Hi guys,

As the title says, Im new to the forum. Ive been looking to buy a 1053-1956 F100 for a while and one recently came up near me. Since its my first purchase, I wanted to come here and see what you guys thought about the truck and if you had any advice on what to look for. The truck in question is a 1955 F100 and the guy is asking $1,375. Its missing the grill and tailgate and does have some rust but was told the frame is rust free. The engine on it is a 292 V* so its not the original engine and I don't think the engine on it will run.

What are your thoughts?

 

Welcome to the site!
My opinion, I'd save my pennies and buy a nicer one. Once you tear it apart EVERY panel will need MAJOR rust repair. That is a "parts" truck at best. I seen that one somewhere for sale on craigslist I think

 

I see where it could turn into a nightmare, I'm going to see it at noon today since pictures don't always tell the whole story. Im also not looking for something that is already done, whenever I buy one, be it this one or another one, I plan on taking my time, its not something I want to finish in a few months.

 

just remember the rust you see, there will be double-triple that hidden. Rust free parts are expensive and patch panels are not cheap let alone labor costs to install properly.

 

That truck is restorable, but it will require a bunch or repro sheetmetal, or years of bodywork which will require a welder. Finding a good project truck up north is tough. Even worse is the $5000 bondo wagon that looks just good enough to bring way more money than it is really worth. I drove 14 hours to buy one of those trucks.

Buying a truck like the one you pictured can have a lot of educational value you will use forever. It will be a train wreck when disassembled and you have to be very committed to learn to weld in patch panels and apply filler properly. The fun wears off pretty quick when weeks turn into years. It is hard work and you will make mistakes on the first truck.

Welcome to the forum. This is a great place to learn.

 

Agreed in that rust is always more than what is seen, I would be doing all the work myself so installation cost wont be an issue.

I've seen a few of those that look great until you realize all the bondo that was used to make them look that good. In your personal opinion, do you think the truck is priced ok for what it looks like in the picture? Its hard to judge considering I have seen many of them asking for way more when they are missing half the body parts.

 

It's more than I would pay. Initial purchase price will be a tiny fraction of the overall build cost. Can you find a better truck for half the money if you are patient? Probably, but it will be likely be in Tennesee, or Texas or somewhere else far away. IMO the best purchase is to find one somebody started on long ago and lost interest. That truck might be partially disassembled and in a shed. They are around. Anyway, it isn't likely folks are lining up to buy this truck at that price. I'd try to get it considerably cheaper. Look it over hard and try to find something that makes it a good project base. Solid frame, cab that only needs cab corner patch panels and you can get started while you look for a better parts truck. Just those two items in decent restorable condition and you can have fun for a year or more while future deals arrive. You can find one in similar shape for that money without much difficulty so don't panic buy if he won't drop the price.

I'm starting to ramble but I have bought trucks like that for $200-500. Grabbed a few parts I needed and sold a few on ebay and recovered most or all of my purchase price. There are a lot of $50 odds and ends that are fairly easy to sell.

 

Thanks for the advice! The owner did state that the frame is rust free and the truck was built in California. The only thing that doesn't make sense is the engine code in the vin number. It has a J engine code and the decoders Ive seen dont show a J code for that year.

 

First and most important! Does it have a valid, verifiable (serial# matches the one stamped into the frame), transferable title (titled name is the present seller) from your state? If no on any point, RUN don't walk away!
Second, the asking price is WAY too much for this rust bucket (can see just from the pictures shown the rust is extensive, trying to salvage it is way beyond economic sense, I don't care who is doing the work. (I teach rust repair.) Body work is the most difficult, expensive, and labor intensive part of any build. Bigwin is in the parts business, and has already given you his advice. Rust buckets are not in short supply!
Rust free frames (especially ones without valid titles) are everywhere and can be had for 0 - a couple hundred dollars for a titled roller with good suspension, and that's all you are buying here (not even the good suspension). IMHO If that truck was once in CA it left there many decades ago and was heavily mistreated since.
We are not trying to discourage you from owning or building your dream truck, just trying to ground you in reality from sharing many years of experience, and seeing many like you come and go.
One truism is that to get one of these trucks to a safe driveable condition 40 footer, costs 15 -30 K, no matter where you start: with a 10K rust free, mechanically sound, driver that needs some TLC care and personal detailing or with a 1K pile of rust needing everything The first will need an additional 5- 10K of manageable work, the latter will need 13- 30K in parts and materials, plus a great deal of skilled labor. The major difference is how long it will be before, and (more importantly) if it ever will be, on the road. With the first one it is likely to be immediately to a matter of months before it is on the road, being driven and enjoyed. In the latter case it is likely to be a decade or more of being mostly a pile of parts requiring a lot of labor intensive dirty work, and storage space for the duration of the build, where it will not see light of day, and is even more likely that you will one day realize you are in way over your head, lose interest, run out of money and/or space and dump it off unfinished for scrap or sell it at a substantial loss of time and investment. (No matter what they show on TV, these things are never finished quickly, easily or ever break even much less make money.)
What experience, equipment, space, time, money, dedication do you have to invest in your old truck project?

 

Just though I would give an update, went to see the truck and like always happens, the pictures were better than in person, truck had bondo work done with chicken wire on the front corners of the cab. Rear corners were rusted out. The frame was good and the engine looks like it would run with a bit of work so basically I would have been buying a frame with an engine and no cab. I offered the guy $500 for it due to the condition and he didnt want to go down so we walked away. He was saying that all the rust on it was fixable. Soo, the search continues!

 

Almost anything is "fixable", it's just how expensive is it to jack up the radiator cap and put a truck under it?
If you really want a truck badly enough, work at searching for a solid rust free complete project starter with good paperwork (VERY important these days!) in the dry SW states. They can be had for ~5K not running to 8-9K on the road, and can be shipped across the country for 1500. or less or even driven back. You'll be money ahead. I live in the SE, have extensive mechanical and metalworking skills, but I still bought my zero rust panel truck in NM and drove it to NC.

 

This is exactly why I joined the forum and decided to ask and agree 100% with everything you just said. I work with Ford as a body engineer and have learned from experience that every detail has to be looked at. As far as experience: Ive done a bit of welding but nothing major. I still practice here and there in an effort to get better at it. Equipment: I can get almost everything I need from the shop at work. Im also not married so time and money at this point are unlimited. Dedication: I have plenty, wouldnt be where I am today if it was t for that.

I really appreciate all the info and advice you guys have given me.

 

We found the title, the car was brought to MI in 1971. This one is just too far gone.

 

Good for you, it will work out in the end if you are patient. He is correct, the rust is all reparable with extra-ordinary effort and cost. He can find somebody else to pay for all that untapped potential his truck has. These characters see a $30K restored Effie that AX described, then decide that surely theirs must be worth 5% of that. That actually sounds rational until you have tackled a basketcase. It's not a '40 Ford coupe or a 67 Stingray. These trucks are still very common in junk condition.

 

I am glad for you that you walked away. Sorry I didn't see this poste before you went top look at it. As AX had mentioned, a clear title for the truck in question is a MUST. You mentioned in one of your post that the engine code was J, that is a good engine code for 1955. The J engine was the 279 V8 that was only available in the Big Job trucks F700 and larger, so with that code, I can assure you the title was NOT for that truck.