Dad's Old Truck

Stan McKinney poses with the 1949 Ford F1 that once belonged to his Dad shortly after returning home from Lebanon with it on Dec. 26, 2011. It was in Lebanon for a little more than six months undergoing a mechanical restoration by Leon Statz.

Daughter Calen seems a bit unsure as she goes for her
first ride in the truck.

     In the mid-1980s, Norvell McKinney, my father, pulled an old Ford F1 out of a field on a farm west of Princeton, KY. owned by him and my late brother, Steve.
     It took my father about two years to put the truck back together and get it running.
     That rebuild included replacement of the cab with another owned by uncle Thomas Sisk. Dad titled the truck in February 1987. For several years, he and my mother drove it in parades, especially the annual Christmas parade in my hometown of Princeton.
     For reasons still not clear to me, Dad sold the truck to my uncle Darrell Sisk. That transfer was recorded in September 2003. Darrell planned to completely rebuild the truck, but that project got sidetracked. The truck sat for several years at his home in Morgantown, Ky.
     In 2011, Darrell agreed to sell me the truck. It was delivered to Lebanon, Ky. on July 7 where Leon Statz replaced the engine, installed an automatic transmission and essentially replaced all of the suspension, brakes, etc. The truck came home to Campbellsville on Dec. 26.
     I applied for the title on July 8 and it was issued on July 18.
     Though the truck is titled as a 1950, it has been determined to actually be a 1949. The original flathead V-8 engine had to be replaced because the block was cracked beyond repair. The truck now has a flathead V-8 that Leon and I believe was built in 1933.

Darrell Sisk, left, looks on as Stan McKinney inspects the truck on the day it was delivered to Leon Statz in Lebanon.

              Darrell steers as the truck is removed from a trailer at
           Leon and Jean Statz's home on KY 208. The truck was
           not running at the time.