New to me 53 F500
 

Hi all,

I have done a fair bit of googling and come up with little information on this truck so far. It has led me to FTE however which looks like a great resource.

Last week I bought a 53 F500. The truck was purchased off a farm about 400km from me. It had been in their family since new. I had a buddy passing near there with a tow truck, so he picked it up. Saved me a trip with my 3/4 ton Chevy and figuring out how to get the truck on my 16' car hauler!

I don't know anything about the truck except for what I can see and what the previous owner has told me.

Flathead v8, is it a 272??
4 speed with PTO for hoist
Dual rear wheels with 7.5' track width
Updated to 12v except for the starter. Speedo is not hooked up.

My plans are to make this a fully functioning hauler that is cleanly built and fits right in at the car shows (as a driver, not a perfect beauty queen). I am going to replace everything, sorry to the purists. I will keep it 2wd with a beam front axle and front disk brakes. Newer rear end with dual wheels. It might keep Ford running gear, I haven't decided yet. My friend tells me bad things would happen if I put an 8.1 Vortec in it. I am considering a 7.3 Powerstroke to a 6 speed. The truck needs to ultimately be reliable and capable of pulling 15,000+ lbs, and look period correct from the outside.

I have some questions to begin with before I add the pictures. What kind of carb does this thing have, and can I get parts for it? They have added an electric fuel pump at the firewall. I suspect the electric fuel pump is pushing too much pressure and the carb is loading up?? Or maybe the needle and seat are leaky? It starts and runs well but dies quickly when you try to drive.

The 6v starter doesn't love life after all that restarting. Friend of mine used to have a 36 Ford with a flathead and said that a gear in the starter just gets jammed and the starter acts like its seized? Is there a fix for that? I guess - make it run better so it doesn't need so many restarts?? :-jammin

All in all, I am very happy with my purchase and want to keep it as is for a couple years until I build it. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...F500/photo.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...0/IMG_1351.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...0/IMG_1350.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...0/IMG_1348.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...0/IMG_1326.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...0/IMG_1325.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...0/IMG_1202.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...0/IMG_1200.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...0/IMG_1196.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...0/IMG_1193.jpg

Pics:

Welcome to the forum. That looks like one very nice unmolested original, complete with what appears to be a tight grain box.
The engine is most likely a 239 CID.
The six volt starter will do well on 12V if not taxed for too long at a time. Parts readily available. Worst case would be the flywheel ring gear teeth missing or broken.
Carb would be a 97 or 94 most likely. Parts available. Very possibly too much pressure. If never rebuilt it is probably suffering from ethanol.
Later running gear will eliminate the 'widow makers', good idea.
Thanks for the pictures, you did good as a start.:-X22

And a very wise choice in not trying to get that beast on a sixteen foot car hauler.

Welcome to FTE,
Thats a very nice looking truck you have there.

Yes the Carb probably needs a good cleaning out if not rebuild? but you could start by cleaning it out, change or add a fuel filter inline and make sure the fuel lines are all nice and tight.

I like the Block Heater on there too! :-jammin Does it get cold up there?

welcome to FTE. thats a clean looking big truck. i would guess that the electric fuel pump has to much pressure and is flooding your truck at idle. first thing i would do is get a stock fuel pump for that flathead and see what it does then. good luck! if you look at the fifth picture you posted you can see the electric pump is plumbed straight into the carb. i would think thats asking alot of the needle and seat to hold back that kind of pressure. does it have a bypass for the extra fuel pressure?

Very nice and welcome!:-wink

Great looking truck!

If you want to use it for hauling diesel is really the only way to go, unless you don't mind 8 mpg. However I totally understand a large gasser engine, I spent a good couple years on this debate and diesel won out because of the mountains around me. Some people will give you flack for putting anything in it that's not what it came from the factory with, and some people will give you flack for not putting anything new in it. No matter what someone will be unhappy, just make sure it's not you. Your truck, build it your way for your needs.

Other cool things, the heads have Made in Canada in the castings. The brakes leak. :-X22The muffler is so rusted it is more than half missing!

Damn nice truck there. New paint and ya say the engine has been gone through? Ya I would work out the bugs and drive it like it is for a time. Let her tell ya what she wants and needs in the way of upgrades to become what ya both need and want. Can ya tell us what ya paid for her? It helps us to know what they sell for. Gives us a better figure to work with when buying and selling also.
Ya should consider joining yer locale FTE chapter and get to know some of our Canadian friends down there. I think it's great to see the old big trucks saved and working like they where meant to do. I also think yer on the right track with going Diesel power and manual.

Yeah the engine has been gone through from my understanding. It has a Ford authorized rebuild assembly plate on it.

I am still in contact with the original owner. He was happy to see the truck going to a good home. I will definitely love it like my own.

I do plan to drive it as is for a while as is. I love the nostalgia.

I paid 2500 which is above average for old trucks around here but with the condition of the body, recent paint, 12v conversion, etc, I think I am leaps and bounds above the other trucks I looked at from the 50s. I was only looking at 1ton and above and I wanted a deck or grain box with hoist, not a pickup box.

Quick bump.

Took the starter out and cleaned it all up. I put some white lithium grease on the bendix screw.

After calling in help with reassembling the starter (because I took the bolts too far out) and reinstalling, the truck fired right up. Ran great!

I ran it up and down the grid by my place, no stalling, no hiccups. I'm not sure what problems I was having being, but they are better now.



Are there master cylinder rebuild kits out there? I don't want to spend a bunch of cash on this master cylinder to scrap it in a few years when I do a retrofit, but would like brakes in the meantime.

Most any parts place should be able to get the kit for ya.