Alright, I'll start off by saying this thread WILL polarize people. When I was throwing around the idea it got very mixed reactions from people. I'm not asking you to like it but I don't want pages of people telling me I did the wrong thing. Lol.

Now, the story... I won't bother telling the story of how I came into owning it but basically I set about restoring it and the flathead was heading towards a rebuild and the radiator had finally caved to the pressure, no pun intended. Now around this same time my boss/friend bought a '72 F100 for his own project, it had a 360 with a 3-speed manual and a 9-inch rear end. Now, we both work at a performance shop so when I get free labor and a good discount on parts naturally the question came up about me selling the Flathead and putting in the Big Block.

So I threw up a few posts about it and people either said "Go for it!" or got upset that I was messing with a fairly original truck. Now I felt bad about it at first too but the motor wasn't the original, the wiring had been cut and duct-taped back together so many times it wasn't funny, half the gauges didn't work, the exhaust was done REALLY badly and the fuel lines were... um...sketchy at best. So considering I wanted a more reliable truck and I could build a cool street-rod like I had always wanted I decided to go for it!

Now posting up the plan, all my photos and progress will take me a few posts so bear with me! For now I'll stick up the photos of the truck before I started and then I'll update it in a little while to the point we're at now!

The truck as it sat before we started working on it:




Coming in my next post is the overall plan and de-construction!

 

The Plan
Alright so after we made the decision to modify the truck we needed a plan. We had already established that I would take the 360FE and the 3-speed manual out of his '72. I would also take his rear axle to make the whole swap a little bit easier. We planned on just cleaning up his 360 and putting it straight in but after pulling it apart we found it was ruined so we changed the plan to a built motor.

We have a new 360 longblock being picked up this weekend, we are then adding a Holley carb, Edelbrock intake and water pump, Comp cam, lifters, springs, timing kit and retainers. After that we'll work on a nice custom exhaust.

I also have in store some nice interior changes that you'll all see later!

Now, here are photos of the teardown:

^ Interior stripped out.


^ Flathead out. It has gone to a guy who is building a Model A for his son! It's gonna be a sweet build so I'm glad it's gone to a good home!

Coming in the next post is a few interior changes and test fitting of the engine/trans!

 

Looks like a very nice original. A nice one to restore or drive. The kind we dream of finding.l

 

Looks good to me.

 

Thanks! It's a fairly nice original body, the interior was cleaned/spray painted a while back. There's a little bondo here and there but nothing major. If the motor/carb/wiring/radiator hadn't been so messed with I would have just restored it but for what it was and what I want from it this was the way to go.

Now, onto the nice interior changes we're doing! Firstly, I didn't wanna pull out and replace all the original switches/key/ignition so what we did was we left them where they were and behind the center grill on the dash we're putting a nice little panel with a fresh ignition and toggle switches for lights and the fan. The grill will then be put on hinges so when it's closed it looks factory!


^ Here is the panel test fitted. It's SUPER simple but effective. It's now powdercoated a nice textured black, gonna install it in the next week or so when we get to the rewiring phase.

Then, to avoid ruining the original dash we pulled the cluster out and we're gonna fab up a nice plate to go in there and use these gauges:


They were cheap, look good and from what I read are actually good quality!

I'll snap some pics of the engine/trans mounts once they're all cleaned up and painted but for now here's an engine goodies teaser...

 

looks like a solid plan so far. Everyone has opinions, some your gonna agree with, some your not. Take what helps and build it your way. Looking forward to seeing your progress

 

looks great, for those that don't see eye to eye can build one the way they want. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the comments guys!

The longblock should be in the shop on Monday and hopefully assembly can start! Should have LOTS more pics in the next week!

 

Yes some will cry and be upset about you altering a clean truck... But it's yours and make it all yours, your way! Like you said the motor wasn't original and it's going to be used... In someone elses dream... I'll keep following your build. Sounds like it's going to be what you want....

 

That is a nice looking truck good luck on the build,just remember
it is your truck so build it the way that you want it

 

Looks like a nice build and a good plan. I have no problem with using the 360 or making mods to one of these, but please drop the bs about reliability. You won't find an engine more reliable than the flathead.

I've got a 48 F6 that one day will get a 6BT turbo Cummins cause I like to be creative.
I have a 52 F6 with a 360 for plowing snow - bought it that way and it is awesome.
Flatheads power the other 3 around here.
My 48 F1 flat-powered daily driver has been all over the USA and parts of Canada - always gets me home! Rant over : ) Enjoy your truck and don't apologize for what you want to make it.

 

Nice to see another 1950 on here! I like the exterior - kind of stealth look if you modernize the drivetrain but leave the exterior paint & look.
Mine was already butchered up in the 70's so nothing original to worry about. Good luck over there!

Ben in Austin

 

True, I LOVE the flatheads but I was staring down the barrel of a full rebuild when we pulled it and sold it... little did I know I'd be building a 360 not long after, albeit for MUCH cheaper than the flathead would have been. And funny you mention the Cummins, that's what going in my bosses '72 that the 360 came out of! He's doing a healthy one, he's gunning for 400hp and 800ft/lbs but that'll probably end up having it's own thread one day! Lol.

That's the plan! I wanna leave it rather unassuming until I start it!

 

^Engine mount in and partly welded. Gotta box it in yet and then clean/spray paint the engine bay. Trans mount is in the same state, also needs boxing.


^ Motor roughly where it will sit when actually fitted. My boss/buddy is headed to Louisiana as we speak for the weekend and he's getting my new longblock on his way out there! Come Monday I'll have some real goodies and some real work to do!

 

Look like your fitting it at a full run.... Keep the pics and updates coming...