1954 Ford F100/F250 4x4 Tow Vehicle

[Fordman75]

No offense, but both of those doors look to be in better shape than the door on the car you got them leaning against. What year is that car?

Do you know the usual sources of parts for those trucks (Dennis Carpenter, etc....)? If not, I will give you the names of the companies I would use if I were at the point of fixing my truck.


Packman

No offense taken. That car is a turd that I'm stripping to scrap it out. It's a 96 Dodge Avenger that has almost 300,000 miles on it. It still runs decent but everything else is worn out on it. It's been in 3 minor accidents and the alignment is so bad it will take a new tire and wear it to the chords in a week! And as you can see it has plenty of rust. It's a turd but it was fun to beat on. The little 2.5L V6 had quite a bit of power for it's size. It was amazingly easy to light up the tires from a dead stop. But the thing has the turning radius of a school bus!


Yea I've got the info on almost all the aftermarket places . I've had the best luck with Mid Fifty's F100's. So they are where I get most of my new parts. But it doesn't do me much good without the cash to buy the parts.

[Fordman75]

Well I've got a small update. No I haven't changed my mind again!!!

I ordered both cab corners and the lower front driver side door post( with hinge pocket ) .




I wasn't sure my plan for using the front door post with the hinge pockets, from the spare cab, on the opposite sides in the back would work. I was concerned the contours of the front and rear would be different enough to cause a problem. But I checked it out with the new parts and it looks like it's going to work out great. There are just a couple minor adjustments needed and it should be good to go.




I scored this stuff for Xmas . This is some of of fittings and misc. I needed for my brake system. Just a few more parts checked off the list.






I'm going to try and get some more parts and supplies over the winter. Then I'll start working on the cab next spring ( I hope ) .

[packman]

Nice!!! I forgot, what engine/tranny are you using for that truck?

I went out to move my '53 a couple months ago and I found out that the tarp that I have covering it is pinned under the tree trunk (large oak that fell last Spring).



Packman

[Fordman75]

Nice!!! I forgot, what engine/tranny are you using for that truck?

I went out to move my '53 a couple months ago and I found out that the tarp that I have covering it is pinned under the tree trunk (large oak that fell last Spring).



Packman

I'm going to run the 300 that's in the 78 F150 4x4. But it's going to be a little on the wild side. As of now I'm planning on a Shelby GT500 Eaton H122 supercharger with an air to water intercooler and a QTF 750 cfm E85 blow thru carb, Custom grind Crower cam, Crower stainless steel roller rockers, Diamond custom pistons (around 9.0:1-9.5:1 compression ) , ARP head and main studs & rod bolts. I'm going to port the head myself and also going to build a pair of stepped large tube ( 1 7/8"-2" primaries ) full length headers. I think around 350-375 hp should be doable with this set up.

The transmission is a NP435 4spd manual and behind that is a NP205 transfercase that I'm going to twin stick.



That sucked about that tree falling. Are you going to take a chainsaw to the trunk to get it out of the way?

[Fordman75]

Well a today I went on a little trip to pick up some more parts.

I found a guy that had an almost rust free South Dakota 55 F500 front clip ( No hood and he wanted to keep the grille ) . The fenders are in really nice shape. They each have a small crack by where the running boards mount and the one has a small dent in an area that's going to be simple to fix. It was a 300 mile round trip to get the front clip. But I got the front clip for $100! That's less then what a single fender was selling for.

I figure I can sell the rest of the front clip parts, since I don't need them. I should be able to get a little more then I paid for the front clip out of the rest of the parts. Which means free fenders!!:banana:


I've also been looking for a 240 inline 6 for a while. I found a complete 69 240 and it was on the way to where I had to go for the front clip.


Well here's my van full of used parts.

[Fordman75]

Pulled some of the stuff out to get some better pictures.


The 240, I pulled the fan, spacer and pulley off before I took the pictures. I'm beginning to think about a supercharged 240 instead of the 300.:evil:






Yes I broke the distributor cap hauling it home.






I pulled the fenders out to give them a thorough inspection.








The mounting flange is one spot they like to rust out and it's perfect.






Here's the dent in the passenger fender. But it's open on the back side. So a little hammer and dolly time it will be good as new.




Here's the crack I was talking about yesterday. It will be easy to weld up.:welder:




And I was wrong this fender isn't rust free. I found a rust bubble about the size of a quarter.






The driver side looks good.







No rust just another crack like the other fender.:welder:







The guy I got them from appeared to like a cutting torch better then a wrench and ratchet.



Luckily here it just took some paint off the fender.





The inner fenders weren't as lucky. That's going to cut into the cash I can get for them.

[packman]

When I was 14, I was going to try a resto-mod of my '53 and my front fenders were in the same condition. I couldn't get the top bolts off of the fenders. Plus the rails were rotted as well. The hood lip (under the hood ornament) is completely rotted. I will probably buy a new steel hood. At one time, I think the company was called Gibbons Fiberglass, had fiber hoods for these trucks. I don't think they sell them anymore. I will have to take a look.



Packman

[Fordman75]

The guy I bought the fender from didn't even try to unbolt stuff. He was in to big of a hurry so he just torched the stuff. I've got nothing against a cutting torch. But for me if I had one it would be the last resort when pulling parts I was planning to sell. It wouldn't be the first tool.. Hell he had a nice shop with a bunch of air tools.

But I'm over it. I got some great fenders for a very good price.

[LTDMan83]

Nice Scores!

I agree though, it always aggravates me when people who are pulling parts half-ass things just to save time.

[Fordman75]

Thanks.

[Fordman75]

Got a couple more parts today. I ordered them last week.

I ordered the outer lower door skin patches for the rear doors from Midfifty F100 Parts.





They showed up in good shape. The one patch has one little spot were there is a minor wrinkle/ding. But overall they look good.



This will probably be it for buying parts for a while until I get some more cash.

[Fordman75]

Well it's been a while since I posted any updates. But that's because I still haven't done any work on the 54!

I did order 4 braided stainless steel StopFlex brakes hoses from Classic Tube. They are nice quality, good price and DOT approved. I only need to pick up 5 more and I'll have all the hoses for the brake and clutch systems.




And I also ordered something I've been needing for quite a while. I got a nice Lincoln Viking 3550 welding helmet with a couple magnifying cheater lenses. The quality is much better then my old cheapo northern tool one! I'm hoping my welding skills might improve if I can actually see what I'm doing!





And I plan to finally start pulling the body off the 78 F150 next week. Then I'll need to pick up some more metal and dig out the cab. Then I can get going on that. It will most likely be the end of this month beginning of May before I get to the cab.