1951 Ford F1/F150 fusion

[mine_us_3]

Hello friends.
This is the start (obviously) to my new thread on building my 1951 Ford F1 with using the frame, suspension, engine (351W, comp cams, edelbrock performer intake, edelbrock carb, high flow oil and water pumps), trans (C6), and diff (9") out of my 1986 Ford F150. Before I get the..."why didn't you just use a s10 frame" question, I will answer it for you. Because I already have the F150. fair enough? I don't have a lot of money to put into this truck, but have a vision that I want to fulfill. With that being said, I will attach pictures along the adventure. I invite you folks to comment and criticize along the way, for if you don't, I could be missing something I would really like.

-Seth

1951 F1

Donor truck

Finished getting the cab off today, now just have a rolling chassis.

 

[Snake Farm]

I'm liking it already[cl Are you going full fendered?? To each his own but I love those year fat fendered pickups with the fenders on. Looks like you are off and running, good luck and keep us posted.
Oh, and welcome to RRR

 

[earthman]

Haven't done anything wrong so far

 

[mine_us_3]

yes sir, the fenders are staying on. The f150 frame will have to be shortened approximately 12" to make the wheelbase correct as well. I will be taking leafs out of the rear end as my father (who I bought the truck from) added extra ones for towing the car hauler. I will have to leave the front suspension alone as it is the dual I-beam setup and can't lower it without having a bunch of camber issues. So I will be channeling as much as I can to make it look lower. I am a bit worried actually because after we took the f150 cab off today I have some positive camber now. I'm sure some will go away with the weight of the '51 cab on the frame, but I don't know if the wheels will sit with 0 camber. I sure do hope so.

 

[Shea Laking]

Looking forward to seeing your progress as you come along.

Does your F150 twin I beam have kingpins, or balljoints? If it's got balljoints, you can get different upper balljoint eccentrics in order to correct for positive/negative camber issues. Sorry, I can't remember off the top of my head right now what year it was Ford quit using the kingpins...[S

As far as your S10 comment, don't worry about it. Frankly, S-truck chassis are too narrow for one of these, anyway. Those big fat fenders would be FLOATING over the front tires... Besides, you'll likely never have to worry about payload capacity this way.

Best of luck and please keep us posted![P

Regards,
Shea

 

[mine_us_3]

It is looking like balljoints to me. Thank you for the tip as I never knew they made such a thing to fix camber issues. That makes me feel better because I don't think this truck will weigh quite as much as it used to.

 

[skull]

usin' what ya got

Great ldea Usin' What Ya Have 0n Hand,[cl

same story with me, 6 generations of running chevy's and 4 decades of racing chevy cars left a ton of stuff laying around, so, it's chevy power for my street rods and projects.

keep us updated, we like lots of pice here at RRR,:[P
Later

 

[38fordtruck]

great work so far. i never liked the looks of 80s fords anyway

 

[Z.Z.Rat]

Stealth black in the black of the night. Good looking project.

 

[Shea Laking]

It is looking like balljoints to me. Thank you for the tip as I never knew they made such a thing to fix camber issues. That makes me feel better because I don't think this truck will weigh quite as much as it used to.

HMMM..... Looking at that just now, that axle end looks "different" from the Econoline school buses I work on everyday.

Those are definately balljoints, but I can't tell from that picture if it has the eccentrics? Is there a "pinch bolt" around either one opening in the spindle or one opening in the axle end? That's a sure indicator that it has the eccentric sleeves I'm talking about...

Regards,
Shea

 

[hotrod preacher]

yeah you have ball-joints, and as shea already mentioned, eccentrics are available...but i might suggest getting all your weight on it and see what you have first, then i would possibly consider -dare i say it-- cutting a coil off of it to get it " in the neighborhood of correct" before using the eccentric, as they can only do so much...


keep us posted...

 

[Johnson]

I like this build so far. Subscribed to keep an eye on it...[P

 

[mine_us_3]

I have thought about cutting a coil, but the problem is that the springs get smaller at the top and bottom. I won't be able to cut anything and have the springs stay where they are supposed to. Any ideas? I'm sure there are lowering springs you can buy, but...they aren't free.

Might I add this piece of valuable information. Anyone that might be working on a F1, THE FENDERS ARE UNIQUE TO ONLY AN F1! Ugh... When I bought the truck, the guy I got it from included a spare left front fender. It was in pretty good shape with a little rust here and there. I cut out the rust, TIG welded in new panels, peened, sanded, and got some of it ready for a skim coat. THEN figured out that it is for a f2 through f6. Now I have a 3/4 finished left front fender that is useless to me. So now, I have to try to find a couple front fenders (which is near impossible) or buy 'glass ones (which I'd rather not). I like the original tins. So if I saved if even 1 person from a lot of wasted time, this post will be worth it.

 

[Shea Laking]

WOW!! REALLY!!?!! [S

Totally different than similar era Chevy's...Those use the same front clip from 1/2 ton all the way up through 1 tons... Makes parts a little easier for them, I guess.

I wonder if you could cut pieces off of the good "bigger" fender to patch your rusty 1/2 ton one? Would save buying another fender...[

I'm inclined to agree with The Hot Rod Preacher's post above... Get 'er all together and see where the ride height and angles "fall out" with full weight on it.

Regards,
Shea

 

[mine_us_3]

I didn't take any pictures today, but I removed a bracket from the left side of the frame today, and ground down to clean metal. I marked everything out on the frame to remove exactly 19" to make the f150 frame the same wheelbase as the F1. All measurements are within 1/32" to make re-assembly easier and safer. I designed some fish plates that will go inside the frame rails as well, and I will weld them in place once I get the frame back together. I will also be drilling and bolting the fish plates to the frame for extra support. The plates will be 1/4" thick. I will probably cut the plates out on the cnc plasma cutter at work.

oh...and btw, I am going to cut the frame straight up, not in a z pattern just for the fact as I don't have enough room. I have researched all over the place, and it is almost a 50/50 feedback on which way is better.

 

[mine_us_3]

Alright guys and gals. I did a bit more work today than I thought I would do. I planned on just cutting the frame in half and calling it a day. What I DID was cut it, set everything up, level, square, level, re-square, measure 150,000 different points on the frame to make sure its square, clamp, measure, tack, and TIG weld the frame back together. I am attaching a bunch of pictures for you all to feast on. I am also including a picture of the fish plates I cut on the plasma to fit inside the frame rails. I don't have them welded and bolted in yet. I am also including a picture of my TIG. [

On the down side, as I was day-dreaming and walking around the frame, I see that the left rear main leaf spring is cracked on the rear mount. SO...if you jack up the rear end, the back side of the leaf separates from the mount. ugh...now I need to find a rear main leaf.

Rolled it out of the garage. Notice the cleaned areas where the cutting will take place.

Fish plate

 

[mine_us_3]

 

[Johnson]

You have about a billion leaves(I counted 11) in your rear spring pack! Was the previous owner pulling a fifth wheel with that F150? On the plus side, it should be easier to find a main leaf for the F150 than the F1.

Keep up the work, looks good.

 

[rebstew]

I like the idea. Later model running gear in and older body. Cool!

 

[KnoxVegas]

Looking good so far! I'll be watching this thread so I can steal useful ideas since I am getting ready to start something similar.