So my neighbor came over last week and dumped his 1954 Ford F250 in my lap. He is moving overseas and gave up on the truck. She is all mine - of course I am left with the "now whats?" My knowledge of all things Ford are mostly current Fords (1996-2010) but with your help I can succeed (I hope).

The specs: 1954 F250, stock 6cyl, manual transmission, "custom" wood bed (read nasty pile of pine), normal rust on the rockers, headlight buckets, doors are solid as is the cab overall, hood is good. He has been driving the truck around until last week, now it reeks of fuel and won't start. Stock carb.

My questions:
Is a stock 6cyl/tranny worth keeping in the truck as long as it runs? Or should I consider dropping in a newer powertrain/drivetrain? If so, what engine/transmission combo would work best for these trucks? (like a 351, 302, ???)

Since the "bed" that is on the truck is junk, is it realistic to find aftermarket pieces to make a "stock" bed for the truck? I see panels and woodkits but not sure if all those pieces can make a bed complete or are there hidden parts that I would need that aren't available? Any thoughts?

Would you keep the stock front drum brakes (the brakes are solid) or convert to a disc kit?

Any modifications to the body or mechanicals that I should consider?

I really want to turn this into a reliable weekend driver and I am willing to spend a FEW dollars (not the WHOLE bank account though) to get it going. Any comments or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks for your time.

 

Congratulations on your aquisition, I think ;-)
At any rate, welcome to the forum!

Since you aren't looking to break the bank, but have a nice weekend driver, I would suggest leaving the stock drivetrain in place. It's perfectly adequate for that kind of thing. Starting down the road of custom swaps can turn into a money pit. (Not like a stock resto can't, either. lol) If it has been running fine before the current carb issue, a simple carb rebuild will likely put you back on the road. It may have dirt or debris in the inlet passage or a blown power valve.

When you talk about it having a 'junk bed', is this a flat bed, or traditional box with wood floor? Is it bad rusted in addition to having bad wood? Being an f-250, is this the long, 8 foot box? More info here is needed.

If the brakes are good, the stock drums would be fine for your typical weekend driver. Disc brakes would be a good upgrade if they all needed replaced, since it doesn't cost much different than rebuilding the entire drum setup. A dual reservoir master cylinder is a recommended modification, either way, for safety sake.

This should get you started. If you can add pictures, we like looking at pictures. ;-)

 

Hey ya,

Congrats on having such a neighbor. I wish i were that lucky.

I have a '53 F250 with the 215 six popper and 4 speed onna floor. She came as a flatbed I believe (short running boards), but she's got a bare fanny at this point. There is a gas station logo on the doors so I think she was a work/tow truck. Even has the extra heavy duty overload springs in the rear.

As long as it's mechanically sound, why mess with it? I rebuilt my carb, master cylinder, and went thru the fuel pump. It was all pretty simple, and I even found the trick to keeping the old Holley 1904 from leaking gas out the overflow. Right now i'm hunting for a water pump to get her goin again. (anyone got one for sale?!?!?!?) she was a ball till the water pump started pissin. It aint fast, and it aint quick, but it sure is a hoot. while i'm waitin on the pump, i have the entire wiring harness out and am rebuilding it wire by wire. I also pulled the fresh air heater system. now i know where the padding from the drivers side of my seat went. the mice packed the heater with it.

I may be certifiably crazy, but my philosophy is to clean, fix, rebuild, reuse whenever possible rather than replace. There is alot of satisfaction making old stuff work like new again. I even figgured out how to replace the wires in all the light bulb sockets with a minimum of fuss.

 

Care to share the overflow trick on the 1904?

 

couldbemaybe (laughing)

I started a thread a few weeks ago about it, and listed the cure and reference in it. It turns out that the new seats in the rebuild kits are drilled out a little larger and off center. I found an obscure listing on the fordsix (?) forum saying to use the old seat with the new needle. My carb after the rebuild would start pissin gas out the overflow after about 3 minutes of running. It was driving me nuts till i found the reference. cleaned up the old seat, put it in with the new needle, and haven't seen a drop since.

 

I will get some photos posted over the weekend. It needs a serious bath and cleaning but I will post before the wash and after the wash photos.

The "bed" that is on there is something someone fabbed out of #2 pine wood. It was fine for their needs but I either want to get a stock looking bed (steel panels and woodkit floor) or fab up a new flatbed with epoxy coated oak flooring. I have many years as a wooden kayak builder so the thoughts of a cool platform appeal to me also. Either way the current bed needs to go.

Thanks for the suggestions and I will ask more questions as I go along.

 

Welcome to FTE! I have a line on a '54 F250 too, down by the twin cities. I just have to go get it. It comes with a car, too, so I'm trying to figure out trailer space. I'm trying to find a friend down there to snap some pics of the true condition. One of those if you can get it out, you can have it type things.

 

I have a 1954 f250 parts truck with a complete bed. where are you located?? Also welcome to FTE!!!!!

 

I am located in Michigan but I own a transport company and we travel coast to coast often so... Where are you located?

 

Indiana, about 45 minutes north of Indianapolis.

 

I am 8 miles north of South Bend... see you never know what your neighbors have. Do you have any photos you can send me? I am interested.

 

I will send you a private message. Just go to user CP to check this.

 

With your wood working skills, I'd suggest building a new bed. With my wood working skills, I'd have to do something else. LOL

Get the thing running and drive it for a while and it will tell you what you should do with it. With your transport company, I could see something related to that too. If it is your company, I think you could even deduct some of the "expenses" if it had logos etc on it as advertizing.

 

Thanks Husker, thats a great idea.

I tore into the electric part today and found out it was 6volt instead of 12 volt. Did these trucks have a NEGATIVE or POSITIVE Ground setup in 1954?

I am back out after lunch to take photos and try to get the hood opened. Do these hoods stick often?

 

Grats on the new truck, you just recieved a whole new level of fun and excitement and frustration lol but the end is all worth it