 1949 Ford F-1
First Hand Account
by: Marty Perkins
Nearly seven years ago I brought home a
rusty hulk that had in a former life been a 1949 Ford F1 pickup. It really
was a pathetic thing wasting away with a small oak tree growing up right
through the bed. The front clip lay on the ground a few feet away from where
it should have been. I had no idea what I was going to end up with, as I'd
never built a vehicle modified for the eye before. All my past endeavors had
been purely hotrod muscle in nature. All I knew was that I had never
undertaken a project this big.
I removed the 1961 390 mill and 3 speed trans
that was installed in the beast's midlife crisis years. That, the original
'49 rear, and the entire front suspension went to a friend with a similar
project. I stripped the frame, sandblasted it, patched myriad holes and
ancient torchings, and chopped off the rear four feet. I fashioned my own
rear frame from 2x4 tubing and built a mustang front suspension and
crossmember. A friend's deceased '75 mustang donated arms, power rack,
spindles, struts, and all the necessary geometry lessons. Since the truck
was 3" wider than the mustang, I used another rack and built inserts to
lengthen the rack at the tie rod pivots. Sway bar end bushings and strut
rubbers were replaced with ball ends. The frame was finished off with black
iso-acrylic enamel.
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