good luck Garry

 

Good job on the post! Looks to be a solid truck and a 289 is a good fit for the engine. Regardless of what you decide to do with it be sure and take the time to enjoy it.

 

That is a nice start!

The girls seem to like it already!

 

Welcome to FTE!

That's a great truck! Looks like a 5 Star Extra with the hood trim and drivers door lock, but someone removed the windshield s/s trim ring.

 

I wish you luck with your truck. Seems to look like a great starting place. Btw, you've got a lot cuter helpers than I do. (my dad)
Time to crack open the binder and create yourself a build plan! (I hope)

 

Nice truck. Great to see another guy from Michigan. What part of the state are you in? From your pictures looks like the flatlands.










Dave

 

I live just south of Grand Rapids.

 

If you can get along with a fella from Lansing, Cody may be able to help you with a variety of NOS and recovered parts. I'm guessing that he also has a flathead or two about.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...s-of-pics.html

 

Cool Truck, Subscribing

 

Thanks everyone for the welcoming remarks! FortyNiner thanks a million I will have to keep Cody in mind as I come up with the things I need. My younger brother came over today and we worked on the truck.
We pulled the fuel tank but the inside really looked pretty good. Drained it. Rinsed it out a bit with clean gas and put it back in the truck. We also replaced fuel lines and changed the oil. Then... we fired her up for the first time.
Couldn't help but take it for a quick spin!

Here's the interior pics I promised.
(Notice in them that I had removed the door handles and latches because one was not working at all and the other was working poorly. This made the ride interesting!)










Here's the latches I took out and worked on the other day. Luckily, what I assume was the original driver side latch (with locking mechanism) was behind the seat when I got the truck. I was able to scrap parts from the extra latch to get it in working order again.
Please notice the latch retainer spring on the middle latch. I'm short one. The bottom latch is the diver side and it needs a spring. Does anyone know where I can find one?
The top latch is the one I stole parts from to rebuild the diver side.