I'm putting the finishing touches on my 51 F3 and I'm now beginning to look for my next project. I've been accumulating cabs (4 of them on hand now), because I was considering making a "crewcab" or an extended cab and would need lots of components.

Now I'm beginning to think differently, and I'm considering making a "roadster" pickup out of a 1948 F1 that I just acquired. I've seen pictures of a few on the various web sites and I like the appearance.

I'm considering cutting the roof off level with the bottom of the door windows and just above the windshield. Perhaps building a solid fiberglass removable top that looks like a convertible top that has the bows to add to it later. Then lower it and remove the running boards, shorten the bed to about 4 feet and using some smaller bed mounted rear fenders.

I think I'll probably leave the front fenders mostly intact except to bob the bottoms. Then add a small block windsor with a c4 or AOD, and a front clip from a Crown Vic, older T-bird or Torino.

At this point I'm gathering data and pictures. If you have any sources, please point me to them or post some links.

Ken McWilliams
Dayton, OH

 

Ken,

Roadsters are cool and F-1s are cool so how can you lose?
Although I prefer a stock looking truck myself I can imagine a roadster pickup would look great. Best of luck on your project...

 

Hey Ken,

I'm just down the road from you, in Waynesville. Although I'm doing a stock truck, I think your idea for a roadster truck is interesting. The recent Chevy SSR certainly is in that vein.

I did a Google search using the phrase "roadster truck" and got a few hundred hits. Quite a few were unrelated, but there were some cool pictures and information along the lines of your concept as well. It might be worth some of your time browsing a search results list like that. Make sure you enter "roadster truck" as a phrase, not individual words. Keep us posted on your ideas and progress - I'm interested in seeing what you come up with.

 

Please tell me that you are starting this work with a rust bucket and not a truck that has decent sheetmetal.

Ilya

 

The condition of this truck's sheetmetal is very good comparitively. In fact much better than the 51 that I've been working on. I spent weeks on the 51's front fenders getting them back in condition for use. The '51 was also an F8 with gigantic wheel wells that I had to re-arch to fit my 16" wheels and tires.

I'll probably use one of my cabs that is not in very good shape. But I need to get this one finished before starting on the roadster.

 

There was a guy on the HAMB (the name roadkill maybe?) that had a roadster f-1. it was severly lowered and used all stock sheetmetal, but it looked really really good. I'll try to dig a few pics up. -4speed

 

That's Rad*****, 4speed. I pm'd him for some info. himmelberg

 

How does that saying go?....Anybody can build a stocker but it takes a real man to cut one up! HA!

Vern

 

Cool, wish I would of saved a pic of that truck himmelberg, let me know if you get some.... -4speed

 

u guys over there would know George Potete( i think thats the spelling) , if u can find his web site, there use to be a real nice 47 or 48 roadster pickup on his site, i beleive the running boards and all were still there in there original size/shape.
as a thought, did'nt ford or an associated company make trucks for ww2 that had the roof missing?, i may be wrong but i think i have seen pics of one in Africa, they had no side glass with a removable screen, with everyone overthere owning much the same thing, this would stand out in a croud.
cya...gary

 

I heard from my hotrod pal and here is what he had to say about making a roadster out of his F-1... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The weak point is the floorboard. I used a triangle piece of thick sheetmetal and trianglated the rear door jamb to the floorboard along the bottom sill.....but after doing that I noticed on some driveways when approaching at a angle there was still a little body flexing going on. I think a piece of 3x 1 channel metal along the floorboard from the toeboards to the rear of the cab would make it stiffer. "

Hope this gives you some insight and encouragement Ken. best. himmelberg

 

There's a soft-top '52 that's around Albuquerque, I'll post the pic in my gallery

 

Albuq, thats the truck!! It was a piece of work! -4speed

 

I'd love to see that! I was just eyeballing my truck thinking the exact same thing this weekend. I've got access to a cab that has roof damage.

 

Ken, I know you didn't choose the colors, but that truck color scheme looks like something off a Victorian home in our neighborhood. Either that or a '60s flower child reunion.