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When I took delivery of my '51 F1 two years ago, I drove it down the street very slowly since it still had the original steering and brakes. So I get to the end of the street and hit the brakes (and the gas since the pedals are so close together and I have big feet) and I try to make a U-turn. Almost took out the street sign. I let it roll to a stopo and figured out how to use the brake which was a chore since they were stock, and took it to a cruise or two. Never did get on it to see what the 351W would do since I had this fear of not being able to stop.
i got mine in 1967 the first thing i did was give Jack ( my dads friend) 50 bucks. witch he gave to my dad and said [ he's going to need it] . then i drove it to high school for a couple of years.
Mine also was in pieces so I cleaned the cab and made a list of what was neededto buy for the build. I also made a list of bad things that needed fixed. Since then I have added about 800 things to both lists. The best thing I did was join this forum and meet all you wonderful people .
The first thing I did to my 55 F350 was to remove the very heavy oak side boards and tailgate off. Some of the boards were 14 inches in width and a full inch thick! Within a week I cut the headboard in half. I then got 2x8s for sideboards and the next spring made a new headboard.
I got my F100 out of the Dallas area so it was in nice condition. I, like Mike (Rimrock F1) I drove and enjoyed it the first year and a half or so. The exhaust eventually leaked so much my wife refused to go anywhere in it. So I began rebuilding the exhaust piping. I noticed how grungy the undercarriage was so started cleaning and scrapping. Somehow (?) that morfed into a frame off with a 280 cu.in. Mercury flathead, a Tremec T5 a Ford 9 inch rear end and front disc brakes. Yikes, how did this hapoen!
My '53 was in pieces with a half plan from the po. First thing was to take some pictures then roll it into the garage and wonder what the heck I got myself into. Next was to box in the frame. Them mounted the motor then the cab only to find out the motor mounts were installed wrong by the po. Now just learning.
First thing I did was head on down to the County Tax Office and start the Title process. I wanted to make sure the work and investment to come was not for not. The Wife was suprised to see the Old girl but was happy it was an antique and is looking forward to getting her done and on the road again.
One of the first things I replaced was the battery tray. I remember thinking "This should be pretty easy. There are only four bolts holding it on." Nope. Bolts were rusted and a couple of them were difficult to reach. Once I finally had them off, I found that the replacment tray didnt line up as well as it should have, so I had to hammer it a bit to make it fit. I spent three hours doing a job that I thought would take one hour max.
The first order of business was re-building the brakes. My son helped and we used his shop (pictured). My truck hadn't been licensed in forty-five years, but we were able to get the engine running again without too much difficulty. We just needed to rebuild the carb, replace the battery, and "touch up" the points a little. The truck was sort of drivable and the next step was to drive it to a muffler shop to have the exhaust system replaced. At this point (2012) I was thinking my "restoration" might be getting close to being finished.
Six years and probably $12,000 later, I'm still trying to cross the finish line.
05-05-2018, 09:58 AM
