Restoration...

Anyone have any experience on restoring old trucks/cars? I might have a new project in the shop next month.





More here: http://s16.photobucket.com/albums/b25/xjghost/Ford F-1/

Re: Restoreation...

all i know is if you really want to restore it it should go to a media blaster before your shop

Re: Restoreation...

Make it run and drive good and leave the paint and stuff alone. It has a perfect finish on it now.

Re: Restoreation...

PacificEd said:

Make it run and drive good and leave the paint and stuff alone. It has a perfect finish on it now.

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I actually drove that truck back in 93 or 94. I'm not sure what I'm going to do bc this is all new to me. I guess get it here and see if the motor will turn by hand then go from there.

I'm with Ed on this one. A ratrod type build

Hmm... ratrod means big motor, chop top, low to the ground (as close to dragging as possible is good) etc. I think a 12 valve 6BT would be cool with a nice twin setup on it with no hood. Or... if you really want to restore it, go to media blaster first. That way you know what you are dealing with right off the bat, and prepping the metal for welding will be way easier with all the rust gone. If you restore it, I think a 4 Valve supercharged mod motor would be cool, or a nice small block stroker. Gotta have pretty paint, A/C, power windows and locks, low to the ground and nice wheels, etc.

Lol @ Team Willys dropping hints for a dodge, ford, and chevy motor in the same post.

Most rat rods end up being a Heinz 57 mix.

Guys strive to get that rusty patina so leave it like it is and focus on making it driveable.

I think a cummins ratrod would be pretty damn wicked... At the same time if I was going to spend the coin on a cummins, it would be in a tow rig.

XJfreakHO said:

I think a cummins ratrod would be pretty damn wicked... At the same time if I was going to spend the coin on a cummins, it would be in a tow rig.

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I agree on both thoughts.

OK a little history on this truck. I was owned by my Grandmothers Nephew. I called him Uncle Lenord. When he got out of the Navy in 1950 or so he told me he went to the Ford dealership with his '41 truck and traded it in for this one. He died quite a while ago. He was very close to me and my family. When I was a kid this truck sat behind his dad's house (my uncle buddy) a block from my grandmother. When we would go visit her I would walk the block to see my uncle buddy and he always had a freezer full of ice cream sandwiches. I have memories of playing in, on and around this truck and eating ice cream sandwiches with my uncle. Fast forward many years. Shortly after I graduated from college in '92 he was down in Florida for a get together/party at my parents house. My uncle Lenord's brother, my uncle Ed who is still around, and I were sitting at a table chatting. The truck came up and that is where I learned of its history with the family. I asked him if I could have it and restore it. He told me yes if I would try and restore it. I worked on it some in the 90's and drove it around the shop in those pictures several times. I never had the money to pay someone to fix it up and back then no one around that could help me. With all the mods I have done on the jeep I feel like restoring an old truck might be the next challenge. My uncle Ed is 78 and not getting any younger. I know it breaks his heart knowing that his Brothers truck is not getting done to it what should be done. This truck is a family heirloom to me. I have to try and get it to my shop and start the process of restoring it. So this will be a plain old restoration. I will probably get it her and see what kinda shape its in mechanically before I do anything major. I am hoping to pull the body off the frame and do it right. Even if I have to send one part to the blaster at a time. I figure the biggest expense on this will be my time and the body work. I have been looking around the net for some sights to research on, so if you have done this or know someone who has I could use some pointers. Thanks for the ideas though.... there is another one here in town that I have no emotional attachment to. So maybe after this one I might get another.

LMC will come in handy for any of those random parts that you might need from window cranks to weather stripping to bedsides.

Once you find out how much structural work needs to be done post up and we can give you more detailed advise.

If you want some inspiration, search around the internet for and try to find video of the 1955 Ford F-100 restoration they did on "Desert Car Kings" or if you have a DirectTV and DVR search for that episode and tape it.

Good stuff.

93xjcowboy said:

LMC will come in handy for any of those random parts that you might need from window cranks to weather stripping to bedsides.

Once you find out how much structural work needs to be done post up and we can give you more detailed advise.

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X2 on lmc its great for older stuff.... I personally like a nice resto mod good looking original body and a nice slightly updated and more fun drivetrain...I can imagine tthebest advice is one project or area at a time and go from there. Draw out what you want, allocate a budget and Lear and research qnd work per project or area. That way you do it yourself and your not straining budget. I've never done one but if I was that's how I would do it.... that's how I lay out my projects anyhow, stage by stage each with an individual budget.


It's a cool truck and its cool you know the history to it

I agree with shortxjdoug, the resto mod would be sweet. Plus when you were a kid thinking about driving this truck what did you picture it as then? Probably mostly stock but a little better. I am by no means a master mechanic and all of my stuff has been in my back yard or a buddies or for the army, but what I do know is that the oldtimers I have hung out with most of my life have always had one thing in common reguardless of brand preference or engine size..... Its gotta have a soul, so my advice to you is to take a 6pack and a radio out one day and sit on the tail gate or hood or in it and see what comes to your mind. Most likely it will be very similar to what you envisioned as a kid but there will be a bit of moddern flare to it. Figure out what kind of truck it wants to be and go from there. If you do that you can never go wrong. What ever you do decide to do though, I would like to see the progress. Good luck. Oh also dont rush it if it takes 2 or 3 years let it take its course. If your like me the truck will talk to you more than you realize until you finish it.

I personally would get that thing in the shop start by taking the body off the frame and see whats salvageable anything that is get it to a media blaster. I wouldn't try tackling the body and motor at the same time take it one step at a time and spend the money were its needed. The majority of that body looks to be in good shape not many holes in it which should save you a lot of work.
I am no master at restoration but have looked into it a lot as its something I have dreamed about doing since I was a little kid.
Best plan of attack I would say is start tearing it down to the frame see whats good then come up with a game plan decide what you want it to look like early on sketch it out if you can come up with a theme, It will help you out and start getting some pricing on materials. Last but not least do a lot of research about the truck.

Go restomod. Make it look stock, but put some horsepower under the hood.

If it has emotional value to you then I wouldn't do a rat rod. But, a sweet restomod with some updates would be nice. A/C, power windows, overdrive trans, etc are all perfectly acceptable mods that won't take away from the truck or it's value. You want to be able to drive it, so creature comforts are a good thing to have. I personally would go ahead and ditch the straight axle front and do a mustang 2 setup with an 8.8 rear and 4 wheel discs. Again, these just make it easier to enjoy and drive. Heck, you could even rebuild the factory flathead with some cool retro go fast goodies suck as a 6 pack intake, performance cam, and headers. Honest Charlies is located here in town and they are the kings of flat head restoration/performance. Im not saying it has to be super fast, but you want it to have enough power to be enjoyable. The thing is, its gonna take a lot of work to get it done, and after you do it all, you will want it to be a comfortable driver so you can enjoy it.

Team Willys said:

I personally would go ahead and ditch the straight axle front and do a mustang 2 setup with an 8.8 rear and 4 wheel discs.

The thing is, its gonna take a lot of work to get it done, and after you do it all, you will want it to be a comfortable driver so you can enjoy it.

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I was going to suggest the same thing the mustang 2 setup is the cheapest easiest way to do that mod and there is tons of info online for it.

I completely agree with the second part of this quote take some time on it and do it right the first time and you wont regret it in the end and you'll want to hang on to it for a long time. Just try to come up with a plan before you start full bore in the project that's probably the best advice i can give you.

Well pm 99ncxj.

He can CO2 blast it for you.

What to do with it? It all depends on how you're going to use it. If you want to show it and talk about it, but drive it very little. Like to church on Sunday 1 mile away. I'd do a complete restoration. You have all the original parts.

If you want to drive it more than a couple miles do a resto mod. Semi-modern drivetrain. Power brakes and steering. etc. You can do vintage ac, a radio and make it fun to drive around.

Either way keep all the original parts. If you want to restore it later you have all the parts.

All those rusty bolts are a pain. Don't lube them. Take everything off with a breaker bar. 90% of the time the bolts will break and make the job faster. When you start lubing stuff it gets longer. Bag and tag everything. Take pictures as you take it apart because you'll be putting it back together in a year and you'll forget how it looked. We used to use polaroids for this.

BTW I used to work in a resto shop.