Nothing wrong with rebuild flattie, full house, 3 deuces and dual exhaust, with mild cam. I recently drove a vintage pickup, and let me tell you, even I had forgotten how crude they really are. Parts of the body appears to have been at one point. Personally I love driving it with the flathead and all. This one cries out to me ā and not in surrender! Can more than get money out as custom than redoing stock.
Thankfully, the seller has already sourced a replacement flathead! Nice enough gut he helped me load the Stude onto my trailer. . Other than that, I would love to bring this truck to my place. The engine was reportedly pulled when the truck was parked in 1979. I'd think seriously about the '40-'41 sheetmetal if I were you. The condition of the engine is unknown, but maybe with some marvel mystery oil and some time it could be freed up? I went to his house and in the back yard he had all kinds of old cars and trucks lined up.
The interior is a bit crusty, and there are some small holes in the floors, but the floors are still there. Of course it went downhill a little faster than I was able to keep up so I took it off the road and commenced a major body-off restoration. For any kind of travel over 5 miles, over 40 mph, they need to be updated. What would you do with this post war pickup? I always thought the Jailbar Fords had a mug that only a mother could love tolerate. This looks as being good core for a semi or full rod truck project.
I think it looks much better, the original grill was just too packed in. Looks like the jailbars were cut out at some points. My way to keep as much original as possible, but improved. From the cab forward, this truck appears rather solid, and without extensive damage. The section that had 3 bars, now has 2, and so on.
Good luck with the project and post pics as you go. Mine cruised just fine at 60 mph and kept up with most traffic. I do a lot of 46-47 trucks. One big thing is the grille. With new seat upholstery and a little rust treatment, this interior could otherwise be used as is. My quick search come up empty, but maybe you or someone else will have better luck. Be sure to take another look at this cool Ford! I think a bunch of us would be curious to see how it turns out.
Get flathead running, yes I used to use Marvel Mystery oil, still use it but not to unstick cylinders and brakes, pull all running gear, clean and loosen rear gears and tranny, sell and spend couple years custom building. It almost appears that the body panels have been painted multiple colors. There are a few dents showered over the tailgate, but the bed looks very reasonable. All in all decent shape, but needs some finishing. Overall, this is a really cool truck.
Hopefully, it will get a new lease on life. Had anyone seen any custom grilles or grille swaps that actually look good on these trucks? The flathead is tempermental but so am Iā¦. I like the cowl vent, side windows and the sliding rear window mine has the deluxe cab. I use the steel replacement grill bars, not the tchrome so I can paint them, take 1 out of each section and then respacing the bars. What surprised me was this is in Minnesota and every one of his vehicles had surface rust only, no rot through. I bought a 1950 Studebaker off this seller a couple years back. Overall this truck offers a few possibilities, and certainly seems like a project worthy pickup.
Also the factory steering wheel is rather nice with only a few minor cracks to be seen. The seller describes the floorboards and cab corners as being in excellent condition. I hear the repops don't fit very well. So I either need to replace that front nose piece so I can get the chrome grille bars, or I need to figure out something else for the front end. Stop the rust, upgrade to a modern Ford five litre, five speed, redo the interior, upgrade safety features and then drive the snot out of it. Or have that front piece laying around back somewhere? Both rear fenders are a bit rough with sheet metal rips, and some dents to show.
The Flathead V8 is still in place, and the styling of this truck is great to say the least. The trucks column shift 3-speed is present as well, so you will have to decide whether to keep the 3-speed or upgrade to the floor shifted 4-speed. . . . .