1. Arrival of the car, initial inspection
Ford F-1, predecessor to the F-100 and the current F-150. The pick-up truck was factory-equipped with a 239 ci Flathead V8 engine connected to a 3-speed manual gearbox. The car is in fairly poor technical condition, but the bodywork has largely survived thanks to Ford’s use of thick sheet metal. We begin the renovation with a preliminary inspection, dismantling and preparation of a further plan.
2. During renovation
All parts intended for reuse were carefully sandblasted and protected against corrosion. In the meantime, we came up with the idea of changing the engine, as a common fault with the 239 Flathead was overheating, which caused the engine block to crack. We happened to come across a faulty model, and not wanting to risk a similar failure, we decided to swap the engine for a newer one. We also modified the brakes, as the original front brakes were drum brakes, which could provide insufficient braking power with a newer, more powerful engine. These changes required a huge amount of work, as we had to manually fit different brakes from scratch and design a completely new engine mount. Then, the entire electrical system had to be transferred from the ‘donor’ car and adapted to the Ford F-1. We also decided that we wanted to paint the pick-up in a so-called patina.
3. The final result
