Info/Pics 1948 to 1952 Ford F1 Trucks

I believe they measure 61 1/4".

 

My axle is the original Dana 41, the tag has 4.11 on it. I'll be stuffing a 64 394 Oldsmobile, and tranny in it.

 

I am building a 1950 F-1 for a friend of mine. He bought a running complete but very rusty 3/4 ton truck. We cut the frame off at the firewall and the back of the cab and but small wheels on the frame to wheel the cab around untill we needed it. We then ordered a complete frame from Total cost involved . It has an air bagged mustang II front and 4 bar -9in. rear. We ordered a 4.6 L 4v mustang motor and 5 speed trans. I replaced the floor and firewall ( with parts from bitchin) and mouinted the cab on the new frame .The door hinges were replaced with a kit from Hagan to eliminate the ugly outside hinges.I am now in the process of doing a 2 in chop and should get that done by the end of summer... This is going to be a high dollar truck Thank God it's not my money...LOL But these are not too bad to get parts for ,we'll see how it turns out......

 

Howdy , Heres our 48 sittin' on a '92 short wheelbase dually Chevy chassis , fits real good , also gotta '52 on a '80 f150 chassis

 

The '50 F1 rear I have loose in the garage measures 61" axle flange to axle flange without the brake drums.
The spring pads measure 40-1/4" centerline to centerline.

I had forgotten about the rear window size being smaller in the '48-'50 cabs.

There should be plenty of room in the cab for MOST people once you take out the gas tank. That will give you 9-1/2" more space to install a smaller Ranger 60/40 bench seat or a pair of bucket seats.

Many people mount the gas tank under the bed, behind the rear axle when they take the leaky, rusted original out of the cab. You can buy a new early Mustang tank for around $129.00+shipping off the Internet. Go to the Ford Truck Enthusiasts web site that 4tl8ford linked. Do a search on gas tank installs. They have an excellent how-to article on Mustang gas tank installs.

You can get dash radio and speaker covers new from LMC Truck. Glove box doors and ash trays are so far missing in action from suppliers.

Generally, you will find more reproduction parts for the 53-56 trucks than you will for the 48-52.

 

I would just like to say hello Ihave a 50 F1 that is about 75 percent done .
here are a couple of pics of my front end I bought all the plating at the portland
swapmeet a couple of years ago for 200 bucks so I thought it was time to tear it all the way down and get to work on it

 

Am looking for a 48-52, doesn't have to run or have a drivetrain, in the Pocono PA area.
STEVE

 

I have mine channeled 6 inches over the frame, and with the gas tank out of the cab, and a ranger seat I can still fit in it OK, and I am 6'4"!
CHAZ

 

The 1948 - 52 Ford F-1 are basically the same. Here are the difference.

The 48-50 have horizontal bar Grille. 51-52 have a single bar with three teeth attached to it. (Some times the teeth are removed.)

The 48-50 Hood have a single long vent on each side of the hood. 51-52 have three vent holes on each side of the hood.

The 48-50 bed side have raised panels . 51-52 bed side are smooth.

A lot of time there may be a mixture of parts that make it hard to till what year it is. The cab is the easiest way to till the years.

48-50 Have a single gauge panel in the dash with the Speedo and gauges in it. 51-52 have two round gauges with the speedo in one and the gauges in the other.

48-50 have a small rear window. 51-52 have a larger rear window.

51-52 has a chrome strip that starts at the bottom of the dash left of the radio and goes up around the speaker grille and straight across to the ps.

48-50 do not have this chrome .

 

Is that the one that was on Ebay. If so check it close. Its about a $700.00 truck.

 

My good friend Richard's 354 Hemi powered chopped 48. Nice look with the 56 grille. Camaro clip, 8 3/4 rear, 727 tranny, and about a 4 inch chop(don't remember what we took out...)

 

Here are some pictures of my '52 F1 (by the old Coke building in Santa Marai, Ca.) and some others I down loaded from the internet. The B&W one with flames is a '51 Mercury M1.

 

That old picture of the tall gal and the custom truck is amazing, any idea what it's origins are ?
Any more pictures of the truck OR the gal ?

Great set of legs...

 

Here's the wifes before the new paint work is done....

 

any more???

 

Spoons, that truck is bitchin'...I love the tuck and roll, and the chrome wheels

 

Here's several links to my F2...I've had it since late summer - now have a rebuilt flathead, middle of rebuilding the tranny. Hope to have it mobile by spring, on the road by fall...

http://www.crbest.com/F2/
http://www.crbest.com/testone.swf

Roger

 

The black truck has more work done to it then just in the hood...If you notice the bed rail is in line with the body line on the cab, the bed rail on a factory 51 F1 is about 4" lower than that body line...the cab is dropped about 4" and the front end and bed was left at the factory height. The hood had to reshaped and pie cut to fit and looks to be about a 2-3" chop done on it sa well...and it's probably setting on air bags to get that low!!! Very nice looking truck...Here is a pic of a model that was built of basically the same thing that and I am building basically the same out of my 51 F-1

 

also there is this great message board with tons of info on these trucks and alot of guys that own these trucks...they are full of info and pics .......

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/forum41/

 

I've chased that truck quite a bit, I first saw it on Ebay last year and then found it online somewhere. Even found a guy here on the HAMB that claims to know who did the channel and some of the work on it but he never came up with a name (I wanted to make contact to find out just what exactly had been done to it).

AllI can confirm is that the current owner didn't build it, just added the red accents to the already flat black paint.
It IS on airbags (obviously) but I have pics of it up as well as down. It runs a 302 (info is from the EBay add and I've got a pic of the engine bay)

I'd say it's been channeled, had about 3 or 4 out of the roof, the cab was lowered respective to the fenders and running boards (gap is small between boards and cab) bottoms of the fenders look to just ground away and as Dyce points out the top of the bed lines up with the body roll. This is the bit I am not sure about, the channel and movement of fender plus a pie cut of the hood might have got it there, or they may have sectioned the cab as well.
I'd really like to see it in person and run a tap measure over it. The stance is cool and I hope mine comes out looking as nice.

I have a big collection of pictures of 48-52's as does Mark in Japan. I will post a link when I get home.

 

Thanks.....It'll be a different color here shortly( I hope)..

 

The pics I posted of the 51 model was built by a friend of mine...It was done to scale...the cab has been channeled 4" to get the bed rails and body line to match...The front end and bed were left at stock height and the front front of the cab and back of the front fenders were made to match and the hood was pie cut to get everything to line up. The cab was also chopped by 3". When I do my chop I am going to rake the A Pillers to get the "roadster" windshield look instead of widening and stretching the roof. Because I am a larger guy...6'3" and weigh around 300 lbs...I am going to modify my floor. The section under the seats will be at the new height but the section infront of the seats will be left at the stock level for the extral leg room (hopeing this is possible).

 

Here's my 49. Has 350 sbc and 700R4, PS, disk brakes on front, Gas tank under bed, AC, Ranger seat. Working on the upolstery and carpet now.

 

just recently got rid of mine, 454 BBC w/TH400.
it was one hell of a screamer.

 

I just wanted bump this thread up and see how everyones 51/52's are going.

 

I have a chart of interchangeable parts for the '48-52 on my web site:

http://fatfenderedtrucks.com/partsinterchange.html

I have had, at last count, 15 '48-52 Ford trucks. Currently I have a '49 F-2, a '48 F-1 panel and a '48-52 F-4 flatbed, I guess I'm kind of obsessed with Bonus Built. Check out my web site.



www.fatfenderedtrucks.com

Hi Dick, Roger

 

Couple more pics of my friends Hemi powered 51( I mean 48!).

 

I pulled the picture off the net somewhere because I thought it looked cool and it reminded me of the 50's in So.Cal. growing up.
Sorry no help here!!!

 

If I am not mistaken, that truck was on the cover of an early 50's Hop Up,Hot Rod or Rod & Custom Magazine. If it is the same truck, it was painted purple. Always loved the look of that truck with the skirts. I'll look to see if Ican find that issue in my pile of magazines.

 

I started a "Social Group" here on the HAMB for folks with these trucks - maybe we can start some trading between us all...

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?groupid=10

~Jason