That does sound simple. I think I will go do that right now so I can find my firewall stamping and get at that flathead.

Thanks, Ilya!

 

Okay, I sanded the top of the firewall to bare metal and there is no stamping to be found.

Could it be below the seam or somewhere else?

 

I've seen them below and above the seam. On my 48, it was located below the seam, kind of right of center. Look for the only sanded spot on the firewall below the seam.




It was filled with alot of paint. One thing I don't know is how to decode it.




Did you get the clip off? Post some update pictures.

 

Well I found the stamping, but it is too faint to read it all. I can only make out a few characters. Bummer, I really wanted to know when and where it was made.

However, I am close to getting the front clip off.

 

Post a picture of the stamping. We may be able to still help you.

 

Ilya, I have a question for you. I got the front and rear shackles all cleaned up and looking real good, got em primed and a few painted.... and then I said to myself, are these supposed to be painted? This is on the ol 49 F-1. So, do you know if these were originally painted or left bare metal?

 

I don't believe that they were left bare. They had to had some coating from the factory. It was probably some e-coating. Painting or powder coating them is usually the norm these days during a resto. Most use POR 15 or Chassis Saver paint because of durability.

 

That is a great truck,good find & good luck with it

 

Thanks! I am very fortunate to have found it. There is no such thing as a rust free truck where I come from, unless it is from out of the area.

I am ready to lift off the front clip, as soon as my dad gets here to lend a hand.

 

nice project you have ahead of you .

 

This is what I found on the passenger side of the firewall right next to where the data plate used to be. It appears to start with 21_ _ 17_. The blanks between the 1's may be one or two digits.





I did manage to get the front clip off (thanks Ilya).





Now I have plenty of room to get at the engine. I really don't think there is much chance of that old Merc V8 staying in there.

 

Looks good! Make sure to take a lot of pictures for reference later when you're ready to assemble.

 

Oh yeah, I have been taking a ton of pics. One of these days my kids can look back through the album and see all the steps we took to get the old girl on the road.

 

Well now that I have the front clip off I have decided to sell the flathead V8. Until it sells I don't have the funds to find a replacement engine, so I am starting on the cheaper things I can do in the mean time. First thing is to get rid of the ugly rust brown primer. The guy I bought it from sprayed that primer on to prevent flash rust when the rain came. He couldn't keep it inside, and the previous owner had it inside for 19 years. During that time someone had started sanding the paint, so there was bare metal showing in places. As you can see in the first pic, someone brushed on some white paint over the roof.



The original red had been painted over with a metallic bronze/gold color, likely in the '70's. It is hard to imagine that someone liked that color, but somebody chose it.

Anyway, I hate rust brown primer and want to get the truck all one color, even if it is spray bomb paint. Shoot, these days lots of people are painting things "satin black" and calling it good. So I went and got some Krylon (my favorite brand) Satin Black and went to town on the driver side door.

This is what it looked like after I sanded it.



And here it is now.



It's not the best or even great, but it will be one color and now I don't have to worry about rust starting.

 

I think you need to feed that driver. He's looking a little thin...

I like the satin black. Your truck will look much nicer all one color.