I came across a 1954 f250 with the v8 that I was told run great when parked. Has Sat for about 15. Years, but engine is complete. Cab has usal minimal rust, nothing threw, but box is shot (used it to store firewood) I run a fabracation shop and wanted to chop the frame and put a short box on it, but I am catching a lot of grief from a few local guys that it is killing them I want to destroy it (as they put it). Personally I like the look of the truck but want a sportier look to it. Does this conversion hurt the value or is it best to keep it origional? I paid 300 for it and have more than the equipment to do the job fairly easily.

 

And here I am looking for a long box for my 52 F3.


You're going to get a lot of different opinions on this. Ultimately, Its your truck to do what you want with it.

 

Really?? That box looks pretty good to me. If it's the floor, that is normal, and there are some replacement parts available. However, if you are determined to shorten it, and have the equipment and skills to do it... it's your truck. You will have to section part of the frame behind the cab and then shorten a bit behind the axle also. You can buy complete shortbed kits. The longbeds are in short supply, so I would advise against chopping it up, as you could easily sell it and the running boards at a fair price. Also the rear fenders I believe would be too narrow to use on a shortbed.

 

I am already seeing that..lol. Thanks for the reply. I am not to interested in what guys think looks better, I like the short, I am more concerned with the lost value if any as a collector standpoint by chopping it. I am seeing the f250 is more rare, just hate lose out on any investment potential by not keeping it origional.

 

If your looking at this truck as an investment, the best advice I could give you is to get it running if you can, invest as little as possible and sell it quick. It is not an F1 and you can't make an F1 out of it. So no matter what you do, it will never bring a restored F1 price. Yes the F250 is more rare, and the reason they are is that most people just don't want them.
We have a member here who did a frame off restoration of a 56 F250, a beautiful job. After he finished it he had trouble getting $10K for it, far less than his investment.

 

They are never going to be an investment. No matter what they show on TV you will lose money on it, the more you put into it the larger the percentage loss you will take. 54 250s do not have a high demand, and do not command high prices, no matter how nice, it will never be more than a 10-12K truck, average driver quality 5-8K. Sorry for the reality check.

 

What the 'reality' shows don't show you is that these guys are being paid such large sums of money from the networks that they can afford to do these unrealistic builds. Most of these 'builds' are subsidized by the networks to the tune of several hundred thousand dollars a year.

 

You paid 300 for the truck?! Why can't I find these deals?

Good luck with whatever you do.

Btw, I like the dump truck conversion. Everything AND the kitchen sink.

 

From the South Dakota book of laws:

22-34-1. Intentional damage to property--Degree of offense according to value. Any person who, with specific intent to do so, injures, damages, or destroys:
(1) Public property without the lawful consent of the appropriate governing body having jurisdiction thereof; or

(2) Private property in which any other person has an interest, without the consent of the other person;
is guilty of intentional damage to property. Intentional damage to property is a Class 2 misdemeanor if the damage to property is four hundred dollars or less. Intentional damage to property is a Class 1 misdemeanor if the damage to property is one thousand dollars or less, but more than four hundred dollars. Intentional damage to property is a Class 6 felony if the damage to property is two thousand five hundred dollars or less, but more than one thousand dollars. Intentional damage to property is a Class 5 felony if the damage to property is five thousand dollars or less, but more than two thousand five hundred dollars. Intentional damage to property is a Class 4 felony if the damage to property is one hundred thousand dollars or less, but more than five thousand dollars. Intentional damage to property is a Class 3 felony if the damage to property is five hundred thousand dollars or less, but more than one hundred thousand dollars. Intentional damage to property is aggravated intentional damage to property if the damage to property is more than five hundred thousand dollars. Aggravated intentional damage to property is a Class 2 felony.

The provisions of this section do not apply if the intentional damage to property was accomplished by arson or reckless burning or exploding pursuant to chapter 22-33.
Source: SDC 1939, § 13.4501; SL 1967, ch 28; SL 1971, ch 159; SDCL Supp, § 22-34-3.1; SL 1976, ch 158, § 34-1; SL 1977, ch 189, § 70; SL 1978, ch 158, § 12; SL 1990, ch 164, § 1; SL 2005, ch 120, § 97; SL 2014, ch 111, § 1.


Well, well well......looks like you about to commit a class something misdemeanor/felony depending on how much WE the people value the truck.
Now before we call the SD State Police, put down the cutting torch and get a good night's sleep. Then, in the morning when the sun hits that truck at just the right angle....take in it's natural beauty, all 18 feet of it.
Then, either find a new owner for it that doesn't own a cutting torch, or put your skills and experience to a good cause and restore that truck. Customize it a bit to make it sporty, if that is what brings you into the shop every day. The posts above are correct, not everyone prefers the 8-footers but those that do really, really see them as special.

From: an interested party.

p.s - welcome to the best old truck forum around. Don't make us call the cops.

 

Plus they have a large crew of behind the scenes builders working 24/7, have all the parts ordered and checked in advance. American Chopper when it was on, charged the corp. wanting a bike built $1 Mill to have it made on TV!!! Even on Overhaulin, with >50 very experienced guys working 24/7 the cars they "revealed" to the owners after 1 week were actually kept for at least another month (per Chip Foose interview) to completely dis/reassembled by another crew to be sure everything was done, working, and safe. It takes more than a week to draw, program and CNC cut and polish a set of one of wheels alone.
The "buyers" on most of the shows are often shills and/or subsidized by the show. The vehicles later show up for sale on ebay etc. So much BS and people believe it.

 

thanks for the responses... I will stick to my original idea. I know I will upset a few, but shortbox it, mustang front end, update the brakes, get the original V8 going with updated ignition and new parts threw out, Interior is in pretty fair condition with as far as I can tell working gauges, and it has already been updated to 12volt system. Lower 3 inches and a canary yellow paint job... PERFECT CRUISER. and like most, I am sure I will continue to trick it out. I I cant make money on it, at least I can enjoy it.

 

I say go for your plans. These old trucks are not Ferraris or anything of the like that have actual "collector" value. Making a F250 into a F100 will likely do more for resale than not. The frames and suspension are similar enough that making the mods you describe and changing the emblems will effectively make it a F100. Once it's done, no one will care if it's been modified, as long as the modifications are done correctly and safely. Good luck with your project.

 

As several before me have said I think that you shouldn't worry about investment at this point. If you really want a short box then I'm sure that there is someone on here that will take your long box off your hands.

My F2 became a short box over many PO mods. I suspect that it was modified to be some sort of utility truck. They chopped the frame right about where the front of the box mounts and fish-plated it (see before picture). Unfortunately they cut out 10" instead of only 8" so that made the wheelbase only 112" instead of 114". So I had to move the fenders to make the rear wheels fit the opening.



Good luck and post pictures.

 

It's your truck so do what ever you want with it.

The following is just my opinion and it isn't worth much. Since what you have is a F250 I would just leave it as a long box. Especially if the plan is to sell it down the road. If it was a F100 then by all means shorten it.

The F250 box is taller and wider then the F100 shortbox. The rear fenders are the same. So that means you will need an entire shortbox with tail gate. But you can re-use your stock fenders.

If you are worried about resale value then another option is to find a F100 Short box rolling chassis, swap over your cab, front clip and engine & transmission. Keep your original box and chassis. Then when you decide you are ready to sell the truck swap the parts back over onto your original chassis and you are all set. It's a lot of work and you need to have the room to store the original parts. But it only really matters if you are worried about the resale value. You are going to have a smaller buying pool for a F250 to start with. A cut up and modified F250 is going to have an even smaller group of buyers interested in it. So do you worry about your taste in the how you prefer the truck to look or the resale value of the truck. It's really up to you and what you want to do. You own it so the decisions are all yours.

 

I second that!