Alright guys....here it is. I live in San Diego and have recently acquired a 1948 Ford F1 from my grandfather. It is in very good condition!!! I am wanting to bag the rearend and slam the front. (maybe a mustang II ifs w/coils and 4 link bagged rear) I already have a 302 to drop in it. I am in the Navy and have a limited budget. I CANNOT weld and need a little help with some ideas. This will be the most likely place to start. I am willing to do all the work myself, if possible. Any and all help will be appreciated.

Mike Sullivan

 

Welcome to FTE, Mike.

Thank you for your service.

Now, about the dream truck...you need a wake up call here. I'm building a 56 street rod, so I understand the passion. However, the parts you are talking about are NOT cheap. You are probably talking about $4200-$5000 range for the parts alone (both front and rear). And yes, you need some welding - professional grade, since this is suspension, thus your life we are talking about. It is also very common to need 1-2 years to do this type of thing working weekends and evenings. So, unless you have a garage that will be there when you are out to sea, the garage logistics may also be a problem. Then, of course, there are all the tools you'll need to do it also.

How about this: Get it running good and drive it just like it is while you are in SD. Other than mechanical stuff, don't do anything to it. No paint, no rims. Enjoy it!!! You may be really surprised how cool these old trucks are the way Henry built them. In time, the truck will tell you what it wants to be when it grows up. By that time, you may well have better financial and garage resourse to do the job.

Good luck.

Of course, you can ignore this advice entirely and someone will buy it for a song in pieces in a couple of years. (That is more common than you know.)

Just my 2 cents.....

 

I think RJ is right on with this; get it driveable. Get a feel for the mods you want to make, this is an evolution anyway. If your time frame is 2 years, double that...this is if you get to work on it weekends and evenings like Randy said.


Pleanty of time to strip it down. The IFS really needs top hand welding, I jobbed mine out after I boxed the front frame.

good luck with whatever you do, enjoy.

tom

 

First of all, Welcome to FTE. Jump in and join the fun.
Please listen to the advice given, there are many half-finished projects sold for pennies on the amount invested because someone got in over their head or got discouraged at the length of time required to make it right. I know that if my truck would have been driveable when purchased, I would have more motivation to complete it. I have been at it for 4 1/2 years now, and it looks like it'll be that long before I get it finished. I have the facilities to move mine to the side and wait for the motivation or the funds to work on it, I hope you have the same.
Good luck, and keep us posted.

 

Wellcome to the board!!!! Thank you for the service to our country!!

I think you have recieved some great advice so far. You'd be amazed at how far the memory of driving the old truck will take you, it will really help inlater years when the thing has been torn apart for years and all you have to show for your efforst are busted knuckles, and red, water shot eyes full of rusty dust......lol

ah, the good times

Do you have an pics?? if so, share them with us, we love pics here
Bobby

 

Not to slam you slammed 48 but Randy is completely right on this one. I'm sure others will agree that heavy mods of any kind are not cheep and will require you to develop some skills if you intend to do all the work yourself. However if you are not in a rush and don't mind the thing torn apart with pieces lost and forgotten over time, you could easily complete the work yourself over a period of at least 5 years with many of the parts lost and forgotten. I am doing a lowered 48 also (maybe we should paint them red, white and blue).

If you got it on the road now...enjoy it develop a plan and save the money to do it right later on. Take some welding classes and in any case have a professional welder complete the welding for you on the frame.

Just another 0.02 cents....hey if everyone chimes in here you may have accumulated enough to pay for the build......

Oh yeah...even though I am a Canuck, I still say thank you for your service and welcome to FTE.

 

God Bless you for your service to our country. Welcome to the FTE. I have been working on my truck for the past yr or more. It's a slow process, I work on mine every night for 2 or 3 hrs. And on most all weekends. I'm about finished with the frame mods and have the engine, tranny and rear almost completed. Starting on the cab mods now. It takes a lot of time and money. I'm doing all the work myself on my 50f1. Take the advice from above and drive it till you get to the point you have the time, money, and a place to work on it. Drive it now and enjoy it. It will tell you what it wants in the future. Good Luck and have fun....

 

Sounds good, fellas....and your more than welcome!! I enjoy doing my job! Been looking at drop axles for the front vice an entire mustang II. I left the engine and tranny in Mississippi. I think I will get it running with the 302, drop the front and rear, and do a little as I go along. I have about $3000 socked away for now. So, on your advice, should I put a 9 in Ford rear end in it?
As always, thanks for the help and advice.

Sully

***Pics to follow later tonight***

"Rusty"....I was stationed at Tinker AFB for 4 yrs. Lived in Yukon for 3 of those yrs. My aunt is a dispatch for Mustang PD.....

 

Most will tell you the 9" is a good bet, also consider the 8.8" from Explorer. The switch to Explorer will require changing to different bolt pattern for hubs on front as well.
I have the 2003 Explorer rear and MII IFS, I'll will use 5 x 4.5 rims front and back. This gives me discs front and rear.

Tom

 

It looks like everybody else has hit on the important stuff: money, space, etc. One thing that wasn't mentioned: your job. As a Navy retiree, I can honestly say that one thing that sneaks up on you (and your projects) is the inevitable duty station transfer, if you choose to stay in. Even if you choose to leave the service, there is always that one last move to wherever you want to settle down. I made numerous transfers, each time dragging something that didn't run or dumping the project altogether because it was too expensive to take it with me.

Like the others said, get it running and keep it happy. But here's something new: I eventually stuck with one project and started collecting parts for it. It is easy to build some wood crates for all your pars, put casters on them so you can move them around, and then feel free to move anywhere. One last plug for the crates: the movers on my last move actually said "thank you" because it was relatively easy to move them (not a bunch of loose parts and falling apart boxes)

 

Sully, I looked at your gallery and that is a sweet looking truck. It looks to be bone stock, that is unheard of this long after it came off the assembly line. I know it is your truck and your decision but I would leave it as close to original in appearance as I could. put the 302 or whatever in it, and get it on the road. Please don't chop that top. I am not apposed to chopping but not when a truck has survived in that good of shape for this many years.

Chris

 

Hey Sully; Mustang is a pretty nice little city. If your ever back this way look me up. Not hard to find if you can find the High School you can find me. Tell your aunt hello for me. Have fun with the truck.

 

its your truck but that is so cool just the way it is find a flat head for it and drive her

 

With the addition of the 302 the truck will have a lot more "go" than it was designed for, and that's a good thing! But, please don't neglect to also upgrade the truck's brakes so you can stop it safely. We want you around on the Forum for a lonmg time!

 

Welcome to the FTE site. I believe you will like it here a lot. I would echo all the Randy has said except to emphasize that most of my projects were purchased as started and unfinished projects or from guys that could not take with them on a move. Your truck looks mighty straight and tight. I favor the red 48 since I owned one a time back and now wish I had it since the 48 is highly colectible due to being the first F Series Ford truck. I bought the 1998 F150 50th Aniversery Edition in 97' and hoped to recover my 48 so that I could have the set, but the current owner will not sell it. I think you did the right thing to inquire so that you can at least consider the advice. Good for you. This truck will let you know what it wants to be. IMO, hot rods are born from worn,rusty,or baskets. The solids are destined to be resto's. Bottom line= it's your truck. Again, welcome and thank you for serving.
Jon