Hi guys, I am new to this forum, and well I am about to embark on rebuilding an old 1949(i think) F1. I am gonna get it on concrete and power wash everything out and get all the carpet/crap out of the inside soon.
Any help would be greatly appreciated just off the pictures. I know I have a lot of body work that needs to be done, paint. It doesn't have an engine or anything. Also missing the hood. But body work aint gonna be a problem, I am a certified welder so I can do most of it, if not all of the body work.





















Really wondering if it is worth going at this body or trying to find a new one? Like I said I am new to rebuilding/redoing cars.

 

I apologize if the images take a while to load, I am either having trouble with my internet or flickr. Here is a link to the flickr set I created.

F1 - a set on Flickr

 

Wow, that's a project. But it can be done. You seem to have the skills needed. Looking forward to the progress of your project.

 

Welcome to the forum. And welcome to the madness. Lots of good advice here. Mine advice is to remember that it's the journey, not the destination. It took me 10 years working on mine to get it one the road. But keep the photos coming because we love to see other projects progress.

 

Welcome Pictures are always appreciated . What is the plan you have in mind for this truck .

 

Holy Moly Glenn, that's quite a job of work. I'll leave it to the fellows who have brought one back to comment on how feasible it is. Welcome to the forum. Lots of good knowledge here.

Bill

 

It is a good thing that you are a certified welder, looks like lots of patching to do. Welcome to the forum and good luck with it. Are you restoring it or taking it to the darkside?

 

Hello and welcome to the forum! That is a project. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but most of the rust looks kind of superficial. Take your time and put together a plan for what you want it to be and by when.

Dan

 

Hey Glenn,
Welcome aboard! Where are you from in Texas?

Be interesting to see what it looks like after you blast it a bit.
They don't make replacement doors so be kind to those. You'll have to put the search out for a hood - they also aren't reproduced.

Fiberglass fenders are around $265 Ea if you get tired of grinding & welding. We went with (4) replacement fenders & then concentrated our efforts on saving the cab & bed of our 1950. Replacement Beds are readily available from around $1,500 with the wood included.

I like your truck & I'm glad you pulled it out of there - It's always nice to see one get saved.

Ben in Austin
1950 F1 (351W/AOD)

 

Ive been seeing talk of the metal fenders are going to be Reproduced.
But if you are a certified welder i dont see anything to difficult to do there. Always would never hurt to keep your eye open for a decent parts truck as well.

 

Welcome to the insanity!
The good news is that a lot worse have been resurrected, The bad news is that one is going to be a fair amount of work to bring back. How much of your welding experience has been with welding sheet metal 10 ga to 20 ga, especially 16 -18 ga.(average thickness of body metal)? What type welding do you do (MIG, TIG, stick, torch), have the equipment for. Most of the welding on our trucks is done with MIG or TIG using smallish inverter type units: 135-175A for MIG, < 225A AC-DC for TIG, body work requires using a somewhat different skill set than most commercial/industrial welding to control warpage and burn thru. Not questioning your skills, just checking we are on the same page.
First I'd suggest doing a serious soul searching. Are you in love with this particular year/model truck? (You are going to be spending a GREAT deal of time with it, you have a much better chance of reaching a successful completion if you love her like a wife than if you are just temporarily infatuated like with mistress) Are you willing to devote the time energy and not insignificant amount of money this project will require? Here's a fact, an average safe and dependable 50 footer daily driver will cost 15-20K. It doesn't matter if you pay 18K for a already driving clean truck and put 2K into making it yours, or start with a 100.00 pile of parts and spend 19.9K bringing it back to life. The difference will be how long and how much of your blood sweat and tears it will require to get it to the point where it can be driven. The first one may take 0 -6 months, the latter is going to be mostly a pile of parts for 5 to 10 years or more. Because many do not have the will or the drive to invest that amount of time and work, many projects are never finished or sold off. A basket case requires a real commitment and dedicated interest in the process rather than the product.

I always recommend starting with the very best example you can find and can afford, especially if the product is more important that the process.

 

Well, the engine has been sitting in the bed for who knows how long, along with the rest of the truck. Was a family friends that sat on our property for who knows how long, asked him the other day if I could try and redue it he said sure. So not sure if the engine is even worth trying to rebuild. I know its been there at least 25 years.

So I am thinking of going abit to the dark side, I don't want to go rat rod on it. But more hot rod, I do know I want AC, alarm system, and probably a good sound system. New engine everything underneath, I want a 454 just to have 600hp. But I was talking to my friend and he recommended at 350 small block that way I didn't have to cut the front wall to fit the engine in. That really aint my department so, I am gonna leave it to him and suggestions. Other then that, i can't really think of anything else.

And Ben I live in McAllen, Tx

And AxRacer. Most of my experience comes from pipeline welding to be honest. But I have maybe a year combined experience with mig/tig. But mostly in the Aluminium, and stainless Steel department. I was gonna go buy a sheet of 18gauge and start cutting and welding watching for warp. I have a big generator welder, and a mig machine. They got a 100 amp tig machine I've been eye balling but just haven't gotten around to buying it.

As for the project I love the year and model. Ive been searching around for something in better shape to start from.

And Thank You all for the response and help.

 

Hey Glenn,
I agree with Ax's comment that looking "at a pile of parts" is difficult after you have sunk some significant funds into it. A few thoughts on how to shorten your build time -

Shortcut #1 - Once you clean it up - take a look at the bed. If it's horrible or needs a lot of time & energy - skip it. A replacement bed is $1500 including the wood, $265 ea for perfect fiberglass fenders, $150 for a 9 inch F100 rear axle or an Explorer 8.8 in. axle. In a month you could have the back half of your truck 90% there for under $3K.

Shortcut #2 - You can seriously spend a year or more grinding away on your cab - don't. Replace the weld in door hinges with modern bearclaws & get your doors looking great & hanging right. Don't go for a perfect cab - you don't need a rust free cab with perfect cab corners to drive it & have fun.

Shortcut #3 - The front suspension stuck down there in the mud is 60 years old & probably a goner. A Mustang II style aftermarket IFS is $2k in parts & requires very precise frame cutting & welding & two to 4 months installation. Hmmm. There are bolt on Jag IFS's from salvage that you can install over a weekend or two.

Good luck down there in The Valley - post some pics when you get it cleaned up.

Ben in Austin
1950 F1

 

Glen;

Looks like you have most of the parts needed to restore the vehicle, minus hood ?

Fenders are the ahrdest parts to come by, but you have them all. The pictures show typical rusted areas, the degree of damage will surface as you get into it. All is repairable, only time.

I started my project 8 years ago, I forcasted 2 years to get it on the road. Started driving it last fall, still toying with the build.

Good luck and keep those pictures coming.

Tom

 

Glenn, you may want to read thru my MIG welding tutorial:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-practice.html before investing in any new equipment.

If you want to buy a TIG, you can't go too far wrong with the Eastwood 225 AC-DC machine, a lot of very capable machine for the money. I haven't seen much on the market in a 100A TIG machine that wasn't actually a stick welder with an arc torch, do you have a link?