Hi all, I am new here and have just taken delivery of a '46 half ton after a very long wait whilst it made its way downunder from Arizona. It's a flathead in pretty original condition with just over 41100 miles on the clock. Previous owner swears this is correct, but I have my doubts. I have plenty of new flathead bits to dress her up (thanks H & H Flatheads) and we will probably go with a restorod look. My son-in-law also has a '47 half ton down here in OZ but his has a 351W in it and a mustang front end. Jailbars are highly sought after down here.

I do have a few little problems with it, which is usual when you import classics. Biggest problem is the requirement for some patch panels for the floor and after I have had a look around on the site I dont seem to be able to find any reference to them. Any help in locating a vendor (in the states) would be much appreciated.

Thank you
Bill

 

Welcome to FTE and you will find there are lots of folks around who have been where you are headed. (minus the Down Under part)
Here is a good place to start looking for replacement steel.
We are a bunch who likes pictures sometimes better than descriptions, so feel free to post 'em up!

 

That is one quick response, thank you and is exactly what I am after. I assume I cannot post pics until I join as a member, so will work that bit out and post some pics asap.

Thanks again!
Bill

 

Check out the ride Pinkbits has on here. Damn nice jailbar. I think she is in NZ but maybe Oz. I also would like to see pics and a build thread.

 

Here are the photo's of her before she left Az. As you can she she looked pretty clean and neat, and although she is mostly like the photo's there are always some hidden surprises! Keeps you interested and gives you something to do when they arrive....

 

Oh my!! that's just beautiful. If was me I would get rid of the fender mounted turn signals and than drive the wheels off her everyday.

 

I'm always interested in what others are doing to their jailbar, so I try to help where I can. Stock parts are pretty easy to come by and usually interchangeable between '39 or so and '47. (Someone will correct me if I'm wrong). Flathead 8 parts are everywhere, flathead 6 not so much.
Having said that, you bought yourself a looker! I too would tear off the fender lights and make the parking lights into signals and drive the wheels off.

 

Nice looking truck. You got yourself a good one.

 

Beautiful truck ! A perfect example of a vehicle that should NEVER be rodded! Agree on the signals, although the repair would cause a lot of paint work to keep it's beauty. Maybe just deal with it.. (At least you'll know if you left the driver signal on )

Enjoy your truck !!!

 

Thanks for the nice comments and I know I am going to upset some people here, but we are going to make some changes, partially forced by damage to the paintwork by Quarantine Workers here in Perth. We will probably remove the front indicators, tidy up the rear lightwork and give her a respray but I love the colour so much, that is what it is staying. No chrome work either, I will be staying with the cream trim and doing some tasteful pinstriping to highlight it. Under the bonnet I will be making the 59A breathe better and be better in the cooling department as well. Already in the shed is a set of Offy heads and intake manifold with twin 97's, Red's creamic headers and Smithy's glass packs. I am also having the radiator updated but to look original, and I have new larger volume water pumps ready to go as well. All in all, we intend to retain the integrity of the vehicle bust just want to make it look nice and operate better in our hot climate.

 

By the sounds of it, you are making the "right" changes to keep it as original as possible. Everyone is different. I like the color combination.

 

Thank you Lee, looking after her integrity will be uppermost in mind. I had about three or four I was looking at and the green just stood out to me. Does anyone know if it is Greenfield Green, ie the original Ford Colour?

 

Hard to tell from pix, but it looks to be very close to Greenfield Green. Looks beautiful in it's original trim. Glad to hear that you will be not hacking up such an original looking truck and will be upgrading it to make it more driveable and keep it on the road.

 

Hey their down under that a nice find. if u need a good info site google ford flathead engine- van pelt sales llc. Best of luck with your new classic Roy

 

Its been sometime since I updated but suffice to say there have been many surprises. The truck arrived in Australia and proceeded to quarantine where the idiots who wash these cars decided a super high pressure hose more suited to cleaning a D9 Caterpiller would be the go. Result - paint missing all over the truck and just for good measure they washed the interior as well...yep you read that right. Anyway as you can imagine, it was tears all around and I finally got them to repaint it which turned into another nightmare with a dodgy operator but that's another story.

I then decided to pull the motor and get that rebuilt as well, adding a few nice bits from H & H Flatheads over there in CA. Also decided to help her breathe and drink gas better, and installed high volume water pumps to keep the heat down.

Anyway, the engine is going in as I write this and here are a couple of pics.