If you’ve been looking for an awesome rat rod/hot rod project, this one might be the ticket! It is a 1948 Ford F1 that is mounted on a rolling chassis with the engine and transmission mocked in place. It can be found in the Barn Finds Classifieds or here on eBay with a buy-it-now price of only $2,750. Located in Plano, Texas, you can’t really tell, but a lot of work has been done already. Take a closer look and see what you think.
As you can see the original doors have been cut as well. Fitting chopped doors to a chopped cab can be a tedious process, but hopefully, the top portions won’t be too bad to gap well.
The chop was done by the talented folks at GT-Moto in Plano. It has been lowered seven inches in the front and five in the rear for a nice aggressive rake. You can see the rear window has been fitted and the work looks pretty good. You can see there are cross-braces welded in, which keeps the cab ridged during cutting.
The drive train consists of a Flathead V8 from 1953 with an adapter for a C4 automatic transmission. The C4 core shown is being used for mock up purposes. As you can see the frame has a bit of surface rust, but the seller says it isn’t more serious. You can also see the power brake booster and the master cylinder has been re-located under the floor which is a nice touch. The front suspension includes a dropped front axle with SoCal disc brakes and Buick finned covers. The steering box is a Vega unit from Sachse Rod Shop in Sachse, Texas.
Here’s a good look at the rear end. New leaf springs and mounts along with new shocks on the 8.8 Ford keep everything in place. Overall, this looks like a good start to a project. I bet a raw cab, chassis, and engine like this would cost you more than the asking price. Add the work that has been done with the chop and chassis, it seems like a decent value. What do you think?
I like projects with the heavy work done. This guy could be fun when finished.
Bob, you have a point. I’m not a choptop guy, but I have helped restore one of these. A solid cab is the foundation of one of these trucks. Even if you only have to farm out the doors, the rest is fairly easy to source. They reproduce the bed and both sets of fenders now. Even 51/52 which they haven’t until recently. Plus all the hoods and grills fit F1-F8 and are available in the used market.
I’m pretty sure the F-7s and F-8s are wider.
I like a mild chop. My criteria is just enough to climb out the windows. Would love to see this one finished.
Let’s all get the mantra now about how he “saved” it from the crusher.
Well , if those doors were original to the truck , I would say it was one scaly , unloved , forgotten truck , whether it was saved from the crusher or left sitting somewhere since the 50s .