Is there any way to do it without cutting or welding? I presume one would have to cut a hole in the floor for the shifter....

 

That is an excellent idea. Plus you can bolt in a rear from a 70s F250 I believe. I am sure there is somebody to correct if this is not correct.

What you are talking about is called a resto mod. Original body but updated safety and power train to make it daily drivable.

That is the beauty of these trucks. You can build it anyway you want as long as YOU are happy with it.

Good luck and let us know what you end up with.
jim

 

Aftermarket trans tunnels are available. You could get one and cut it to fit and save the orginal one. They just bolt in.
jim

 

Hmmm...good stuff. I like "bolt in" much more than "cut out" or "weld in". Preserves the history and allows one to put it back to "original" if you ever want, while at the same time, making it more safe and driveable for today's roads.
Are the original flathead V8's as "doggy" as people imply...or is that just the comments coming from folks who want to be able to do doughnuts on dry pavement? I know they were rated at around 100 horsepower...which seems like it should be reasonable.....

 

The PO put the 289/C-4 combo in mine with a 9-inch rear end. That gave it plenty of power to run down the freeway at 70-80. :-) For $5K that truck should be close to usable without too many added items. A lot of people will ask much more than they need trying to make a few bucks. Time is your friend in this matter. You should shop around and visit some shows and swap meets so that you can become educated on the prevailing costs of these trucks in your area. The worst thing to do is buy impulsively and then run across a much better seal the next week! Good luck, Jag

 

There is a killer thread on the HAMB I refrence often with a very descriptive step by step walk through of the T-5 conversion. It is not as hard as it would seem. It also talks about the different methods used to lower his truck, along with a nice piece about wood bed restoration.

The rear end, I would step up to a 9" for the simple ease of having access to tons of rear diff ratios. That is a bolt in as well, just stick with the late 60's. The difference is the width, you need a narrow rear end. The trans tunnels came in two flavors, floor shift and column shift. Since you asked about the shifter hole, I assume your a column shift (no shift hole), so look for a floor shift cover. If I am not mistaken, the hole lines up to the T-5. If not, I would find a different one to modify anyways since you want to retain the ability to put your truck back to stock form. It would preserve the original...its not like these are UBER rare trucks. My trans cover was modified for 3 different transmissions in its life...look for something like that so you are not cutting up a good restorable piece.

A flatty is not doggy when tuned properly...they don't accel hard or fast, but it was never designed to. They are low revving and the power is made lower in the RPM range. They are relatively easy to build a little more HP into, just expensive as hell depending on how much HP you want. There is a thread on here about which stock cams offered the best performance...it is well worth a read. Keep your carb dialed in and a fresh set of points in it and be sure to use the proper fluids and such, and you should be fine.

Aside from all that, I doubt it was the flatty that kept these from hitting 75...I am pretty sure it was gearing and the front end!

 

I found mine in a local junk yard. tailgate smashed, no engine and no decent idea how long it had been there. I need a pick up truck. I wanted the 8 foot bed also. I brought it home for $700 and told the wife it would be on the road in $7-10K. I'm going to miss that by about $3K. I want it to look 1952 but I don't want to drive 1952 so I took out every bolt Henry's boys put in it and started from scratch. 302/aod/9"/power steering/power brakes/12V. I'm sure everybody here would notice it up close but not too many folks that aren't into these vehicles will be able to look at it and know it isn't stock. I plan on using it as a daily driver truck, lumber, dirt, deer and all. Luckily I don't have to worry about my budget as much as a lot of guys, but it will be on the road by 1 September and be under $15K completely rebuilt.
Mike

 

 

I kinda second that...but I had mine up close to 80 a few times and it held together. It was for sure an experiance. With the newer stuff it should handle it a little better, but I think 80 is out of the question again!

 

I like this thread - it highlights the challenges of these old trucks - They look great - it takes some work to get them to drive great after 60 years.
I think looking at one of these for a weekender I would plan on:
- Replacing the brakelines & single master cylinder (personally I'd at least
put a disc brake kit on the front for modern stopping power).
- Upgrading to a 9 inch rear end with more modern gear ratios to get
better highway performance.
- Retrofit the front Stock Fixed Axle with new king pins, et al to get
tighter steering & less wandering.
- Conversion to 12 volt if it's not already been done just to get access
to better replacement electronics.

Summary -
I think you can do all of the above for less than $5K & feel pretty comfortable driving the truck. A lot of us have "Hacked up" the trucks to get modern Independent front suspensions & drivetrains into these trucks but it get's expensive quick & the downtime becomes significant. You can enjoy a nice weekender without taking these steps & keep the engine/transmission/suspension changes to a minimum. Look for a Solid Body & Cab would be my only other advice - Rust is expensive & time consuming to fix.

Ben in Austin

 

What exactly is this? The guy who owned the two trucks I looked at yesterday made a comment about the '51 taking some "getting used to" in terms of driving because it wanders all over the place. He said the '47 he had in his garage actually had a much tighter steering setup.

 

See...my rub is the basic phrase "hacked up". To me, a hacked up ride is just that...a hacked up POS that should not be driven, that is not road worthy, that has spotty welds, basically a **** rod (what some call rat rod). Many of the members on this forum have IFS and IRS, some nice body modifications hidden under a slick paint job...and they get classified as hacked up? That to me makes no sense. To a purist or a restorer...perhaps based on principal alone, but to the vast majority of the rest of us it is having fun with what we have and can afford.

I do take great offense to someone calling my ride hacked up. Maybe you dont, but I have to much of me in my truck not to get offended by that statement. Sorry if you did not intend it that way, but thats how it comes off...

 

Keqwow,
All trucks drive differently but I can tell you how my 1950 drove - It's just not something you experience every day - I had the 60 year old stock front axle that hadn't been maintained - was a basic farm truck. There was a lot of play in the steering - A lot - you basically couldn't stay in a straight line. A lot of guys have had good luck "fixing" that stock front end which requires replacing the worn parts - King Pins, tie rods, etc. I think a good
axle place can do it for say $1000 - $1500 & you get much better steering.

I replaced the entire straight axle with a "Mustang II" modern independent front suspension but that involves the cutting into the frame etc. & it costs quite a bit more - $3k -$5K but you get a modern ride & handling.

The reality is most likely you will face some front end work to get the ride & handling that you like - 60 years as a farm truck is not kind to suspensions. I hope that helps.

Ben in Austin

 

I agree with this. Yes there are some trucks [and cars] that are hacked up by people who should not own a wrench or a welder. But to the majority of us who make changes to our trucks, these are not hacked up but a serious attempt at making it better handling and stopping.

Now if by hacked up you mean changing from stock then you really need to re-think your terms. If YOU want a stock truck cool but don't rag on another truck because that owner decided he didn't want a stock truck by calling it hacked up.

Like was said if this is not your intension then you need to state so but if it was then you need to re-think your position as it down grades a lot of people and trucks who do NOT deserve it.
jim

 

Sorry..didn't want to offend anyone. I guess my view originates from looking at several nice model T's that have had the original body tubs taken off of them and destroyed in order to make a rat rod. I feel this is destroying a piece of history.
Ultimately people can do whatever they want with their stuff. Everyone has their own opinions on what they like. For me personally...I like original stuff....or at least, having the ability to go back to original and preserving a piece of history. Now a truck from the 1950's is not super rare...so I guess I am not as critical about it. It does bug me though that you can barely find an original body tub on a 1915 model T because it was removed for a hot rod. Everyone is welcome to their own opinions...but I feel like that is really a shame to destroy a nice old Model T like that.
I can certainly see why folks would modify these 1950's trucks to make them more driveable. I am asking about it myself. For me PERSONALLY....if I got a truck and did some modifications I would limit myself to bolt on modifications. I would hate to change the original truck and not be able to go back to the original specs. if I ever wanted to. That is just me. Of course I don't have one of these trucks to begin with...just trying to learn at this point. So no matter what I say, no one should use up the energy to take offense to it....just consider the ignorant source of my comments