51' Ford Rat from Bama

[Rotorless7]

New to the site and figured I would introduce myself. My dad, brother, and me picked up this 51' ford from Nashville and made the 2 1/2 hour trip back to Huntsville, AL in it the same day. It is a 51' Ford F1 body, s-10 frame, small block 350, turbo 350 trans, older chevy bed. It is a good riding and driving truck for what it is with PS and PB. It is a good start but it is far from what we want it to be.

Things that need to be changed (any suggestions would be great):
-The s-10 front suspension just doesn't seem right without fenders
-The engine needs to be moved back closer to the cab
-Cab needs to be dropped and chopped
-Bed is too long
-Grille is to far foward
-Back end needs to be dropped down
-Exhaust is fugly in the pictures but has been changed now

I am guessing the main cause to many of the things that I don't like about the truck have to do with the frame. What are my best options here?

 

[Rotorless7]

 

[Tripper]

Welcome!!!

Rotor,
That truck is really ratty, has bad paint etc!!! WOW... I like it & great starting point!!! Welcome to the forum... glad u found us. Make u're self @ home & feel free 2 join rat in! I love the interior as is. I'd bob the bed & change out the grill shell to something closer to the year of the truck... love the patina too! Please keep us up to date on u're changes.

BoB

 

[Rotorless7]

What make and year grilles do you think would look best on this truck? I have been looking around but can't find anything that I really like. Any sample pictures would be great too.

 

[hotrod preacher]

glad you found the RRR! looks like a lot of good parts to work with....but like you said, as a whole there needs to be some changes to get it lookin "right"
lots of ford builds on here look em over and draw up a gameplan-but most of all .....keep us posted & we'll keep you encouraged!

 

[Rotorless7]

haha yeah right now it just looks like an old beat up farm truck. The stance and just overall look of the truck just isn't where we want it to be. The good thing is that everything works, roll up windows, blinkers, high beams, PS/PB, engine is in good running condition now that we put all new ignition stuff on it. So far it has been a really fun project even though we are just getting started. It is a totally different animal than driving my RX-7, but I can say I am hooked

 

[Gastrick]

Welcome to RRR Rotorless7. It sounds to me like you're on the right track.

 

[Plymouth rat]

hey Rotorless, your truck is nice the way it is, but the changes you think you want to make are the ones that the hotrod preacher is doing to his truck now, look at his build thread and it shows how to lower the back, change the front end suspension, and so on, he is doing a great job , just something i would consider...

 

[Rev Tex Devlle]

welcome toRRR, bama boy heres too!

 

[FlatBroke]

Welcome aboard from Montgomery.....

Hell.....I like it.

 

[Thunder1]

Welcome to the site Rotorless! I'm almost embarrassed that the truck is from Nashville!! That's a great cab and bed to start with though. I have a 51 That I'm gathering parts for now. I'm glad you recognize that the S-10 frame is way out of proportion without fenders etc.. You need to get the cab and bed off of it and start over with a frame better suited for a fenderless F-1. I think your right about the other issues you pointed out too. There are plenty of examples on here of what can be done to an F-1. Tiny1 another Alabama rodder and DMW56 have two of the best examples of how to turn one of these into something really cool! Please feel free to ask lots of questions. The guys on here are always quick to help out. I'm sure you'll find that out. Here's some examples of what you can do with an F-1. The third pic is DMW56's 51 before he mounted the bed. I don't have a pic of Tiny1's truck but it's really sweet. He has pictures of it on here too. Just look around, you'll find them.

Thunder

 

[Bonehead]

Welcome to the site.

 

[Rotorless7]

Thanks for all the kind words, I have been looking around on the site and it looks like there is tons of really good info on here and seems like there are more than enough people that know the ropes and will be willing to help out if we run into any problems. I will have to start a build thread when we really start to tear into this thing.

I am glad to see there are a few more guys from Alabama on here, I am from up in Huntsville but travel down to the Oneonta area at least once every 2 months to ride dirt bikes in Springville and a place called the ridge.

 

[Rotorless7]

The third pic is DMW56's 51 before he mounted the bed. I don't have a pic of Tiny1's truck but it's really sweet. He has pictures of it on here too. Just look around, you'll find them.

Thunder

I really like the look of DMVs truck and have seen it before and hd a few pictures saved on my computer before I knew he was on the site. I will have to do some more research on F1's on the site and get some ideas.

 

[fuzz]

Welcome Rotorless...your truck looks good to me, keep us posted as you make changes!!

 

[bondo bandedo]

welcome looks like you already know the areas that need some attention keep us posted with the changes .lots of builds on here to draw ideas from.
.

 

[Rotorless7]

Word alot of really neat rides on here.

 

[dmw56]

Welcome to RRR. It won't take much to get that truck looking just rat! I think you've already listed the fixes that it will need.

You may be able to use the S10 frame if you can weld on a new front sub out of 2 X 4 tubing and go with a straight front axle (round tube or I beam). The rear frame section can be shortened right behind the spring hangers and then shorten the bed by that amount. Also the engine needs to moved a little closer to the cab.

As for the grille, an "A" grille is great but doesn't look quite right on that truck. My be if was more vertical it would look better. I don't know. I'd try to find something a little rounder.

Oh, and by the way thanks for the compliments on my truck.

Good luck and have fun.

 

[Rotorless7]

I should be getting a welder hear prettyy soon and learning to weld. I have a couple of friends that are talented in that area that will teaching me so we should be cutting into it her pretty soon. Thanks for the frame advice, if there is anything I can do to use this frame and just do a different setup up front would be great. What you said about shorting the bead and cutting off the frame to the leaf springs was the idea I had for it. Thanks for the ideas guys and I will be sure to keep ya'll posted posted

 

[buckeyedon]

Welcome to RRR.