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Happened upon a potential deal for a 1948 F1 for $1500. One owner truck since originally bought in 48, and used consistently for a good while. spent its later years as a farm decoration sitting in a field.
I'm pretty mechanically inclined and have done work on my own vehicles for years, but I have no knowledge of working on anything this old let alone finding parts, restoration, or where to begin.
All all you gurus out there with an abundance of knowledge please feel free to point me in the right direction
I'm no guru, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night...
Worth of a truck is a very subjective matter. A lot depends on where it is, your abilities, your access to tools, etc. To me, $1500 looks a little steep for that truck, maybe if it was running and driving but as it sits it looks pretty rough and rusty. You didn't mention if it was a inline 6 or the flathead V8, or if it was a 3spd or 4spd. Another thing that really effects the price is what you really want to do with the truck; are you looking to restore it? make a hot rod? make a ...cough, cough.....sputter...rat rod, etc?
Parts for these old trucks aren't too bad to find. A lot of parts can still be had at local part stores and there are several restoration companies that offer a lot of reproduction parts as well. There are sheet metal pieces available.
That being said, these old trucks can be a lot of fun. And you can meet some whacky and interesting people while hanging out in this forum trying to find info. This is probably the friendlies and most helpful forum that I've ever been involved in.
Welcome to FTE. Honestly, that looks like a parts truck to me. Serious rot, missing original pieces, and not many undamaged major panels. It will likely cost much more than 10k to get this truck to the level of much more solid/better trucks that routinely sell for 8-10k. You would be upside down financially trying to restore it even if they gave it to you for free. That's a major challenging project right there. I would only take it on if it had some kind of sentimental value.
Not a guru by any means, but this is what I did to mine after it had sat in a field in eastern Washington for 50 years.
a) Assume all the wiring is bad, remove the instrument cluster, tag/bag all parts and fasteners.
b) Remove the heater, tag/bag all parts and fasteners.
c) Remove the seat assembly, tag/bag all parts and fasteners.
d) Thoroughly pressure wash the entire truck inside and out, under the dash, and including the engine and engine compartment. Remove the air cleaner and cover the carburetor and distributor.
e) Let it air dry for several days, then start the inspection to see what you got.
Hummm, ... not sure if this going to help, BUT, if you can get it cheap enough I think you should:
This is what I started with, looks not bad, but the original owner was a snow plow operator with the highways and I don't think he ever took the tire chains off, the rear fenders were split from one end to the other.
I will never do it again but I keep a ledger of my parts costs. (it's better to not know) $ 30,000 Canadian. and that is what I sold it for ten years latter. That was what I wanted, the price of the parts back.
I have to agree, that truck has seen it's better days. It looks like most of the guys who have posted so far are far from the upper midwest where there are still trucks lying around and people up here are asking this kind of money and more for truck in the same condition. I just don't see it. If it runs with a V8 maybe up here, maybe $1000. But again that up here in Wisconsin where everything old is falling in the ground but people mistake iron oxide with gold. I would think in Tennessee a better truck at a better price could be found.
My F-2 was in just as bad of shape as that truck when my dad gave it to me in the early '80s.
I spent a lot of time and money getting it back on the road. I did it mainly for sentimental reasons. I am pretty good at sniffing out parts trucks and buying them for parts I need and selling what I can to support my projects. It's gotten a lot harder in the last ten year since "reality TV" come on the air. Now everyone with a rotting beater sitting in their yard they think is worth as much as a restored vehicle.
I have some of the worst trucks when bought on this forum needing floors,corners, fenders windshield etc. I can tell you that if you dont wait for a truck that is within your ability and tool ownership to rehab in a few years you will lose interest or feel overwhelmed. So the questions are do you have a mig welder? Can you curve and weld in patch panels yourself. Do you have the room and finances to have a second truck for parts or at least spare doors and fenders. Always buy the best truck you can at first. Its the trim, panels, and parts that cost you so much.
You are wise to ask first, and NOT buy second. If it was a "parts" truck, I'd hate to see the project truck the parts were supposed to make better. Some of our snow-bound brethren are Rust Ninjas but if you aren't, you'd be hatin life in 90 days. Not just rust, but the condition of everything.
Anything can be fixed if you are willing to spend the money and the time! If you are not committed to it fully....you may get to a point where it just becomes too much.
I spent 9 years rebuilding mine. But it was my grandfathers truck so I had a reason to keep it up. Something with sentimental value helps.
My truck was free. I have limited skills and tools and as a result had to pay for a lot of the work that was needed. I stopped tracking expenses after about $12,000. I do have a running driving truck, however, that looks presentable, but it is surely not restored in the sense that many of the trucks you see on this forum are. Short cuts were taken, and in many respects my truck is still pretty rough even after all the money that was spent. I'd estimate that number to be about $14,000 at this point--definitely not one of my better performing retirement investments!
This was the starting point:
Your truck might be in about the same condition. Good luck with whatever you decide to do. I got a lot of help from the guys on this forum, and so will you. I hope you enjoy the "ride" as much as I have.
My first truck was a 1948 F-3 that I converted to an F-1. I paid $500 for it in 2002. It had no rear fenders, an old Dodge bed sitting on it, no usable running boards, and no usable front fenders. It did have a running flat head V8 that I sold for $300. It had not been on the street since 1984 (last plate). I knew it wasn't much more than a basket case but for $500 I was interested to see if I could make something out of the truck. I shortened the frame to F-1 size and put four Bebops fenders, a ProsPick bed, a pair of F-1 Bebops running boards, added a 1987 Chrysler torsion bar front suspension, a rebuilt 355 Chevy V8, TH350 transmission, and a 75 Chevelle rear end. I sold the truck in 2011 for $11,500 which was about what I had in it. The fellow in Massachusetts who bought the truck is still driving it and loves it.
Run Forest, run! Too far gone. As stated above, a parts truck only and it doesn't look like there are many good parts on it. There are much better trucks out there for not a lot more.
To all of you who took the time to answer, that means a great deal thank you. I knew people on this forum were knowledgeable, but wow you all have pointed out things I would not have considered.
I should have given more info on what my plans were for the truck in the first post, but I didn't want to make everyone read a novel. I'll do my best to summarize why I'm considering it:
- my wife has always wanted an old truck like this, and this would be a surprise birthday present when she gets back from training December 20th.
- At the very least, it would be nothing more than a decorative piece at our own place in one of our pastures. If I run out of steam, money, resources, whatever, it still would have value for us to use in photography or decoration
- I hope to restore it enough to drive and look decent, but I'm not trying to have it certified as a "classic" truck; we simply want it to look nice and drive. It would be something I work on for however many years it takes, and I do like the idea of having something sentimental to pass along to future children. I'm 31 and we've been married 2 years, so if it's finished in 8-10 years that's fine with me
- I don't have the most extensive shop and there's a great deal I would have to get done by someone else.
The seller has spoken to Mike Wolf from American Pickers, unfortunately, who's filled her head with a handful of thoughts. I believe it's worth $1000 as-is and my guess for a restoration is 20k. I'm sorry I don't have more info to provide regarding the transmission or engine, but if you could explain the importance/difference of what impact those have on the project it may help me negotiate the price.
Welcome to the forum, and thanks for the back story! It's always interesting to know people's intentions and motivations. If the seller is unreasonable in their idea of value, it might be best for them to wait for Mike Wolf to take it from them. People like that are big talkers when they have no intention of following through, and it sucks for the rest of us in the real world.
One piece of advice I will pass along is that once you start looking for an old truck like this, they will start to show up out of the woodwork, and they will be more reasonably priced. Take your time and find the right project. Don't get in a hurry and grab the first rust bucket you run into. Personally, I don't even see $1000 there, especially as yard art. That's the kind of thing you get for free, or at most spend no more than a couple hundred for. I've bought better trucks for half that that were good parts trucks, and that one is pretty rough. It needs a good parts truck. Or two.
You're going to dump a bunch of money into any project, so why hurt yourself and start with a difficult one. Find the best truck you can afford and go forward with that. For whatever they're asking, there will be better ones just around the corner. I promise. Good luck to you.
