Hello all, I just signed up, as I just bought a 56 Ford F500 yesterday.
I've been more of a Chevy guy most my life, as I have a 71 Camaro and a 57 Chevy that are my current projects.
I will say up-front.. I am FORD-TARDED.(truck-tarded too) But I want to learn, as I do love 56 Ford trucks.
The last thing I need right now is another project, as my Camaro and 57 are basket cases.. but I accidentally ran across this 56 Ford the other day, and my wife wanted me to buy it!
I don't have enough time or MONEY to get my Chevys looking good, but I couldn't pass this up.







I had no need for the crane or toolbox attached, so the seller will be removing those this weekend, and we'll tow it here Wednesday.
The truck looked to be in pretty decent shape overall... and the interior wasn't too bad or cut up. I'm told the engine is either a 360 or 390, I'll have to run the numbers when I get it here.
It has a 4spd trans and a 3spd aux behind that. Rear axle shows as a 5.31.

My intentions for now is just to get her running, and see what I can find for a bed option. I think I'd like to degrade the frame/suspension to something closer to F100 spec. Another idea I'd like is to go 4wd if feasible, with maybe a later frame swap.
Otherwise, I'd like to keep the cab mostly stock, and maybe repaint it the factory red.

I'm looking around a TON around here, and I might have to figure out something for smaller wheels/tires, as semi-tires are a little pricey for me right now. I'm trying to keep this on a LOW budget so I can get one of my other projects out of the garage and out of my way.

Oh, and the price I couldn't walk away from??... $300! Or it was gonna get scrapped!

Thanks,
Mike

 

Howdy,Mike!!



You did it right! You posted pictures!!! WE LOVE pictures!

You have a VERY COOL truck!! (I wish you were close to the NW, I would be interested in your tool-box bed!!)


If it's a 2 speed rear, it should be a 5.83:1/8.11:1.

You have 6 lug wheels. make sure they aren't splits (Widow-makers) If they are you'll want to start looking for replacements. 6 lug wheels are much easier to find than 5 Lug.



what size tires do you have?


Welcome to FTE!


Cheers,


Rick

 

There's a lot I don't know or can't see until I have the truck in possession, (next week) but I didn't notice anything about a 2 speed rear, but I also didn't look. That sounds like it would be pretty cool!
As best I remember, it has 5 lug wheels, this is the best pic I have that shows the wheel:


I'm pretty sure I remembered only counting 5 as well... as I was shocked a truck of this girth would only have 5 lugs!

So, does that make it tougher on wheel selection? And I saw something about split wheels and widow-makers here... why are they dangerous?

Do you know if there's an easy way to redrill the axles or...? to get 6 lug axles? I will need new tires at least on the front... and they look pricey!

I'm very excited to get my new toy next week. I'm almost embarrassed to show my face in the garage and let my Chevys see my Ford-anticipation! I've had both of them since my teens...so although I'm taking the plunge with Ford.. I can't give up on my 15-year projects!

Sorry if I ask dumb-new-guy questions... I DO realize there's a search... but I am THAT lost when it comes to full sized toys. Besides, with Chevys, the majority of engines fit all the transmissions, etc. Not so with FoMoCo! I'll learn.

 

don't worry about search, u can't til u have 25 posts..

go to google and search on the ford-trucks.com domain

Sam

 

First, welcome to the group. Glad to have you. Looks like you have 6 lug on the back and 5 lug on the front. That suggests the truck has been modified somewhere over time. Here are some old threads about the widow maker wheels, and about wheel safety. They'll get you started, then we can go deeper into it when you're ready. Stu

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...dowmakers.html
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...ow-makers.html
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/6...ml#post5470496

 

HI and welcome to FTE!

Also, Welcome to the world of Ford Trucks - I think you are going to enjoy working on another classic and learning the Ford way of doing things.

 

Welcome to the forum.

You've got one hell of a truck there.

If you want to convert your truck to a F100 your best bet is to buy a complete F100 rolling chassis. Then swap your cab onto the F100 chassis. Doing this would be simpler then trying to convert your chassis to an F100.

Your Fenders have a larger wheel well opening then the F100 fenders do. So If you do the conversion you'll want to get a pair of F100 fenders too.

 

You got a great truck and a great wife, telling you to buy it! Good luck...

 

Great truck POS-500. Should look good at cruise night. A real crowd drawer.

 

Great deal on your f500, the aux trans is worth the $300 you spent!
welcome to FTE and keep posting pictures

 

Ok, I'm gonna ask a frame question anyways...

I thought it was more common to dump these old cabs on newer frames, but everything I'm reading here says to stay away from that.

So, my question is a few-fold... Is there any step side bed that will fit on my big'ol F500 frame? I'm assuming not.

Also, if I find a F100 frame, will my F500 cab bolt onto it?

And finally, most importantly! What years/models chassis will crossover to my 56?

I'm not set on whether I'd lift it, lower it, or keep it stock height, but I'd like to put a bed on it in the near future.

Thanks for the welcome, and thanks in advance for the help!
Oh.. and it has the over/under drive gear box behind the 4 speed it appears... any idea what the over/under ratios are?

Thanks!

 

You could swap it onto a newer chassis but it's more work then to swap it onto a 53-56 F100 chassis. I'm swapping a 54 F100 cab onto a 1984 F250 4x4 chassis but it's a lot of work. You can check out my twisted project in the project forum here: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...4x4-build.html . I tend to change my mind a lot! There's a lot of options for a newer chassis but none are the exact wheelbase, track width, etc. Most have a large kick up in the rear which requires raising the floor in the box. The closest I found was a 4 door Explorer. But it's not a bolt on deal.

No stock step side bed will fit with out shortening the frame. Or you could custom build a box. Here's a link to a post of Stephen67's F600 that he shortened and put a F100 box on. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...pics-lots.html

For a F100 chassis you'd want a 1953-1956 F100 short box chassis. And yes your F500 cab will bolt on.

I'm not sure what kind of auxiliary transmission your truck has. I'm looking for a brownie box for my 91 F-Super duty so I can add a second overdrive. I need it with my 5.13 rear gears.

 

the cab is the same.. everything else is different.. fenders for the bigger tires, chassis, axles..

SO, if you got a rolling F100 chassis you would move the cab over, front grill & rad housing, inner fenders, air dams.... then need f100 fenders.
then you can go with an f100 bed.

cab and front sheetmetal for $300 is still a good deal..

you are in California, so someone should have a chassis.. I got one, but texas is a long way away.

and, based on the pics, I'm sure that is a dually rear axle..with only 1 tire mounted.

Steven67 has hacked his down to a shorty, but its a LOT of work..

sam

 

Ok, thanks for the info Ted.

I actually found Stephen67's Cardomain before I bought the truck, and found it again here. He did great work, I dont think I want to get into the metal mods he did on the rear fenders though.

I'd love to find someone that's trying to go bigger with their F100 so we could trade chassis!
I'd have no qualm with keeping and shortening the F500 frame, except that wont address the axle/wheel mounting issues of finding a smaller/streetable 5 bolt/6bolt set of wheels.

One thing I DO like the idea of, is IF I have the 2 speed rear axle, that sounds like it would be kind of fun. But having an overdrive with the aux transmission would be GREAT! But with 5.38s in the rear, it wouldn't be a low rpm cruise like I enjoy... so I'd have to find the feasibility of maintaining the dual trans set up (sounds heavy and overkill for a street truck) and changing to a smaller rear axle.

I'm also wondering what it would take to swap a smaller duty axle to the front of my F500 frame...
Or adding a 4wd setup to the existing frame, instead of swapping to a later model frame...since that sounds more difficult than it's worth.

 

Thanks Sam...I've already searched Craigslist and found a few steals on F100 frames, but that's why I asked which years would cross over.
And I've always wanted to visit Texas though...
I was hoping the fenders didn't change until the F600 as I read that 'somewhere' on the net. That might be enough to make my decision between lowering it, or going with a slightly more truck/offroad stance/wheel set.
And you're correct, it is a dually rear. The seller said he might be able to find an outter pair of wheels to put on. The truck is on a large acreage of farm... I'd say it's a 'barn truck'... but there was no barn over it lately.