Gentlemen:
My father and I just acquired a '49 F-1 95% original. It has been his dream for most of my life. He would like to have this as more of a daily driver than a show queen. It has the original flathead V8, 3 speed tranny, and 3.90:1 rear end; factory leaf springs w/ the factory HD leaf pack in the rear; and drum brakes front and rear.

I am a strong enough mechanic to make upgrades but not 100% what to do. Planning on a front disk conversion w/ master cylinder. Modify leaves for lower, better ride. Replace bias ply tires with radials. And a rear end swap for better speed.

Advice needed on above mentioned or anything else. Dad doesn't necessarily want a resto-mod; try to keep as original as possible w/o compromising drivability/safety.

 

Welcome. I'll comment on some of the things you mentioned.


If it's truly a 3.90, you will probably indeed eventually want to do a R and P swap. If it's a 49 and original, the rear end will be a Dana 41. The vast majority of those had a 3.73 ratio, so make sure. Either way, we now have R and P swaps for Dana 41 rear ends. No need to do a big 9" swap project, etc. in my opinion.


Disc conversion is nice, but I'd get it running first, fix the brakes, and then make the decision before spending that money. Flatheads aren't exactly hot rods. I've driven mine with drum brakes for 6 years now.


I'm not personally convinced that removing leafs from the springs will give you a better ride. The 1/2 ton trucks are not that rigid at all. Does the rear pack have 10 leafs?


But overall, I think the recurrent piece of advice that almost everyone gets nowadays is this--get it running with what it has, drive it, get to know it, and then you'll have a better feel for what the truck needs.

 

I will say what Doc said about each item. Get it running and driveable first. Post pictures asap as we all like them. Look at our upper right corner of our post -- your location will help others know if they can help you better. Have fun and welcome to the insanity of old trucks

 

Thanks. Pretty sure it is a Dana 41. Not 100% about the 3.90.

I don't know for a fact that the brakes are "bad" just that there is only about an inch to inch and half of pedal movement and doesn't respond quickly.

The rear pack is 9-10 leafs; this had the HD upgrade from the factory/dealer with an additional pack of roughly 6-7 more. I guess my thought is remove the additional pack for sure and probably replace the shocks as they are some cheapo monroe...

 

Thanks Dave,

I've spent so much time with 60-80 chevy and not much with ford plus the additional age that this def had a learning curve.

 

Welcome! I will add my voice to the 'get it running' crowd. It does sound that the brakes need to be rebuilt. These trucks - with stock, or nearly stock, setups are safe and reliable. The R & P swap is a recent development that is really great news.

You may already recognize this, but I'll say it anyway. As you begin making small changes, it will trigger a cascade of 'because' changes. For instance, changing to radials will make the underbed spare tire carrier unusable and the low speed steering harder. Going faster will make you want to stop faster. Converting to 12 volts will necessitate resistors for the gauges. You get the idea. Drive then decide. Resist the urge to disassemble. You want to get this beauty, and your dad, on the road sooner that later.

 

thank you Doc & thanks FortyNiner

all your suggestions make perfect sense and I will def keep these in mind. the upgrade to the brakes was due to a want for more speed so i totally get the snowball thought process there. The radial tires thing i didn't know or hadn't occurred to me--what would make the steering easier if I do put radials on there?

and out of sheer curiousity--what kind of performance can i expect from the motor/tranny? is it foolish to expect a decent hwy speed of 65mph? thats all i really need/want. def not trying to hotrod.

 

IF your truck has a 3.73 ratio, and your flathead has good power, it will easily cruise at about 60 mph and reach 65 if needed. Anything above that will make the truck feel like a boat winding down the highway.

 

IF your truck has a 3.73 ratio, and your flathead has good power, it will easily cruise at about 60 mph and reach 65 if needed. Anything above that will make the truck feel like a boat winding down the highway.

 

Well, you would want to put in power steering, of course! With that upgrade, you'll have clearance issues in the engine bay that might be fixed with headers, which would cause some adjustments to the exhaust routing......

 

welcome aboard!!! Cant wait to see a few pics....



Mike

 

what do you recommend for power steering? I can't find very many options.

 

Doc I'm not 100% of the gear ratio but I would like to put higher gears in for easier highway speeds with lower rpm. the flathead runs but at this point it would be presumptuous to say if it had good power or not.

 

what R & P swap would you recommend? I am still looking at options but always open for advice and knowledge.

 

I think he was trying to demonstrate how a change like that can snowball into other required modifications with these trucks.






https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...nd-pinion.html


Supposedly there are others, but we discussed this back in the winter, and we confirmed that Early Ford in South Carolina is indeed selling the kits for the Dana 41. Prior to that, we were told that a R & P swap for a Dana 41 was not available.


We still need pics of that truck. Lots and lots of pics.