It's been sobering to see my truck come back from the bead blaster. I knew it was rusty but as they say, the blaster hides no secrets. I'm about to take a pill and admit that no original sheet metal will be used in my rebuild

The truck sat in the woods in a swamp in VA for 20 years. My front fenders were in poor shape due to an accident and prior body work. The bed was a pile of rust, I cut it with a torch and sent to the dump. My rear fenders seemed usable, but now I see rot along seems and corners. The drivers door has significant rot along the front door sill and of course the bottom.

Then the cab, I've had two experts look at the cab and quote a neighborhood of $20K to rebuild it, just metal no paint. That would require a new floor, corners, cowling and roof. Essentially I'm reusing the dash, firewall and part of the back panel. Now we're talking the kind of budget that could feed a village.

It reminds me of that Tim Allen line, poking fun at fixit dad: "DON'T throw away that chair! All it needs is 4 legs and a back!"

So to turn this into questions:
1) Does anyone have a lead on good a 51-52 cab?
2) Has anyone not spent the $$ then later regretted it? My guess is once I'm driving, I won't be worried which sheet metal it came from. No it won't be graddad's sheet metal, but who knows but me?

Pics below. Might have to save & zoom in to see some of the holes.

 

I amy have one that would be in good shape , but it would be in Ga , I am going in the morning to pick up a 53 and will check on the 51-52 he has .

 

LOL you call THAT rust?


You west coast guys make me sick

 

Here is my first cab sold the fire wall one door and the cracked windshield the guy had to have a complete truck the cab I have is from a F4

 

sometimes it takes two to make one

 

There are no small number of guys here, myself included, that were where you are. Well, maybe not $20,000 but still a lot of repair work. So we get a welder, the take a welding class or just read up on tutorials, and start welding sheet metal. I was very reluctant to start in on it until one day I was visiting a top notch rebuilding and looking at his welding job on the fire wall of a finished 48 Studebaker PU. I expected to see smooth evenly rippled welds and I didn't comment to his face but I thought then and there I could learn to do it that good. Below is a photo of some of my handywork in progress. You too can do it. But then you know better than me what your resources and objective are.

 

Nice little buck! Now back to look at that cab. Yea it has a lot of vents! My guess is the materials to fix it would be $1000 patch panels and sheet steel, the rest of the $20,000 would be labor. That's my guess?
Regards,
Chris

 

Fowler , Ca. ebay item # 262758822359 . Good luck .

 

Make a trip to AZ and haul a rust free cab back. Compare the hours of driving and cost of gas to hours/cost of rust repair.

The highest price I have ever seen on a good cab was $500 and they sit at that price. They seem to move at $250-$300. Sometimes you can get more of the truck for that.

Ajo and Kingman are not too far from the border. Maybe take a look there.

 

Wish my 53 cab was that nice

 

might be just what you need
1951 1952 Ford F1 Pickup Truck Cab Shell | eBay

 

I got another idea for you there's a FTE member who has a club in Sacramento I have bought parts from for my slick any way he has a shop and rents out space ect. They are mostly mid 50 and slicks maybe there is a like club in SF you could have a space and other people for help just an idea his name is Robert Mitchell PM me if you want his phone #

 

Don't let the rusty buddies talk too smart. Every one of them would have preferred to work with better metal. While most anything can be saved, the trade off of time and money can't be dismissed. Find a serviceable replacement and move forward. True, the legacy of the sheetmetal will be disrupted. My truck is 100% not from my family. Yet, the spirit of my dad rides with me just the same. Others certainly have a similar passenger.

Do what is needed to get on the road - sooner than later - and enjoy the ride. Then create your own legacy.

 

Like the guys have said, anything can be repaired....with time.

I think you are on the right track with trying to get a replacement cab; it will shorten your build time.

Good luck with your search.

Tom

 

Rust? That would be a good start in Illinois. I wasn't aware that better cabs existed.