We are Jeff and Nicolle! not hard to figure that one out! LOL
We just bought a 49 Ford F-3 Its been in a garage since 1977
It has the flathead six. was locked up, I took the head off and did some tapping after wd-40,with a wooden hammer handle and its now turning over by hand at least. We have millions of questions of course but, I will start with...suspension...I would like to see 1/2 ton equip under there and would like to see it lower in the front. Is there aftermarket or stock stuff to keep the original frame and such? I would love to keep the suspension like it is but not sure whats best,easiest,and smart.

Is the old 226 flathead worth messing with? I love the originality but is it a typically good motor? Not looking to dragrace just would like it to get out of its own way.
cab is super nice, some light crust in the floor under the floor mat.
front fenders are a little rough, hood is awesome, the bed is a wooden box/metal frame. the frame for the bed covers the upper 1/3 of the back wheels( UGLY)
It has the widowmaker 17" wheels on it and a couple extras in the back.
I know they are dangerous and ugly. Thats a start! hope to hear something from someone! Thanks!
Jeff !

 

Welcome!

If it were me, I would keep the 226. Of course I like original. Just spent weeks trying to get my vacuum wipers operational when all my friends said," just get an electric conversion kit." Now they work and I've got $150 bucks to spend on something else.

But, then again, it's your truck. Have fun with it.

 

Welcome to FTE!

 

Hey thanks hot water 6, yeah I wish I new what it felt like to be behind the wheel of a flatty 6...that would help me decide. and now I read a little about overheat issues...there is alot of reading and learning here to do...I have been working on motorized vehicles since I was 15 (44 now) this will be my second restore or whatever you may call it. My first was a 78 Bronco thanks again

 

hi havi,
that was a curiosity of mine on the F-1 running gear sounds fairly simple to swap and I was aware that it is longer, I was wondering about moving the rear axle forward to match a bed but thats the last thing on my mind right now. hey thanks for the input!

 

just to help myself out here...I would rather have an F-1 but this F-3 was close by home and I traded an old fishin boat and $200.00
I looked it over pretty good and couldn't pass it up!
He wanted a thousand for it and I thought that was cheap, and then he said he was going to buy a cheap boat and I was like ....yadda yadda yadda. next thing ya know we shook on it!

 

One issue is the rear end on the F3 is geared for farm use. It will not go faster than about 45. If you swap ti 5 lug like Havi suggested then you will get high way speeds from the 9". If you stay with the 8 lug then you want to find a pre '73 F200/300 rear to get better gearing. F1s are a lot more popular but recently F2s and F3s have been gaining in appeal.

 

HI Jeff and Nicolle!

Welcome to FTE. Sounds like you are already getting some great advice!

 

c'mon in and enjoy the freak show !!!!!!!!!!!! were all harmless and none of us are opinionated and always politically correct here !!!!!!!!!! D_M_ that made my head hurt to lie like that !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! anyway'z welcome and have some fun here and with the f-3 !!!

 

We don't get many couples here...refreshing change !

The charm of these trucks is that they are vintage vehicles; my preference is towards stock, but I didn't have the drive train so decision on that was easy. The nostalgia thing...

Points made are the gearing of the rear end, as well as the safety / driveability of the suspension.

Enjoy the journey; plans have a way of morphing over time.

 

Welcome to the forum. You can put an F-1 bed on it but moving the rear axle up is not the way to do it. The F-3 has a 122 inch wheelbase and the F-1 is 114. You have to cut out 8 inches of frame length just behind the cab and then another 12 inches off the back end because it has more overhang. You would also have to get F-1 running boards at that point (which bolt right on) because the F-3 boards would be too long. The F-3 rear fenders are narrower than F-1 because the F-3 bed is wider, so you would need F-1 rear fenders. At that point you may as well convert the entire truck to an F-1 by installing F-1 front fenders which have less cutout for the wheels. BTW, I've done all of this on my 48 F-3. Check out my gallery for details...

 

Vern,

From his description it sounds like he doesn't have a stock box on his truck. If it doesn't then he doesn't have any of the issues with the box and running boards.

Jeff, I drive a stock F-2 with a flat 6. I personally think the 6 is a better engine than the 8. The 6 doesn't have the overheating problems that the 8 does, the 6 is only 5hp less than the 8. The low speed is mostly transmission and rear axle. My F-2 will travel about 45-50 without much of a problem but above that she starts to whine. I keep my driving to town roads. Big city driving can be a little hairy because no one seems to have the patience to follow a slow accelerating vehicle.

If you're close enought to the WI border you can come up and check out my truck so you can get an idea of what it's like. I live just north of Milwaukee.

 

From the description I wasn't quite sure what he had on there (an ugly wooden box/metal frame that covers a third of the back wheels???) but it sounded like something to be junked. If you go to the trouble to downsize the truck to an F-1 you might as well put an F-1 pickup bed on it to make it look good...

 

I'll add my welcome. Glad to have you hanging around. Especially since you're flatland "Ill-annoy" people. I'm also glad you've done your homework on the 17" widowmakers. Whatever path you take with the truck, they should go away. Stu

 

All info being sucked in! not supposed to be on here at work but couldn't help myself!
I will get some pics this weekend, that will help out some. And thanks for the welcome wagon!