My dad bought a '57 F100 from my uncle several years ago, my uncle likely bought it from a towing auction. When it was delivered to my dads house we opened it up to find a GM 6 cylinder head sitting on the front seat. The engine under the hood was a Ford 6 without a head, gotta love those previous owners!
It is a pretty rough looking thing, mostly covered in primer but with very little rust. The interior needs some work and the glass has seen better days.
My dad ran through the suspension and brakes and replaced everything that needed fixing before hurting his back at work, the pickup was moved to the backyard where it has sat for years.
Sometime along the way my dad acquired a 302/C4 combo of unknown origin. It has sat, wrapped in a tarp, under an awning for years too.
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I drive a big truck over the road and am on a dedicated account that is disappearing in Feb/Mar. I've decided that when this account ends I'll be coming off the road and getting a normal-ish 9-5 type of gig. When I come off the road I'll need a backup vehicle should my '85 Mustang SVO fail on me and I was thinking about this truck. I called my dad today and struck a deal with him, $900 for the whole package and he will help me get it running.
Right now the plan is that when I take some time off in January I'll put a battery in the truck and find out what electrical components work and make a list of parts needed to fix the stuff that doesn't. We'll also figure out what parts we need to get the engine in the truck and running. I'll order the parts so they will be waiting for me when this account I'm on dries up. Then we can start throwing things in the pickup and see what I forgot to order
Once it is running and driveable the plan is to slowly drive it more and work out the bugs until it is reliable enough to depend on it. Then I can start updating the interior to make it comfortable.
In the meantime I'll be visiting here and every other resource I can find and doing lots of searching/reading. I'll be taking a couple days off right after Thanksgiving and I'll be able to take some pics of the truck, engine and trans. I'll get them posted up here and with your help I might be able to identify just what engine/trans I have.
Naturally I'll be taking pictures of all the work we do to the pickup and they will find their way here.
I've decided to give it the name Rat's Nest because, even though I'm young, I like the old Rat Rod way of using what you have to go fast but I also want it nice and comfy inside.
i thought you were going to say the rat's nest name came from the old wiring. many of us have found it's a good idea to put a wiring harness in. if you don't want all original ez wire is an economical replacement set. mine has been in 2 years and everything works perfect. dick r
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Dick R., East Glenville, NY
49 F-1
Keeping one more flathead alive
It smokes, but it's old enough
I spent 3 years working with automotive electrical systems professionally so I'm fairly confident I can get this up and running and safe without too much trouble. It also helps that the pickup seems somewhat unmolested. A new harness is not out of the question though.
I have a Painless kit partially installed in my Mustang just waiting for me to have some more time.
The old trucks are pretty basic, if the drive train turns, the brakes stop and the electricity powers, that's a good working truck! Sure there's lots of cosmetic and comfort stuff (like getting that C#**^! engine off the seat and possibly recovering it - the seat) but that all comes with time.
I'd get it running and drive it often. That will help keep what you have done in good shape!
The old trucks are pretty basic, if the drive train turns, the brakes stop and the electricity powers, that's a good working truck! Sure there's lots of cosmetic and comfort stuff (like getting that C#**^! engine off the seat and possibly recovering it - the seat) but that all comes with time.
I'd get it running and drive it often. That will help keep what you have done in good shape!
Thats pretty much what I was thinking. I knew I would need some sort of a backup car/parts hauler as I worked on the Mustang. I was budgeting about $2k for one then I remembered that my dad didn't have much wrapped up into it and that it didn't seem like it would take too much work to get it running so I made the phone call.
Once it is a solid running vehicle then I will go through the whole interior and update it, including recovering the seat, adding seat belts, moving the fuel tank and adding a nice but modest stereo. I don;t mind an ugly looking vehicle from the outside, but it's gotta be comfy in the inside
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Does a 57 technically qualify as a “Fridge”?
I have no idea...
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If I knew your location I would send you some free parts prepaid (kidding)
Moving is also part of getting off the big road. I currently live in Colorado Springs, but at the end of the month I'm moving to Seattle.
I was talking to a friend yesterday and he told me he has a 351C/C6 that is just taking up space in his garage. He wants $500 for it(what he paid). I told him to set it next to the SVO motor he is storing for me and I'll pick them both up at the same time.
I'll still put the 302/C4 in the pickup, then I'll have the luxury of time to rebuild the 351C/C6.
Hopefully the 302 is in good enough shape that I can rebuild the SVO motor first, I don't know how much more abuse the motor in my SVO can take.
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