I traded my '62 Mercury Unibody for this straight across,and to tell the truth I got the better of the deal. The Unibody's floors, box, and frame supports were non-existent, along with the original engine was too far gone to repair so I got a '72 Ford 360 to put into it which I never got around to install.
This truck has a very good looking cab, the box isn't too bad although the wood is completely rotted. The front fenders have a bit of cancer and a few dents here and there but I can fix those problems. It has the original flathead engine and I hope it can be saved. The wiring is still set up as 6 volt pos. ground so I will decide whether to stay with that or go 12 V later, the glass is in a bit rougher shape than my '62 was but it is all flat so I can get it fairly easily.

 

Welcome! Glad to see another F3 express bed truck on FTE.

 

Thanks Mike

 

I noticed you are in AB. My Brother in Law lives in Lethbridge.

 

Welcome!

I am next door to you in Saskatchewan. Well, almost, as I am 20 miles from the Manitoba border. I have a 1952 Mercury M3, a kissing cousin to your truck.

Best regards,

Chris

 

Welcome to another '52 F3!! We're the special bunch in this forum - smaller group, bigger trucks!!

You're going to find this forum invaluable, and parts (other than the F3's bed) pretty easy to get. Some of the online vendors are LMC Truck, Mac's, Dennis Carpenter, Chucks, and eBay is also a good source.

Welcome and have fun.

 

Hey thanks guys for the encouragement. I went out and looked her over a bit better today, finding the box is a bit rough, cab is excellent, engine is seized, and there is a REAL widow maker rim on the driver side rear! Which will all be dealt with in time. Looks like the glass will all need replaced, engine torn down and rebuilt, box sides repaired.and so forth... It's a good thing my profession is an automotive technician otherwise this project would cost a fortune. Even the tailgate is in decent condition. And I live near Maskwacis which used to be Hobbema about an hour drive to Red Deer.

 

Yeah, the bed is the hardest thing about F3's. But we have more room to move the gas tank from the cab to under the bed if you want to do that.

Mine had a utility bed on it with this weird little tailgate. I wanted to keep the tailgate but it looked silly on a regular sided bed, so I resto-moded my own bed out of PVC board to fit the tailgate!!



The taillights are from a 48 Packard, turn signals from a Harley, and backup lights/plate holder from an Olds Aurora!! I moved the gas tank behind the differential and you can see the filler cap at the top of the fender. I also did a third brake light using a trailer side marker light. My front fender turn signals are off a '40 Pontiac.

Mine still had all 4 widow makers on it which were switched out to 16", 8 lug rims which you can get from any '78 - '91 Ford F or E 250.

I'm just having fun with it over here "on the dark side"!!

 

I like your box but I am intending on building mine as close to original as I can, By the way did you retain the original rear diff? Or is the drivetrain changed out?

 

My drive train is the original with a 3 speed on the floor. I never take it anywhere that I'd have to do over 45mph!! It's a back road cruiser.

You can see my new project peeking past the truck - I'm in my muscle car phase now!!