1949 Ford F-3 "old red truck"

Frame looks super solid. Gotta love the Georgia trucks. Too bad you're not into Jeeps.
 
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 lol

Sweet wheels too!
Score on the wheels. Even it you powder them they still look classic hot rod.

Im pumped about the wheels. Im guessing a bit of aluminum foil and glass cooktop cleaner will get them plenty presentable for the rest of the truck. The fenders will be painted black, but the rest of thecab and hood will retain the rolled on red lacquer that my uncle's applied back in the 70's. It'll be a sweaty daily that still gets used, at least while there isn't salt on the road.


Speaking of the truck, just pulled in the driveway after pulling this old pile 900 miles ;) she rolled farther into the yard off the trailer than I expected, but never fear, the mighty old wheelhorse pulled her back up on the slab, and she wasted no time marking her territory with the goopy old power steering fluid left in the line from days gone by.

20200602_194500.jpg

20200602_200851.jpg
 
Tis been over 2 years since an update , so right on schedule for a classic Hurco project. I'd spent the last couple years picking up bits and pieces to convert this thing from a 1 ton to a half ton. Through a series of events involving a Facebook page and a few phone calls with some cool dudes from Michigan, I ended up trading off all my half ton stuff for a pile of good F3 parts that'll get this thing alot closer to being a complete truck on the road. I got a really solid chassis with rebuilt brakes and a set of usable tires, front fenders, running boards, bed and rear fenders. My current plan is to paint the frame with rust reformer and put the truck together as is, mismatched paint on the panels and all.
20220924_110941.jpg
20220924_110949.jpg
20220924_134627.jpg
20220924_134634.jpg


Also pulled the complete (ish) truck outta the barn to make a game plan. Hopefully I'll be able to start pulling it apart and getting things sorted before the weather turns nasty..
20220924_152835.jpg

20220924_152914.jpg
 
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?
 
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?
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....

At the end of the day, I was also feeling a bit too much of the feeling of this being my grandfathers axe, where my father replaced the handle and I replaced the head... Plus the deal came up on all this F3 stuff that that I couldn't pass up. This way, at the end of the day it will still be a pretty much stock F3, with all ford steel (even if from a few different trucks) and it seems a much more attainable thing to get it on the road in the near future this way. The only reason for the chassis swap is that the one I picked up is in much better overall condition, with already refurbished brakes and steering components, and much less deep pitted rust than on my current frame.

Tonight after work, Dad and I pulled the truck out and loaded it up on the trailer. Tomorrow I will pull it into the school where the Ad Diesel program will use their high pressure steam cleaner to blast off the years of oil, grease, dirt, barn chaff and coon crap. This weekend we are planning to pull the engine and trans and then put the cab onto the new chassis. I will prime and paint the "new" frame, at least under where the cab will go for right now and likely finish the rest up after Barber.
20220926_194119.jpg
 
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.
 
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.
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'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.
 
I really messed up by not taking a before picture, but the students in the ag program really did a nice job of removing 70 years worth of garbage. Should making pulling this engine a much easier project.
20220927_130955.jpg
20220927_130959.jpg
20220927_131013.jpg
 
Glad it is staying F3. Anyone can have a F1 but you hardly ever see an F3. The replacement frame looks pretty good.
 
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'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.
Don't forget trips to Mid O
 
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.
 
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.
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.
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.
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.
 
With LED, the 6v market has become much more robust than what most people are used to. Unless you're looking for performance, an old farm truck is perfectly suited to stay 6v. Obviously, it's not a huge deal to switch and plenty of tractors get converted to 12v, but ain't gonna hurt to ride a while.
 
For sure. It'll stay 6v until it's running and stopping under it's own power, but could be a fun upgrade eventually. The biggest issue moreso than lights is the starter. It works hard in warm weather, and when it's cold, forget it lol there's actually an incandescent light bulb socket mounted right over the battery that they'd leave on in the winter to keep the battery warm enough to hopefully pop it off haha.

Got a coat of primer on the frame after work today. It ain't perfect, but the point is more to preserve the frame than to make it a concourse piece, and it turned out nice enough for a roller and brush job in the driveway. If the rain holds off, it'll get the top coat tomorrow, and hopefully the cab put on this weekend.
20220928_184902.jpg
20220928_184911.jpg
20220928_184928.jpg
 
Don't forget to start lifting weights in your spare time. That'll make the Armstrong steering system easier for you to handle.

That light bulb over the battery reminds me of the stuff we had to go through w/ our vehicles when I lived in Fairbanks, Alaska. In addition to the freeze plug heater we had heaters in the radiator and heater hoses, a heated pad under the battery, another heated pad glued to the transmission pan, and sometimes another one glued to the oil pan. In that climate a light bulb would have just sat there and shivered. :)
 
Back
Top Bottom