I am not a car guy, but my son and I want to restore/update an old truck together. My mechanic, who I have known for over a decade (plus my in-laws have been doing business with him and his father before him since the mid sixties) has a '51 Ford F-1 that I am considering buying from him. I trust him completely (that he is honest). Either he or his dad were the original owner of the truck. But whatever the case, he's had it for ages. He is loosely estimating that it will take $20,000-$25,000 to restore the truck JUST TO RELIABLE AND SAFE DRIVING CONDITION. That is without touching the body. His first off-the-top-of-his-head estimate a few weeks ago was "about $10,000". The next time we talked he was thinking more like "$15,000 easy, could be $20,000", today it was "$20,000-$25,000". I am absolutely 100% sure that he is not trying to up the price and squeeze more money from me. To the contrary, his concern seems to be that he might estimate too little, then it ends up being way more expensive, then I get ticked off and he looses me as a customer.

A little more background on the truck. It has been sitting in his back lot for a good 20 years. Until the other day, it was sunk in the sand up to its hubs (desert sand, not beach sand). It has rust but it has been in Arizona for its whole existence. So rust is not a huge issue. It has not been started for 15-20 years. Differential is shot and it still has drum brakes. He is afraid the transmission will need replacing and nearly a full overhaul of the engine. Oh, and a new front end--rack and pinion steering etc. Again, that is without touching the interior, body or paint.

He seems convinced it will cost upwards of $20,000 to get it in reliable mechanical condition and make it safe to drive. That is with him doing a lot of the work and doing some cheap/free labor.

So...is he being realistic or just paranoid about ticking me off? We get along well, by the way. We have never had any issues. He is totally honest.

Here are a couple pics. Or look at my album called '51 Ford F-1...



Any thoughts?

Tyler

 

well, reliable is an interesting term..

new brake pads, master cylinder, lines, tires, maybe some bulbs.. can't tell on the glass.. possibly front king pins.. wiring.

and some care on the engine/tranny I would guess a 2000-2500ish to get it running and reliable start/stop.

most of this u can do your self. engine/tranny/king pins might need some others to help.

what does the interior look like?

Seen a lot worse every day drivers.

Sam

 

Since you and your son want to restore the truck together you should
save many thousands of $ in labour cost sand you will both learn a lot as well as growing very close in the process .
My daughter and I are having a great time with her Merc.

Allan

 

A frame off restoration would run into the $$ he is talking. The later engine that is installed as pictured should not be hard to find relatively cheap. If you go back back with an original flathead you're talking $$$ and luck finding a good one. If you want to make the truck a fun father son project you can do so for a few thousand dollars. If it is a "rust free" AZ truck, buy it before someone else does.
And this old guy's opinion: Don't be so quick to "upgrade". These old machines are very nice and capable 'as is' when they are rebuilt correctly.
BTW, welcome to the forum. Stick around.

 

Truck has some great patina to it. Don't paint it, leave it the way it is. The question on cost is what does reliable and safe mean to you. At a minimum you should replace the wiring (Can you say fire on a 60 year old vehicle), work on the brakes, shocks, king pins may need work, battery, tires and who knows on drive train. It could be as low as $2k if you do the work yourself to $5k depending on the condition of certain items.

 

OK. Are disc brakes necessary? I drove a 57 GMC the other day that had drum brakes and I thought I was gonna die. There was no mushiness or metal to metal contact, but they did not want to stop the car. The drum brakes on my VW bug back in the day worked fine.

And what are king pins? Remember, I am not a car guy-yet. Heard of them, but I don't know what they are.

Here are pics of the inside..

 

So where is my mechanic getting $20,000+? He is talking about new front end and disc brakes etc etc.

 

That is a neat truck. Small block Ford is easy to work on. Mine was pretty much the same when I picked it up a few years back. It sat on someone's driveway for about 10 years. Anyways, the motor came back alive after a day. So here are some rough costs.

Whole new brakes including the master cylinder, wheel cylinders, lines, shoes and hardware: About $350 excluding labor.

A new battery: $80

A fuel filter: $10

A case of oil: $30

A couple of cans of Sea Foam: $30

A couple of oil filters: $20

Spark plugs: $40

Gear oil (rear end): $15

Transmission filter and fluid: $60

Assuming that the motor and tranny are in operational conditions, you should have it running for less than a grand. These trucks are simple enough that you can do most of the stuff with your son.

After this one, it will make a car guy out of you for sure.

 

Every brake related part-every single part replaced cost about $600.
The 6 pieces of smoke gray tint glass cut and arrised cost about $400.(I supplied the templates)
Ya never say "You should" but Buy that truck now!
I'd like to make an offer.

 

Hey Tyler,
I can get you close to $20,000 - It's all in what you want to do with it -
- Replace solid front axle with Mustang II Independent front suspension -
gives you modern ride & handling & disc brakes so you can stop.
$3,000 for the Mustang II kit & $2,000 to install it.

- 4 Link Rear suspension to give you handling/cornering etc.
$1,000 for the Kit & $1,000 to put it in.

- Remove the Gas tank from the cab (trust me you don't want to sit
with gas) - Relocate it out under the bed & run gas lines.
$800.

- Engine Overhaul - Really depends - $2,000

- Transmission - $1000

- A/C & Heat - $2,000

- Non-vaccum Windshield wipers - $500

- Re-wire the truck - If you don't do it yourself $2,000 (at least).

- Replace all brake lines & Master cylinder - $1000

- Replace Gauges - $700

- New Wood Bed - $500

$17,500 & Counting without Bodywork & Paint. Of course you can be resourceful & do a good bit of it yourself with scavanged parts from the U-Pull-it places. The body looks pretty good & if the engine & trans work you are half way there.

Ben in Austin

 

Ben is on the right track here.....

The rest of you assume the mechanic is going to do all the labor for free? Mechanics around here charge around $100 per hour. Machine shops charge 3 times as much.(engine rebuilders). However much labor you think it will take.....double it. It's easy to forget all the time spent scraping, degreasing, taking off rusted nuts, etc. Since we tend to do most of the work on our trucks ourselves, we forget how much we save......and how much we actually spend!

15-20k is a pretty good deal if you aren't gonna lay a finger on the truck.....JMO

 

Even though that interior has a nice patina, don't let anybody talk you into leaving it alone.

 

Ben and Tinman are correct, it really comes down to your interpretation of safe and reliable. I have spent close to 8K on my 53 and did most of the work myself and all I have is a good frame and drivetrain and a new bed complete. Still haven't started on the cab or the wiring. Still have a long way to go. I figure I will have at least 15K in it when done and it wont be a show truck. Oh and the better part of 4 years. So if you want it in a hurry its gonna cost. JMHO

 

[quote=Tyler S;10752733]OK. Are disc brakes necessary? I drove a 57 GMC the other day that had drum brakes and I thought I was gonna die. There was no mushiness or metal to metal contact, but they did not want to stop the car. The drum brakes on my VW bug back in the day worked fine.

And what are king pins? Remember, I am not a car guy-yet. Heard of them, but I don't know what they are.
x=============x============x===============x====== =============x===============x
And the brakes on that F1 will work fine for one or two high speed stops and then they'll get hot and fade and not hold well.......IF THEY ARE RIGHT, BUT THEY HAVE TO BE RIGHT.

King pins are what allow the front spindles and wheels to steer the truck. They are critical to a good driving and safe vehicle. Couple hundred dollars at most to have them done. The modern counterpart are ball joints.

 

Add to that, it seems like he probably doesn't really want to do it. It would take up a lot of his shop space compared to a regular job, parts aren't going to likely be available from his normal suppliers (and remember shops mark up 30% on parts, typically).

I kept track of my parts expenses and contracted bodywork/painting, upholstery, etc. for a while, it totalled $9800, of which about $3k was contracted. That $6800 took it way past "safe and reliable" but included no labor. It adds up fast. I agree brakes and suspension / steering should be around a grand plus labor. A set of almost any tires is $400 nowadays.