I want to restore an old Ford truck. I'm wanting a 1936-41 or a 1948-52. It's my first restore, how hard is it to find good parts for these trucks? What would a good project truck (not a parts truck) run for? Any good suggestions on a year to start with? Thanks, Ron

 

Hi, this old site just doesn't have too many people on it. and I don't get here very often because I'm on the 80-96 forum or the diesel forum but I have a forty and I can't find much of anything for it I would suggest a 53-56 F series they seem to have parts all over for them. Let me know if I can help in any way.
John

 

I just began my first Truck restore project myself. I wanted either a 1940 or 41 Ford Truck. My wife has been searching online for over a year and finally found one. We took delivery of this 1941 Ford Truck about a month ago. It is exactly what I've been waiting for. In year of searching, we seen all years, makes and models of Ford trucks to be restored from $500 to $9,000. We got our for less than $2,000. There's 2 dents and some surface rust and the bed needs to be restored. The main thing is to get what you want. The best thing to do is to go into any websit you can find that has classic classifieds and look at the pictures of the trucks that are already done to make sure what you really want. We found a 1937 in Calif. for $500 that was already apart and came with extra parts. After looking at a done one again, it wasn't what I wanted. Went back to searching, patience and eventually got what I wanted.

As far as the shape of the Truck you choose, there should be little to no rust holes in the cab area or the doors. The bed, as with ours, can be easily replaced or patched. Once you have your new (old) truck, begin taking it apart & write down what you need to replace (pictures help). There are old car show all over the place and they always have swap meets. You wouldn't believe all the stuff there that you wonder why the people even bothered to bring until you find that one piece on your list. There are also a lot of quality remanfuactured parts for any truck you buy (except ours). The 1941 is about the rarest and some parts are not available anyware. Luckily those parts were in perfect shape when the truck arrived.

Moral is - be sure of what you really like and search for it - patience is a big issue. Don't let parts be an issue. In the time it's going to take to do a frame off restoration, you'll find what you need.

A couple of sites we searched frequently were HMN.com (hemmings) c-it.com and classic car trader. If you just search for classic cars and go into any site that mentions classifieds, try it. You never know where your truck is going to be.

Good Luck and be Patient!

 

steve, my truck is a forty it is going to be a street rod so all of theminute parts aren't so important my only problem is my cab corners are bad. how close are the 40-41 do they look alot alike? mine is chopped and channeled with a t-bird rear and mustang frontend I am going to pull the engine out of it and put a ford engine back in, but it will be a 5.0 I have to do the floor of the bed over but the cab corners are the only real body problem. I would like to see a picture of your truck if you have one you can post it in here's my truck on the general conversation board it is nice to know that there are other old trucks around whan I first posted on this board I thought I was the only one with something this old. They are really good looking trucks and more of them should be rebuilt whatever the style they are built in. John

 

John - As far as I know, the 40 & 41 are identical with only 2 things different. 1-the center hood chrome piece (the 41's is wider and no remake is available). 2-the tailgates are different in that the 40 has "ford" and "V8" stamped in and the 41 only has the "ford" stamped in. This is because the 1941 was available in either 8 or 6 cylinders. Other than that, I haven't been able to find any differences. In fact, when looking in any of the remanufactured parts books, 40 & 41 parts are always listed as the same item.

Didn't know how to put a picture of my truck on your "here's my truck" message. You'll have to remember, I'm a newcomer to this site. Could e-mail you one or you could explain what to do to put a picture in here somewhere.

Also, you mentioned that you're going to put a 5.0 in your 40. Is it going to be a fuel injected engine? Do you know much about these motors. I'm looking for some advice on the wiring, best place to get a wiring harness & what stuff from the 1986 Mustang 5.0 motor I plan on putting in my 41 truck may not be necessary. Having a 1940 yourself, you know that there are space issues and not all the power everything either.

Steve

 

Steve, welcome to the site, it gets pretty hectic sometimes I usually visit the 80-96 site the diesel site here and the general conversation I'm sorry I didn't even look to see how many posts you had I was just excited to find another old ford!!! if you want to post a picture you have to have it in a web site somewhere I have all of mine in www.zing you can upload them for free and save them there. once the photo is online, put the mouse on the fullsize picture and right click go to properties highlight the address or url then right click on the address left click on copy, close the windows come over here and when you post start your message and then right click on the page then left click on paste the address will be pasted on to your message then go back to the beginning of address and type in [img] Left bracket then img and a right bracket with no spaces brackets are next to the "P" key go to the end of the address and do the same thing only between the left bracket and img you must type a / still with no spaces then preview it to see if it worked. as for wiring the best harness I have found is from ron francis it cost about $550.00 but it does the whole computer thing you must have the mustang computer for it to work. everything on the harness is a simple plug in!!! as for room I have a whole lot more than your truck because right now mine has a 454 ch**y in it (supercharged)
my firewall was moved back the top was chopped it is sitting on a chevy luv chassis with a turbo t-bird rear and mustang front endit sits about 4-1/2 inches off the ground!!! I wanted to get a forty pickup to build and I found this in the process so I bought it $2500 at a car show will post some photos as soon as I get out there and uncover it again been so busy with the holidays and trying to finish my mustang I just haven't had time to do anything with it. John

 

Thanks - we had a guy e-mail us a site that sell custom wiring kits for fords. Don't know the prices yet but will look into it and the ones you mentioned from ron francis. The Windsor-Fox site appears to customize the wiring for what your needs are. It's probably expensive, but the truck's worth it. Not quite ready for that part yet. We just recently got the whole thing tore down. The wife's doing all the body work, painting & interior and I'm trying to fit the motor & stuff.

Keep in touch.

Steve

 

 

I would highly recommend the book entitled 2 Great Trucks, by Howard Towne.It is written specifically about the 40 and 41 Ford pickup trucks.It is softbound and 52 pages (5X8). It has numerous pictures of bodies, parts, features of the 40 and 41.Alot of the pictures are from the Henry Ford Museum archives.

You can reach Mr.Towne at RFD 1, Rumney, N.H. 03266. I think the book costs under $20.00.

We have a 41 pickup and enjoy hearing about others efforts in doing what we are doing.

Joe & Teresa Cooper

 

Joe and Teresa, welcome to the site!!!! see I checked the number on the posts this time,LOL It is really nice to hear from yet another 41 owner is yours original or modified ??? I am in a real rush now to finish this mustang so I can get started on my 40 the mustang needs new seats because they aren't 67 and paint because it was repainted red and I hate red mustangs everybody paints them red I am going silver on this one and don't know what the truck will end up but my plans for it are 5.0HO mustang engine overdrive automatic power steering and air conditioning gotta have air!!!! John

 

It will look original, but it will have an updated engine, transmission, brakes, and as you have stated, air conditioning.

Joe

 

The only thing I'm not sure if I like on my truck is they chopped the top three inches other than that and the wheels it will look pretty much stock when it is done. oh, and the paint my wife wants to go really crazy with the paint I'm trying to go pretty much plain but I don't know how far I'll get she wants it to be quote"LOUD AND IN YOUR FACE" LOL so we'll see what happens
If you read the other posts that ron francis is about the cheapest I could find for a wiring harness If you find one for less than $550 please let me know!!!!
John

 

Had a '40 daily driver back in the late 70's, before these trucks were considered very collectible. I liked the truck, except for the cramped cab and that flat upright seat. Of course the '56 big window trucks are nice, but are extremly pricy, at least here in the midwest. Always thought of getting a model aa long truck, adding an extended cab from a section of another, and putting an unchopped short bed on it. Put in a mild smallblock with an automatic, and keep the exterior restorod type.Any truck is ok, if you like it, and are realistic about what you spend on it.