I have purchased a 1954 f100 and I want to updated steering and brakes. I have some skills but they are mostly in doing body and paint. I have some mechanical skills. I have completed a 1968 GMC and a 1957 chev with updated brakes and steering for both vehicles. I have always wanted a 1953 to 1955 f100 and I would appreciate any advice on choosing a donor vehicle that will give me the updates I want, while making the swap as easy and as cheap as I can. THanks

 

Hi and welcome to FTE.

Ford trucks used alot of common parts up through 1972. I've never been a fan of taking old used parts from one truck to use on another, but I'm in the small minority.

Lots of the other folks have good experience with this and will be along - just wanted to say hello and welcome.

PS don't get a donor that was named "Abbe Normal"

 

The donor vehicle is going to depend a lot on what kind of drivetrain you are planning on and what suspension upgrades you want to make. What would you like in a drivetrain? Ford, Chevy, other? Since I wanted a Volare front suspension my donor car was an 87 Chrysler 5th Avenue. Lincolns and other Fords make good donors if you want a Ford engine and transmission or old Impalas, Malibu's, etc., if you want a Chevy...

 

Can you even buy a single vehicle that will have all the upgrades you want to perform?If not,it may be best,and most cost-effective to buy new parts as a package,rather than the several vehicles necessary to do all the upgrades you have in mind.

 

I got a 1968 Ford Fairlane with a 289/C4 with a 9" rear end for $300. It was running but no brakes. After I pulled the drive train I junked the car. I strongly recommend to use a matched drive train. I will save you alot of greif down the road. All car companies have small differences from one factory to another. You may get an engine from one car and a tranny from another only to find something doesn't match exactly. I even kept the drive shaft and had it shortened. The way I look at it, if it ran for 100,000 miles matched the way it is so it should run another 100,000 after it's rebuilt. So far about 15,000 miles after rebuild.

 

I believe the OP wants to upgrade the steering and suspension,drivetrain is in place.

 

The most realistic donor suspension upgrade for your truck is from a Jag XJ6 or XJ12 up to 1986. It's not quite a simple bolt on swap like it is on the 48-52, but just requires a minor notching of the crossmember to fit your frame. The front end weight on the Jag is nearly the same as an F100 with an average V8, so the springs, sways etc all work as is.
The geometry, handling and ride is that of a high end european sports touring. The IRS can also be used with some mount fabricating. The Jag will perform best with full frame boxing and/or a stiffening K member added to the frame. Jag donors are typically inexpensive and there are some other useable parts such as the excellent Smith gauges.
After that there aren't any real good donors other than aftermarket that aren't a lot of work and not any appreciable improvement over uprading the original leaf spring beam axle combo. A rebuild on the axle, new spring bushings, aftermarket brake upgrade, Toyota PS will be at least as good as an MII IFS kit at 1/2 the cost and no fabricating needed.