Hi all,
New to FTE but already learning a lot of stuff. So i have a 56 f100 purchased for $1500, not in too bad of shape of course the obvious rust battle to deal with. Origional motor and transmission, runs and drives good, 93,000 on the odometer, have the origional gas tank but needs cleaned out and not sure if its worth the time to try and save it? Anyway, am debating on wether to restore it to origional state but am leaning to rodding it. This would be my first one which ever way i choose. I have been reading a lot about donor cars, what would make my job the easiest (vehicle)? of course i want as much power as i can get. thanks in advance and looking forward to learning as much as i can.
Simon

 

First off welcome to the forum. I cleaned my tank out to save some money so I would say save it. Personally I like the OEM trucks better than rodded trucks plus they tend to bring more money. Hot rodded would be the easiest than restoring it. For power you can go to flatheads forever to get all the parts you would need. Happy building what ever way you go.

 

Welcome,the 56's didn't come with a flat head motor, they had either a yblock or 223 straight 6, not to say you couldn't put one in. My suggestion would be to check out some of the vendors web sites or order some of thier catalogs to get ideas asto what is available. Your truck can be built either way, stock or hot rod because the aftermarket has you covered either way. Spend time viewing the members galleries and get ideas there as well. What ever you decide there is always help to be had with this crowd, so enjoy.

 

Your toy looks to be fairly complete and in very nice shape, was this a birthday gift,lol or was the balloons for another occasion

 

I believe it is the Y block, i think its a 272? Would this be worth rebuilding if im looking for power? Also it was a birthday gift for my wife(or should i say me). It is in decent shape although i have not done any body, frame, or rebuild work before, i am pretty mechanically inclined. If i do an engine swap i will most likely need to redo the suspension as well, right? Any specific motors i should look at or stay away from? And i read about donor cars, any sugestions?

 

Welcome aboard are you located in the Wilmington area; I saw a truck a few years ago similiar to yours in Lumberton in a barn. Which ever location you are in you are close to two parts dealers and maybe more. There is Dennis Carpenter & National Parts Depot both are in Charlotte, in Carolina Classis un Durham

 

Hi, and again welcome! Where in E. NC are you? I am in the RDU area, have a hotrodded 56 Panel truck, and am well versed in both body and mechanical work. I have been building hotrods and race cars for nearly 50 years now.
I assume you are looking for a donor for the drive train? (PLEASE don't beat the old dead horse frame transplant idea.) Almost any engine tranny combo will easily fit in the engine compartment without major surgery, so it's more the case of what will the truck will be when it grows up, what your preferences are, what your budget can stand. The OEM 272 never was and never will be a powerhouse without an unrealistic amount of $$$ dumped down the intake. Then again a pickup is very difficult (read $$$ again) to put any large amount of power to the ground without burning the tires off it.
I would suggest first sitting down with a pencil and paper and make several lists:
First one should be what is the main purpose of the build will be and what changes will be needed to reach that goal. divide by "absolutely must have", "if possible", and "would be nice but I could live without without too much disappointment".
second list: realistic assessment of your skills, tools, and workspace to accomplish each of the sections in list one. Minimum realistic workspace is a dedicated (not shared with lawn mowers, dead storage, bicycles, honey-do projects) oversize 1 car garage with good light and electical power. The more work that will be done, the more space will be required. At a minimum you will also need extended term (3-5 years) dry, secure storage for all front end sheetmetal from the windshield forwards, rear fenders, doors and bed. Include the cab if you plan on stripping down to the frame. A 2 car garage, an additional good sized outbuilding, or a dry basement would be typical for storage space requirement. If you plan on doing most of the work yourself, figure on a good set of mechanics type tools, hand power tools, shielded gas MIG welder 130+A, and likely a large size stationary air compressor (220V) if planning on doing any rustout repair.
Finally make a realistic budget and time requirement/dedication. Be sure to be realistic with your wife so you are on the same page. Involving her in the planning stage and decision making will go a long ways towards keeping the fire warm on the home front.
Realistically you will spend 10-30K and up on this project depending on how many changes/repairs are needed to meet your expectations set out in list one. low end would be for a minimal build: updating the safety parts, limited bodywork, 20 foot paintjob, basic salvaged interior, engine and drivetrain limited to a servicable engine tranny as taken from a running not overpriced common donor. cost goes up exponentially from there if you must hire out work, start adding extra goodies and bling. Average DIY build time will realistically be in the 1-10 year range. You and your spouse, neighbors are going to have to be OK with parts, vehicles, etc sitting around being seen, stumbled over etc for the duration. The quicker you want to build, the more the costs go up, and vice versa. If you are more interested in a driver than a long term project, sell what you have to a builder and buy a truck that is what you want already. Truth is it will cost about the same in the end.

 

Welcome to the board!!! You'll fit right in as most of us don't have a clue either....lol

Since your truck runs and drives my suggestion is to do just that....drive the danged thing for awhile, get aquainted with one another. Pretty soon it will tell you what it wants.

In the mean time, order up every free catalog you can get a hold of, do like AX suggested, sit down and try to get some idea of where you want to go, how much money you want to spend, etc

Most of all, enjoy the ride
Bobby

 

You're as sick as the rest of us if you think your wife bought that story!

The more stock your truck looks, the better. If you're new to this you should surely fix the minimum amount to have it safe and drivable, use it a while, and decide if you really need more than that. It isn't always about power or speed, trolling along in a 50-yr-old truck is a unique experience.

 

Hi and welcome.

I guess the one thing I never changed about my plans for my truck was that I would stay flexible on what I wanted to do with it.

 

Ax, Bobby, ALBUQ, Thx for the advice. I am located in Swansboro, about 8 miles from emerald isle. Once i get the truck road ready i might have to make the drive to raleigh to check out your toys and have you look over my truck. I think i eventually will be looking for a donor vehicle, is there one out there that i can use engine, tranny, and drive train all in one? As for storage, well its non-existent at my house, all i have is a decent sized shed. I do have access on base both camp lejeune and new river air staion. Thats where i plan on doing most of the major work, because they have any and every tool i would need. But they do charge to leave your vehicle over night. I just got some new tail lights in as well as a sending unit for the gas tank that i do have but need to clean, so since all it needs is a gas tank hooked up and lights and such to make it legal, i will do just that and drive it for a little while and in the process will start preparing for a rebuild. I want to tear it all down to the frame and start preping it (sandblast and paint) and getting it ready for an upgrade. Would that be too much work to just throw the stock motor back in? I want to box the frame and have it all ready so when i do find the right motor all i have to do is swap them out. My biggest concern is the body work, i guess i will have to get spun up on welding, because i will be doing a lot of it. I will drive it the way it is now, it is an amazing experience even though it has a long way to go. I guess i will just do piece by piece until i am ready to pull the cab. I think there is even a paint shop on lejeune with technicians that help you if you dont know what your doin. I also work with a guy that went to school for rebuilding engines and has done 40+ with a good track record, so i will definately use my resources. I am a bargain finder any and everything i can find on the web cheap im all over it. Do you think $1500 for this truck was a fair price? Thx again.
simon

 

Do you think $1500 for this truck was a fair price? Thx again.


Put it this way, I wish I could have found it before you did, then the picture of it would have been in my driveway and not yours,lol. I think you did okay, it's very complete and it runs. Don't blow it apart to do a frame up if you don't have the room where you are because it will take years to get it back together. Just work on it one piece at a time so you can enjoy driving it. You'll be getting the thumbs up just the way it looks.

 

There are literally hundreds of potential drive train donors, The engine compartment will fit anything from a 4 cyl econobox engine to a Viper V-10, but you are at least a year away from needing it. First concentrate on the safety issues: gas tank, steering and suspension, brakes, then the driveline. Is the stock engine out? Unless you are planning on an engine >350HP (then you will need a lot more chassis work than just boxing or stock in a tire outlet) and/or an IFS swap there is no need to box the frame. To be perfectly honest with you, If you are an enlisted man < E-6 living in base housing you are taking on a multiyear MAJOR project that you IMHO have only a very small chance of completing before it overwelms you. I would strongly advise you to spend your time shopping for a completed truck. Buy one that is only lacking the details if you want to do some hands on work. There are plenty of good ones in the 8-15K range that even with a lot of build experience you couldn't duplicate for more than double that amount. Hot rodding is NOT a money making activity unless you are a pro and someone else with deep pockets is signing the checks. I am not trying to discourage you, I am only trying to give you a light of day reality check.
1500.00 is probably a good price for what you got, but what you have is a 1500.00 start into a minimum 10-15K project. Like I said above those of us with experience know that there is no getting around the basic cost of such a vehicle starting with a less expensive starter just means it is going to take a lot longer and a whole lot more work to get it into a safe drivable condition. I bought my truck as you see it in my gallery pictures for 12K, an excellent price for what I got, drove it cross country to get it home then promptly dumped another 5K into it in parts and another 5K in tools and equipment and it has been sitting while I've work on it for the last 5 years due to recent financial constraints and life getting in the way.

 

You've already gotten some very sound advice, so I won't repeat it. Just slow down and plan ahead. That will save you lots of time and $. To answer your question, I used a 1968 Ford Fairlane for a donor car. I used the whole drivetrain including the drive shaft(had to have it shortened). I no mechanical expert and I figured if this combo has worked for 100,000 in the donor car , it should work after rebuild. Also, because of production changes, swaping transmitions etc sometimes don't match. . End up costing more to adapt. Keep in mind that any changes from stock will cause adapting something. Someone on this forum said if you change one thing, at least three things have to be changed. With that said, trying to use a complete drive train will eliminate many headaches. You only need to box the frame if you're going to put in an IFS and then only from the firwall forward. If you keep the stock suspension, you only need to box the frame where the engine mounts go for extra strength. Hope this helps. Lots of good people here eager to help.

 

The stock motor is still in havent pulled it yet. what i want to do is tear it all down to the frame and build it from there, i realize that it will take a lot of time and money, but i would rather do it myself than purchase one already complete. I would like a 350+HP motor and would like to build to handle such. I enjoy doing it and fixing things, i have wanted to build one for a long time and when this fell into my lap i had to buy it. I am an E-5 but dont live in on base housing, I will be getting out in dec of 2011 and will not be deploying. i have a neighbor that might have some shop space i can use along with alot of tools/equipment (boat repair place, off season coming up). i have some time off next week, i am going to get all the lights hooked up and the gas tank cleaned out, see if i cant get it registered. i would like to come see your toys ax and get your opinion on mine.

ZOOT - I used a 1968 Ford Fairlane for a donor car.

Did you use engine and all or just the drive train? and what IFS did you go with? i will definately look into that. thx