Hello, I have a 51 F1 and me and my father are looking at making it a daily driver. We were woundering if most people set the body on a newer frame with a modern clip or they just change the front clip itself. Thanks,

 

i installed a MII front end wityh disk brakes under my 51 with the help of 2 friends, it was rather easy.
not a driver yet though

 

Welcome to the board, Ohio! With that question, you should receive numerous answers. Some may even fit your needs. When you say daily driver, are you keeping the orig. drive train? There is every option you can imagine, ie, Jag IFS/IRS, MII, Volari, etc. Read the tech articles at the top of the forum and get a good idea of what is available. To make it a daily driver, you can simply drive it stock. For better roadability, a ford 9" rear end will keep the RPMs down and the MPH up with the right selection of gear ratio. Listen to the replies to your post and pick the one that will fit your needs, wants, and budget. There are a lot of experienced and proficient folks on this forum, and then there is the rest of us. Keep us posted on your progress.

Gil

 

At the risk of annoying the Jag faction, the Mustang II from aftermarket suppliers with its abundance of reasonable priced parts seems the more popular. I keep looking, but personally don’t know of any frame transplants for the F1 (labor intensive) and hard to get it looking right, front tread, etc.

 

Mine will be a daily driver also ('48 F1). I'm rebuilding the stock front end with a couple leaves removed, disc brakes, and with the Toyota PS box. Money involved is comparable to swapping. The flathead 8 will stay, but I'm looking for a dual carb set-up. I'm undecided on the T5 swap, or using a 3.03 Ford 3 sp. man. Rear will be a 9" to compensate for gearing and braking. I've read this set-up will net approx. 30 mpg. I would like to find out if that is true or not.

 

Hi Ohio!

Welcome to FTE. I think the governing factors in what you will want to do to the truck will depend on 1)the speeds you want to take it up to; 2) what kind of handling (and safety) you want at those speeds; and, 3) how much weight you may be adding to the truck in the front if you re - engine. If you are going to leave the stock drive train in it then you probably won't be able to get it up past 50. If that's ok then just leave everything stock. But if you want to go above that, you will need a rear end that takes higher gearing (the Ford 9" previously mentioned is one of the best made), and a front end that will corner better, and probably should have disc brakes. The (and here I go again with this term to keep the purists happy) "Aftermarket Heavily Reinforced Mustang II Design Type" front ends are a great addition - they come in weld on or bolt on and have disc brakes. This is probably all you would need to do to make this truck a nice comfortable and safe daily driver at modern day speeds.

Although now that you are here, we will probably have a lot more to say about how we expect you to build your truck - don't fight it - tee hee.

Good luck and welcome

PS. If anyone offers you cookies - proceed with caution.

 

Do the MII front ends provide a pretty drastic drop in ride height? Not that there is any thing wrong with a drop, but I want to keep my truck at-or-near stock height, and all the MII related options I found have a minimum of a 4" drop.

 

i did the same as havi on my 49 f1. i rebuilt the stock front end installed disc brake's and the toyota power steering box.it will be a daily driver too. ( someday)

 

I did a MII kit. Most kits will lower the front end by about 3-4". I rework my frame to raise it back up. Pic in my gallery.

 

What part of Ohio are you from?

 

Im just south of Canton.