Eric's 1951 F5 build
 

OK, so I thought I was going to start this yesterday as I was waiting for my wife, while she was shopping. However, I was trying to do everything on her ipad, and me and her ipad don't get along very well:-huh. So, trial #2.....

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ctureid=137081

I bought this F5 about 4 months ago with the intention of just using the 239 Flathead in my other project (51 F1). However, it has become an obsession, and probably not a good one :-hair. It took me about 6 weekends to get the old motor running, that was after cleaning out all the nests in the engine and radiator, dirt in the engine, and replacing all the trashed wiring. I had to rebuild the carb (twice), and restab the distributer (to get it timed correctly), but that sense of accomplishment when it first turned over was all worth it.

The night I first got it fired up, it was about midnight, then I stayed up until 3 am getting it running right. The next morning I was up early, because now I wanted to see if it would drive. I topped off the tranny and rear end oil, then fired it up. Pushed in the clutch, put it in gear, and.....


Bless my wife, she is the greatest, I had no idea she was going to make an entire video. This was my first drive, with a bucket for a seat, a 5 gallon gas can as a tank, and a fire extinguisher close at hand. Awesome, just Awesome :D.

Currently, I have the bed off, and am in the process of rebuilding the brakes (not an easy job on this one). This is what she looked like last night:






https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ctureid=137510

Woops, didn't quite finish
 

Sorry about that, I hit the enter button too many times, and I didn't get a chance to preview. So I hope the video link works, and I wanted to say thank you to everyone in this Forum, because I have used it extensively in my progress.

I will keep you all posted on the build.

Eric

She did a nice job on the video. Looks like it is coming along nicely for ya.

And ya don't need brakes, they just slow ya down.

Change the seals while you're in there. If you get leather seals, soak them in motor oil overnight. If you get neoprene seals, I'd suggest a coat of clean lithium grease.
These brakes separate men from boys.

By the way! Your Mrs is happy for you. She's a keeper. Don't ever lose that love.

Arctic,

I will tell her you thought so.

I wasn't too concerned about the brakes, because the kinda worked, but one set of duals was locking up and I was leaving skid marks all over my driveway. Can't have that mess, besides I might actually drive it on the highway some day.

Jeremy,

I am going to do everything while I am in there. Bearings, races, seals, brakes, and some paint too. These definitely separate the men from the boys.

Any idea where to get the brake parts?? I haven't started looking yet, I was going to try Napa or ??.

Not exactly sure of '51 F5 sizes, but, absolutely get a HiPo parts CD from EBay and look up "Betsy" on this forum. There are a number of tips for ~55 F500s. I relined my shoes myself. It's pretty easy.
NumberDummy is the penultimate resource for information on part numbers, specs, and availability. Then you take what information you can get and go on a scavenger hunt. Replace all of your brake lines. They get full of sediment that can trash your new parts. Flex lines and steel lines. I managed to salvage the short 1/4" lines between the rear wheel cylinders but all of the rest were trashed. I made the steel lines myself. The flex lines can still be found at NAPA.
I used a single '74 (F350) wheel cylinder to get 1&1/4" pistons and seals to do both fronts. Good luck and keep us posted. Not too many of the bigger trucks out there, even on cruise night!

I'm going to link some mid-size truck build threads:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...roject-61.html

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...4-project.html

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...xle-build.html

You'll relate to this one!:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-whooping.html

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...1955-f500.html

Another nice one:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...uck-build.html

Also check out Joblot.com I think it is in NY for truck brake parts.

Great to see another larger one being preserved.

Welcome to FTE! That's a great way to open a build thread!

You won't find brake drums, so I hope yours are in good shape. They should be with that low mileage. The brake shoes can be relined, but you won't find new ones anywhere either. The brake wheel cylinders can be found at NAPA. I don't remember the number for the fronts, but the rears are NAPA UP4511. Also, I bought mine from Chuck at Chuck's Truck's and Job Lot in NY also has brake parts for these trucks.

Here's the NAPA link for the rear cylinders:
http://www.napaonline.com/

Here's one for Chuck's Truck's, but send him an email with what you need:
Chucks Trucks LLC., Ford Truck Parts and Restoration or CHUCK4850@aol.com

And here's for Job Lot but probably best to call them or send email:
http://www.joblotauto.com/ or (718) 468-8585 or joblot<wbr>@joblotauto.com

Good luck and thanks for saving another F5! :-drink

Wheel cylinders, hoses, MC, lines etc. can mostly be obtained from NAPA. You will not find brake drums anywhere and few, if any places that will turn them (best bet is trying a large machine shop) the shoes are also not available, but a good brake/clutch shop can reline them. It probably has a booster, there is no exact replacement or rebuild kits, but NAPA carries a midland booster than can be made to work. Unless you are planning to use it as a hauling truck, you can bypass the booster and still have sufficient brakes. I had a problem with the brakes locking up after warming up, after replacing everything except the booster, it still happened. I bypassed the booster about 300 miles ago and no more problems, and the stopping power is good without it.
If you change hoses or wheel cylinders, make sure to retain the adapters on the wheel cylinders to reuse.

That was a very classic scene with the mountains in the background with a survivor motoring under original power. Well done. I'm also seriously envious of that four stall garage space...

Good luck with the big 'un.

I hate to ask, but are those widowmakers? They look to be in good shape, but....
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...5-f-350-a.html

Yup, widow makers. Would be the next thing to fix imho. Stu

Can't forget Abby!
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...read-abby.html
This is a neat build.