I thought I should take a minute to introduce myself.

My name is Dave, I live in Oregon and I am the proud owner of a 1945 Ford 1/2 ton. I've owned the truck since I was 14 years old. I named him Pete Truck after my dog, a golden retriever. It was my dream as a kid to take my truck and my dog out fishing, and since that didn't happen, my hope is to be able to do it for my son. I spent many hours working on the truck as a kid, and at one point it was in near flawless condition, except for the bed. I then went off to college, got married, went off to college again, got a job, started having kids and all the while, old Pete Truck sat there patiently waiting for some attention. My oldest son, now 6 years old, has been begging me to "twist some bolts" on Pete Truck. Actually, he's been relentless and so last week I pulled Pete Truck out into the driveway, as you can see in the pictures below.

As far as the engine goes, it has it's own story all together. On a go-to-work-with-your-dad trip I noticed an old Ford sitting in a field. So, Dad and I stopped and asked the gentleman if we could take a peek at his old trucks. It didn't take long for me to notice two large steel boxes with what looked like transmissions sticking out the back. Before I knew it, Dad and I were looking at an old flathead V8 sitting in a wind machine box. For those of you who don't live around orchards, the wind machines are simply large wind turbines powered by an engine. They sit above the tree line and keep the tree buds warm during a frost by mixing warm air across the orchard. So, what we found in the box was a flathead V8 with transmission that was new from the factory that never made it into a truck, but rather was a wind turbine engine back in the 50s. The owner of the engine hooked it up to a battery, dumped some gas in the carb and fired it right up. So, after inquiring about if it was for sale, the gentleman was willing to part with one of them, he had two. When I took the engine apart to clean it up, it still had the factory honing marks. All I did was degrease and put new gaskets on it.

My goal is simply to get the truck drivable in the next 12 months, so I'm starting with the engine and working my way back. The truck, for being so old, is pretty straight and as a kid I took everything apart and cleaned off the rust and then painted it, so it's weathered the last 22 years pretty well.

Thanks in advance for any support with the project.

Best,

Dave

 

Wow. Nice story! That is going to be a nice truck! You can't beat a basically BRAND NEW motor either!

 

This is going to be fun to watch.

 

I agree with your son, you should get going on that truck. Looks like you have a great start to a nice pickup.

 

And I agree with all of the above. Holy cow, how come the steering wheel doesn't have any cracks in it? And those floors are killer. You should be able to pull this together in a year. We will all be cheering you along from the sidelines or the peanut gallery, or wherever it is guys hang out these days.

 

Very cool story and the start of a great thread. I'll be staying tuned for updates.

 

That is awesome! Get after it and make it happen!

 

real nice truck!

 

Dave, welcome to both you and Pete. Looks like you have a great solid truck.

 

Thanks for the encouragement! I'm excited to get going!

 

Hey that's a good looking truck there, we will be glad to see "Pistol Pete" launched into service soon. It will be a good project that you and son will never forget, childhood memories that he will carry with him maybe to his son, someday.
Welcome aboard, you can get a lot of help on this site, I'm still learning, but other folks are very sharp on these trucks.
Mike J.