I just made a cardomain for it.. Crappy pics so far, it was already dark out.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2651298

By far oldest vehicle I've ever owned, lots of neat things to explore... Got it locally for way cheap on eBay, couldn't pass it up, always wanted a 53-56. Ran when I test drove it, and when I went to pick it up it stalled as soon as I got around the block.. was kinda worried I got hustled, but apparently the fuel pump just picked a rude time to let go. Put a new one in today, and drove it.. I'm stoked.

I'll have better pics once I clean it up, and take it to work (a Lincoln/Mercury dealership) to get it on a hoist.

 

sweet ride guy ! nice truck for a rust belt vehicle and welcome to fte .

 

Welcome to FTE


The button on the floor is the dimmer switch for the headlights. When the switch goes bad, the headlights will go off when the button is depressed, that might be why it's disconnected. Originally the bed wood was painted body color. New bed wood is available from FTE sponsors. The heater is a factory original, and was an extra cost accessory back then. Was the truck originally red? If so, someone did a pretty good masking job...even protecting the decal on the inside of the glove box door. Dovetone Grey was a factory color in 1954. The paint code on the VIN plate is: E. There were two reds available: Lancer Maroon (J), and Torch Red (R). The maroon was darker. The Custom Cabs came with a left armrest (the right side was an option, as was a right side sunvisor!), but no door panels were offered then. Painted metal was it!


hipoparts.com sells a CD of the 1948/56 truck parts catalog, a shop manual is available from faxonautolit.com (in Riverside CA)

 

good luck with the new toy. Have fun


JimG

 

The fuel pump you removed has a filter inside the can. That may be the reason the truck died. Most ppl don't know it's there, so it rarely gets changed. Ford put fuel filters on fuel pumps from the 1950's through the end of the 70's. The filter is still available: C4AZ-9365-A (Motorcraft FG-1)

 

looks pretty good! Bed wood is not original, looks like yellow pine rather than oak. Need to find your water leak before moving on to other repairs/updates. Likely culprits are cowl vent seal, windshield seal, extra holes in the firewall/floor. I wouldn't put a switch on the fans in the cab, use a temp sensor in the water jacket +relay to turn them on and off automatically. Otherwise I guarantee you'll remember to turn them on when you see the steam billowing out from under the hood.

 

The second **** on the heatr is really a cable. Pull it and it changes the air flow of the heater from the floor to the defrost. Looks like it might not be the original transmission from the bends in the shifter. Don't get rid of those running boards unless you find other from an F-250. They are not the same as the F-100. They are longer. I have a '55 F-250. Some parts are the same, most of the front end parts, like tie rod ends, tie rod, spindles and axle are the same. There are a few of us with the bigger trucks on the board. Good luck and welcome.

 

Welcome and congrats on your new project, it`s a nice one.

 

Welcome..... looks like a very nice running project. Ditto on the fan sensor...switches are easy to install but also easy to forget to turn on.

 

Sweet looking truck keep us posted.

 

Welcome and congrats on the new toy very nice i hope you enjoy

 

Wow, thanks for all the replies everybody! Check out the cardomain page again, I added walkaround pics today.


NumberDummy: Sweet, thanks for the info on the floor button.. As far as I can tell it was originally bright red, I'm assuming Torch Red (I had no idea Torch Red has been around so long) there are spots inside and out where the paint has flaked off and is bright red underneath, both exterior and inside the cab.. You can actually see it in the interior pic where it looks like something that was there has been removed, and also in the pic showing behind the seat.

Also, on the fuel pump.. I did unscrew it today, there was maybe a tablespoon of rust in the bottom of it once all the gas evaporated. Filter didn't seem that bad. Going to change the oil tommorow to make sure the diaphragm didn't rupture and contaminate the oil. Inline fuel filter had a bunch of rust in it when I got it, spells bad news for the tank.. Short term plan on draining it via the drain plug (which I really hope doesn't leak after I pull and reinstall, and filtering the junk out of the gas, and then refilling with same gas, and drain again to attempt to wash as much trash out as possible.. long term plan is to drop the tank, take it to work and power wash the inside, and buy some of the latex or whatever it is from a radiator shop and coat the inside, and paint the outside.

AXracer: Some day, I'd like to put the right wood in the bed.. but for now, it's there and it's good enough. This is a tight budget project, about the 7th or 8th vehicle I have titled right now, just keep coming across deals that are too good to pass up..

On the water leak.. hmm, I didn't really think of that, but I guess that would explain the carpet funk. Doesn't really smell mildewy, just smells gross. But there is indeed an obvious path for it, if you look at the pic of the interior.. see the blue? That's the bellhousing. Gonna need to fab up some plates to seal up that area, and throw a lower shift boot on it. And there are relays hooked up to the fans, but haven't looked into them yet. I imagine they are hotwired, going to have to see about how to feed them signal from a temp sensor.. Would indeed be safer and smarter, I guess I'm just used to doing things the hard way sometimes.

Fowl1: Thanks for the info on the cable. I'll messed with it, but probably didn't have the fan going. Gonna have to check to see if it works! Haven't looked closely to try to ID the trans yet.. once I get it to work and can clean the crap out of everything, I'll be doing that. For the running boards, no big rush to fix them, it adds character.

 

Had a look at you "new" pics....... the small brackets look a lot like door hinge inspection covers, 2 per door... as for the large brackets I can't really place them.

 

You have an inline fuel filter? What about the one on the carburetor? Ford carbs beginning in 1965 have a screw in fuel filter on the front of the carb. Look where the rubber fuel line is clamped on. That nipple is a part of the fuel filter. There are two sizes, depending on what carb it has, and both are available from your L/M parts counter.

 

Yep, there is a fuel filter in the line going from the tank to the pump, I want to install one between the pump and carb also. And the carb is an Edelbrock, and it does have a filter in it where the fuel line comes in, I should probably pull it and check it also.