Yall....Sorry ahead of time for this long post and thanks ahead of time for reading. Hope you make it all the way thru it..lol

Need some suggestions or thoughts on my truck. Here is my initial post with info on the truck and some on how I came about owning it in case you want to see it...it would proly help answer my questions. I took some new pics that are in my gallery so you can see what I have to work with.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...th-pics-2.html

This thread is more about circumstances than the actual truck I guess. I got the truck on trade after trying to sell an extra mustang that I had but didn't “need.” For the past 3 years my life has drastically changed. I basically lost my job,home,etc due to the economy. I was left with 2 mustangs(see post above), a 1955 F100, a motorcycle and my personal accumulation of stuff.




I sold the '55 to a guy in New York. Tried to sell the convertible mustang with no luck. Sold everything else I could. And actually its somewhat nice to not have so much extra crap..lol. I had saved a bunch of fox body mustang parts over the years so I had lots to sell.

The good news is I owe no one. I proly should sell the truck and put that money in savings. Right now though it would just be padding because I have enough to live on for a good while. I have worked very hard in my life and I'm not a pay check to pay check person. Over the last 3 years I have done various jobs. I bought a big mower and trailer, etc and cut grass for a year. The second year I sold cars at my friends place and saved all that income. It also allowed me to sell all the landscaping equipment. I used that money to buy a couple trucks and flipped them for some cash to put up. For the last 12 months I have basically piddled. Southern term for “not much.”

My degree is Architectural design and I was blessed to draw two sets of house plans this year. Believe it or not six grand is my yearly income for this year. I'm hoping to use what I've learned over this time to help others..I have a new webiste in mind to do just that. Anyway, I taught architecture at a local college for 16 years and also did my design business at the same time. There was a time when I was making decent money...relatively speaking. I've never had any bills really so I didn't need lots. Of course when placing a parts order for a truck project LOTS would be nice huh...lol.

Proly wondering how I live on that much. One is I am currently living with a family and doing work they can't do on the house and property they bought. I'm very thankful for this. Other than that I pay my own way on food, cell phone, and a storage unit. My housing cost have always been very low because I've always built my own small homes. When I moved to Birmingham in 2006 though my career was moving right along so I made my first mortgage (even it was conservative though)...this is the house I ended up having to short sale so God gave me a way out of that. I'm currently looking for a small piece of land that I can build my next place on. My last little debt free home was this one. I built it around 1999-2001 for $25,000. It was 1000 sq.ft. and was perfect for me. It was sold after I moved to Birmingham.



I could type forever on this so I will stop and get to the truck. I just wanted yall to know where I'm coming from.

I need to get this truck to the status of being very reliable. I could dip into my savings and do some extra stuff to it but I hate to do that right now. So with that in mind I have fixed the wiring issues. I rebuilt the carb. Doing my own wood bed kit that I'm about done with. What the truck MUST have is tires and proly a radiator. I haven't gotten to drive the truck enough to know on the radiator because the tires are horribly dry rotted. Keeping resale in mind I need to do something to make the wheels more attractive. I hope I don't have to sell it but if I do then I just will. I can always get another one later. So I have been thinking about what wheel/tire combo to go with. Wide whites are out...too expensive for me. I can get BFG Radial T/A's which I like but they are a little expensive. Just priced a set. Cheapest I can find is $558 for 4 to my door. Those are 235/70-15 fronts and 255/70-15 rears. A word on wheels and tires that I have been thinking about. The exact same combo on a stock height truck tends to look very different than on a lowered truck....to me anyway. I also priced 4 new hubcaps and 4 new trim rings and they are $165 for all shipped. I could just do the hubcaps for now. They are $50 for a set of four. My wheels are black. I'm thinking of painting them red. I would have to repaint them black anyway so the color change wont matter. My tire options are a set of Toyo Extensa standard white walls which I can get for $360 or a set of plain black walls for the same $360. These both would be 235/75-15.

Every radiator I've looked at is super high priced. I guess they hit us for dual inlet/outlets. I've always been able to find decent pricing on radiators for most other vehicles...not this one. Any suggestions?

I also have a few small “free” projects going on the truck right now that will be good for it but cost me little to nothing. I need to get tires now though so give me some input please. Again sorry for the long post but I haven't been here long enough for you guys to know me yet...I hope to stay around though. So far I see lots of nice helpful people that seem to care about those in this group. Glad you made it thru all the typo's i proly made.

Thanks,
Wayne

 

IMO it hardly ever pays off to put money into a running, driving truck to make it more saleable. It's just like when real estate agents tell you to replace the carpet just to sell it -- the new owners would almost certainly rather pay less and get to choose their own new carpet. You need decent enough tires for you and potential buyers to safely test drive it, but tastes in wheels vary all over the map, so just leave them be for now. Check Craigslist for low-mileage used tires, I've gotten two sets like you need for $200 each, with more than 1/2 tread left and in one case, mounted on factory alloy wheels.

If the radiator isn't leaking and it doesn't overheat, let it ride while you watch for a deal. Let any new buyer worry about it, just forewarn him that its condition is "adequate at this time".

 

Hey Wayne,
Sounds like quite a roller coaster you've been on! Sounds like you have fared the storms so to speak fairly well and keep yourself out of debt by doing what you have to do. I know a lot of people who have not been so fortunate, I'm getting a little bit nervous myself with winter coming (my slow season)

Anyway, I'm not any help on your tire question but as far as the radiator goes, I would just take it in to a radiator shop to have it cleaned out. I took mine from the 53 C600 with Flathead v8 in because it was overheating after a few miles. $65 later and it was working great.

Good luck with the truck, and hang in there. Things will get better, I just hope its sooner than later

Josh

 

oh, to hit on what Ross has said about tires. I found some good tires for my wifes SUV from the local state vehicle surplus site. paid $35 for almost new good years. they maybe had a couple thousand miles on them.

 

Do you have any used tire shops nearby?

 

Call your local tire shop and see if they have any scabs or used tire the size you need.

Tell them what you have and what you need them for.

Sometimes you can get some good tires for cheap.

Don't spend too much fixing it up or you will not recoup your money.

 

thanks guys. I've made the used tire loop and have them watching for me. I've been very fortunate indeed. my mind is in a much better state if nothing else. I think I will be able to keep the truck but I've learned that you never know. I may photoshop some options. ..lol

 

what do you have for a engine ? if it's a late model i.e not a flathead like mine , you can go to a parts house or junkyard and find you a radiator from a 67-79 ford truck , take it home mount it drill the new bolt holes in it where needed in the frame and it will look like it grew there , and they are still reasonably priced , unlike one specifically for our old trucks . my 55 f350 used one from a 70 model big block with manual as lo and behold there was a 360 fe and a heavy four speed mocked up in it from some anonymous donor ......................

 

its a flatty.

 

Wayne... I knew I liked you... but didn't know why... well, you lived in B''ham !!!

it seems that you've always approached your problems logically and made sound decisions about your financing no matter how difficult they were. You also made provisions for the future instead of spending n+50% of your salary every week. My pastor says you should live on 70% of your income... 10% to the Lord and the rest in savings for just the problems you've had. I have no doubt you'll find a sensible solution to your finances and come thru just fine. I think the main hurdle in tight times is keeping your attitude and mind positive and you seem to have the right attitude. Once you get to that point it always seems like your options open up a little and you can find ways to do things that you couldn't imagine when you were 'down in the dumps'

AFA the tires... I know resources and outlets are scarce in Cuba and even metropolitan Epps doesn't offer much..... but here in B'ham there are scads of used tire outlets and these boys all want to make a sale. You might have to ride over to Meridian or back up to Tuscaloosa to find one with a large enough inventory to fit you up.... I know you're gonna find a way to keep your truck and before long we'll see you at the Supernats with it..

good luck
John

 

Hello Wayne,

My heart goes out to you! I dont' have much to offer but I will try... Here me out.

Just recently I purchased four new wheels & tires for my '56 as well as a radiator. I have installed the new radiator. The original is just sitting there and just yesterday I was pondering what I would do with it. Then this morning I read your post.

Though I realize I'm way out in Visalia, CA 93291 and you are somewhere in Alabama (correct?)... if you would find out what shipping would cost and how I would package this rad, I would consider sending it to you. I had the original rad already boiled and cleaned out proffessionaly here, but in my 351W it just wasn't cooling enough in my opinion. It does not leak anywhere. I know I can get rid of it in my nick of the woods, but I will consider you my FTE friend first! It pains me to know eventually someone other than yourself will reap the benefits of this rad, but hopefully it will be another FTE friend!

Share your thoughts of my silly idea.

Paul

 

John
thanks for the kind words. i miss bham for sure. and you are correct on the big city of Cuba or Epps...lol. I've got everyone in Meridian on the look out. I may just do the cheap new tire route, paint the wheels, and put the caps on. As far as the other, I've got some things in mind that I've been working on. Ive always felt there was something more i should be doing and this down time has given me time to think about it.

Paul
thanks to you also bud. is your radiator for a flathead? that's awful kind of you to offer and I'd be glad to work something out with you. I'm thinking you have a single inlet and outlet though??

 

any competent radiator shop can turn a single outlet radiator into one for a flatty . i bought mine from npd , its made by us radiator , and it was actually cheapr through npd than direct . i believe it was around 325 or 350 . and keep your chin up as sooner or later good things will happen as you have not given up and went sulking in a corner . i bought new for mine as a recore was going to be even more , but i kept the oe one just in case ..... so having one modified might be another alternative .as far as wheels and tires anything from a ford truck from 48-95 will fit . i bought mine with a set of the ford 8 spokes from a 91 truck on it . with the trim rings and center caps on they looked good . they're cheap too . try the used tire shops for tires . i do that for my 95 bird as i use up a lot of rear tires and i'm being cheap so i can play with my 53 effie and the 52 customline more !

 

Paul
thanks to you also bud. is your radiator for a flathead? that's awful kind of you to offer and I'd be glad to work something out with you. I'm thinking you have a single inlet and outlet though??[/quote]

Hi Wayne,
Let me just say that originally, the truck had a 292 in it. I have no clue what a flat head is even if it fell flat on my head. I'm sure that my Dad, in all his wisdom, had it removed unknowingly... Sad but true.
Wayne, I am providing you with a few pictures for your viewing pleasure. Please note that you will notice water spots from when I opened the radiator cap and some fluids flowed down and stained it a bit... but I can assure you it does not leak.
Anyway, here you go. I also included a picture of the wheels and tires currently on the truck. These I purchased strictly for rolling the truck while the restoration process was taking place. I have driven on these with no problems but I would definitely look into new rubber.


Paul

 

thanks Paul. nice truck! I'm going to ride to meridian today or tomorrow and stop by the radiator shop. I'll get some info and get back to ya. also gonna hit the tire shops again and pilfer.