Hi all, taking delivery of my 52 f3 on the 8th of sept, from Kentucky to the uk. Does anyone know if you can source parts in the uk? Or the best way to import parts from the us? Some parts I will need is a new bed,rear bumper. Also the engine is an original flathead v8, so may also need parts!! Will have a better idea when it arrives. Many thanks Ian.

 

welcome, congrats on the F-3 purchase......
I don't know much about shipping to UK, maybe someone on your side of
the pond will chime in.

 

No reproduction F2/3 beds. So, you'll have to fix yours or buy a better used bed, which is extremely hard to find. The F3 is a heavy duty 3/4 ton, but shares its bed and fenders from an F2. All 48-52 F2/3 trucks had the same bed.

Parts for the F2/3 are still hard to find in the states. I'm sure finding them in the UK will be much more difficult.

 

Most companies are willing to ship but the freight can add up to crazy levels. I'm almost done with my F3 and in hindsight it would have been cheaper to fly to the states, spend a fortnight rounding up everything I need and deliver it to a shipping company for packing into a container, my total shipping bill is almost $8000 currently. As said above, no reproduction beds are available for F3, I searched for a long time to get a second hand one that still needed a lot of work.

I have found Dennis Carpenter to be very good for parts and their shipping is always a lot less than LMC truck, Macs or Classic Haulers. A lot of bits are Chinese or Taiwanese repros these days though and quality can be average, usually the same item no matter where you source them.

One of the best sources for parts is right here on this forum, the guys here are fantastic and have helped me out with a lot of hard to find bits, one guy especially.

 

Ian, welcome from Maine.

I had to find a F2 bed because it was completely missing when I got my truck. I found one in Colorado and had it freighted to Maine about 3 years ago. The distance was about 2,200 miles +/-. The seller was real helpful and patient (might be a member here if I recall) and allowed me shop around to find a carrier. I used USHIP to negotiate a delivery. It went OK but it still cost a lot of money, about $85 to crate it and $450 to ship and I had to pick it up 60 miles away.

And it still needed a lot of work, including rebuilding the entire sub frame and lots of body work and panel welding. I only went through all this cause I didn't have one at all. I sure wouldn't ship one from the US to the UK cause they are hard to find in any condition and it would probably cost you well over $2,000 just to ship it. With bed repairs, and all expenses related to crating, hauling, ocean freight it might cost you $5,000 (3,200 pounds sterling) to have a bed that looks decent.
For that kind of money you can hire the best body man in England to repair your current one, or have a real nice flatbed fabricated with oak wood accents if you don't have one at all. Of course if you are married to JK Rowling or Kirsty Bertarelli then by all means find one in the US and have it brought over - on a private cargo plane.

I just put my 'new' bed on the frame yesterday, and hung one rear fender today. Soon I'll be able to see the result of all the time and money I put into finding a bed and fenders. I sure wanted my truck to look 'whole' again....
Folks think I'm nuts to do what I did....I'm not rich by any stretch of the imagination, just took the hobby project to a place I wasn't originally planning and it kind of was like 'well, I've gone this far.......'

Good luck on whatever you do for a bed...let us know what you decide and post pictures of your project as it goes along.
Tom

 

Hi Tom, thanks for the advice, the seller did say the bed was at least there, but wouldn't send me any photos of it said he didn't know how to send the photos!!! Also said the moter was fine just smoked a bit, but when the hauliers picked it up it drove about 500 yards and stopped said it was out of fuel! What have I done!? The reason I went for this truck is I wanted the 51/52 model and original spec. Also the f3 as opposed to the f1 becouse of the size and there are quite a few f1's over here already so wanted a different ford truck.It cost me £3000, and £2000 to ship. So I think there's scope to spend a bit to get it right. Anyway the first thing I will be looking at will be the bed. I'll sort photos etc when it's here. Thanks Ian.

 

At least you didn't buy a 48-51 F3. Those had the dreaded widowmaker wheels.

 

And '52's didn't?! I thought they continued until '56?

 

I may be wrong, but from what I remember, the WM wheels on F3 stopped in 52. Stu would know for sure.

Maybe I'm just confused...

 

Hi yes I was lead to believe that they were still on the 52 model but the wheels on my truck have been changed. So will see what there like.

 

Hi all, truck arrived! In the uk. 52 f3 it was as described but the bed does need replacing which I've started. The v8 started on the button with no smoke. It arrived a dirty green colour but gave it a wash and the colour was blue. Am going to need a few parts for it, two complete quarter lights as the opening levers have broken off and broken the glass. Also a door handle spring as passenger door won't stay shut. Rear stop lights and indicators. All the other stuff I'me going to have to adapt or make as to heavy to ship. If anyone can help that's great. Will post pics at the weekend. And if poss has anyone got photos of how the rear end should look like as mine has been damaged! Thanks Ian.

 

My welcome too, I missed this thread earlier. I hope you have success finding the parts you will need ... through reasonable means. Those of us with Brit cars have many sources of replacement parts at reasonable prices. Hope you find similar vendors.

I also hope you are correct that your truck's prior owner swapped its wheels. That said, however, it is common that new owners mistakenly think they have one piece wheels because there is no visible outer ring. You might do a web search for pictures of the widow maker Firestone RH-5° rim that was standard equipment on all F-3s. This wheel (Budd #49380 / Ford #7RY 1015 / NWRA cross reference #X-45047) was first sourced on F-3s in 1948 and was the main single rear wheel design used on F-250s until the 17.5" and 19.5" was offered beginning in 1956. NWRA catalogs show this wheel was optional through 1966. Budd continued to list it in their 1967, 1970, and 1972 catalogs. Budd stopped using the RH-5° after 1972 in compliance with industry's agreement with OSHA which helped avert the recall of all such wheels. Stu

 

Kanepfc
Hi, I am in the UK at PE6 9JD and I have a 1949 F2. My bed is in good shape so if you need any information or photos for reference, let me know.
Cheers
Bob