Hi abe,

thanks for the advice! I'm done with the bed wood. Thanks to the help of my father in law, who worked from above when I was laying under the car, thightening all the screws. One of the rare jobs you can do while laying relaxed on your back .

I think, I'll now stop hijacking this thread . Sorry for this...

 

Nice bed. That might be the nicest bed in all of Germany!

 

Yes, that's true! But now I'm dreaming of nuts...

 

I have a 51 that's stock and a 56 that's sort of a hot rod.....I must say I think I like the stock one better!!!! It's the roots of we're we came from!!!! Nothing like driving the old truck down the road!!! The 56 is more like a gt mustang!

 

First I respect anyone's wishes on what they do with their truck so there is no disparagement here of anyone. But I will never go on this bandwagon of modernization which is now becoming the rule & not the exception. For one, there must be 200 million modern vehicles on the road so I can't see wanting to make my trucks just another dull run of the mill modern vehicle. 4 years ago I bought a modern vehicle for the first time and the novelty wore off within a year. I have no interest in driving 70 mph on the interstates, nor do I need to do 0 to 60 in 5 seconds so there's no HEI or Edelbrock stuff under my hood. Second since I've always been a sentimental old fool (even when I was in my 20s, LOL) I like to make them as I remembered these old trucks when I was growing up in the early 1960s. Probably the biggest changes I make on these old trucks is the rear ends as most of the original ratios are horrible up until about 1965. Third, these are trucks and not cars so I WANT them to ride like a truck & like a tank! I like the simple technology of the 1950s thru the 1970s where one doesn't need a $200 an hour technician to figure out what's went wrong with it. Putting car frames under them renders them useless as a truck, not to mention there are some states that one can still get in trouble with the DMV due to changed serial numbers, circumventing emission testing, etc. I know at least two that have got into hot water over this.

It's your truck & your choice but if it's a nice stock struck, stay with it. You will still turn as many heads even if it's just a so-called driver truck & not a $30,000 show piece.

 

This 56 started out as a 500 dollar purchase...the cab was decent, the rest of the truck is all new, it had no engine or trans in it so I went the crate motor route....it's fun to drive but it's not an old truck

 

This is my 49 f-4 I'm doing now...it will be all stock 4spd and flathead...the only thing I have are new wheels for it (not widow makers) when I go for coffee or ice cream double clutching with a top speed of 40 I will be smiling!!!

 

Lots of posts about how owners "feel" and "sentimentality", not to diminish this aspect of old truck ownership, but the OP did ask, "How does the "market" respond to originality?". The answer to that is that there is not a large market for "original" trucks...and it is my experience that those who are interested are also very concerned about cost. My direct answer to the question posed is that if you keep your truck bone stock, you will spend a good amount of time and cash doing it, you may have some interest from some potential buyers but don't expect to sell it soon or for the amount of your investment.

 

Interesting, I would have guessed a clean original would sell a lot quicker than a "custom". And the quality of modifieds are all over the map. Some are very good. Others not so much.

 

I agree that it will be difficult to recover your investment when trying to sell a bone stock truck. However, I think that's also true about a modified truck. Unless you're skilled enough to do all of the work yourself and have a large supply of cheap parts, the cost of restoring one of these trucks will almost always exceed the market value when you're done. That doesn't mean it's not worth doing. Remember, it's a hobby. I ask my friends who play golf how much they expect to make when they sell their golf clubs.

 

It comes down to each individual's preference and desires - it is not debatable at all since it the owners decision and nobody else's. Both total original to 'dark side" builds are excellent since we are saving these old trucks. No matter what the suspension is, the motor is, the interior is, we are all still saving them. We could all purchase a brand new Ford truck instead, but we aren't. We are all saving Detroit "art", regardless of how we choose to equip them.

 

I like both

 

I've enjoyed watching the thread and the discussion. Truly believe there is no "right" or "wrong"; it's like arguing whether rare or well-done steak is better. I'd like to have at least one of each, but for now getting through one project is enough.


Dave

 

I really and truly believe, as I stated in post #10, that it is cheaper and easier to take a stock truck and keep it stock than to do a lot of modifications to it.

 

In 1999 my truck went from this:



To this for $2000 in parts and $2000 for the body work and paint: