Hi Everyone. I'm a new user and have just recently falled in love with vintage trucks. I've found a 1952 F1 for sale and would love some advice on it.

The truck is about 2 hours away and am thinking about going to check it out tomorrow afternoon, the description reads:

"It is a stock 1952 ford pickup it does have a 12 volt system
with an alternator and electric fan, electric, fuel pump, cd stereo, it is Porsche red with grey tweed interior oak wood in bed couple of sm rattles but runs good call if you need more info"

The current owner does not know when the engine last rebuilt was, but says it's very clean and runs great. There has been a CD player installed in the dash, and I am wondering how much work it would be to repair that? Also do you notice anything that's horribly not original to the truck? Also, so far all of the trucks I have looked at have been 4-on the floor. How would this truck, 3-on the tree compare?

I have posted 4 images of the truck here.

Any advice would be EXCELLENT and thanks in advance!

 

I'm not real familiar with the Bonus Built series of trucks but it looks pretty good in the photos, although as you have mentioned it has some modifications (looks like mainly to the interior) that is not stock. If you want a purely stock truck then you probably should keep looking. On the other hand, the mods should improve the driveability of this truck over stock. It mainly depends on what you are after. I would take a small magnet with me and check to see that any rust repairs (lower cab corners, seams on fenders, drip rails, etc.) are not repaired with alot of bondo but with metal patch panels. Some of the Bonus Built guys will probably offer more pertinent info for you. Best of luck, and welcome to FTE.

 

Nice lookin truck i could see why you have falled in love

 

Welcome to the board. The truck looks very sharp. Good luck on getting it. ..............RUSTY

 

Hello! Thanks for the info so far. I got started on this because I took a contract job about a year ago with this a guy named Charles Phoenix. He was always talking about his vintage cars and it got me interested in them. He loves cars, I've fallen for the trucks!

As for this what I'm personally looking for. I want something close to stock, not heavily modified, lowered, huge engine, etc. But it doesn't have to be completely virign for me. I'm definatlly willing to put some work into it to get it back to looking original on the interior. IE upholstery, etc.

What would it take to fix/replace the dash? I've uploaded a few new pics at the same link to show the full damage that's been done.

Thanks again! I can't wait to purchase my first vintage truck, but I want to make sure I find the "right" one for me!

 

Good looking truck, somewhat different than mine, it is one piece, this is a good start. The CD player in the dash looks like it is just mounted in the grill, this is removable and can be replaced with 4 nuts behind the dash. It is unusual to have a overhead valve straight six in one of these, preference is usually the small block chevy V8. One day the pieces in my garage will look that that.
If the price is right I think it looks very good.

Thanks for the pictures

wgc

 

Welcome!

The radio panel will have to be replaced or at least patched. Shouldn't be too difficult to find somebody willing to cut up a parts cab.

I noticed his one picture of the hood/cowl/A pillar has some rust bubbling under the paint - typical of many rebuilds after a few winters - the area didn't get sealed properly and moisture has found it's way in. Not serious for a driver, but if you're paying for a show truck it'll need some work.

The 3 spd column is the same tranny as the 3 spd floor shift. Basically the same as your 4 spd except for no "Granny First". You'll like it if you've put up with the crash box trannies. Oh, yeah, it has synchros!

edit: btw, do you realize that page links to your entire photo album, not just the truck? Better to start an album here and download your pics to it. Go to user cp at the top of the page........

 

Is that all steel??? That is an excellent truck!! I would say it is probably worth around $10 - $12k, maybe more, if it drives as good as it looks. The 6-cyl OHV engine, while not as nostalgic as the flat V8, is a better engine in many respects (I'll catch hell for saying so).

The dash will require some good welding to restore to stock; not more than a couple hundred $$ including the respray if you paid a pro to do it. They have mounted the CD partially in the speaker hole, so the hole just needs to be restored to the correct shape. There is some grille cloth missing that would hide 90% of the modification, and that costs about $5. The other thing is the speaker grille was cut. Good used speaker grilles show up on eBay fairly regularly, I have a spare that I squirreled away to repair similar damage on mine. The radio delete plate is more rare, but they do show up. (Better yet, get a reproduction radio to fill the hole).

Keep us posted!!

 

I've looked through all of your pictures and the truck is in very good shape. The truck is a 5 Star cab (or Deluxe cab) and not the regular version. The 5 Star cab denoted different options that the truck had compared with a regular version of the same truck. These options included a door lock on the driver's door, door arm rests, two tone upholstery, interior door trim panels, additional hood side moldings (3 on each side instead of one), cigar lighter, door jamb dome light switches, dual horns (one on each side of the hood w/one being shorter than the other), locking glove box, radio/speaker (as well I believe), passenger side windshield wiper, electric wiper motor, chrome door glass division bars and vent window frames, and stainless windshield trim. I can see that the trim is missing. Check to see if the windshield weatherstrip has a groove in the center. If it does, then the trim would go there. If not, then you'd need to replace the weatherstrip and add the stainless trim if you'd like. The trims come up on eBay from time to time and generally sell between $100-150. I believe that the Deluxe cab trucks also came with the Magic Air heater. I can't tell from your interior pictures if it has one, but I did notice the hoses for it coming out of the firewall in one of your pictures. Another feature that the truck could have had is a fresh air attachment that ran underneath the right fender from the front, through the cab, and into the Magic Air heater. That was a very rare option and accessory to have. My 51 Panel has it, but the tube is rusted through in several places.

The engine is stock to the truck. In 52, Ford switched from a flathead 6 cylinder to a newly designed overhead valve 6 cylinder. The flathead 8s remained in Ford's line through 1953. The OHV engine produced around 100 horsepower, which is about five more than the flathead 8s. They also, I believe, had more torque. I agree with Albuq that the OHV engine was (and still is) better than the most popular flathead 8. Starting in 51, the shifter was moved to the column and most trucks had the 3 speed transmission. Heavier duty trucks, like some F2 and most F3 and up, had the floor shift with a 4 speed.

I can also see that the prior owner, or some other prior owner, liked the look of chrome as the valve cover, oil bath air cleaner and the hood "nose" trim are chrome. The original engine color is like a seafoam green with a darker green on the valve cover. The oil bath needs to be black and the hood "nose" trim is usually painted the same color as the grille or the truck (there's been a debate on this message board before about this subject). The arm rests are missing, but the extra (grey vinyl covered) door trim is there.

I don't understand why there's hose running from the oil breather to the oil bath air cleaner. That's not a stock set up. Also, you got lucky that the radio was installed into the speaker grille and that the opening for the stock stereo wasn't modified for the new stereo installation. In many trucks, the stock radio location gets modified with the speaker grille being left alone. It looks like you'll need a speaker grille and minor repair to the speaker opening. Most of the repair should be hidden once a new speaker grille is on with a speaker cloth. The speaker grilles can be found on eBay for $15-30. I, too, have one or two around here somewhere. I also have a few of the radio delete plates and about four non-working stock radios. One even still has the original speaker connected to it. If you plan to install the original radio in it, then you'll need the installation kit. The kits are hard to come by. I snatched an NOS kit on eBay for about $150 a few years ago. Lastly, the rear bumper, although correct for the F1 truck, is from a 48-50 model year. The 51/52 had a groove in the center, much like the one in the front.

Otherwise, the truck looks great. The 12 volt set up is a plus, as long as it's done correctly. Make sure that all guages and lights work properly. I'd buy the truck if it were me, but depending on the price. If you don't mind telling us, what's the asking price?

Just for refence, take a look at my 52 Panel. It's a standard cab, which also came stock with an OHV 6 cylinder. Note the trim difference on the hood. I have all of the parts to convert it to a Deluxe cab.


By the way, truck and panel production numbers dwindled starting with the 51 model year. There were less 1952 model year trucks and panels made than 1951 models and the 1948-50 model years. Same goes for 1951 model trucks when compared with the 1948-1950 model years. For example, there were only about 6,000 standard panel trucks made in 1952 compared to about 14,000 in 1951; and only about 1,500 Deluxe panel trucks made in 1952 compared to about 6,500 Deluxe panels made in 1951. Same principal can be applied to the F1 trucks of both years. Basically, the 1952 model year, especially the Deluxe cab version, are harder to come by.

Ilya

P.S. I have a soft spot for 51/52 model years. That's why I love your "future" truck.

 

Wow! You guys are great! Thanks for all the info so far! I'm even more excited then ever right now! To answer your question they are asking $13,500 for the truck.

This has brought to mind a few more questions of course!
1) How much concern is the rust bubbling under the paint? This will be a Southern Cali truck, so there won't be any snow/rain/etc. But I am close to the beach, so we have to deal with salt water.

2) What would it cost to get the engine repainted back to "original" colors?

3) How concerned should I be that the current owner is unsure if/when the engine was every rebuilt? If it runs fine and is checked out by a great mechanic, is it really that much of a concern? I've been getting differing opinions on this.

What questions do you guys really like to ask when you're looking into a new truck? Basics such as what's been changed, and when, all metal, engine rebuild, etc I've got, but any extras that are good?

Again, thanks to all your replies so far! I've made an appointment to go down and check it out in person tomorrow evening!

 

As 51PanelMan points out, there are a lot of Deluxe cab features on this truck, but I'm betting they were added. The tip-off to me is that the arm rests aren't there. The piece they screw to is welded to the door inner panel, not likely someone would have taken them off (the arm rests are sorely missed on standard cabs!). So I think someone has put the Deluxe trim items on a Standard truck. Who cares?!

As far as the engine, "rebuilt" means a million different things to different people, and especially to sellers. I would judge it solely on how the engine runs, what oil pressures it shows when hot, and how it sounds. The 223 I-6 is a "relatively" cheap and easy engine to rebuild, especially compared to a flathead V8.

 

[QUOTE=blackc2004] 1) How much concern is the rust bubbling under the paint?
Hard to tell from this small picture but usually any bubbling under the paint is good reason for some concern and a much, much closer look. If possible find a body shop personal to have a look, it can be very major or it may be fairly minor. At the very least have a good close look underneath the panel and do use the fridge magnet to test for body filler.

 

Ok. So I made the 4 hour round trip trek down today to check out the truck. I was very impressed...

It is a deluxe cab. However, it's missing the passenger window wiper. The heater is there, but not hooked up. The current owner has only had it 6 months and got it in a trade for another car he had.

A few concerns:
1) he says it sat for about 40 years, but they aren't sure if anything was done to the truck after that, rebuilt engine, etc. The truck sounds good, and rides good, but who knows about the gaskets, etc. I would think after that long they'd have to do something to get it running? (the odometer has 35,000 miles on it, but he's not sure if it's rolled over)
2) Between the header and the exhaust pipe you can feel hot air coming out. Probably just a missing gasket. There's been an electric fan installed, but I think it was put in backwards.
3) Lots of little rubs/etc in the bed paint. You can tell that things had just been thrown in and out of there. But the truck is solid steel.
4) A few little bubble areas in the paint. Not sure if this is rust or what's going on with it. But overall the paint job looks great! I couldn't find any over spray or anything.
5) The wiring job for the new radio is pretty messy.

Overall it looks like a great truck, but with all these little issues I'm not sure it's worth $13,500. I'm using these two ebay auctions as a gauge for the price.
Auction 1
Auction 2

I did take a bunch more pictures. I will try and post them later tonight!

 

If you post the pictures on the same page as the last time, block acess to you're next higher level page.
Waaaay Tooo Much info there.

 

Sadly, I can't just block access to that folder as it holds all the images for my websites.

I'm sorry that I didn't know how to create an album on this site to start with, but I do now (thanks to mtflat for pointing that out!) and will put the images there when I get them. If there were a way to edit my first post I'd gladly remove the link to the other site.

Thanks!