Why would you want the title to say 48 or 49? 48-50 had the same body style and design.

Thanks for the photos, but a close up would really help. I can wait until you're at the shop next time.

 

Hey BigB,
All the front clips are the same 48-50. Late 1950 the back bed starts
to change - early '50 & before has a half moon arch inside the bed. I'd take the most solid cab for sure - It's a ton of work to get the cab support right & the cab corners, etc.

I like your cat - seems to like cameras.

Ben in Austin

 

Hey BigB,
While you're in the picture mode could I get you to take a picture of the hardware used to hang the spare tire under the bed. They are the last parts I need to finish my truck and it would be nice to see what I'm searching for.
Your one picture show the empty tire rack but hard to see how it is mounted. Thank you.
Greg M-47

 

No real important reason, a vehicle from the 40's sounds more impressive than a vehicle from the 50's. Thats it really.
I should be back tomorrow, and take better pictures.

Well, they are both pretty solid, but they both have advantages and disadvantages.
Floor of the white truck has a wear hole in it, not from rust but from a foot, but an amazing looking firewall. (and a heater)

Blue has a dented to **** firewall with 4" holes drilled all over it, on the roof and cowl area too. But, a solid floor.

The kitty's aren't mine. They are 2 stray kittens that just showed up on my friends land one day, they used to be very very small. My friends been feeding them for the past few months. I call them junk yard cats. They just crawl around trucks all day looking for spiders and lizards. Playful little guys that will follow me wherever I go.

Not a problem, Ill get them to you asap.

 

Here is a 302 sitting in a 52. The engine mount is visable just over the oil filter. The trans. mount I made it out of 3" channel and made a bracket to hold the park brake cable. Engine clearance with the firewall is about 1/2".




Bill

 

Here you go!

here is your file

Might want to right click on the link, and "save file as"

Anywho, onto the Truck!
Got the rear out, and the front end off.



I then removed the rivets holding in the front motor mounts.
This is by far the hardest thing I have done to this truck yet. Those rivets WERE NOT made to come back out. I tried drilling, grinding, and hammering, they WERE NOT coming out. The cutting torch melted them out, but even then it wasn't easy. I didn't want to hurt the frame.
In picture I see of others truck on here, they just cut the brackets. So you still see the ends, just cut off. I didn't want that, so took the time to remove them. If I had to do it again, I would just cut them off with a sawzall.



I also removed the trans cross-member.
I plan on going with power breaks of some type, and a manual trans (from a newer truck, 70's probably)
Where do I get a cross-member/brackets/whatever I need for this?
The frame is quite weak without the cross-member, pretty sure I need a large one that ties the tops and bottom frame rails together.


Also, leaf springs. Someone told me to 'do them up' before I reinstall, so, what does that mean?
I'm assuming I take apart the brackets, and all the leafs come apart, where I then sand and paint, and re assemble. Is it that easy? I noticed the brackets have one of the evil frame looking rivets on them, will it be holding the springs together?
Should I place grease between each leaf before I reinstall?
Rubber strips maybe? It might quite things down?

Also, for the front springs, someone said to remove every other spring, but didn't give me a reason why. Will this soften the front end making it a little softer? Good idea, or bad?



So, frame paint. Plan is to lightly sand it or wire-wheel, and rustoleum semi-gloss black it. People are telling me to have it blasted, and powder coated, blasted, Acid dip, etc etc etc.
Bottom line is I don't have the money for that kind of stuff, this is going to be a daily/often driven truck, that I plan on using as a truck. It wont be for show or speed. I'm going for the Budget restore. I want it as good looking as it can be with the skills and budget I have, while being reliable, sturdy, safe, and as modern as possible (with what I have) Thats it. If I can find POR-15, or something similar, locally for less than $200 a gallon, Ill go for it.

My schedule is:
Tomorrow - Frame strip
Wednesday - Frame Paint
Thursday - Rear end
Friday - Suspension rework and reinstall
Saturday - Engine & Trans mock-up / install
Those are my goals for the week. I just need to get an engine, trans, and rear-end first.

So, frame paint options, ideas?

 

Hey BigB,
That's a pretty aggressive schedule - the "re-work the suspension"
in a day - hmmmm... I don't see an independent front suspension in your plans so that must mean keeping the straight axle. If you are going that route I'd recommend changing out all bushings, tie rods, & the king pins. Those king pins are a bear to get out - it's common to take the axle to a machine shop to press them out with a hydraulic press.

Might help if you outline your plan on the front end so you can get clarity on what needs to be done to get tight steering. Are you rebuilding the stock steering box? or going with power steering - Toyota box?
It's very common for these old trucks to have unwieldy "loose" steering -
you may want to take the time to get it right before slamming it back together in a day.

Ben in Austin

 

Very aggressive! Don't worry, I know it wont happen.
I don't have use of the garage forever, truck needs to be able to roll. When I say rework, I mean more for the rear of the truck.
I figure I can upgrade to disc breaks later, before the truck sees road again.
I plan on keeping the straight axle. Later on I was going to inquire more about my options there. Locals tell me I can bolt a rack and pinion to the axle, or grab a steering box out of a 60's truck (Its supposed to be better?) Toyota box will be hard, I went to the junk yard today looking for a 4x4 Toyota, no luck (obviously) plenty of land cruisers, and 1960+ ford and Chevy trucks.
For rebuilding the front end, I have all the parts that would be needed to do it, and the hydraulic press is in the corner.
(My friend bought an auto parts stores inventory when they closed, he has so much stuff it isn't even funny)

 

Hey BigB,
Sounds like fun -
- Most folks use the toyota power steering box up front
as it fits nicely in place of the stock box & there are replacement
parts readily available. $100 or so on line.

- I used an Explorer 8.8 rear end out back. $125 from salvage -
gave me rear disc brakes & it's about a perfect fit for our '48-'52
trucks. (Changes the wheel/tire studs to 4.5in & you have to move
the rear shock mounts). Many also use Ford 9 inch rear ends.

- A lot of people also move the gas tank from in the cab to out
back between the frame rails. (1968 - 1970 mustang tanks fit well).

Good luck over there. I like your aggressive get it done approach while
you have all those cool tools handy.

Ben in Austin

 

Looks good! Look forward to following your progress. In the process of restoring a 51 F4 to use as a work truck so i like to see somebody else restoring into something other than a museum quality piece! It's amazing to see the work a lot of the other guys on here are doing. You'll find some great information from some real knowledgeable people on here.

 

Thanks!
I work pretty quickly. Today I struggled a little while learning how to get the rear leafs off, one side took me an hour and a half, the other side - 5 minutes.

And yeah, a lot of cool tools and machinery! He has the tractors, forklifts, vehicle lifts, 5 garages/shops, all kinds of handy neat stuff.
Ford trucks all over the place too, most from the 60s and 70s though. Im hoping I can score a lot of needed parts from them.
I'm going to grab a 9" rear tomorrow morning from a truck before he grinds in to tiny pieces and ships it off.

 

Hey BigB,
I saw this thread recently from Brain75 on replacing the rear end.
There is a lot of info on this swap - you will want to get one with the "right" gear ratio so you can get highway speeds.

Good luck over there.

Ben in Austin


"That said, a ford 9" rear end from 57-72 is "a direct bolt on" (for me) no fabing clamps, no fabing shock mounts, etc. I went to the junkyard and found 6 choices on my first day out, picked the 72 (which has auto adjusting brakes), and then went for the gear ratio which would give me the desired highway speeds (driving it home was 43mph redlined the whole way on the tall gears in a dana/spicer 41). I picked a 3.00 ratio.

The 9" rear end has a 3" tube (you need 3 inch U bolts) and my '48 dana/spicer was 2 1/2", so be sure to take the U bolts and top plates with you if you get a junk yard salvage. (take penetrating oil, a very large long breaker bar, some bandaids for the knuckles, and if you got (and the junk yard will let you in with it) a little propane bottle to heat up the nuts and bust em loose, they are a BEAST.

The one thing that did not work perfectly, my shock mounts were wider, so the bolt ran through the mount, shock, mount. Now they use a long bolt and go mount, (dead air), mount, shocks.

Before you pick a rear end and haul it out, figure out what your gear ratios are for every gear in the tranny, figure out your tire size (I am currently looking for 225/70/16 as that is 28.4" the same as my original 6.00x16 tube. And then plug those numbers into a ratio calculator: Gear Ratio Speed Calculator <TABLE style="WIDTH: 132px; HEIGHT: 20px" border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><COLGROUP><COL width=132><TBODY><TR height=17><TD style="WIDTH: 99pt; HEIGHT: 12.75pt" height=17 width=132>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Be sure you want that gear ratio before you haul it out and decide you really wanted a shorter or taller set of gears."

 

I did some forum searching on my trans support problem, didn't help, so I did some googling.
Looks like this guy welded, or boltedm in some plates above his X-member to strengthen the frame


Looks like he also has a break booster in there too, anyone know what that setup is, and where I can get it?

I dont like this setup:

If anyone here has removed the X-member before, you know what I mean, that frame is quite wobbly without it.

EDIT:
Found this early 60's truck in the yard, looks like I can snake its parts:




Thoughts?

 

LMC has a power brake conversion kit with a vacuum booster that bolts into the stock master cylinder location:

LMC Truck Parts - Page 51

Probably other vendors stock them as well. I have heard that these don't work as well as firewall mounted setups though...

 

You may want to consider boxing your frame. It will provide greater rigidity for your power plant and overall structure. Generic and specific transmission crossmember and engine mounts are available through most of the reproduction parts warehouses, like Dennis Carpenter, Mac's Antique Auto, Sacramento Vintage Ford, etc.

Thank you for the pictures of the oil bath air cleaner.