project blackburn(42 ford)

hey everyone i thought id share some pics of my first project a 42 ford 1 ton. first off a little history lesson about the truck an old gezzer with the last name blackburn bought this truck many years ago and put many hard miles on it. then my grandpa aquried it somehow he drove for a few years and replaced the king pins many times and eventualy he got sick of changing them. so he parked it where it sat for a few years then my uncle deiced to try and get it runing he wasnt succesfull and he forgot to put the air cleaner back on
so it sat for many more years then it caught the eye of a local auto body man and it just happened my grandpa wanted his 58 edsel painted so my grandpa offerd trade, cash plus the truck for a paint job which seemed fair untill we let the painter touch the edsel he did a decent job of painting it however he thought he could "fix" the problem we had with the shifter which was that it wouldnt start in park you would have to put it in neutral which wasnt a big deal to us but he still took the electronic shifther stuff a part and lost parts for it! so we took the car home and told him to **** off you aint getting paid and few more years went by and guy came to my grandpa begging for some money and grandpa being too kind of a man paid him! but didnt give him the title to the old truck. then a few years later i told my grandpa im going to bring the blackburn home his eyes watered a little and he said "you really want it?" i said "yeah its a cool truck" he said well "i still got the title" so i brought her home



when i brought it home







my plan for it is to swap a 77 toyota frame under it (i lack the tools/funds to build one right now) keep the fenders and the old flathead v8 but back it up with a t5 tranny and do a 4 inch chop

Nice truck and great story, keep us posted!

Beercan

rustybeercan said:

Nice truck and great story, keep us posted!

Beercan

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What He Said.....[P[P

plan?

soooooooooooooooo, whats the plan for it

nice lookin' start


Later

thanks guys i worked on it yesterday i filled in some holes and repaired the floor boards a little [ the plan is to mount it on a 77 yota chassis and to keep the old flathead v8 in it with a 4 inch chop. im considering some suicide doors as well. as for a bed im not sure my g/f's dad has a 48 ford out to his place that has a decent bed on it and he said to take what i need

why not keep the flatbed?
sorry -- i love flatbeds
anyways -- welcome and good lookin truck.

Sounds like a good plan. Truck looks cool too.

thanks guys this project will soon run my life because my girlfriend had to move 300 miles away and i need somthing to keep my mind off of her wish me luck

sucess i got a bed from my girlfriends dad yesterday. just in the neck of time to. because the truck "a 56 ford" was hauled off later that day. along with a decent 48 ford i hope his ih from the 20's dont disappear too

Your truck

Thats my favorite ford truck body style. Looks like a good start.

redratguy said:

Thats my favorite ford truck body style. Looks like a good start.

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thanks but which ford the 69 or the 42?


anyway i got some stuff done today my hammer and dolly set got here today and quicky put them to use on a dent which i belive was put in the truck on purpose so that the flatbed would fit i also stiched part of the floor together it was spliting and started filling in the hole for the fuel neck [ heres some more pictures i have more but i cant seem to find cord for my camera









this might bring a tear to somones eye these trucks belonged to my girlfriends dad and they pretty much had to get hauled off because the city was complianing about them. however i dont think the guy who hauled them off had permission and i know who it was and im going to open my mouth next time i see him. its a good thing i have a foot on him and 50 pounds haha

this cab was very usable before but as you can see its a goner now at least i got the bed of it before it dissapered


this truck has been slowly going down hill over the years when my girlfriends dad got it was 90% there and had lots of work done to the cab. then slowly everthing dissapeard off it execpt the cab and frame. i would save it but i have to many projects and not enough room for it. besides the city was after me for my dump truck they said it was an abandon truck even though its stickered and insured

i worked at her today i got some welds ground down and added a peice to the floor to cover up the trough in the back wich is rusting away and i would be a pain to fix it also give the back panel some strength its a bit crude but it should do the job.

Good to see you making progress. Wish I could say the same for myself
Keep the pics coming![P[P

what year is that hood youre using for patch panels? I used an early 80s merc with good results but and 89 ranger hood just burns through like foil fiy

im not sure what the hood came off of i found it laying around with half the paint striped off which made my job esaier

i hope tomarow i can chop the top on the old gal. this is the first time i have tryed anything like this does anyone have any advice? im just learning here im only 20 and havent been around stuff like this. i know i want to go 4 inches and i want to keep the rear window intact (it has some sweet algae growing on the molding and i dont want to get rid of it) i also want split the diffrence on the back window so its channeled 2 inches into the body and 2 inches into the top. i think they look funny with the window sitting right by the lower crease in the cab


thanks guys

i got some more rust in the floor fixed

so the chop begins

today i just needed somthing to do so i hauled the old thing over to my grandpa's shop and began marking out lines then double checking the lines then triple checking them untill i got the disc grinder with a cutoff wheel out and choped off the window frames and started some cuts on the cab then i used some steel fence posts to brace the cab and started cutting with the jig saw but i deiced to call it quits for tonight and get some diner and start fresh tomarow after chores

heres some pics of course

Looks ready for a haircut.

i got the top chopped off and tacked the window back on now im taking a little break i hope to get it all in line and tacked on tonight heres some pics of course hahaha











a little test fitting this is going look sick!