Greetings,
I bought this 49 in late August of 2013 for a paltry $400 out of a rancher's field here in Ennis, Montana. It ran as recently as 2 1/2 years ago. It's my intention to do an off-frame restoration and attempt to keep the original 6 cyl flat head and transmission if at all possible. This is a VERY low budget project, with an anticipated $50 - $75 per month budgeted.




I think it's in really good shape, only one small rust through on the passenger rear fender and a few pin holes in one of the running boards. I'll post some more pics to show my progress over this fall and early winter.

 

Every bit of chrome (stainless) was still on the truck and believe it or not, the windshield is perfect! The dash is STRAIGHT and there is only one small dimple in one of the grille bars.


The box was in pretty good shape with the sheet metal covering the wooden bed at about 80%. When I took the sheet metal off, this is what the bed looked like:


I have a couple mysteries that have popped up, to demonstrate my near total ignorance of the particulars if this truck: The first is this "thing" that hangs down below the transmission and is connected on each end to the rear shackle of the front springs:

Please forgive the 60 some years of grease, oil and dirt that is built up. This is two pieces of what I would call strap iron (or steel) and it swings back and forth quite freely on its two mount points.

The other mystery is the heater. I've done a lot of reading on builds of these year-range trucks and no where have I found a heater mentioned actually made by Ford. The one in this truck has the Ford script stamped in the front:

I dropped it off to be glass beaded tonight. I wanted to powder coat it, but the felt gasket on the fresh air flapper is in perfect condition and the felt would not survive the 400 degrees I fear. So I'll paint it!

 

I don't get to spend a lot of time on this truck, maybe an hour or two some evenings and the occasional part of a weekend. Now that high school football is over I'll have more Saturday's free! So far I've removed the box, both front fenders and grille, stripped the cab except for the gas tank, rebuilt the master cylinder, stripped all the wiring out (I purchased an EZ Wiring universal kit). One nice thing is that my garage has a radiant heated floor, so I can work year round out there.
I have purchased an alternator, all the door and glass rubber kits, most of the ***** for the dash. The gauge panel is in nearly perfect shape, so I'm hoping not much will be needed there. Just today the 12V coil I ordered arrived, so perhaps tomorrow I will try to get spark and fire out of the engine before tearing the radiator and cab off.
I'm planning to use Rust Bullet to coat the entire truck, top to bottom. I live about 15 miles out of town up in the hills, so as I generate small parts, I can take them to town to use the car wash to knock the grease/oil and dirt off.
This is the first time I've delved into auto mechanics in a serious manner in over 40 years, so I WILL be seeking help here from all of you knowledgeable folks! LOL I hope that I have not bored you all with this, I plan to post more pics and less words in the future!

 

Here's the rear of the cab after I pulled the box off a week ago:

 

your truck is a lot nicer than most of us started with. take you time, learn as you go and ask you questions here. a great bunch of guys here waiting to help. learn to use the search function to do research. good luck, dick r.

 

Welcome aboard! Looks like you have a fine start on it. My first F-1 had that same heater/defroster. Was your metal bed in bad shape is that why you cut it out?

 

Good looking truck! Don't get carried away, they're plenty of fun stock. If you are going 12v the new coil either has to have an internal resistor, or you need a ballast resistor in the wire from the ignition switch.

That thing under the oil pan is worrisome. I can't imagine what it's for, but being attached to the rear spring mount makes me wonder if the spring is properly anchored. Can you take a picture of that attachment? (cleaned up)

 

Hi Moe, the sheet metal covering the wood was about 80% there, and my plans are to put either an oak or ash bed in it with the polished wear strips. Ross, the coil I bought has the internal resistor. As soon as I can clean things up a bit more, I'll provide more pics of that "swingy thing" under the tranny. It seems to be well mounted and made of really healthy material. The biggest trouble I've had so far with the tear down is those damn square shouldered bolts with the flat or rounded heads. The slightest bit of resistance when taking the nut off and they start spinning! I've resorted to grinding, using a cutoff wheel and torch (before I ran out of oxygen, lol) Am I missing an obvious solution?

 

Welcome Doug! You've come to the right place. What a great truck for $400. Nice to know there are still deals out there.

 

Welcome Doug!

It's good to see another '48 - '50 on here. Nice progress. Be kind to your doors & hood - there aren't any reproduction ones out there. We also had the metal bed floor over wood. We just converted to all wood as it looks nicer.

Looking good up there in Montana.

Ben in Austin
1950 F1

 

Hi Ben,
Thanks for the comments. I'm trying to be good to my doors and hood. I have a problem with the driver's door latch, it doesn't seem to want to travel as far as the passenger side (hence the door won't open without MAJOR persuation). Hoping I won't have to purchase a new latch assembly.

 

Look like you got a good deal on great project. Good luck with it!

 

The condition of the metal on your $400 truck is about as good as you will find, you are very fortunate.
Your plan for the bed is a good one. I am one of the few that I know about that replaced the wood and metal as per original on my 49. It was probably the most frustrating job that I did on my truck.

 

welcome to fte,what a great find & congratulations it is nice to see another
bonus built truck saved i agree with reed

 

Hi Bill, I'll bet that was indeed a project replacing that metal bed floor! Where did you find the metal with the wear strips stamped into it? or did you?