Projects 1951 Ford F1 "The Nut Smuggler"

Hi all

This is my first venture into the world of Yank metal after years of 50's VW ownership, I've posted up pics of the cars i've built in the newbie thread

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=7832502#post7832502

I've wanted a 50's Ford pickup for a long long time so after having the cash from selling my 55 Ragtop Bug I came across this 51 F1 on Ebay which was perfect for the type of ride i'm into















After a chat with the seller and receiving further pictures a deal was struck and the truck was mine

 

A couple of weeks later the seller delivered the truck to Cornwall for me, welcome to the Cornish weather!







After unloading it was quickly rolled into it's new home in a unit I rent a corner of locally







First Look









Rear cavities full to the brim with nuts!






So far i've not found any unexpected horror's which is cool

For what ever reason it's had the brake pedal, MC, Handbrake, Coloumn & Wheel switched to something from another model and also a homemade dash!

Can anyone shed any light on what the dash might be from so I can get the truck on the road I would like to try and hunt down the missing switch gear for this dash and will graft back in an OG dash once I track one down

 

Since the truck was delivered I have carefully removed the added rear metal work, damn that was well attached!!







Looks much cleaner without it, i'm going to fit OG style tail lights. I'm also thinking about refitting just the bar section of what I have removed as it will be nice to fit a towbar onto as I plan to tow with the truck

While laying under the bed sniffing round I discovered that the OG wood bed is still under the welded in steel sheet and the wood looks in pretty good condition. My next job will be to remove the sheet to take a look



The plan is to get the truck working mechanically and to recommission the Flathead and then to UK register, after that we shall see

As I say this is my first trip into Yank metal so i'm going to be asking a few questions along the way

Cheers
Mike

 

I had some time to work on the truck so I set about removing the steel load bed to investigate what's below



This is what's left of the OG bed


Could be worse but also could be better

A couple of sections are totally rotten meaning that if left like this you wouldn't be able to use the bed to carry anything, so I've either got to replace the rotten sections and preserve what's left or replace the lot

I have timber available at work & I could easily route the profile on myself so bed replacement wouldn't be a costly exercise if I choose to go that route

I realised today that the previous owner had swapped the wheels front to back as the tracking must be totally out and had worn the outer edges on both front's, Also I now realise that the wheels that were fitted to the front were actually the wider rear rims so it looked abit odd

I've scored a pair wide Firestone wide white cross ply's off here to go onto the rear once i've lasted and detailed the rims


Here's some better pics of the custom dash that i'm going to have to live with for awhile

 

Welcome to the HAMB! Thanks for all the photos of your project, next best thing to walking around it. Looks really solid, looking forward to more progress. Bob

 

Thanks Bob, i'm real happy i've not found any real problems yet

 

Dash looks like part of 52/53 Ford car. Good project, best of luck.

 

I just need to get switches and guage working so I can use the truck until a donor F1 dash comes up

Will take a look for 50's car parts, thanks

 

looks like a good start

 

Nice F1 looks real solid. Like the name you gave it. Appropriate after looking at the pics, cool!

 

Congrats on the truck...looks better already.

 

Hey Mike;

Have a feel up and under the exsisting dash. By the looks of things in your pictures your original dash or parts of it may be what they welded the new dash to.

Be sure to save the SW cluster next to the steering column on the right. Those are cool.

Doug.

 

Looks good Mike. It has been awhile since I was in a ''53 Ford but my best recolection is your dash is from that era. From the looks of the big chunk of bondo missing below the instrument panel, I would think there is another dash underneath the present one.

 

That's right, dash is from a '52-'53 Ford p***enger car. (so is the steering wheel)

If you could find the steering column from that '53 Ford p***enger car, it would have a nice genuine Ford factory turn signal switch built in to the 'bell' below the steering wheel.

Much more sanitary than that accessory add-on turn sig switch the younger set seems to swoon over! LOL

Cheerio, Mike!

 

Sent you a pm

 

Why not just do a better job of finishing that dash it's kinda cool.

 

here are the pics of my extra dash.

 

Ok cool, as I said in my return Pm a friend regularly ships a container from Sacramento to the UK so shipping wouldn't be a problem

Can you let me know what price you had in mind

Thanks
Mike

 

I'm also after a column & steering wheel, clutch & brake pedal ***embly, has pedal ***embly & emergency brake ***embly if anyone has any of those available

 

Nice start good luck with the truck!

 

Good looking F1. I'm in the middle of an 52 F1 redo myself. I'll be watching.
Subscribed.
PM sent

 

Congrats on the new truck!! Looks like you picked a solid one to start with. Good luck on your project.

 

cool truck man. looks wayyyy better with the metal work off the back of the bed

 

Thanks everyone

The flathead is all unbolted and ready to be lifted out for it recomissioning and detailing

My projects are always a juggling act trying to get to spend time with my wife and 2 year old son do a 50 hour week at work and get to the workshop to wrench on my projects, I'm hoping to get back on the truck one evening this week

 

Nice truck! Good luck with the project! and Cornwall is beautiful I'd just like to say.

 

First off, love the name.

Second, I like the custom 52-53 Ford car dash. It could use some finish work, but it's cool that someone took the time to do that and it makes the truck an "old custom", I'd try to keep it.

 

I had to take a double take, it looks like one I bought and sold last year. I attached a pic that looks like a triple scoop of F-1's, the mint one I sold the next day after the yellow one.

 

Nice Truck, use it in as-is condition.

 

Someone stole all of your rust-out areas in the front fenders and front gravel pan! You should be pissed!

 

Nice truck. the dash gauges would be two round ones for 51 52 the picture that fishermantim posted os for a 48-50 truck, it would work though just not correct. ive also got an extra 51 52 dash if you end up needing one.