LOL.... Julie wish I could.... HOA won't have it...

 

If you have an HOA, then buy the truck that will require less work.

 

I don't have $20k to spend at once! wish I did... LOL... and I'm looking forward to tinkering on it....

 

You may be looking forward to it, but your HOA isn't. HOA's are worse than communism.

 

I live on a 100 acre farm with my nearest neighbor two blocks away and I have a HOA I'm always running up against. I've been fighting with her about truck issues going on 23 years day after tomorrow

 

I've had my fair share of problems wth my HOA, also know how to screw with them too. I use to drive a '78 Chevy Blazer and would pull my trailer with it every now and then... Disconnected it from my truck to run to class on a Saturday and they tagged me within 2 hours. So I turned around and bought a '74 Blazer and left it hooked to one of the two for a 6 months... One day the HOA officer ask me if I was going to store my trailer again and I told her that I was when I got done using it in 6 months. She got the hint not to screw with me...

 

Let me start by apologizing about asking about the value of a truck, but
I didn’t want to go looking at one that is overpriced to start out with. There isn’t a Kelley Blue Book on vehicles this old. When you start looking you try to find out what is and isn’t a good value for one of these old trucks and type of condition. The price range for a f-1 is unbelievable. The cheapest I’ve seen hear in AZ is $1,500 and all the way up to $29,000. Hence one doesn’t have a engine/ trans and the other is show ready. I was hoping to find out a good value to start with. Then as I go look at the trucks I can try to figure out if it is worth it or counter offer. Most of the post on this site have loving these trucks for many years and know way more about them then I do, as I’ve been away from them for 30 years. I have no attention of not going to each one and see them and look at every inch I can. Since no one here can answer my question of value. I will keep looking else ware on the web to find someplace that can help me. Once again Sorry for asking!

 

I personally think the trucks are priced pretty fair.

 

shoot I went to look at one that was $6000 and when I got their it was really only worth about $2000. The trucks your looking at are $2000, $3500, and or best offer so I think you wouldn't be hurting with those prices. Any one of them will need a little work anyways. I kind of like the one with the 351w that needs wiring. ez wiring harness is only like 200 bucks and then its a runner

 

Moe,

I hope we didn't sour you on FTE. The question you asked is an extremely hard one to answer. There are many variables to consider, loctation, condition and your desire for the truck. It really boils down to how much you want the truck. You will never over pay for a truck you really want. If you're looking at a truck to flip or to part out to make money then you can easily over pay for a truck. If you are going for the because you plan to tear it apart, shed some blood and build it back up to something you're going to keep then the price really doesn't matter because in the end you're going to put a lot more money into it than you'll ever get out of it. You have to do it for the love of the hobby, not profit.

I bought a '48 panel truck a few years back for way too much money, I think, but I always wanted a panel truck. I just inherited a small amount of money, I never ever seem to have money, but when I saw the truck I wanted it. I don't plan to ever sale it, I'm planning giving it to my youngest son who has worked on it.

Quite a few years ago when my kids were younger I wanted to buy them a small farm tractor to putter around the farm with. I looked at many different tractors on the side of the road and at auctions and they were all in need of a lot of work. Then I went to an auction of a farmer who died young, 42, who took meticulous care of his equipment. The auction had a '49 Ford 8N tractor. I stood by the tractor all day listening to the "experts" dissect it and from what they said it was a good tractor but needed paint. When the auctioneer started the bidding I got in and almost won it two times but just as the auctioneer was about to put the hammer down someone else jumped in with a bid. I ended up buying the tractor for $3400, almost twice the going price for an 8N but as the bidding progressed I looked down at my oldest son, about 10 at the time and the look he gave me told me I needed to buy the tractor. I knew at that point I was going to buy it. I paid a lot more for it but it was worth it to me. I repaired some rust and repainted the entire tractor and my oldest son is still using it for small jobs in the dairy operation he is starting.

 

You don't have to apologize for asking a question, just understand that one cannot expect an accurate assessment of value from a 5 or 10 word description without anything else to go by. Even from 'experts.' Next time, maybe we'll just say it's a great deal, instead of telling you the truth as we did, if that's the kind of "help" you really want.

 

Well, at least you've seen the variations in prices on the trucks. Like most 60 year old things prices are really case by case. It's best to see it, so pictures really help.

So, let see if we can't ball park some prices for you and I invite the other guys to add or subtract......

In Arizona, you have what is probably one of the best places to find a good truck because of the climate. But unfortunately you are close enough to California where there's lots of buyers and restorations going on - so prices are not as good as in the Midwest or Great Lake states.

For an F1 (subtract 10-15% off these figures for an F2+) - 48-52 that is not a DeLux or "Extra Cab," with all the trim and parts (seat, glove box door, door latches, glass, etc) generally:

If it is a complete truck with no engine or transmission and light surface rust but no gross rust through (fenders, running boards, floorboards), I would guess it's worth about $1200 to $1800 depending on how straight the body is. I would not venture into something in worse condition than this.

Add $300 for a running engine and transmission. $500 if they have less than 1000 miles on it or it's an upgraded engine.

Add $100 if the stock brakes all work and have been recently redone

Add $200 if it has new disc brakes.

New tires add $100.

If the truck requires no body work and is truly ready to prime and paint add $500 to $750.

If the truck has been rewired and has been running well on the new wiring over 1000 miles add $200.

If the truck is solid, has newly rebuilt brakes, good engine and transmission, gauges work, lights all work is street legal and can be driven daily, with a fairly straight body and no gross rust through (nothing larger than a quarter dollar), everything is there - trim locks glass, etc, but needs some love and attention to dress it up, it's probably worth about $4500-$5000.

Nicely restored to good condition - solid and safe, but nothing fancy - wash it and drive it - $6000 - $7000.

Add $500 for an Extra/ DeLux cab as long as all the parts are there (ask us what they are if you come across a 51/52 Extra Cab)

And then we get into racing, extras, chrome, modified suspension, custom interior, Custome paint, etc. you can add up to $10K. Only a truly exceptional custom/Delux truck in the 48-52 era will most likely not sell for over $17,500 - $18,500 in California, Florida, or Texas at the moment and over $14,000 to $16,500 in the Midwest, Pacific Northwest or New England - unless it's truly exceptional (or the person wanting it is obsessed with it - e-bay bid war).

Just estimates based on what I've seen selling lately. Ilya would know some good numbers too!

I think the prices on the trucks you mentioned after looking at the pictures are reasonable - not a steal or excessive, but reasonable. Take cash and flash it and offer $350 less than the asking price and you'll get it.

 

I'm not displeased with FTE at all I thought that these prices are good as I have looked at many as I could. I just saw that many people didn't like the question. I have personnal reasons why I want a F1 again and it's not to make money. Julie (Julie's Cool F1) was able to give me the information I needed. It felt like I opened a can of worms. I'm trying to see these on Saturday.

Thanks to all that gave advice!

 

Hey Moe hope you are still around. Take a look at completed listings on ebay. This will give you an idea of what trucks are actually selling for.

Here's a 49 no engine sold for almost $3200 (too much IMO)
Ford : Other Pickups: eBay Motors (item 190450910435 end time Oct-10-10 15:00:00 PDT)

How about a 51 with running flathead sold for $3600
Ford : Other Pickups: eBay Motors (item 280565933023 end time Sep-30-10 08:10:28 PDT)

1948 running flathead six sold for $3900
Ford : F-100: eBay Motors (item 220678294831 end time Oct-10-10 18:25:13 PDT)

Here's a couple more

Ford : Other Pickups: eBay Motors (item 200525493231 end time Oct-10-10 12:15:00 PDT)

Ford: eBay Motors (item 180571776771 end time Oct-10-10 20:57:54 PDT)

Poking around on ebay (again completed listings) can give you an idea of the current market for these trucks.

If you can get some nice detailed pics of trucks you're interested in and toss them up on photobucket the folks here will gladly give you an opinion on the prices.

 

I was going to say that a decent running truck requiring some work should be around $3-4k.

Just to give you another perspective, similar to Bob's, we bought our 51 Panel first for around $7k. Panel trucks are hard to come by. My wife had a sentiment to the 51 Panel truck as her father had one back in the 80s and had to sell it to pay rent. She's always wanted to buy him one. We looked for a few months and couldn't find anything. Finally, I saw an ad in Classic Car Trader. The Panel was in Arkansas. I communicated with the seller and we ended up buying the 51 sight unseen from him and paid about $800 to transport it to CA. I only had a few photos of the truck that the seller emailed me. This was about six years ago, so digital cameras weren't all the rage yet. When I asked him if the truck had any rust, he told me that it was minor on the front floor. Being young and naive at that time in the old car hobby, I took his word for it. The few things that the truck had going for itself was that it was all original and stock (except for the wheels) and ran. Needless to say, when the truck arrived, it had A LOT more rust and rust-through than described.

About a month later, I found our 52 Panel about 50 miles north of me. It was in much better shape. It had its issues, but it was a better looking Panel than the 51. I ended up paying $5500 for it and also got some extra parts. I drove it 50 miles home at night and in the rain.

So, moral of the story, shop around and inspect in person. After you've looked at few, you'll have enough experience to figure out which truck is for you. Just remember, generally, the more money you spend on the truck up front, the less money you'll have to spend on it when you bring it home. You should also decide whether you want a modified truck or a stock truck. The more complete (and stock) the truck is, the better off you'll be in the long run.