hi guys, i'm new to the site and to owning a classic truck. my granddad bought a 1950 f2 from a long time friend who has since passed away. he was considering getting rid of the truck because because he cant really do the work himself anymore and didnt want to pay to have it done. but i am taking up the mantel and want to restore this truck to it's former glory. i have a few questions and also wanted to post some pics for y'all.

First question: the thing i have least experience with is bodywork. Most of the rust seems to be surface but there are a few places where it has rusted though (mainly the corner of the sidepanel on the truck bed and the front right fender) i am not really sure how to determine whether a panel or piece of the body needs to be replaced or when it can be fixed.
So could y'all give me some suggestions or link to some threads concerning this topic?

Second question: Paint. Down the road when i want to paint, i will need to have the job done by a professional. to what extent of prep work can i do myself? i would like to do all the bodywork but i am not sure how to approach applying the primer etc. suggestions? links?

Third question: what do i look for in a painter. i have read horror stories about crappy auto painters and would prefer to have the truck's paint job done well. i am not however looking for a showroom finish or original color and would like to not pay a million dollars for a paint job for a truck that i use for weekend drives and trips to the hardware store or nursery. ideally i would pay 1000-2000$ too high? too low?

thanks guys. super excited about the f2.

 

Sorry, here are the pics:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/20899034@N03/4903420397/" title="100_2532 by daniel_hester, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4135/4903420397_d13fc881c4.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="100_2532" /></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/20899034@N03/4903420047/" title="100_2523 by daniel_hester, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4142/4903420047_251713e163.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="100_2523" /></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/20899034@N03/4903419441/" title="100_2517 by daniel_hester, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4117/4903419441_417080f9aa.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="100_2517" /></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/20899034@N03/4904007308/" title="100_2533 by daniel_hester, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4082/4904007308_632578898c.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="100_2533" /></a>

 

i'll leave it to the others to answer your questions. welcome to fte. what a nice looking truck to start with. we seldom see that much solid metal in the northeast. it also looks fairly complete. fix, drive and enjoy. dick r.

 

Nice truck. Welcome to FTE. Good luck with the resto.

 

Welocme aboard. Good looking truck you have.

 

Great looking project. Take your time and enjoy!

 

Do you know anything about those wheels on your F2?

 

i dont know a lot about those wheels. i am actually living out of town until february, so i wasnt there when they brought it back home. but i do know that they had some trouble getting wheels to fit it in order to get it on the trailer. i think the wheels went back to the original owner. which doesnt bother me too much because i would have wanted less modern wheels on it anyway. still would have been nice to have those right?

 

Welcome aboard! Nice truck to start with.

Better adjust your estimates for paint upwards, depending what you want out of the truck. Bodywork is what costs the most, so if you just paint over body dings, you'll stay within that $1k - $2k range. It's a truck, right? Not worth putting 2k worth of paint on a bed that you'd use for hauling, and folks who want that kind of paint usually buy a brand new bed ($1500+). Gotta decide what the goal is, show truck or "good enough"... Personally I'm a 10-foot-good kind of guy...

 

Wow! That's a really solid start! As the others mentioned, it's hard to find sheetmetal in that good of shape to start with - especially F-2/F-3 beds and fenders. They aren't reproduced at all and it tough to find a bed that doesn't need over 100 hours of sheetmetal repair. As for the paint, Ross is right. Earl Schieb or Maaco will spritz on a $199 "Blow 'N Glow" special, but you definitely get what you pay for. Your average nice paint job usually comes in around $3000-$4000 minus bodywork.

P.S. Hey Ross, you better run out and check your truck. I think you left your turn signal on.

 

Welcome to the board, nice to another F-2 being restored as it was meant to be.

I agree with Ross except for the box, no one makes reproduction boxes for the F-2. You'd be hard pressed to find a nicer box than what you have. It doesn't look like you will have a lot of work, at least not compared to most I've seen.

BTW, glad to hear you're not keeping those wheels, I thought they looked way off.

 

Looks like a great start!

Welcome to FTE!

 

nice truck..........

 

Welcome. And way to make new friends by bringing pictures. That truck is a great start. Most F2's are beat up from every day use.

 

so here's what i plan on doing: i want to do the body work myself. i dont really have experience with bodywork but i do have experience with metal work and between my dad, my granddad (who used to be a mechanic in the army) i think we can get do it. it will be a learning experience for sure. i'm still not really sure how to address the primer. if i plan on having it painted by a professional, should i do the same with the primer? just pay to have it done? or is that something i could do myself?

also, ross, in response to your question about what i want out of my f2, i want to use it for weekend trips to the nursery or lumber yard. nothing too heavy duty. i have a friend who will rebuild the engine for me but what i really want to do, is get the frame cleaned up and painted, the bodywork done and the body painted. apart from that i just want to get it running. i figure that any surface rust on the frame needs to be taken care of and would be easier to do that before i get the engine back in. if i can get it running then, i think i would feel better about driving it and slowly working on the rest of it. you're right about the paint in that i dont want a show room finish. but i do want something that looks great and lasts.