Frame looks super solid. Gotta love the Georgia trucks. Too bad you're not into Jeeps.
Ha, I was just telling my dad that this frame is far and away more solid than what's under my 2001 Silverado. This truck spent the majority of its life in the California desert till this guy brought it back to south central Georgia. First matter of business will be to seal it off with por15 so that im not the guy to be responsible for destroying it with "Ohio" after it survived 72 years lolFrame looks super solid. Gotta love the Georgia trucks. Too bad you're not into Jeeps.
Sweet wheels too!
Score on the wheels. Even it you powder them they still look classic hot rod.
In simple terms that is correct. In reality, swapping to half ton with those components was just going to take more than I was able to do, both in terms of money and time. The laundry list just kept adding up. Though I found a bed, it was really rough and needed a bunch of work. The small block chevy and turbo 350 trans I had was a bit more worse for wear than I realized. Needed custom driveshaft made, brake master cylinder swap to deal with drum/disc. Needed to buy front disc kit. Needed to buy wheels and tires. and the list goes on and on....Hmmm, I'm confused... it's an old F3, 1 ton that was going to be converted to a 1/2 ton by putting the body onto a newer 1/2 ton chassis w/ a Mustang disk brake rear end and a Chev 350/350 engine trans... Now it's going to be a F3 body on a different F3 chassis?
Funny thing, the front axle and springs are the same on the f1,2 and 3, just the spindles are different as well as bigger brakes. The rear is another story. Its a HUGE Timken rear end with a massive stack of leaf springs.I like the all-F3 more better. And, having the suspension (particularly the front end - I maxed out a 60 ton press getting king pins out of an F1) already freshened is a big plus.
Don't forget trips to Mid OFunny thing, the front axle and springs are the same on the f1,2 and 3, just the spindles are different as well as bigger brakes. The rear is another story. Its a HUGE Timken rear end with a massive stack of leaf springs.
I'm also liking the idea of the F-3 better. It will likely never be a cross country vehicle, but it wont be perfect enough that I do not feel as though I cannot use it. It'll likely haul brush up to the family farm burn pile, or make a trip to Lowes now and again etc. Just an old farm truck still.
One of the lash-ups on my F-1 was the heater blower motor. I ended up using about 2 ft of nichrome wire in fiberglass jacket to drop the 12V down for it. Today, I would have sought a 12V motor for it.I'm liking the "keeping it grandpa's truck" idea. Just for curiosity sake what would be the feasibility of doing a conversion to 12v? Alternator/regulator, battery, bulbs, & coil might do it. I'll bet the starter motor could probably handle 12v as-is as long as you didn't have to do lengthy cranks. (Just thinking, here.) Doing that wouldn't put a new handle and head on grandpa's axe, but would add some tape to the handle of the existing axe.
That is absolutely on the someday list to update. My current goal is to hammer down to do only what I need to do to get this thing running and going down the road. For now that will include the 6v positive ground setup. One thing I've found about myself is that I am far more apt to complete a project if it is running and usable. Once I get this thing going down the road I will look at switching to 12v pos ground with an alternator, but that could be a short term project once the thing is on the road.I'm liking the "keeping it grandpa's truck" idea. Just for curiosity sake what would be the feasibility of doing a conversion to 12v? Alternator/regulator, battery, bulbs, & coil might do it. I'll bet the starter motor could probably handle 12v as-is as long as you didn't have to do lengthy cranks. (Just thinking, here.) Doing that wouldn't put a new handle and head on grandpa's axe, but would add some tape to the handle of the existing axe.
From what I've read, the gas gauge is one of the few other things that is a bit tricky to get to jive with the 12v setup. Most guys use a step down 6v dedicated circuit to run the heater and the gas gauge.One of the lash-ups on my F-1 was the heater blower motor. I ended up using about 2 ft of nichrome wire in fiberglass jacket to drop the 12V down for it. Today, I would have sought a 12V motor for it.