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My reintroduction post got off track. No worries, I don’t mind. This is going to be the main thread for the restoration of “Big Red.” Red is the 1955 Ford F-350 1 Ton Express that my dad bought from the originals when I was just a few months old. She was intact when I had her shipped to me, but she was rough. The cab was twisted on its floor from an accident years earlier. The box was so beat that the fenders were a couple inches further apart than they were supposed to be. The frame was in excellent condition, owing to my dad’s meticulous maintenance and coating exposed metal with used motor oil. The engine ran, but rough. Every window was broken. The doors were cracking from stress at the seams. Given the history, the memories, the scarcity of the old girl, nothing short of the best effort to fully restore her will do.
I’ve had to replace the cab, grille, front valance panel, doors, and I’m working on getting a replacement box. The original engine is almost done. I had it sleeved, and kept it stock bore and stroke. Original cam grind, original everything. At some time in the 60s, a head was replaced by a Ford dealership shop. One of them is the original 239 casting, the other is a later 272 replacement casting. Two different compression ratios from one bank to the other. Two different shaped combustion chamber designs.
I’ve spent the last couple days ordering parts. Wiring harnesses, trim pieces, rubber, brake parts, etc. Running out of parts that I need to buy. I did manage to assemble a complete set of good condition original Ford script windows for the restoration.
I would assume you used matching heads. What did you use?
I had the heads rebuilt and am keeping the mismatched pair. The 272 casting will interchange with the 239 casting. The later 292 and 312 will not. The intake ports on the 272 head are only slightly larger than the 239 ports, but there’s no sealing issues for the 239 small port intake manifold. The use of the different castings causes no issues whatsoever, and is completely undetectable.
Chucks Trucks is a life saver! Restoration vendors don’t deal in F-350 and larger parts. I called Chucks Trucks and he had all the front suspension bushings and pins and such in stock. Fair prices, and easy to deal with. He also has listings for steering components, so that will be my next order with him. Now, I’m just waiting for the parts I’ve ordered to arrive so that I can do a full inventory of what I have and what I still need. So far, I’m in new parts about $3,600. I don’t have too much more to buy in the way of restoration parts. Tires and the donor truck will be the next biggest purchases. $1,500 for the truck, and about the same for tires. I’m in the engine rebuild about $1,000, and still need about another $500 in parts and pieces (oil pump, some gaskets, etc.). If the weather is fair this weekend, I’ll start taking things apart, and will start the photo portfolio.
