Hi Guys, Below are the photo's of my F1 that was given to me a couple of years ago. I have been doing this build up on an Australian forum so the first few posts are just a copy and paste from that site so it may seem to go really fast. I am working on it (Well it's in my shed and I do a little when I can.) I am building this vehicle under full rego which means I am restricted to what I can do. My plans are Jag Front suspension, Jag rear, C6 transmission and a 400 cleveland (Sill debating on the 302 cleveland heads going on it yet). Here are the photo's of the old girl
This is how I went and picked the old girl upto bring her home. It was a mammoth effort. We ran it back to my mates house on the back of my fathers Holden rodeo with the steering wheel tied up. From here we pulled the 8BA and gearbox out as my mate wants to keep them. We then loaded it onto my trailer and hooked it up behind my work ute to bring it back home. Here are some pic's of the job. I then pulled all of the front axle steering box and removed the front clip from the cab. I left the cab out there for the time being as it was a bit much to take home. I put the clip, bonnet and doors into the back of the trailer and ran the chassis up over the top.
Frome here I had my first go at panel shaping/ repair and I am prety happy with the result. I made a repair to the front guard where it has cracked. I had to create a neat bend around the edge of the guard and follow the profile of the edge also. I only have limited tools and I was quite suprised with the end product for a person who had not welded with oxy for 15 years and who has done minimal work with sheet metal. First I tacked the guard together to hold it in the right position before I cut into it. Next I cut a section of sheet large enough for the repair and marked it to the shape I wanted. I then cut the material and shaped the edge to suit the profile of the existing guard. I then made the inside section and welded them together. Then cut out the guard to suit the section I had just made. And welded it in. The welding was a little rough but it had full penetration and it has cleaned up well after a grind and a bit of a tap. There is still some more work to do in the same area but I didnt want to do too much at once to prevent distortion.
When I bought the cab home I had to do a bit of creative rigging to get it through the carport door. It was about a foot too tall.
I thought I would have a stab at the repair on the roof of the cab. I knew it wasn't going to be easy. I very nearly cut up the cabin of a 37 Chev because the area was so large. I have been doing it little by little welding a bit then expanding the metal. heating it and then tapping a bit more. The shape is starting to work out as I had hoped. It is not going to be as high a dome as was originally built but I like the look. I first ran the sheet of 0.9mm thick cold rolled through the rolls at work just to break its back in 2 directions and give it a bit of a crown. Then I started at the middle of each side of the square and worked my way along. Cutting ever so carfully and making tiny little tacks with a size 6 tip (mig was blowing holes can't turn power down any lower than it is now) Then gave it a touch of paint on the areas I heated to keep the evil rust lords at bay. There is still a bit of work to do to smooth it out a bit better but that can come a bit later. But the main thing it is uniform.
I was stuck for space in my shed so I had to finish off a long term project that I had been doing to the las 6 years. It is now finished and out of the shed so the hot rod can move in. It is a camper trailer. Last time I was on I had started work on the roof of the cab to stop the rain getting in where the last owner turned it into a hunting rig. It is mostly done now with just a bit of smoothing to be done. Anyway the old girl is now in the shed and I can get started. I will make one thing clear I have absolutely "no" money so it will be a budget build. I have enough skill and spare materials to get a start on the body work and the chassis modification. My next step from here is to make some stands to sit the chassis on. I have over 100 mm of diagonal flex before it comes off the opposite stand and I need to get it sitting level. When I get the motor in I am going to get a photo at dusk with me working on it in the shed. just so I can put it on the wall. Enjoy the build as it commences.
My wife was playing around with the camera tonight. I showed her a cool photo a while ago with a guy working on a hot rod in the shed and she said she was looking at me through the back door and though she would have a go at it. I hate posing and these were the worst because each shot took around 20 seconds for exposure she took about 15 all up includeing a couple of me goosing around. Here is my favourite. It is good she is behind me with this car. It makes it soo much better to work on. I hope you enjoy the photo. I am going to frame it and put it up on the wall. Oh I played around with the jag center today getting positioning right. I have it just about right. I will take some photo's when I get a little closer.
I did about an hours work on sunday setting up the rear end and about 2 hours tonight. I am very happy with how it came out. It is straght by measure and it is even sitting where I want it. I still have to work out where the torque arms are going to sit and then work out the radius arms are going to go and work out the height I need to set the shockies Anyway to those that are in the know and are helpful type persons please feel free to comment on my progress. I still have to change out the plate the diff is mounted to as it is all I had at home yesterday. I set the engine up but it has to come back out due to me not being sure about the front end as yet. I am not allowed to modify chassis width so no pinched rails under new engineering laws. Thanks to our rebirthing friends around sydney. More to come when I know where I am headed. Thanks for watching.
Good luck on the build, but I gotta admit that right hand drive creeps me out a bit. My shed has doors and hoods hanging form the walls but I haven't used the ceiling yet. Good idea.
I got a good start today and kicked off making the shock absorber brackets. I have messed around with different ones trying to get the height just right. I am pretty happy with how they came out. When I was making them I thought gee these things look ugly but now they are on the turck I couldn't be happier. I have taken one of the shocks off and put about 350kgs right at the back of the chassis I think I have the height worked out to be able to handle the steel and timber tray I have planned and then be capable of handling a load. I have sold the Jag that I had bought for about 3 times what I paid I needed the cash. It was too good to pass up but I am now left without a jaguar front end.
SO that is where I am upto. I have changed the diff mounts a little bit since the last photo. I will post more changes here as I go along. Thanks for watching.
Cool build! Man, that old truck is pretty rough.....I am parting out a '49 F-2 that is in WAY better shape. Glad to see you are saving it!
Funny story, When I was in the states last year I hired a car and when I got the keys I walked over to the car and jumped straight into the RHS of the car. The rental agency clerk gave me a realy weird look and said do you think you will be right sir? I don't know how many times I turned into the oncoming traffic lane (lucky no one was coming) I turned onto the interstate going south in the nothern lanes in St Clairsville Ohio. The Trooper was kind enough to point me in the right direction. I took a photo with him I will see if I can source it. I also got booked on the inner belt around cleveland because I was so used to driving at 70mph (110km/h) here in Oz on roads like that and the limit in Ohio was 50mph. A fine for that at home would be around $700 and I think from memory it cost me $65 in the US. Sorry to be a hazard on your roads but I eventually got the hang of it. I had trouble looking the wrong way crossing the street too. I was allways looking to the right when I approached the curb and walked out because nothing was coming . When I got back home My wife came down to pick me up in our SS commodore (6litre) from the airport. I never get to drive it and lets just say after being in the US for a month it was fun and my wife did a lot of screaming. Guess what? I will be back in November around the Tri State area. Does anyone need a ride?
Thats funny I had some friends here from Tasmania and they kept trying to hop in the drivers seat, thinking they were getting in the passengers one. When I went to visit them they let me drive a little. Boy was that an adventure, when they were here they didn't want to do any driving. Tassie is a little less conjested than the SF bay area I guess. LOL
Got a little done on the weekend. I added an additional support to the Jaguar IRS to keep the engineer happy. I finsihed off the shock mounts and sat it all back on the ground. I also went to Sydney and picked up the 400 for the project. I was also given some reco'd cleveland heads (302). Just need to get a transmission for it now. Jag front next.
neat build! you do realize the fenders, running boards and box are different on a F2 from the F1. basically cab,hood,grille and doors are the same between F1&F2.
Yeah sure do. My running boards are only going the length of the cab that is all they ever were on this truck. The fenders have lager wheel openings. Which I will be closing in. But what do you mean by the box?
I think he means the pickup bed ? If the running boards on that finished at the back of the cab and it had dual wheels on the rear it would most likely be an F4. The bigger opening on the front fender / guards would also indicate this.
Nah it's only an F2 all the production numbers match up. I did a fair bit of looking around at first. I originallt thought it was an F1 but this has 8 foot of chassis sticking out from the back of the cab inticatating super duty or F2 It only had a single wheel instead of the duals. The Gross weight placard only indicates it is a 3/4 ton unit also. It originally had a flat bed tray on it that was made entirely from timber (so no box). You can still see the marks where the U bolts helt it to the chassis. This truck was mainly used to haul wool bales from the sheep stations to the railway yard. It still has the original owners name and the CWT figures on the door. I am debaiting if I put them back on or my family sawmill's trademark. Thanks now I know what a box is.
Yes that sounds like an F2 to me, specialy if it only had singles on the rear. I repainted the tare on my F4 door when we did the sign writing > Tare 3t. 1c. 3q. Took some research to find out what it meant as it was British Imperial measurments of the era. Your ideas to paint the door sound good.
Family's sawmill trademark,...sounds like you wont have any trouble with timber for the bed. What are you going with? Good start btw, look forward to seeing it at local show in a few years
Nah the sawmill shut down some time ago so no luch with the timber. We made props wedges and sleepers for the coal mines. I won't be showing the car. I may do a few runs here and there but. I have been tinkering away on it. I have repaired the cab supports in recent days and I am now up to the fire wall but I need a C6 tranny to fit up behind the 400 to get the shape. I am making some chassis mounts for the cab this weekend to replace the ones that are at the rear of the cab. If I get the time I will take some photo's and post them up.
Does anyone know where I can get 12 volt gauges to suit the dash. The condition of the speedo is OK but the rest ot the gauges are all 6 volt and are in bad repair. Cheers Paul
If you want the original style guages you could try LMC truck as I got a few parts from them for mine. http://www.lmctruck.com/ford/ Not sure about the guages as I went over to a Smiths Guage and 12 volt and just made my guage panel to look like the old one. I have in the leftovers an original guage cluster but would doubt if it worked and I guess it would be the same as yours and that would be 6 volt.
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