Yesterday was a day that was 46 years in the making. One of the most exciting days of my life. With the help of my friends, Vance, and Bart, wife Jodee, Daughter Taylor, and my Aunt Dorthy who gave me the truck we got it out. 4 hours of diging and 2 minutes with the tow truck. I do not have the words right now to express the feeling of excitement. Thank you to everyone for your advice and future advice. I need it.
Paul
https://youtu.be/O3Iv7W89C2M

 

What a great day! The truck looks really good. Thanks for posting the pictures. Ultimately you will have some hammer and dolly work particularly on the rear fenders. Those rear fenders are hard to find. (I could not find one for Tom, pineconeford, in reasonable condition at a fair price in all of walking Hershey earlier this month.

 

That's a great start for a project, congratulations! That truck looks great just the way it is- with all its work and time-earned patina!

 

Your pictures are great. The look on your face is priceless. I had the same look when I brought the '49 home. My wife on the other hand had a different look on her face when she saw it. But I've shown her pictures of what the truck will look like when I'm done - and she now accepts it.

Your tailgate is in spectacular condition. All in all, the parts of that truck that make it an F3 (compared to the easier-to-find-and-buy F1 parts) are putting you way ahead of most of us with the long bed trucks.
I see a relatively easy project there whether you keep it in it's current cosmetic condition and make it roadworthy and safe to drive, or even do a restoration.
The door lettering is amazing and something to consider keeping as-is or carefully re-creating after new paint. Especially if the words are meaningful to you and your family. That is authentic to how folks used their trucks back in the day. Great stuff.
All up to you of course.
Keep us posted, tour through the archives here and if you can't find something specific such as which safe replacement wheels will fit over the 14" rear drums, just ask.
We have the equivalent of the Library of Congress in our past threads here. Brake parts, tires, rear gear ratios, axle swaps, springs, all the specific items to an F2/F3 have been covered and stored here. And of course all the non-specific info that your truck shares with an F1 such as engine, transmission, wiring, everything cab related, interior, lighting, gauges, etc. is right at your fingertips too.
Here is a link to a new and a used shop manual we've mentioned.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1948-1952-Fo...JWOiQ~&vxp=mtr
and used at a great price:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1948-1949-19...NYB8i4&vxp=mtr



Tom

 

congrats! What a great day for you and your family. I too love the door art. Good luck and keep us posted with updates and progress.

 

Is this a widow maker?

 

Yes. All 17" wheels supplied on F-3s/F-250s are widow maker Budd #49380s (you should find that stamped into the Firestone RH-5° outer rims). The only other 17" I have record of was a K-H wheel supplied on GM trucks. These will not clear your rear hubs, but work on a front axle. Rather than me rattle on about replacement options, you might Google my user name and Budd 70720 (tubeless 17.5"), Budd 73240 (tubeless 17.5"), and Budd 71410 (tubeless 19.5"). And Google Stockton Wheel about remounting widow maker centers into new tubeless 17" outer rims. Edit - there are other options but these are the most like original.

Your truck is in really nice shape for spending its life in central Illinois. To be proud of. Stu

 

great video... that looks like a widow maker. But I haven't seen one in 25 years, so hopefully someone that been around them can confirm that. Here's an nice write up about them Ford two piece rims

 

Thank you so much Stu.

 

Today was a good day. Started at sun up while the family was still sleeping. First order of business was removal of the seat. Thanks to pb blaster all plugs, bolts, and screws came off easy. Next order of business, remove the tool tray on top of the gas tank and then the gas tank. 1/4 tank of fuel / crap. Poured it out into a container and it stunk. Got good news in a text message while I was working. I asked my uncle why the truck was put up.The reply "It was parked primarily because it was not used. Used to have to clutch start it. Pull it pop the clutch and then it would start. We used in the end primarily to pull the rope to lift hay bells into the barn. " Fantastic news. It was running when it last saw the light of day. To finish the day, pulled the spark plugs and put two caps of mystery oil in each cylinder and replaced the plugs. All parts bagged and tagged. Very exciting day.

 

Welcome Paul. First let me say that you get points right away because you posted lots of pictures.

It looks like you got a good start. Continue to take lots of pictures because you will probably need them later when you start putting things back together. I would recommend that you power-wash everything first. Get up inside all the nooks and crannies including the inside of boxed cross members and the underside of cab floors. Stu is right, that lime is very corrosive and you want to get rid of every bit of it.

Once everything is clean start making a list and take corresponding pictures. Make sure that you organize your pictures on your hard drive somehow. I do it by component (Body, Chassis, engine, transmission, rear axle, etc.). You don't want to spend all day trying to find a key picture as you start reassembly.

Do you know what you want to do with the truck? I would assume maybe restore it to the condition that it was in when your grandpa drove it? Make a plan and stick to it until you can drive the truck safely.

If you need any parts or advice we can help you. Also the search feature on this forum works pretty well if you ask the right question. There is tons of good info and pictures here.

Good luck.

 

awesome pictures Paul.

mike

 

Paul, I really enjoyed going through this thread. Great pictures. Hope you can save the artwork on the doors. It's part of what makes these old trucks so interesting.
Dan

 

Thank you so much Dan. I have a lot to learn.
Paul

 

Congrats on getting a nice truck! Welcome to FTE, what a wealth of information it has been for me in my journey to resto/mod my '49 F1. Enjoy the ride!