I think you have a potential bumper sticker on your hands!!! Speaking of eventally giving birth... I'm hoping that he "comes under budget"...I can barely fit behind the steering wheel!!!!!!

Renee'
1955 Ford F-100 Panel
1968 Mustang GT Fastback

 

"Oh, hi there, you must be Renee's son." "How'd I know that?" "Its obvious from the steering wheel crease in your forehead."

he he - sorry, I'm going out to work in the snow and cold now.......

 

My 17 year old son took me out to a salvage yard to look at a pair of trucks he was really excited about. One was a '51 F2 and the other was a '52 F3 and the guy was selling them as a pair. Neither one ran, both had broken glass, dents, rust, etc. Son, I said, we don't even have a garage and we live in Alaska. How are we going to tear down and rebuild a truck? Also, neither of us had ever rebuilt anything or had done any bodywork. I couldn't talk him out of it and we ended up paying $1200 for the pair. We started a frame off restoration of the F2 in the carport and used the F3 for parts. I was thinking we could get it on the road for about $5000. My son turns 21 next month adn we have poured $12000 more into the truck. It is about 95% complete with everything either replaced or rebuilt. It is mechanically complete but we still have to reassemble the front clip and bed. I am expecting a final result somewhere between a 3 and 4. We finally drove it this summer and it made the whole thing worthwhile to see the thing move under its own power. It has been a great project and I'm glad I didn't talk him out of it.

Oh yeah,

I SURE AM GLAD WE BOUGHT THIS OLD TRUCK, NOW MY WIFE ALWAYS KNOWS WHAT TO BUY US FOR CHRISTMAS.

Scott

 

>"Oh, hi there, you must be Renee's son." "How'd I know
>that?" "Its obvious from the steering wheel crease in your
>forehead."
>
>he he - sorry, I'm going out to work in the snow and cold
>now.......
>

Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!!!


Babsman...Kudos to you for the dedication, and not letting that beauty rot away..even WITHOUT a garage and talk about cold!! =)

Renee'
1955 Ford F-100 Panel
1968 Mustang GT Fastback

 

i've set my budget at $50,000 and given myself 20 years to finish. that way i know i'll come in early and under budget.

 

>i've set my budget at $50,000 and given myself 20 years to
>finish. that way i know i'll come in early and under budget.

maybe..never know what inflation will do, but I like your attitude.
:P

 

>i've set my budget at $50,000 and given myself 20 years to
>finish. that way i know i'll come in early and under budget.

You guys want to know how to make a small fortune restoring old trucks? Start with a big one.

 

>You guys want to know how to make a small fortune restoring
>old trucks? Start with a big one.

seriously though, i believe that if you put yourself on too tight a budget you'll never get where you want to be or be happy with the result. this truck is one of my "hobbies". i dont't mind if it takes a while to finish or if it costs more than i expect. sure i want to drive it. but i want to be happy with it, too. so, i'll take my time and get what i want. after all, building it is half the fun, right? please tell me i'm having fun. :-X12

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 11-Dec-02 AT 03:06 AM (EST)]Greetings from Germany !!!:-X12

... this 20 year thing is going to become a problem for me soon as I will enter the 19s year in Jan 2003. I plan on having my 54 driving mid next year and gues I need another year or so to call it finished (everything that is 95% done should be considered done).

As for the money. Have not yet layed my figures down, so here it is:

Truck: $3,500 (in Jan 1985)
Wheels&Tires: $600
Chassis, Suspension, Brakes, Steering parts: $1,500
Radiator: $200
Driveshaft: $120
Wiring incl. Haywire Kit: $500
Bench Seat: $100
Instruments (Autometer incl. Cluster): $450
All rubber parts (incl. window all around): $400
Paint, S/S hardware, powdercoating ....: $1,000
misc. bits & pieces (they add quickly): $1,000

Still open are:

engine: traded 289 for some stuff, bought 600cfm Edelbrook, Fuel Pump, still need to buy ignition, ... Total should be: $2,000

tranny: have C4, bellhousing, converter, ... but still believe I need to buy stuff to have this right. Total should be: $1,000

exhaust: have headers ($120), two Flowmaster mufflers (3" in/oulet ... oh boy): Total should be: $500

rear end: I have a vintage nodular 9" with Detroit Locker and 4,56 gears. That will make him move, but guess that this won't stay. Guess I buy another 3rd member: $800

bed: have not even started here. Guess I will sink another $1,000 here.

... and again some misc. bits & pieces: $1,000

The grand total should then be: $15,670

Not counted is stuff I bought, never used and then sold at big loss like a 460 Big Block, a C6, all the fiber glass parts, a nice 9" from Currie Enterprises, rear disk brakes, ....

... oh boy !!!

 

I bought my truck primarilly to **** off my HOA.(the vp lives across from me and is quite a whinner) Since then it has been a good distraction from my $2003 project Mustang. Things are easy to fix quickly, instant results! Here is my budget so far:

Orignal purchase price: $150

Original budget: about $150:-)

Current budget: With a tune up, battery, brakes, motor mount, new seat, stereo, and bomb-can semi-gloss black paint job:$350

First ride:$200 (not counting the scary towing it home ride)

Final cost: haven't really gave it too much thought

Final goal: Well, I don't want to fix it up too nice, then I would have to worry about it. Converting it to 4x4 would be kinda cool.

Since buying this truck, my wife still refuses to ride in it!

 

 

Just bought a 54 F100 from original owners, older restoration of thier family truck.

Easily a catagory 3 as is, all rebuilt was engine, trans, rear end,
6 to 12 v electrical, interior (seat, head liner, door panels, carpet)
exterior painted, new bumpers, silvered grill, alloy rims, new tires

Paid 5100.00 and drove it home over 400 miles at 70 mph with
no problems

Needs very little body work, small rust repair(not bad at all)
needs new wire harness and steering adjustment for play.

to keep original....apx. under 1000.00
to hot rod and upgrade...the sky is the limit

I plan on enjoying the ride ! Ed

 

Purchase price….$5000. (From the son-in-law of original owner) The truck was in great shape. First thoughts, after an investment of maybe $2000, it would be a done deal.

Total investment to date (parts/frame/engines/transmission/prime etc…etc…etc…) $3500 + not counting tools, paints guns, sand blaster, welder etc…


Original thoughts were to keep it stock, but a weekend driver. After a few weekends plans and thoughts shifted to creature comforts and easier driving and stopping. It was too hard on the old bones the way Mr. Ford created it. So the project continues, spending more money on a truck that hasn’t been on the road in over two years. Current and most immediate plans are to paint it by the summer (in parts) and putting everything back together. Hopefully $2000 more and one year, it will be rolling again.


I SURE AM GLAD I BOUGHT THIS OLD TRUCK, NOW MY WIFE want have to worry if we’ll have enough to retire on, she knows. (She went through the perfume phase with UPS; the next stage will be kicking and fussing when she hears it pull into the drive.)

 

LOVE this thread.

Purchased truck for $3000 and was able to drive it home (about 8 miles and definitely NOT the smartest thing I've ever done but it was important to me at the time)

Budget - originally a couple grand to get to a "daily driver" status...now that money has been spent (much of it on tools..."but Hon, if I have a decent welder I can do a lot of this myself and SAVE MONEY!") and some eBay bargains that I had to have for the flathead motor and still not running.

Budget now occurs in $300 to $400 dollar increments as "free" (otherwise unbudgeted) money comes up because everything seems to start at about that much money. Not really worried about time frame or total dollars at this point - truck is as much for stress relief (garage time, tunes, pot-o-coffee, big hammers) as for driving grins.

Would love to get to #3 status or maybe a little better eventually - right now still trying to get to "safe driver" status.

"I sure am glad I bought this old truck, now my wife KNOWS I've lost my mind and no longer has to guess!"

Actually she likes the truck - mostly because I sold two old MGs (hence the name OilLeaks) to finance it! Is this a good lady or what?



Flatheads for ever - keep em running!

 

I bought my 54 f100 in June of 2002:

Truck- $4400
Body- 2600
Paint- 4000
Tires wheels- 650
Engine Compartment- 400
Air Conditioning- 900
Interior- 1500
Stereo- 250
Trim- 1200
Exhaust- 450
Gas tank- 250
brakes- 750
Steering column/wheel 550
Glass 100
Aaooogaa Horn 35
Misc. parts- 500

Total: $17,585

Projected cost: $16,000

It's just about done. John