I picked up a 51 f1 that was probably headed for the scrap yard. After tearing it down to the frame and seeing the chop job done by its previous owner I am left with two choices. Number one spend a lot of money correcting his work or number two do a frame swap with something that already has the new stuff there. I was not planing to restore this one, just like the body style and even at that have a mut in the making. It has a 52 front clip a 51 cab and a 55 bed. Any suggestions for a good base for the body?

 

A Suggestion. Find a cheap truck you can use for frame and other parts or use yours as a parts truck to build another truck. You usually find a whole one cheaper than trying to find parts here and there. Try craigslist.com, salvage yards etc. chuck

 

That was my plan. I was hoping someone had done something like this and knew what platform would come close to the 114" wheelbase and the correct width. I had heard the Ford ranger pickups or four door explorers might work. I plan to use this as my daily driver so the disk brakes, newer front end and EFI would make life much more user freindly.

 

Mike,

Welcome to the board.

First, frame swaps are not a popular thing here. At one time you'd get a lot of hot replies but since this question has been asked so many time the subject has cooled down.

If you are sure you have the fabrication skills, tools and ambition I say go for it. Since you don't have enough post to use this site's search feature, you need 25 or more, you can use Google and get the results you're looking for. Enter "frame" and "swap" and you should get a bunch of replies.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...ternative.html

The Ranger and Explorer platforms are often mentioned along with the S-10s. I've seen one person use a Dakota chassis. I don't know enough about frame swaps so I can't offer any suggestion or help.