When Nick and Mith and others show me their picture of all their fabrication and hard work I can appreciate their efforts. When others have rebuilt their engines I can appreciate that also. All this is getting my juices flowing and gets me excited!

I have loved fabricating things all my life, my first job out of high school I worked in a welding shop welding tar tankers steel and aluminum. A few years ago in 1995 to be exact I took on a whopper of a project PROJECT 1950 FORD F1 this truck and I were pretty close pals for about a year and a half. This truck was going to be turned into a HOT ROD complete with a 302 H.O. With all the groceries eldebrock heads, roller rocker arms, Index timing chain and gears, Blue Printed and Balanced, MSD spark Ignition. Chassis would be Boxed, welded with A Fat Man fabrication adaption Kit and independent front suspension. The donor clip was out of a mustang II the engine was out of the same car. The rear end was a Lincoln Versie with rear disc brakes posi traction with 571's. The chassis also had a drive shaft tunnel from hell with removable transmission mount integrated into it. Well I had a great time getting the truck to a rolling chassis state, engine done, tranny done, rear end done, gas tank mounted, exhaust done, The frame painted & every nut and bolt painted with the POR-15 System even the vent holes that curve thru the rotors.

The only thing left to do was the body & interior. Well at that time the kids were getting older and mama wanted that new addition I promised her $$$$ 1400 sq ft worth I built the addition and ran out of money and guess what went bye bye! Allot of blood sweat and tears went into this truck and was sorry to see it go but my family was running out of room and sharing a bathroom with 4 girls was getting tuff! Incidentally I sold the truck back to the guy I got it from and now has since went through a divorce and the truck has sit for 8 years uncovered in a corn field! he asked if I would like to buy it back!!! NOPE

Now that the kids are gone and its just me and MJ I think this Wheel Horse Fixin will be a nice challenge! Each tractor small enough to get finished and be able to enjoy while ya start on the next one!

Hey guys I know what putting $8,000.00 in an engine is! I know what putting $ 3,000.00 in a drive train is! I know what putting a few grand in a chassis is. I think thats why this hobby of ours makes allot of sense and is more affordable and obtainable to see results and enjoy. I have been collecting for about a year and a half Im getting exited in getting started on some of these horses soon! Anyways here are some pics of the Ole 1950 Ford F1 Project.

Cheers Duke













Brian my sand blast guru no doubt he will be blastin some horses!


Brian poseing over his work!


Small parts blasted and ready for the 4 step POR-15 Process.


Boxing and welding the frame.





Fat Man Fabrication Front End Kit.


Spraying the frame with POR metal ready which puts a zinc phosphate coatiing on the metal before painting.


My daughter the POR artist! Notice the rubber gloves, dont were em youl have paint on yer hands for 6 days!


Drive Shaft Tunnel Install!


Duke checking the rear disc brakes on Lincoln rear end.


I'm not as good as I once was but I am good once as I ever was!


Ford 302 H.O. Donor engine and Mustang II front end parts were used on chassis.


Duke fitting in engine to build motor mounts


Finished engine machine work blue printing done by shaker racing assembeld by me.

Great story Duke. To bad you had to sell the Ol Ford, it looked like it was being done right. But I understand the family comes first thing myself.
Mike...........

WOW, Look at them pictures of Duke as a youngster.
Yes Duke been there, done that, and got the t-shirt. Actually mine was a 50 Chevy PU that probably meant more to me then anything in the world at the time and the wife knew it. I had to sell it due to divorce. She knew it was my prized possession and she didn't want it but wanted to make sure I didn't get it either. I was literally left with just the t-shirt. But that was 29 years ago and I was younger and now material things don't seem as important any longer. I don't know if it was because of that truck or that I just grew up.

To old love's
Iorn that is

I know EXACTLY where you are coming from....

I have built several off-road rigs and greatly enjoyed the hobby. My la-*test*-('") rig, I spent 11 months.... every day off... working on it. Now that it is done, something has changed with me. I am done. Something has changed inside me and the "fire" is gone. I'll still go "wheeling", because it is fun.... But, now it seems REDICULOUS to spend that much time away from the family... Not to mention the amount of money involved in such a hobby. I have close to $15,000 in my la-*test*-('") creation.

The Wheel Horses are a fresh "breath" for me.... It is sooo much more appealing to be able to totally restore one in a couple weeks vs. nearly a year of working myself to death... lol

So, now my project is up for sale and I hope it sells soon... I'm ready to pay off some bills and get back to "basics"

A little icing on the cake.... I have been trying to get one of my rigs in a off-road magazine for about 8 years now.... It happened this week!

Sparky, Doc, Bell & saguaro!

Bell, yep too much time and WAY TO MONEY in just one unit. I can have multiple tractors to show ride and use. Restoration time depending how critical you want to be, can be a few weeks to a couple of months, But the thing is you can really see the light at the end of the tunnel! You can work a day on a wheel horse and see allot of progress. There is time I have spent days on my truck and couldn't see much progress at all!

Then go to sell it. A Guy is more apt to buy something for a grand than $30,000.00. Yep a nice antique collecting hobby we have here, Rich in history! with plenty of mechanical technical things involved and opportunity to develop new friendships! With all of these advantages how can you go wrong?

I can relate to the too much time and money for something that well...just isnt as enjoyable of WH collectin!

Ive been really thinking about selling my big orange truck:



With the upcoming switch to doing BBQ fulltime.. its not going to leave alot of weekends free to take the truck to shows, ive got too much time in it to wheel it and screw up the Paint and Mirror Finish..

Just for hte fun of it, heres a video, pretty much how it sounds today -
Orange Truck Video

BTW that coulda been one helluva F-1!!! I know somebody lookin for one, if'n it'd be for sale to outsiders

Great story, sorry it had to go but I do know the feeling and priorities.

Nice trucks guys!

These little tractors can become just as time consuming and expensive though. There are more than a few members on this forum who have spent 5 or 6 figures on these machines.

I think I might get into stamp collecting Much less storage needed!

Much less fun Too IMO ... dont think ill drive to pa for a stamp

If Brian gets his sand delivered by the truck load instead of bags that tells me he has one serious sand blasting setup with a very big compressor. Man what a great sand blasting shop. Brian definetly knows how to dress for the job also. The ricocheting sand will rip your skin apart and will get in body parts you wouldn't think possible. Some of you guys have some serious shops. Now why doesn't Buzz have this kinda stuff around?

I think the way to go now, would be Soda blasting... it doesnt have any of hte negative effects of sand, on us, or the parts, or mother nature, thou it is a bit more expensive.. When I get recovered $$$ wise that'll be one of the first things that I buy..

Horsefixer I feel your pain. My wife and I were around 26 years old and living in Oklahome City. That is where I was stationed when I got out of the Air Force after 6 years. We didn't have kids yet. My wife also worked. We had a 75 Vette we owned since new. While we were in OKC we spent $4000 on paint, wheels and some other things. It was a lot of money at the time. And the Vette was all we had. Damson Plum Firemist was the color we had it painted. It was a Caddilac color and we have never forgot the name of that color!! But this car was like our baby. It was the only asset we owned. But we had to sell it to move to Long Island for a new job. We needed the money out of it to rent a U-Haul and get us an apartment at our new residence. It broke our heart to sell it. My wife said we will own another one some day. We just have different priorities now. I was starting a career, we had to buy our first house and we then started a family. Well that was many years ago. Now we have His and Hers 66 Vettes. Hers a covertable and mine a coupe. But it was a heartbreaker as a young adult to sell our first Vette. I can still see my wife crying as it drove away. I've always loved cars and working on them. So I know your pain and can appreciate it.

lft it uncovered in a corn field! . man what a bummer. that looked like alot of work put into that ol'ford.

Thanks for feeling my pain guys! Butch Bryan has a heck of a setup. Yes he gets his sand delivered by the 20 yard truck and loads his hopper with a skid steer! He has a sullair a pretty big unit. I piped 2" airline 200' around his shop for him years ago and installed a aftercooler on his compressor. I didnt charge him a dime so's he gives me good deals I also take care of his HVAC needs as Im a contractor. Helps to scratch backs many times ya get yers scratched! No doubt with these Horses Ill be getting my back scratched lots! I will be able to use his paint booth also Scott nice truck!