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I am planning to turn my '38 pickup into a daily driver -- a truck I can drive to work and everywhere else 365 days a year. This project will probably take about 10 years, so expect my completed truck to roll out of the garage during the summer of 2008! I don't have a lot of time to spend on the truck, only a few hours a week. The truck will be around a long time. My kids are growing, and they won't be around a long time, so I would rather spend my time with them.

My requirements are:

  • I want to drive something completely different (I never ever want to pass a truck that looks like mine on the road. Come to think of it, I have NEVER even seen a '38 Ford pickup on the road!)

  • It must be dependable and reliable (gotta make to work every day, well, most days)

  • It must get acceptable gas mileage (this rules out the big block and blower)

  • It must have decent performance and sound good (inside and outside)

  • It must have a manual transmission (gotta have a stick)

  • Above all, it must be fun to drive

Further thoughts...

I want to keep the truck as stock looking as possible, certainly on the outside, and also on the inside if I can. When I got the truck home, I pulled the oil drain plug out of the engine, and out came a gallon of water and no oil. Not a good sign. That might explain why the engine was frozen up. Since my skills are not up to rebuilding the flathead (maybe someday???), the engine is being replaced with a Ford 5.0 liter engine salvaged from a wrecked 1988 Mustang GT.

The manual brakes had to go! They were OK for driving on the farm in the 1930's but they are not safe for modern highways and traffic. They were replaced by hydraulic brakes, disk in the front and drum in the rear.

To make it ride and handle better, the front suspension was replaced with an aftermarket Mustang II independent front suspension with power steering. The rear end and suspension was replaced with a Ford 8-inch differential and parallel leaf springs.

Updates to this page last made on January 4, 2007

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