My current project marks the first time I have attempted something of this scale. I appreciate any thoughts or comments that are generated as you peruse through this account of my endeavors.


First, a bit of history, as best I can piece it together. Truck belonged to a local man. His nephew later on wanted to get the truck up and running so that he could let his uncle ride in it before he passed. After the uncle passed away he lost interest, and sold it to a co-worker. I bought the truck from this gentleman, after it had set in his yard for some time. So, the truck has never left this area, and I believe I am the third owner.


The truck was not in that bad of shape when I purchased it.







My initial plans were to replace the wide wheels back to something closer to stock.
And remove the fabricated rear end to return the look to stock.







Then I noticed the rat nest of wires.







Then my attention was drawn to the cutting and such that was done to put the existing engine in the truck.









As I pondered over these things, and where to begin, I decided that I wanted to take the truck apart, and bring it back closer to what it was in 1951, with some modifications.
Some might think this wasteful, as the truck was close to drivable. However, my quest was to take something “wrong” (in my opinion) and make it right. The truck had pride, and I wish to restore to it that pride.

SO I put it into the garage and pulled the fenders.







Managed to cut the stock rear bumper loose from the fabricated rear end.





The bed is pretty rough, but not rusted, mostly just unground spot welds and pitting from years of use.

So I pulled the bed off to better get at all the tight spots and see what was underneath.









From there I moved to the cab. Floor had been patched, cut, repatched. Front corners show a bit of rust, as well as the floor pans near the front corners. Rest of the cab is decent.









Seems like all I am doing is taking it apart, so a bit on the constructive side. I swapped the front drums for disc brakes.









A lot more to show, but will have to wait for another day.

 

I just posted in the above-linked thread. You'll be better off to cut and paste that introduction here and start over. Most of us probably don't realize there is a "projects" forum.

 

I posted in the "projects" after looking at the top post on how to do build threads. I have a lot more photos, but did not want to clutter up the place all at once...

 

Clutter all you want. We LOVE pictures. Chaos is our middle name. But seriously you probably want to just cut and paste that entire first post into this thread to simplify things.

 

OK, I think I got it all swapped over, as well as added some more pics. Strangely addicting exercise, messing with this thing. Bringing a 51 F6 home Saturday to join in the fun.

 

Nothing strange about it - just your garden variety obsession. This old iron has a way of filling your thoughts with all sorts of possibilities. It is the way many of us hear the trucks when they talk to us.

Where do you see your build headed? Replacing the drive train, more upgrades? Looks like you have a great start on a worthy project. Thanks for sharing.

 

My thoughts change daily regarding upgrades, etc. Right now I plan on upgrading the brake cylinder/booster to go along with the disc brakes. I have a flathead 8 block that I plan on rebuilding (if it passes machinists test) and putting into the truck in place of what it has. The rest involves priming, patching and painting good so that it looks like a 51 truck. It will not be a show truck, nor an everyday truck, somewhere in between. That is now. it may change tomorrow...

 

Welcome to the forum. Looks like a good starting point. The truck has lots of potential. Too bad someone hacked the frame horns if you want it to look like a 51 truck.

 

Forgive my ignorance, but by "frame horns" do you mean where the front bumper would attach? If so, I have the front bumper that they cut off with about a 6" piece of the frame attached. I managed to separate these and will weld them back on.

 

Those "motor mounts" are awfully sketchy. You can do a lot better if you plan to keep that engine. Very solid truck to work with!