Hello, I have a 1949 F-2 that has been in my family for years. Near as I can tell it has been in the bone yard since the early 80's. When i was 12 I realized that it would be fun to "re-do" , of course at 12 years old i had no clue what that ment. With the help of my father I put a carb kit in and somehow got the old flathead 6 running, although quite poorly. It sat this way for a couple years. One day a friend of my dads ran into a gentleman who was willing to work on my pickup. After 2 years and donating 2 summer earnings to the project I lost interest. The mecanic had torn the engine out and discovered it had several burnt valves, a bad cam and several other issues. Fast forward about 9 years to last week. A good friend of mine was turning 30. For the last decade he has been drooling over a 53 ford, but was never able to sesl the deal. So me and several friends tracked down the owner and bought him the truck. Talk about one hell of a birthday, he was super excited. Anyway, all this messing around getting the pickup for him re-sparked my interest in the project I had started 14 years ago. After a little digging and a roadtrip i finally got my pickup in my garage.

As I said " rusty" is a 49 F-2 that had the flathead6 in it. The pickup is in pretty poor condition. Surface rust covers the whole thing, the interior appears to have helped multiple generations of mice flourish. The grill is pretty badly crushed and all the fenders have at least one dent. The engine is in pieces in the rotted out bed. The good news is there isnt much rust ( except surface rust). The floor pan appears to have a little rust, but not all the way through. The front half of both bedsides have rusted out s out 12" where the wood met the steel, and the tailgate is pretty rough. I am fairly mechanically able, but clueless as far as bodywork goes. After calling machine shops in my area ( western SD) i realized rebuilding the flathead is not the route i want to go. Im thinking i need to find a donor vehicle to rob the powertrain from, and likely use some of the modern luxuries such as power steering and modern axles and suspension.

Advice please,
What modern chasis works the best for a donor vehicle, as far as axle width and overall compatibility? I have found alot of parts avalable for the F-1, but limited for the F-2. I know that my box is longer and i assume the suspension is differrnt, are there any other big differences? I have never done a project like this, and am kinda lost as far as where to start. In my mind i feel like i should dis-assemble everything and start from the ground up, adding the powertrain and running gear from a donor vehicle and then doing body work as i re-assemble it. Is that how you think I should begin? Thanks in advance for all the experience and know how this fourm offers. I look forward to someday driving around in a beautifull clasic.

Thanks Jesse

 

Welcome to FTE. Someone will be along with specific answers to your questions, however everyone here likes pictures. Let us see what you have!

 

Hello! and welcome to the forum! Like Allstate tells us..."You are in good hands."
I have been on this forum daily, since April of 2010. Yeah it's addictive.
Get some pictures of the truck and put them on your favorite pic hosting site..paste the link here so we can see. After you get 25 posts you will have a little more freedom here.
I am working on a '49 F3 very similar to your F2.
I won't shove you in any direction, powerplant wise. But you can view my build progress by clicking on the link at the bottom of this post. Maybe this will interest you I don't know.
If I was to do it all over again:
I would have kept the original straight axle front. You can change from F2 to F1 brake/hub items if you want to lower or use 1/2 ton wheels and tires.
Others will chime in on the rear axle, but there are some direct fit and some axles that will fit with some mods.
I started with a 351W EFI and they fit but steering clearance gets fun(not)..
I now have a 5.0(302) EFI from a 1996 Ford Explorer, running EFI from '87-'93 Mustang. just an idea. It fits very nice. You can buy engine cradles for the 302 pretty cheap, not tough to install. Automatic tranny? C4 or AOD.
Mine is an AOD not electronically shifted. There is alot to learn here!
I will stop for now.
Again! Welcome! Oh...I'm Jeff...Nicolle is my wife!

 

Welcome to the forum! Frame swaps are frequently brought up here, especially by newbies. Understand that no later frame will work like you think it might. The size and shape are so different that the amount of hackery needed to modify a body to fit usually ends up creating a giant and unfortunate scrap pile. It's far easier to modify your existing chassis with modern components or rebuild the original suspension to create a nice driving truck. Which way you go depends on the size of your pocketbook and overall desires of your end product. Kits are available to help you with any direction you want to go.

Engine and drivetrain swaps are relatively simple and common. Again, there's a kit for just about everything to make life simple there. Personally, I'm a fan of the Ford 302 and AOD swap. They fit really nice since it's one of the more compact combinations and it gives you a comfortable driving experience, just like a modern vehicle.

You don't have to take every nut and bolt apart to do these, but if you have the time, space and patience, it's not a bad way. Just don't lose interest and let it sit forever like so many of us tend to do when we take things apart. You might start with just doing the engine/trans swap and some basic wiring to make it work and start there. Drive it for a while and see what you think. Kind of like dipping your toe in the water to check the temperature instead of cannonballing into the deep end. The rest will come naturally.

Good luck with your project!

 

there 2 for 302 and AOD!

 

<a href=http://s1171.photobucket.com/albums/r546/jessebaysinger/?action=view&current=95facebook95213319435695.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://i1171.photobucket.com/albums/r546/jessebaysinger/95facebook95213319435695.jpg border=0 alt=></a>

 

<a href=http://s1171.photobucket.com/albums/r546/jessebaysinger/?action=view&current=95facebook95-126714361595.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://i1171.photobucket.com/albums/r546/jessebaysinger/95facebook95-126714361595.jpg border=0 alt=></a>

 

<a href=http://s1171.photobucket.com/albums/r546/jessebaysinger/?action=view&current=2012-07-22_20-47-10_648.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://i1171.photobucket.com/albums/r546/jessebaysinger/2012-07-22_20-47-10_648.jpg border=0 alt=></a>

 

<a href=http://s1171.photobucket.com/albums/r546/jessebaysinger/?action=view&current=2012-07-22_20-48-14_634.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://i1171.photobucket.com/albums/r546/jessebaysinger/2012-07-22_20-48-14_634.jpg border=0 alt=></a>

 

The first two are of the return trip to my house, the third one is in my garage, the last one is the rust in the bedside, which i anticipate being difficult to fix. I will post more pictures in the daylight tomorrow. Thanks for the info

 

That all looks pretty typical, and probably better than most. I'd say it's a good score. There's nothing there I see in the pics that can't be easily fixed or replaced. Congrats!

 

Welcome Jesse! Looks like a solid base for your project. Good luck. I'm looking forward to following your build.

 

You might want to get yourself some catalogs, Sacramento Vintage Ford Parts, Inc. &bull; 888-Ford-100 and Classic Haulers F-1 Parts - Home would be a couple of places to start out at. They would give you an idea of what's available and prices.

 

So is the pulling truck yours? business? your business? or a delivery co.

 

The friend that just turned 30 ( got the 53 f100 as a gift) owns a car lot, he helped me bring " rusty" home