I'm starting a build thread on my 1951 Ford F1 rat truck. (stick with me, this is pertinent to this forum) here's my plans thus far:

- 1951 Ford F5 cab and front clip
- custom built frame
- independant front suspension
- posi rearend, 4.56 gears
- 4 corner air suspension
- fuel injection
- overdrive automatic transmission
- $4000 total budget


Here's where i'm at thus far:
- bought a 97 Ram SST local to me. transmission was going, which i determined to be a pump issue. I pulled all the drive line, wiring, and pcm. Parted out everything I didnt need and ended up coming out ahead. ended up getting a set of 4.56 gears from a member and the 9.25 from the sst is a posi carrier. I will put new clutches when i change the gears.
- from the SST i am using the wiring, PCM, 5.9 V8, 2wd 46re, 17x9 rims, rear axle, front knuckles, front brakes

so pictures and progress:

here's the cab and front clip the day i bought it



a few weeks ago we began the frame and figuring out what we wanted the final look to be.







once we had the look we wanted i started squeezeing the engine and transmission in. being that this truck was originally a F5, the old flathead and 3 speed manual ran under the cab. since i want a slammed look, i had to do some cutting... a lot of cutting.




once i got the engine and trans close to where i wanted it i could get some measurements so we could Z the front section of the frame






There's still quite a bit of fab work to do on the frame but in the mean time im tearing down the engine to reseal it. it was very leaky so now is a good time to take care of that. I do have the transmission torn apart, i just have to order a seal kit and a shift kit before i put it back together.





being i work at a metal fab shop, i am going to take the plenum plate in tomorrow and have an aluminum one lasered out. while i have the heads off im contemplating shaving them down some to bump the compression ratio slightly. we'll see.

at this point in the project i have $1,604 into it. right now im right on track. eventually i'll do an entire breakdown of the costs if anybody is interested. I will try to update this thread as i progress on the ratrod.

 

Looking good. It's always nice to see a well thought out project unfold. Thanks for taking the time to share. Also love the Goat in the other bay.

 

Nice project! Thanks for posting!

Nice GTO!

 

I don't know about well thought out lol I have most of it planned but still haven't figured out what I'm doing for steering column, gearbox and linkage.

 

Ever heard of Ididit? Check out their website.

 

They make great columns, I have one in my GTO and love it. I have the column and gear box from the 51 but will likely have to cut the column down and shorten it

 

I *almost* got a job with 'em. (doing IT work....) The company is about 20 miles from me. I used to drive a lot further to work... of course, I had a vehicle that got better gas mileage then, and gas was under a buck a gallon too..... I love their stuff.

 

All of their products are really nice but one of the top priorities for this build is the budget. I need to be at or under $4k. It's doable but I do have to be concise about where I spend money.

 

Yeah, I can see that. You'll likely have to modify what you already have.

 

Today's progress:

Stripped the engine down about as far as I'm going to go. I'm leaving the rotating assembly in the block because I have no reason to pull it. This engine has approx. 168,000 miles on it and it is in excellent shape internally. The cylinder walls still have a nice crosshatch and there is a small ridge at the top of the cylinders but much less than I thought there would be. I checked all my endplays and they are at the low end of the specs. I pulled each main cap off to inspect the bearing halves and they look excellent. I've seen much worse out of much lower mileage engines so that's good.

All the leaks were very evident as I pulled the engine apart. Intake, timing cover, plenum, water pump, oil pan, and valve covers all were leaking. I will get everything cleaned up this week, possibly assembled and wire wheel the scale off.

Still contemplating what color I want to paint the block. Any suggestions?