A while ago I started a thread asking about 2 1948ish F1's.
Well, I decided to go ahead with the truck build.

Here are the 2 trucks, ready to be taken apart


Moved the truck closer to a power supply and got started!

 

And, at the end of the day, here is what was left:



Tomorrow, the frame is going in the garage, and the engine/drive-train will be removed.

When I first started working on it, I really thought my ratchet would do the trick. Im still laughing at what a silly of a thought that was. 60 year old stuck hardware, coming off. HA!
A 4 1/2 cutting disc reallllllly helped here.
Some bolts I drilled out, as to not damage surrounding metal.

90% of the truck seems to use carrige bolts. I hate those things. They are going to spin in the square hole, and you cant grab the back side. Even cutting a slot in them and trying to use a flat head didn't work.
Cutting the nut off was the best thing I could have done.

Anywho, question #1 !
What do I do about the old carriage bolts when this truck goes back together? I want something I can put a wrench on BOTH sides. Allen or Torx maybe?

And, these bolts are stuck into the bed, are they supposed to be? or are they just rusted in there? Should I hammer/drill/grind them off?



What about the Flat 6, trans, and rear; what should I do with it? They don't seem to be too desirable.
It has compression, the guy that had the truck said he started it up about 5 years ago.
Keep, sell, scrap, part-out?
...My boat already has an anchor

 

Hey BigB,
I've got a 1950 F1. One lifesaver was one of the parts houses (Mac's?)
had a set of all nuts & bolts for the truck. Nice not having to run to the hardware store 80 times to get these odd size replacement nuts & bolts.

Looks like you made great progress in one day!

Ben in Austin

 

Don't scrap that flat 6! If you've got the space, keep it for now. Demand for them is not great, but you could probably make more $ parting it out as there are not as many repro parts available as for the flathead v8. If I was closer, I'd make you an offer on that engine...

 

I have no space, I live in an apartment
The work is being done on my friends land (He is in the scraping business)
Ill probably just throw it on a pallet and throw in his warehouse for now. Someday I'll sell it, or make some kind of awesome Flat-Head generator/Log splitter.

Anywho, lets talk frame.
Plan is to get it disassembled, cleaned, sanded, stripped of rust, and painted.

I have seen in other peoples pictures, that the running board brackets stay on. What about the rust between the bracket and frame? Leave it? Pretend its not there?
Should I cut the factory rivets off, remove the brackets, and bolt them back on after they are painted?

Im going with a 289/302, and hopefully a standard trans.
Should I remove the original motor mounts and cross-member?
If I do- how are the pedals and master cylinder to be mounted?

 

Being that mine are stock, I don't know about these answers but the fender to bed bolts should back out of square holes (with much persuasion!) and save the 6cyl. that is what I have in my F1 and they are fine engines.

 

Don't scrap the flathead 6. There are guys out there looking for one. Perhaps you should get a hold of F4WineGuy. He may be looking for the engine to put back into his 51.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ery-truck.html

 

Didnt get much done today. Plan was to remove the engine, trans, rear-end, and get the frame into the garage.

Problem was I had to clean my buddys garage first. We did that, and pushed it in.



Do I need to leave these mounts in? (302 v8 going in this puppy)


I wire brushed down some of the frame as a Test. What I call the Rust-Dust falls right off. Whats with the black metal? Original factory paint? But why would it rust past the paint?
Or is this some kind of dreaded black rust?!
(Like, the rust version of Black Mold)




Should I just wire brush it down and paint?
Wire brush and sand the Black Mold Rust off?
Then paint?

Tips for flipping the frame over to paint the underside?
What kind of paint?! I don't want to go POR-15!
Is there a less expensive, easier to work with, more available alternative?
I'm not against Rustoleum

 

You can try Rust Bullet, but it's pretty much the same as POR-15. IMO, nothing is more durable, except powder coating, than POR-15. You can apply Rustoleum, but it will wear, chip and scratch over time.

To tip the frame over, you can build a simple rotisserie out of two engine stands, as long as your frame is bare, and attach each end of the frame to the engine stands. You'll need to fabricate a mount for the frame ends, which is not that hard.

You don't need the original engine mounts since the 302 will need its own (new) mounts welded in. If you plan on replacing the original transmition with something newer, then you won't need the original transmission crossmember. My advice to you is to grind or drill the rivets out from the engine mounts and transmission crossmember and remove the pieces that way. There are guys out there looking for stock engine mounts and especially the stock transmission mount. The rodders are also after the stock transmission mounts. I bet you can get $60-80 easily for a carefully removed transmission mount.

As far as removing the running board brackets, I wouldn't bother. It's not worth the time nor the effort. The "rust" between the brackets and the frame won't deteriote the frame.

Lastly, if I were you, I would not remove the bolts on the bedsides. They're spot welded in place from the factory. They're hard to remove and even harder to replace. From what I remember, no exact replacements are available. If the bolts aren't broken, then just clean them up with a wire wheel.

 

Thanks for the input.

Por15 is good an all. But if I miss any rust, it'll trap it in there, rotting it out from the inside out, killed my boat trailer in no time.
Maybe Ill use it, I dont know yet. I know Im not thrilled about the price tag.
What about rustoleums rubberized undercoating. Any good?

When it comes time to reassemble, what am I to do about the breaking system without the trans cross-member? (master cylinder and peddles attach to it) Someone mentioned something somewhere about a Pinto master cylinder. It'll have power breaks and mount similar?

And the passenger side of the bed has 5 of those studs broken off. Driver is fine.
Ill worry about that later though, after the frame, engine, and cab are done.

 

Haven't tried the rubberized undercoating, so don't know what to tell you.

The brake pedal and master cylinder depends on location. If you put the master cyl on the firewall, then you'll need hanging pedals. If you want the stock looking pedal coming from the floor, then you can buy a master cylinder kit, which will have a bracket that mounts to the frame rail. You can also make your own bracket for a new or existing stock master cylinder.

 

Hey BigB,
Good progress on getting down to the frame so quickly!
Not sure why you don't want to use Por 15 - It's expensive but it goes
a long way & it coats & doesn't rust. Your picture there with the original black paint showing is fine - just put Por 15 over it. Strongly recommend wearing a ventilator mask with Por 15.

So how did you end up deciding which truck's frame & cab to use?

Ben in Austin

 

That is kind of a funny story actually. The Blue truck has a broken leaf-spring in the back and doesn't roll, making it a pain in the butt to move. So the white truck it is!

Thing is, I'm thinking the truck is more of a 1950. Which I don't want to be titled as a 1950 and have a 1948ish front end. So when/if I figure out how to decode the vin, and the truck turns out to be a 1950, Ill go with the Blue truck instead.
Both trucks have numbers matching cabs and frames.
Anyone know how the vins work? Its * 97HC-274979*

Also, so I don't need to take it down to bare shinny metal? Just get the top rust layer off?

 

I would have fixed the blue truck because it has the perfect patina.

9 - 49 or 50 (depends on production number)
7H - flathead 6
C - 1/2 ton
274979 - production number (appears high, so would make the truck a 50)

Would it be possible for you to post a picture of the air cleaner from the flathead 6? I'm curious to see what it looks like.

 

Well..... anyway to be sure on the years? I would really prefer my title to say 48 or 49.
The 48, 49 and 50's all have the same front end don't they?

I have a few pictures, here is a pretty good shot, but I could go take more next time I go up there.



Thanks!
I'm pretty good at taking things apart though.

My original plan was to take off bolts/nuts and label where they went, and put them into little zip-lock bags. That way I could take them down to the hardware store and replace them all with stainless grade-8's (something I like doing) Well that didn't really last very long, well, not at all actually. The first bolt I tried to take off broke, and the 2nd just kept turning. Thats when the grinder came out. MUCH easier with a grinder. 1/10 of the disassembly time if you cut off the hardware.

I also have my little tricks to speeding things up; I have 6 different ratchets, all with different size sockets on them, that really helps.
But 90% of the hardware is 1/2 and 9/16. Once that was figured out it helped too.