My dad gave an old fixer upper,need some help. I don't think its worth doing a show room perfect resto ,so I'm going for a rat rod hauler look,plus I don't have a lot of cash for this thing. I've heard 3/4 ton brake parts are next to imposable to get,so a swap to newer stuff is needed.The rear should be a simple diff. swap to get modern brakes.I'd also like to keep the 8 bolt wheels. What are my options for a front brake swap?? Are F1 fenders the same?,all new parts are listed as F1. I'm not sure about an engine swap,but if I do one it must be a ford power plant.What is the best route to take? If I keep the flathead I've heard a S10 5 speed works well,is that true?? Any more hints and tips are welcome. I've read about using an explorer frame ,so please don't send me to that thread
Perhaps a Dana 60 from a 50s to 60s Ford F250 wouldn't be that far from a bolt in. That would get you an eight lug hub. I don't know that the front brakes would be hard to get parts for. I can't be sure. More knowledgeable folks may chime in. The F1 front fenders have a smaller radius due to a smaller front wheel/tire. The rear fenders are wider on an F1 due to its narrower box. The F2-3 had a wider box, and narrower fenders.
As noted fenders are different for the F-1 and the larger trucks. The F-2 has the same front fenders as all trucks up to F-6. The rear axle can be easily swapped out with a newer rear axle from a pre-'73 truck. After '72 the width widened and the wheels will stick out past your fenders. You can go a couple of different ways with the front and rear axles. If you want to go with a lighter axle you could swap out the rear axle with an axle from a pre-'73 F-00, this will give you a five lug bolt pattern and then you could buy a disc brake conversion kit for the front. The conversion kits that you can buy are for the F-1 so this will also give you a five bolt pattern in the front. If you want to retain the eight bolt pattern on the front you can build your own disc brake conversion using modern parts from newer trucks: http://fatfenderedtrucks.com/f2_f3_discbrakes.html I have a parts interchange page on my web site to help with what parts are shared by all models of '48-52 Ford trucks: http://fatfenderedtrucks.com/partsinterchange.html If you really want to do a lot of work you could swap the entire chassis and have the added features of a completely newer drive line. If you have the skills, space and equipment this could be done: http://fatfenderedtrucks.com/frameswap01.html BTW, the brake parts are not that hard to get for your F-2. Both Job Lot Auto, www.joblotauto.com and LMC, www.lmctruck.com have the parts for your truck. You can also get a lot of the parts from NAPA or any other good local parts store that's willing to look through their catalogs.
The Jalopy Journal
