Joe, no such thing as a "dumb" question.

 

Hello and welcome from California.

I'm pretty sure that 51Panelman still has a 50 F1 that he's been trying to sell. If he still has it, it's here in California.

Dan

 

Ron, Welcome to the addiction.
There are a couple of articles by John Niolon that are must reads.
Here they are:
Trials Of A First Time Builder .: Articles
WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A CLASSIC FORD TRUCK: Part 1 .: Articles
WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A CLASSIC FORD TRUCK: Part 2 .: Articles

"Can you help me buy a truck?" I think that is the fastest way to get responses here. Everyone here is more than happy to help with that.

 

Welcome to FTE, Are you set on a F-1 or would an F-2 F-3 (3/4 ton truck) also work for your needs?? you can get an F-2 F-3 with the regular pickup bed,box (just longer and a longer wheelbase) or a flatbed/stakebed maybe??

here is Priscilla, for your motivation!
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I haven't seen too many 48-50 F-1's around here lately but they are there. I would recommend buying the best truck you can Body and Rust wise so your spending less on the rust repairs later. There is a 48- F1 for sale here local (utah) for 3k but I've seen it and its a rust bucket and I probably wouldn't even pay $500 for it...


Here is nice looking F-3 in Colorado. could always sell the flatbed and buy a box??
For sale 1950 F3 Ford Truck

Edit, oops, it's 17k I though it was 1700.... duh. that would be a really nice ride for 1700.

 

Welcome Ron! Great to have you on board. I'm looking forward to following your search until you find that truck. Good luck. I'm in the same boat as you... some mechanical ability but not alot of mechanical knowledge if that makes sense. I've found FTE to be of great help with getting to know my truck better.

 

Where do I find the NY chapter? lol. sorry im a big time newb

 

Ron,
I wouldn't give up on the under $3,000 truck. Since it looks like you want to make some major changes (as much as I like the old flathead V-8 it won't beat a Corvette without very significant changes) you may want to consider something without an engine/trans and even rear and front axles. On this forum you will find very detailed instructions/descriptions on how and what can be substituted for all those components at a relatively reasonable price. Some of the guys here may have a parts truck that they would consider selling. No sense paying for what you are not going to use.

Also you may want to look beyond NY. Uship will deliver most anything at a reasonable price. And with lots of digital photos you can be pretty sure of what you are getting.

 

Ron, we were all newbs once. Go to the forum list, regional chapters, then NY. Tell Neil, I sent you.

 

You guys are like family already! I will definately keep everyone posted on my travels. I'm hoping to find the F1

 

You might try Searchtempest.com and Autotempest.com.
The first searches all the craigslist sites within a given mileage from your zip code.
The second is for auto searches, it searches a bunch of sites. I'm not sure how well it works for this era of vehicles, but it was fantastic for my latest newer vehicle.

 

Another way to search Craigslist if you want to cast a wider net is to use Crazedlist. It lets you pick areas by city or state.

Dan

 

Looking a little longer could end up saving you several thousand dollars in the long run. Finding good trucks for a good price seems rather hard to do on the east coast. Might be well worth looking everywhere in the country and having it shipped to you. You could end up paying $2000 on a truck, spending $1000 to have it shipped, and have it be the level of truck that sells for $7000 around your parts. Around here you could buy exactly what you're looking for for less than $1000, the problem is you have to know how to find it around here as those with them don't post for sale on the internet. You usually have to walk alley ways and look in fields and knock on doors and leave notes.

Might think about posting a want ad on Craigslist, often people that have what you're looking for don't post it for sale. I find a lot more that way then I do just searching.

 

OK, here comes the devil's advocate with the cold hard reality check again...
First welcome! We really are a friendly bunch here who go out of our way to help and answer questions. My mantra is the only dumb question is the one you didn't ask so you never learned the answer to.
For the reality: I'm not exagerating nor trying to be discouraging when I say to end up with a safe dependable driver that you won't feel like you need to apologize for, is fun to own, and doesn't empty the kid's college fund or your retirement savings, it typically requires a total outlay of $15-20K. There are two ways to get there, you can start with a low priced basket case where nearly every piece will require often difficult and/or skilled repair and/or replacement that you buy for say 3K then add 12K in parts to it, or start with a solid but maybe tawdry complete example for say 10K (including 1K to possibly ship it cross country) and add 5K to spiff it up. The difference is 5-15 years of your time, blood sweat and tears that will be needed with the former and the 1-3 years of free time tinkering and between projects driving you can do with the latter. It's your choice, pay it now or pay it over a long time.

I grew up in your neck of the woods, the rust belt (Buffalo), and can say with certainty that unless you just happen to be extremely lucky and stumble onto a truck stored in someone's barn or garage and forgotten about for 20 or 30 years you aren't going to find much more than steel lace doilies close to home, hardly worth buying even as parts donors, at ridiculously inflated prices.

IMHO it makes far more sense to shop in the dry salt free South-Western states where they are relatively plentiful and realistically priced for a project starter with solid sheet metal and all the small parts, trim, instruments, seat frame and springs, etc, preferably running and drivable (especially if it has a drivetrain that is close to your final desires, whether that be stock or darksided). A nearly completed project that the owner has gotten tired of (happens way too frequently usually because they went in wearing rose colored glasses) can be an especially good deal if at least most of the work was well done with good parts. It costs ~ 1K to trailer a project truck across country, but you can make that back immediately if you don't have to do major repairs to or replace a just a set of doors or fenders. If you do find something you are interested in, there's likely to be a member here within commuting distance of it that would be willing to go check it out in person for you. As said 51Panelman has quite a collection of potential project starters that keep following him home.

 

Welcome! I'm living in Northern Virginia...where do you live? Are you familiar with the Valley Trader? It's out of the Winchester area. It's all classified and the auto parts and antique car sections are a gold mine. Lots of old tin in those mountains, that's where I found my 52 F1. Charleston WV.
Ax is right, you'll probably spend around 15 to 20K on it before it's done, but that is usually spread over years of retoration so the cost is like a long term loan so don't look at it as one large lump of cash.
My truck is pretty much done, it took years to finish, but it all worth it.
Hope you're near by, I could save you alot of frustration as I've "been there, done that". I'd be happy to help you look for your project. You can PM me or my email is dap64@netzero.com.
It's really funny that your user name is whitety, that's what I call my truck!!(cause it's white)

 

Welcome aboard Ron, I live outside of Buffalo NY (about an hour or so down I90 from you) and I have to agree with AXracer. Most of the '48-'52 F1's for sale in WNY are either ratty old rusty parts trucks or restored/customized vehicles that sell for at least $10k. I bought mine in Erie PA and the owner originally bought it twenty years before in California. I considered buying a local truck before I found this one but the guy wouldn't budge off of his $9500. price and it needed a ton of work (the body needed attention and painting a vehicle can get pretty pricey). This doesn't mean you can't find something for $3k-$5k but it may take some time to find it and you will have plenty of work ahead of you. I paid a hair less than $12k. for my truck and I've spent another $3k since buying it. The guy I bought it from had over $20k into the truck.
If I see anything for sale around here I'll PM you.

Good Luck,

Wally

1951 F1 - "Lucille"