1951 Ford F1

[dmw56]

Speedometer I found at the swap meet. Anybody know what this is from?

Universal firewall brake pedal and master cylinder mount from swap meet. There wasn't enough room to mount one under the floor on the frame and I don't like them there for several reasons. I had the front licence plate bracket come off of my 50 Stude one time and it bounce under the car and hit the master cylinder breaking the fittings off. Its no fun driving with no brakes!

 

[Gastrick]

Good progress and swap meet scores dmw56. I've used those m/c mounts before. I would suggest adding a reinforcement plate to the inside of the firewall to reduce firewall flex around the m/c mount. Obvious I guess but you can off the excess pedal mounting bracket material aft of the hole that you use to mount the pedal.

 

[dmw56]

Finished the headers today. I just used the pipes I cut off the headers.

The next step...chop the top, finish steering, brakes, fuel line, electrical, interior floor, seat and then drive it!

 

[Gastrick]

I like the bologna cuts on the end of the headers DMW56. The rest of those tasks should only take you a few hours, right?

 

[dmw56]

Bought this off Ebay. Said it was off a 30-31 Chevy. I don't know. I liked it and bid on it. I think it looks great!

 

[dmw56]

I left work early yesterday and went to the local pick and pay. Its a holiday weekend and there was no one around anyway. Found a drive shaft with the right sized yokes for a TH 350 and 69 Camaro rear only $20. The drive shaft shops here want $100-$150 to shorten it so I decided to do it myself like Bonehead has written about in a post. I running a 250 6 cylinder and an automatic so there won't be a lot of stress on the driveshaft. I needed to shorten it 17 1/2" so I cut that much out of the shaft near the back end and cut of a section about 10"

I marked a line down the side so I could match it up for timing and hopefully it won't be out of balance very much.

I then cut a 1/2' section out of the 10" piece squeezed it together and put it in the short piece until it bottomed out leaving about 4" left to slide the longer end on. I left about a 3/8" gap and then welded it up.

 

[dmw56]

I did make it a 3/4" shorter so the seal didn't run on the same spot as before. It looked a little worn there so hopefully it won't leak.

I also welded up a K-brace on the rear section and one in the middle with a drive shaft hoop. I'll put a hoop on the rear also.

I'm probably over building the frame but that comes from the years of dirt track racing and building my own race cars. You could never get them stiff enough!

 

[Gastrick]

The frame looks good and strong dmw56. I guess your driveline is complete now.

 

[dmw56]

Let the chop begin!

Well I finally got up enough nerve to do the chop. Decided to take out 4" and leave the rear window the original size just drop it down 4" where its level with the windshield and door windows.

It was easier for me to do it in 2 parts so I masked out a line to cut the roof in two.

 

[dmw56]

I cut the roof first with the cut off wheel.

Then I cut the posts with the Sawzal. If you use a Sawzal start out slow because it will cut through the posts real fast.

 

[dmw56]

More Choppin

The roof section didn't quite line up with the lower posts so I made a relief cut in the upper corners to spread the upper posts to match the lower. I also had to cut a relief cut to widen the post a bit.

I actually had to split the post 4 ways to get it to fit

 

[dmw56]

After I got the front lined up and tacked into place I cut the doors and then the rear roof section. I removed 4" from underneath the rear window to lower it.

 

[dmw56]

Choppin'

I still need to trim a little of the rear for things line up better. I can use the piece I removed from under the window for the section on the roof. I just mocked up the rear section for now.

I think it looks great. Not bad for a first timer and a days work. It was very intimidating at first but after I got started it was all that difficult. So if any of you have reservations about doing a chop I'd encourage you to just go for it. Just make sure you do your planning, get Tex Smith's book on "How to Chop a Top", it's invaulable, measure 3 times then measure again before you make any cuts. It wasn't that hard. Not that I'm ready for that Mercury yet! But if you have basic metal working skills its doable!

 

[dmw56]

Before

After

Still need to finish fitting the rear section, the section on the roof, the doors and finish up all the welds.

 

[Gastrick]

In my opinion, that chop made a substantial difference in the overall proportions of your truck. It looks fantastic.

 

[dmw56]

Thanks Gastrick! I think it made a big difference also. I think a about a 4' section would look good too. But not willing to try that just yet.

 

[Thunder1]

You've got the truck looking great dmw56! I wish I was that far along on my 51! How many inches did you take out? I like the idea about sectioning the cab too but at 6' 2" it might not work out for me too well.

Thunder1

 

[dmw56]

Today I trimmed up the rear section and tacked into place.

The sides didn't line up there was a gap of about 3/4".

Made some relief cuts above and below the cut to make everything come together.

Now I have a 2" gap in the roof to be filled.

 

[dmw56]

View of the rear window from inside the cab.

View of the front windshield from inside.

 

[dmw56]

Set the frames on the doors to what it will look like.

I still need to sand off the paint over the lettering on the passenger side door.