Im still trying to sell my '68 Mustang, but had the opportunity to buy this from a friend this past week and couldnt pass it up! Ive always loved the old 50's pickup trucks so I thought why not rebuild this one and throw some boost at it.

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Its a 1951 Ford, came with a '65 Chevy C-10 chassis, rear fenders from a Dodge, bed from a 50's ford and a 351W/C-4 combo from an early 80's Ford truck. Got all of it for $450 from a friend who was going to put it together but ran out money and found another project to work on. The body is rusty but only has a couple spots that would need to be patched, mostly the floorboards.

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Right now my plans are to strip it back down to the frame and convert it to post 1971 C-10 specs which means 5lug axles and disc brakes. Weld in some extra bracing in the frame and POR15 it.

Then fix all the major rust problems, floorboards, front fender, front end below the grill and hammer out as many of the dent as possible. The hood doesnt fit well at all but I think I can hammer enough to make it work. One question...right now the truck has this awesome patina, the surface rust, the faded paint and old signage you can just make out on the doors. So do I keep this or go all out and blast it down and paint it? Im diggin the 'ratrod' look, even though I HATE that word with a passion!!

Once the 'bodywork' is done Ill set it back on the frame and work on the wheel/tire combo. Thinking bout the American Racing Salt Flats in a 17x8 up front and 18x9 out back.
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From there Ill rebuild the 351 with forged pistons, a good cam and intake, some port work on the iron heads and either go with a masterpower 76 or twin holsets. Havent decided yet on carb vs. efi, im curious about trying out a megasquirt system so I might go that way this time round Give the C-4 a rebuild and finish out the interior with a 90's Chevy bench seat and some upholestry and itll be good to go. IF you have any thoughts or ideas Id like to hear them!!

 

Re: 1951 Ford boooosted pickup

Fix it but make it look period..

Rat rod is for people who want to pretend to be cool.

 

Re: 1951 Ford boooosted pickup

REALY like that truck , the dodge fenders look like they belong on there the curvature is the same as the frontfenders

 

Re: 1951 Ford boooosted pickup

I say blast it and paint it. Either way should be a cool build, I'll be watching.

 

Re: 1951 Ford boooosted pickup

Seems like I saw some clear coat paint made for going over the top of surface rust to preserve the patina look with having the metal rust further. Would go that way, then patch the floors. Spend your money on the mechanical parts.

Cool truck by the way. I would love to have a project like this

Jess

 

Re: 1951 Ford boooosted pickup

i think it would look awesome just leaving the cab and bed rusty and everthing else clean and painted

 

Re: 1951 Ford boooosted pickup

i seen more than a few cars and trucks where they painted the patina on and besides the sandpaperlike surface not being on the truck i couldnt tell the difference between that and the real thing
from wat i understand they lay on a colour and either put some liquid masking patches on with a course brush before going over it with a thin coat of rustbrown then peel the stuff off to get patchy paintresidue or go colour over brown and grey/ white (to immitate primer ) and sand through the topcolour to expose the brown below , that gives the worn/faded colour under rust effect , you can seal it with matt laquer when youre satisfied with the results
i like the patina look on some cars and trucks but i dont like to see cars being eaten up by tinworm when theres a way to get the same look while preventing rust

 

Re: 1951 Ford boooosted pickup

I wouldnt mind leaving the rusty look for a while until I can swing a paint job, but I definately dont want to let it get much worse. Then again I may have it blasted and paint it anyway, Ive got some time to decide.

Anyway, I made some progress on the truck in the last couple of weeks. I cleaned out the barn and reorganized as best I could, then backed the truck in. Got the front clip completely removed and torched off the bolts that held on the running boards. I may have to buy new ones or go without cause one side is fairly messed up, but Ill try to get it straightened out some.

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Since the frame is from a '65 c10 there were random brackets and mounts for body panels that I wouldnt need anymore so they came off first. Then the holes were filled with weld and then smoothed. There are only a couple thousand more to do

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there was some rust right above the windshield so I took it out to inspect the window channel and found more rust behind it. Im placing an order tomorrow for an Eastwood metal shrinker/stretcher so I can fab up some new channels. Ive never done any bodywork this involved before so I may have some questions for the experts out there.

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I also started on the cab mounts. this is how the previous owner was going to run it, which may have worked fine for a ratrod only driven a couple miles a week, but I plan on driving this truck often in summer months so i needed new mounts.

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started by tracing along the cab's mounting bracket, and cutting a small pie piece out of the frame with my torch. This will allow the cab mount to nestle into the frame pocket I created. i cut up a piece of angle iron to fill the gap, welded it in and then drilled a hole to run a bolt through. Ill do some decorative bracing on the underside of the bracket, kinda 'box' it in so it looks nice and smooth when painted, but it should work.

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When the cab mounts are done ill start mounting the brake booster, which is typically mounted on the frame with the pedal coming up through the floor. So after thats done I can pull the cab off and finish the frame work...welded holes, grinding, new suspension bushings, go over the brakes, etc

I do have some questions about painting the frame, whats everyone use here? I was looking at the POR15, but theyve got so many products on that Eastwood site I got a brain freeze. Any thoughts?

 

Re: 1951 Ford boooosted pickup

por15 is good stuff might want to use some red lead primer as a base coat and maibe spray some in the cavities of the frame too

 

Re: 1951 Ford boooosted pickup

Rust is a color.







Leave it.

 

Re: 1951 Ford boooosted pickup

Ill give you 900 as it sits

 

Re: 1951 Ford boooosted pickup

I have used a product called Chassis Saver, it can be brushed or sprayed. It will stop rust and is durable as hell!! Do not get any overspray on anything or your skin... it will not come off! My son had black shiny forearms for a week.
Just knock the rust off and apply directly to the surface...you will be amazed how well this stuff works.

 

Re: 1951 Ford boooosted pickup

subscribing

 

Re: 1951 Ford boooosted pickup

seriously!? I thought I was paying a little much when I gave $450, but Ive always wanted on of these trucks I at least got to hold onto it long enough to drive it

thats exactly what i was hoping to find, can you paint over it? im thinking maybe spray the entire body with this stuff and then paint over it?

 

Re: 1951 Ford boooosted pickup

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Re: 1951 Ford boooosted pickup

Very cool build! Interesting to see where it goes...

 

Re: 1951 Ford boooosted pickup

hmmm there a couple of sugarfactories here , from wat i understand molasses is a by product of producing sugar
that stuff should be awesome to use in industry in places like california where there verry inviromentally minded and get a cornia when someone flushes dishwasherssoap through the drain

 

Re: 1951 Ford boooosted pickup

Yes you can paint over it...just make sure you do not have any runs or sags...its hard to sand.

 

Re: 1951 Ford boooosted pickup

Yes its almost impossible to find a fairly solid 50's truck and the 51 is a well sought after model

they start in the 1500 range for rough ones and go all the way to 5-7 grand for solid metal ones...

Ive always wanted one myself... depending on the shape of it I would either make a tubbed custom, or if it was real bad, I would make a trail rig out of it...

 

Re: 1951 Ford boooosted pickup

is that molasses thing for real? looks too easy but i wonder how much molasses youd need for my cab

i had no idea the 51 was more desirable, and i actually thought about putting this body on a 4x4 frame and build it for truck pulling


onlyupdate I have is the cab, rear fenders, and bed are now off and Im filling more holes in the frame. nothing to see really. ive got some cash asved back to buy new bushing and brake parts so ill start on that soon. I really need to sell the Mustang to free up some money for the truck, it seems tough to sell anything these days