1949 Ford F-3 "old red truck"

Re: 1949 Ford F-3 "old red truck"

Brodie said:
Done yet?
Still picking up parts, but the wife and I are in contract on buying our first home at the moment lol so stalled a bit right now

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Re: 1949 Ford F-3 "old red truck"

Oh cool man. First home buying is always hectic. Hope it all goes smoothly for you.
 
You inspired me to do my thread, so don't disappoint me, loser. Let's get it going.
 
Brodie said:
Oh cool man. First home buying is always hectic. Hope it all goes smoothly for you.
It's a pain for sure, but I hope its worth it lol

Maritime said:
good luck on the purchase, hope you get a shop out of the deal

A 2 car detached and a walk out basement ;)

irk miller said:
You inspired me to do my thread, so don't disappoint me, loser. Let's get it going.
Ill still keep plugging away, but for some reason my better half keeps thinking that new carpet and a dishwasher is a more important expense than disc bake conversions and dual master cylinder kits lol

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Hurco550 said:
It's a pain for sure, but I hope its worth it lol

A 2 car detached and a walk out basement ;)
Ill still keep plugging away, but for some reason my better half keeps thinking that new carpet and a dishwasher is a more important expense than disc bake conversions and dual master cylinder kits lol

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Nice, I have similar setup and it's nice. My garage is basement level walk in with double doors.
 
Re: 1949 Ford F-3 "old red truck"



Hurco550 said:
It's a pain for sure, but I hope its worth it lol

A 2 car detached and a walk out basement ;)
Ill still keep plugging away, but for some reason my better half keeps thinking that new carpet and a dishwasher is a more important expense than disc bake conversions and dual master cylinder kits lol
It is worth it. One of the first things I did was cut down a few trees, because they were mine and I could... lol.
 
Its time to get back on this project again. New house, more garage space, and my son is rapidly getting to the age that he needs dad to have an old truck for dad to ride him around in.

I found a new piece to purchase that kinda changed the direction of this project. On a ford f1 "buy sell trade" facebook page, a gentleman in Albany, Georgia offered up for sale a 1948 ford F1 frame, setup with a ford 9" rear out of a big block mustang and motor mounts to run a small block chevy with a turbo 350 automatic transmission. As it were, my old man has a chevy 350/ 350 turbo trans in the barn, that many years ago was pulled out of a running yet rusted out box chevy that got junked. Complete with an electronic igniton and qudrijet 4 barrel.

I gave the seller a deposit for until I can make it down to pick it up and bring it back to Ohio. It is about 4.5 hours south of my in laws in Chickamauga, so the next trip down to visit (whenever this travel ban lifts) I'll rent a uhaul and bring it back.

This is a neat turn of events for several reasons. First, the F1 parts market it much more flush than the (basically non existent) F2-F3 market. Sheetmetal specific to the F2 and F3 is basically impossible to find, and though it isnt free by any stretch, less a cab, you can buy almost any sheet metal for the F1... Most of it 2 hours away at midwest specialties in Springfield Ohio.

The other benefit will be that, while it will still likely never be a road trip vehicle, it will play much more friendly to going down the highway with the 350/350 combo than the 226ci straight 6 with crashbox non synchronized 4 speed granny gear trans. Plus, the f1's just plain look cooler.

The bad (er sad) is that it kinda takes a bit away from the old farm truck. It won't be full on "this is my grandfathers axe. My father replaced the handle and I replaced the head.", but it will be along those lines. It will retain the most solid condition pieces of the truck, the cab and hood (and vin plate + title). The flip side is it will be a more solid and usable truck than the f3 wouldve been.

So anyhow. Heres to moving again on the "Old Red Truck"

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IMHO a great choice of direction. I built a 51 F1 for a friend a long time ago. Ford 9" rear, Mustang II front with a 350/350. It was a fun truck and did very well on the highway. Most of chassis was made up of Chassis Engineering parts, the rest came from my wife's uncles salvage yard. The body was left as found, it would be called patina now but it was a sleeper back then. My wife's other uncle worked for Weld Racing/Wheels. He crafted a set of one off 15" wheels that looked stock down to the hub caps but were wider and offset to fit under the fenders.
 
The bad (er sad) is that it kinda takes a bit away from the old farm truck. It won't be full on "this is my grandfathers axe. My father replaced the handle and I replaced the head.", but it will be along those lines. It will retain the most solid condition pieces of the truck, the cab and hood (and vin plate + title). The flip side is it will be a more solid and usable truck than the f3 wouldve been.

So anyhow. Heres to moving again on the "Old Red Truck"

Super happy about the find. I just wish it were closer to Augusta. As far as the lineage thing, I still think it's valid. Granted, I am in a similar boat with my Box Chevy. Stock it was a 305, but my dad put a 350 in it, which I turned into a 383 stroker. One day, it may end up with a 700r4. I lowered it, which my great uncle would probably kick my ass for. At least the bed and cab are still stock and the paint is OG. LOL
 
I think your Grandpa would be proud and amazed with the changes. A vast improvement in performance, reliability and comfort. The soul of the truck is still there.
 
I never knew my great grandpa, or my grandpa (on my moms side) for that matter, but from what I understand, if there is a bottle of cheap sipping whisky and a plug of tobacco in the glovebox, that's all that would matter to him. In fact, while I'm typing this, I'm looking at the old steel colapso-cup that he was famed for keeping in the truck so that he could share the sippage with the passenger lol

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My buddy's dad kept a bottle of Wild Turkey hid in Steve's Jeep (WW2 vintage) glovebox. When I came in from the Navy I would put a fresh one in for him.

When we were building our house we needed a pickup so Iooked around and a neighbor told me about a '51 F1. Got it for $1500 and sold it for the same after we built the house. Someone had put a 283 three speed in and added some leaves to the front springs but used the original shackle bolts with about two-turns engagement. New bolts (and nuts) custom-made cost me all of $12. I also had to press new kingpins into it (all a 60 ton press could do). Ran pretty good, but drove, well - like a truck.

Your F1 will probably drive pretty well. Might save the Equinox when pulling the trailer loaded with bikes and tools.
 
Well I made the 600 mile round trip to Albany Georgia to collect the frame. The dude that I got it from was super nice and had plenty of other cool projects going as well.

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After I pointed the rig back north, I stopped for gas and decided to hit up Facebook marketplace and see if there were any bits I could find for the truck that's outside of my usual stomping grounds. I came across a 1 hr. old posting for these cragar ss wheels just outside of Atlanta. The dude met me close to I 75 and I swapped him $80 for this sweaty but still cool set of hoops. 15×6 front and 15x8 rear, a cool setup for a retro 2wd hotrod style truck.

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I'll make the 600 mile trek back to Ohio on Tuesday and get started on this old booger
 
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