Hey All, long time lurker, but new poster. I just took on a project truck ('53) and am ready to start working on it. After a near full rebuild of my '66 Mustang, I was hoping there would be some knowledge I could apply from that project to this one, but it appears this is a completely different kind of animal. So now I get to learn a whole new pile of things, but apologies in advance for the pile of questions ahead.

First thing's first, the engine:
It's a 6 cyl. It's allegedly a rebuilt or blueprint engine from the late 90s but was rarely driven. Probably only a couple thousand miles. It ran when parked several years ago, but now probably needs some work. I was told the truck used to have a V8. Not sure why the PO replaced it with a 6. Aside from sourcing a new engine and trans, how difficult is it to swap back to a v8? I think I read that the 6 and 8 frames are different on these trucks? Thinking about pulling the 289 from the mustang and putting it in the truck (and getting something else for the stang). Any other ideas for a budget v8 for this thing?

This brings me to my next issue:

The frame and transmission:
The truck seems to have a ton of flex, so I'm assuming the frame needs work. I crawled under the truck to see what's what and find the frame seems fine, but the transmission mount is missing (see photo)? Furthermore, the brake MC is right where a crossmember would have to mount. It's a 3 speed manual column shift (R10F-1 WG DIV stamp). The weird thing is, the engine mount/crossmember is nearly at the bell housing, and is just 2 bolts, and appears to be the only thing holding everything in. Is that right?? Is that enough support to keep the engine and trans in place? Would this missing trans support be causing frame flex? Anything else I should look at to address the frame flex? Are there frame stiffening measures I could so? (eg. Mustang guys use an x-brace welded to the frame rails)

Steering:
The PO said the truck wanders like crazy on the road, which is why he stopped driving it. I'm assuming the 75yo steering parts are all toast. Do I just replace bushings and keep the leaf setup? Or is money better spent on upgrading to something like the Mustang II front end? Is that still the popular thing for these trucks, or have folks moved on to more modern setups like the Mustang folks have?

Thanks for any insight y'all can provide!

 

Greetings and welcome. There's really no reason to replace a 215 I6 engine, especially if there's a good chance it's already been rebuilt. I have a similar engine--that I had rebuilt for $2300--and I'm very pleased with it. It has just about the same power as the flat head V8's had in 52 and 53.

My steering was bad too, but replacing a few parts made a huge difference. Adding caster shims and replacing the drag link led to the most significant improvement. New tie rod ends, king pins, shocks, and spring shackles and bushings, helped too but not to the same extent.

I've been able to take my truck on 6 extended cross country adventures since getting it back on the road in 2017 and wore out a set of tires in the process.

Good luck with your project! You've come to the right place for help and support.

Jim

 

Welcome to FTE the best Ford truck forum on the World wide Web!

Frame: these frames were made to flex.

Steering: in addition to what Jim said above your steering gear box might need rebuilt. You could do it yourself or have some one do it for you.

 

Welcome to the forum! If you can build an early Mustang, you can certainly build one of these old trucks. It's just panels and nuts and bolts. They're all pretty much the same, just has different shapes here and there. It's all good. These are way simpler than a Mustang, not that there's much to those, either.

Before you decide on a path to repair or modification, first you'll need to ask yourself what it is you want your truck to do, and why did you buy it in the first place? If you just want a cool old truck to drive and enjoy, what you have there is an excellent base to start from that's easily and relatively cheaply repaired to safe driver status. These frames were designed to flex a lot, since they were intended to drive through fields as well as the unimproved roads of the day. These were work trucks. No one drove one like a car, like they do today, unless it was their only vehicle. And then the "car use" was only done after working hours. It's part of the cool factor of an old truck. You're driving a piece of history that someone made a living with.

These trucks drove daily real nice when they were new. They didn't wander like crazy and were actually safe to pile your family in and go to town. A complete front end rebuild from the ground up, from spring eye bushings all the way to king pins, tie rod ends, drag link and steering box, will produce amazing results. We're not talking Porsche status, but for what it is it will be fine. If you have a little bit of a 'hot rod' bug in you, there's the option of lowering springs to drop the ride height a bit. https://www.posiesrodsandcustoms.com...mercury-truck/
A front disc brake conversion is a popular upgrade addition and doesn't cost much more than redoing all the stock drum stuff.

The bottom line is, you don't have to spend thousands of dollars on IFS conversions or frame swaps to get a nice running and driving truck. Although if you want to, you sure can. Your imagination can run wild working on these things, but commonly be brought back to reality by your pocketbook.

The difference in frames between a 6 and V8 truck is the front engine mounts and crossmember. In your truck's era, you had one mount in the front of the engine and one on either side of the bellhousing, just like you have. Your transmission is not stock and originally wouldn't have had the mount on the tailshaft. There is no crossmember there, originally. You have the desirable overdrive 3 speed, so that, with your 6 cylinder engine would make for a really nice and comfortable, and economical driver, if it all is hooked up and working properly. There are manuals available to guide you through that process if necessary, and parts are available. Again, working with what you have will be far cheaper and can be just as enjoyable without scrapping the whole mess and starting over with a V8 and some other transmission. But this goes back to what I mentioned in the beginning, what is your idea of what you want your truck to be?

 

There is very good advice above.

The first thing I would do is figure out a theme or plan for your truck. A good spread sheet with costs and a budget should go along with it.

The frames were made to flex with the solid axles.
If the original bell housing mount was removed as most are with modern engines, there is a good chance the frame is broke near the cantilevered cab mounts. That original cross member did much more than just mount the engine and transmission. It also braced the frame in that critical area. These frames are only good for about 300 horsepower and that is with careful usage.

With independent suspensions you really do not want the frame to flex. The frame should be boxed if you go over 300 horsepower. The frame must be perfectly level and square when it is boxed, otherwise it will never be correct. Once boxed, the frame will not move much.

I used the aluminum Crown Vic IFS on my 55, with a Mustang S-550 IRS. There are many different options.

Good luck with your build.

 

Thanks for the guidance all. I think I have 2 different cascading goals for this truck. The first goal is to get the truck functional and safe and decide if I want to go any further with it based on how it feels at that point. If I'm happy with the results, then I'd like to go mild restomod. Disc brakes, coils, SBF v8, EPAS etc. I really like these trucks nearly slammed and primered. Imagine this truck with matte paint, and on a shoestring budget lol.

What are the best places to source quality parts for these trucks? I use CJs for the Mustang and they seem to have a good swath of F100 stuff, but open to other suggestions as well.

 

I have used Dennis Carpenter for sheet metal.
CJ is also good.
LMC truck is another.

Parts prices have went up quite a bit in the last few years.

I was using Mid Fifty, but they went out of business.

 

Maybe I'm not reading this correctly. You restored a 66 mustang and you want to pull the engine out of the mustang to put in this truck? Why? If a. Small block is your flavor there is an endless supply out there to choose from.

are you for sure this was originally a flat head
v-8? The 6 cyl looks like a very good install, if I saw a pic of the front of the engine /frame area I'd could probably say yes or no if it was factory. How about some under hood pics

 

Well, the Mustang block is one of only parts of the car I didn't get to yet, and it's too mild for the build. And rather than try to pull more HP out of a 60yo engine, I'd rather put in something with a better foundation (roller 302, 331, etc). But that 289 would be totally adequate in the truck though.

As for whether this truck was definitely a V8, I don't know for sure. I'll try to get a better photo of the front area soon.