My 1946/47 Ford Truck Project

Well, I'm starting a thread finally for my truck project. Details so far. What I have is a 1946 or 47 Ford 1 Ton Stake. The original flathead was in bad shape so its out of the loop. My current plans are for either a 460 or 351w. I currently have 2 rear ends to choose from. One is from a 75 LTD, looks pretty heavy, but is around 4-6 inches too wide. I also have another choice is an axle from a 50s/60s ford truck. It looks a little lighter and a lot rustier, but is darn close to same width.

My basic checklist is like this
#1 Get Engine in and running
#2 Get suspension and driveline all fixed and worked out
#3 body work
#4 lights, bed, interior

Uses for truck.
I plan on not just driving it on nice days. I plan on having tools in it, heavy flatbed for hauling stuff, and a good strong hitch for towing.

If the deal goes through I should have my engines sometime this week or next week, or sometime. But one of my concerns with my engine is if the front end will take it. The original Flathead weighed in around 500-600 pounds. If I go with the 460 it will weigh in at around 800 pounds. Will the current front end be able to sustain the aditional weight of the bigger engine. I don't plan on going with power steering or IFS. With it being a 1 ton truck I think I read somewhere that it has a heavier front end than the lighter trucks. Don't remember if this is true though.

Now the rear end, if I plan on going with the wider rear end, I believe I could just make the flatbed as wide as the axle is so not to look akward. Another rear end issue. The old axle did not have any shocks on it. I don't know if I should put shocks on it? I have ridden in a truck with little to no shocks in the back and it didn't affect me any to deviate from ride experience.

Another question. The old leaf springs are around 60 years old, I'm guessing it would be wise to get new ones, and can I expect the new ones to be more stiff than the current ones.

Sorry for all the questions but I gotta learn somewhere.

 

Bump for morning crowd.

 

The original front end is plenty strong enought to support a 460. You might have to beef up the springs or have them re-arched or add a couple of leafs. You can make your own shock mounts for the front.
For the rear I would use the rear end from the 75 Ford, for one thing because it's strong enough to handle the 460. And the ratio is better so you can go highway speeds. You just have to cut off all the coil springs stuff and put your original leaf spring pads on it. Check the angle on the orignal rear end . . . it may be tipped up a few degrees and you need to check that before you cut the spring pads off so you can weld them on the new rear end the same way. It's ok to use the rear springs as long as they are not too pitted. You can take them to your local spring shop, have them checked, re-arched and re-bushed. As far as the older rear end is concerned, it is probably is geared so low you may only be able to go 45 mph without winding the engine to high.
As far as the shocks, maybe you can use the original shock mount on the '75 rear end and then fabricate some mounts on the frame for late model style shocks. I would definately use late model shocks.
Hope this helps, just let me know if you want more.

 

Your front end will handle it just fine...two 460's would probably hold up fine. I'd also bet that a flathead and a 460 are within a couple hundred pounds of each other...thats like having another person sitting in it.

 

your tonner truck stock has a 5x6.875" lug pattern. you'll have to swap both front and rear to get a desireable bolt pattern such as 5x5.5 or 5x4.5. Not hard to do. 57-72 9" rear ends are a bolt in on the 48-56 rears, for the most part. the 46/47 frames aren't all that different I don't think. 1/2 ton spindles will allow a disc brake swap on the front. Tonner front axle might be different than the half tons. I just got a tonner, so I'll be reworking all of my misinformation, lol.

 

Is is more desirable about the 5x5.5 pr 5x4.5? Better wheel and tire availability?

 

I have some 40 one ton trucks. What it appears, is that the spindles, backing plates, and brake shoes are the same as 1/2 ton.
The drums just have a different hub for the wider pattern on the 17 inch wheels.

Perhaps you are so lucky to just swap out the drums with small truck ones and have 5x5 1/2 pattern.

 

5x4.5 has more of a wheel availibility. Actually no, the 5x5.5 is plenty available.

 

After a few months of no activity, I finally got some engines. I have what is said to be a 352 and auto trans out of a 66 Ford Galaxy, and a 460 with auto trans from a 75 lincoln. I'm leaning toward the 352, although speed parts are a little less available for it, I'm like how its more unique and what one might say "older" than say a 460 or 351.

Also, does anyone know any good places to get parts for a 352? I have searched and found a few but don't know who is good and who isn't. It has a 4 barrel intake on it already but doesn't look like its in too good a shape.

Also the trans that came with the 352 has the number C5AF 7006A on it. I didn't think the C5's came out till the 80's so I don't know what this is.

Here are some pics.

 

C5 in this case means 1965. 7006 is a case casting number, again no real designation. Looks to me like it's an FMX or cruise-o-matic. The dipstick tube location throws me off from it being an FMX, so cruise-o-matic seems the right choice....I'm thinking out loud here, lol.

 

Couple of things about this truck,

The stock springs are WAY stffer than you are gonna need. It's gonna ride like a truck. There were no shocks because the springs never move.

The brakes suck, the one we had we put a hydro-vac on (in the 50's) and it greatly improved the brakes. I guess a modern vacumn booster would be the way to go now.

You'll be happy with a new engine, the flattie with the orig rear really turned some r's in 4th, anything over 40mph would heat up the boiler.

You got the perfect truck for a work truck and the flatbed is the way to go, a lot more practical for work than reaching over the sides of a pickup box. I got a C-30, I built a flatbed with low side rails, 7 wide and 9 long.

This picture is from 65. I started driving this truck when I was 8 and wish I had it today.

 

That FE engine you have there could be a 390 also. I'm thinking this because of the gold "pentroof' valve covers on it. All FE engines, that I have seen, have 352 cast into the front of the block, regardless of displacement. Look for a small, thin, metal tag under the coil bracket bolt. If it is still present, it will tell you exactly which engine you have. As previously stated, casting and part numbers beginning with C, indicate 1960s part. The next character will indicate year of part design. Hence C5=1965, and so on, with D being 70s, and E being 80s. Many Ford casting and part numbers will have a third letter in the series. This letter will designate the vechile, for which, the part was designed. Some examples would be, A for Galaxie or full size, O for Fairlane, S for Thunderbird, T for Truck, and there are others.
My bro-in-law dropped a '58 Olds J-2 engine in his '46 Ford 1/2 ton and there was no change in ride height, steering effort, or anything. The Olds seemed like it was heavier than the flatmotor, but maybe it wasn't. Anyhow, I hope the bit of info above will help you figure out what you have, and good luck with that neat project.To me, that series Ford truck has a funky "cool factor" to it, and that flatbed you are building is really neat and different.

 

On my '47 1/2 ton truck I used a Ford 9" (truck) that was only a couple inches wider than what I wanted - so I cut just & shortened one side and resplined one axle - cheaper that way.
I have a heavy V-8 in mine and it is fine, but the springs are a tad tired after all these years - still it rides decent though. FWIW mine does have shocks - the origional lever shocks. They still seem to work fine after all these years - so I put them on the "new" rear when I put that in just recently (year or so ago).

 

Another month goes by without any progress reports. But over the past few weeks I have got some stuff done. I sent my engine off to get machine work done and parts ordered. Took the front sheet metal off.


And am working on getting it rolling with the gear I want. I had already tore apart the rear brakes to get it rolling and pretty much ruined them. I was a little more gentle with the fronts and got them apart.

I figured it would be easier to get the drums apart off the spindle so I took them off the spindle.




Got the drums apart and had my dad come over and check my progress.





He felt the brake surface inside the drums and said they were junk. I figured they would be though so not that much of a let down. They have big ridges cut in them.



So now my dad starts blabbing about how much this is all going to cost and said that If I plan on using it everyday that I should upgrade to disk brakes. Anyone know where I can find adapters or if its even possible without upgrading to a different front suspension.

He also said that the truck won't run 60-70 on the highway with the steering and front suspension it has on it now. He said that the steering components won't take it. Now I don't know if what he says is true or not because he hasn't done this before. But I wanna know if anyone has experience with this and if so, will it work or do I need to upgrade.

P.S. I found my serial number on my frame so I will now know what I'm working on because the tranny was out of a Panel truck so I can't go by it. My number didn't even match anything on the website I use to decode the numbers. The number is *I9825388* Any idea what this decodes to?

 

I found this kit here to convert to discs on the front. Anyone have experience with these guys.

http://www.autoanything.com/brakes/61A3148A0A0A2195671.aspx

 

I bought a kit from Speedway because I was in a hurry - I still think you can build a better kit by using the caliper mtg brackets off a Chevy (full size) Blazer - like my buddy did.

 

I'm guessing mine is a '42, since I had wide 5s instead of the 17" 5 on 6 1/2 wheels. I've got a Speedway kit on mine, the spindles are the same as the 1/2 ton trucks and the cars of the same period. Right now I have a '53 F-100 Dana 44 under the backend, but it's gonna get a 3.42 geared 10 bolt from an S-10.

The spring packs are VERY stiff! With 400lbs on the font bumper, they don't compress. I still haven't figured out what I'm going to do to cure that.

After a year and a half of looking, I finally found front sheetmetal for mine. The same day I picked up the front sheetmetal, I found out I had to move my shop across town......so not much has been done with it yet.

Cool project. Good luck and keep us posted.

Tim D.

 

Well, I've been real busy working lately but finally got some work done. I have gotten the cab ready to come off except for the steering column which is just being stubborn. I part of the tubing covering the inner part of the steering column and have really dinged up some bolts and it still won't come off. Dad said I should use a spanner(like a wedged fork looking thing) to pound between the arm that comes off the steering box. I hope that works.

The machinist working on my engine said it is almost done and to call him in a couple days to see about picking it up. After almost 2 months its about time. But I'm still not ready for it so no trouble.

Hunt is still out for a manual tranny. Have an unknown tranny in the shop going to see about.

Guy I'm planning on buying a parts truck off of still won't get pics for me, even though i'd rather just drive up with a trailer and see for myself. But he insists.

Thanks for the tip on the rear-end. I will start looking for one. How was the width on it, was it to wide or just right?

I also found the year and weight of the truck officially. No more guessing. Its a 1947 1 ton. I figured it was a 1 ton but didn't know the year. Nothing really special.

 

It is nice to have another enthusiast building one of these pieces of history.
I have a '46 half ton. Engine is '56 Ford 292. Early on I had the rear springs made new to spec, and they didnt move at all no matter the size of bump. Removed 4 and no difference. Finally went with monoleafs all around, though that wouldnt work with a one ton.
Front brakes are the Speedway Wilwood discs without power which work great. Replaced the single chamber MC with a dual chamber from '67 Mustang.

 

Good News.

Got my engine back from the machine shop today. Fellow there has been there awhile and seemed to know what he was doing. I prolly will use him again. Here is what I got

New hardened valve seats
Valve Job
Install cam bearings
Degrease
Install frost plugs
Hone cylinders
new wrist pins
Install cam bearings
Polished the crank journals
And he put a sleeve in free of charge.
He also put new keepers in for free.

New parts include.
Rod/main/cam bearings
Lifters
Gasket set
Double Roller Timing chain+timing set
Cam for a 390 4bbl.
Oil pump
Rings

All the new parts I'm proud to say were made in U.S.A.
Here are some pics of the engine and goodies.








I also got my cab off and my front end put back together so we can move it around to start cleaning it off.

 

I like it.... I'll be following this project...... keep up the good work!

My own 1947 Ford 1.5 Ton DRW

 

Thanks. I have been following your build ever since it started over at the FTE board.

 

More progress. Found me a transmission donor and prolly many other parts.

Its a 1966 Ford School Bus that was sitting out back. My dad bought if from a church for $200 bout 16 years ago and we used it to haul corn detasslers around in. It has a 330FE in it that was running when parked 13 years ago and I even got it to crank over and 4 out of 5 of the heaters worked and the fans, and some of the lights worked.



But back on topic, the transmission I found out is a Clark 280 series 5speed and since it was behind a FT engine I believe its going to work behind my FE after I get the counterweight on the flywheel machined off and rebalanced.

Also I believe I can use one of the seats in the bus for my truck and a lot of the switches and knobs and such I plan on using.

 

Hi folks, finalyy got my project over the pond to Germany.


A few questions concerning the rear axle:
Was the 2 speed axle optional or was it in every 1947 Ford 1.5 ton truck?
Which adjustment of the handle is more comfortable for normal driving?

Sorry for this newbie questions, but I never worked on trucks before.

By the way, where can I get a shop manual for the truck?

Thanks!

 

I'm pretty sure that it was an option on the 2 speed rear axle. And you can prolly get a manual on ebay.

Well, turns out the transmission is the older clark 265. Lot less parts availavility, took it to a transmission shop and they said it was good and put some new seals in it and fixed the shifter.

Got a new clutch and found out that the flywheel doesn't need to be balanced, only the Heavy Duty 330's had the counterweight on the flywheel. The one in the bus was just a medium duty so no problem there. Also got my engine about 90% assembled and got it painted. But after I put in my distributor I found a problem. The little plate that was used to hold down the old distributor won't work on the MSD ready to run on I got. Either that or its not down all the way, I wiggled it around and it wouldn't go down anymore. Here is some pics.

Yes I got the cheap valve covers but this engine was damn expensive to build so I had to save money somewhere.

 

Thanks for the answers. Is this the handle for the gears on the rear axle? (red arrow)



In which direction must it stand for comfortable driving on a normal street?

 

You will learn real quick when you drive it

 

Good answer!!

Please, please tell me......

 

More stuff done to my truck. I got everything off of the frame except the running gear and rolled it outside to pressure wash all the grease and dirt off. Then I was able to get a good look at the frame. Some small trouble spots. Where they put wood directly on the frame it has developed some deep rust, on top of the frame rails. But, my dad said if I tried to put in a new piece, it would only make it weaker. Any ideas on this.

Also going to start looking for a rear axle, I heard that the ones on 1955-66 ford trucks work but also heard that 67-72 work also. I want one that is pretty close to the same width, I measured it and it is 51" from backing plate to backing plate. Anyone have any ideas on what I could use.

A spot of good news though, I got my cab down and it is no longer hanging from the rafters anymore

Anyways, here are pics.

 

Lots of tonners - anyone with a 1/2 ton? Just got one, wondering if there are others