I just bought a 52 Ford pickup. It has a 54 or 55 year bed on it. I am wanting to put the 52 fenders on it. Can I use the bed off a 54 or 55 and just change the fenders?
I think you'd have to fill in the existing holes on the bedsides and re-drill for the '52 fender. 50 1/2 and up had flat bedsides, and I think the bed on 53 and up is only marginally wider, so I don't think you'd run into any issues. Just measure tire clearance before getting started.
Thank you. I think whoever had it before was going to make it into a rat rod, but I am wanting to restore it to an extent. The bed that is on it and the cab is in good shape. It has the 52 front end on it, but someone started to put a tilt nose on it. They smoothed the whole front end to where it doesn't have any seems. The vin number on it says its a 52, but the gauges aren't the standard 52 gauge panel. It isn't the two big round gauges. It looks like a 50 or 51 dash except they filled in everything on the dash except where the gauges go.
Post some pictures. It sounds like you may have a 48-50 cab....maybe the whole truck except for some sheet metal. Does it have a small back window? The short beds are pretty much the same until 79 or so. There is a short bed that had taller sides but these seem to be fewer in number than the standard late 50-79 bed. I hate going behind a hack job and trying to straighten out their poor work. In the long run it may be better to find a better truck and use this as parts....Good luck! Show us what you have and I for one will give my best advice....
It does have the small back window. I am planning on buying some sort of subframe under it. I will take some pictures and post them for you to see. A lot of the body parts that are on it are in good shape. The bed, rear fenders, tailgate, cab, grille, etc. They just hacked on the front fenders and hood. Looks like they cut out where the latch part would connect on the hood. I thought about taking the rear fenders off and selling them or possibly the whole bed and put that money toward a new one or something in that nature. I am more of a chevy guy, but have always likes the old ford trucks.
It is the earlier cab 48-50(Small back window). Hard to tell from your pics but it looks like it may have the larger series front fenders on it judging by the wheel openings. Or they were modified at some point beyond cutting off the rear bottoms to make it flip. All the cabs themselves on the F-1 thru F-7 trucks are the same size. The bigger series trucks that had split rims used a front fender with a bigger wheel opening. Here is a pic of a stock F-1 for comparison. Torchie.
The cab & hood are 48/9/50, front fenders & grille are 51/2 & large truck openings. the bed & rear fenders are 53 or newer. VIN should be stamped on the rt front frame rail and maybe the firewall on the drives side. Check the Ford Truck Enthusiast for great info.
visit www.ford-trucks.com for all the information and help you'll need. There is a subforum for your truck that will answer almost any question.
I got the VIN off of it. It was on the firewall. I think someone had just stuck it on there because when I ran the numbers it said it was a 52. Obviously the cab isn't a 52.
Check for the plate on the inside of the glove box door. (If it is still there or hasn't been switched)That will give you more info as to year and where the cab was built. My 52 cab was a F-6 built in Highland Park Mich. For cab parts the biggest difference in the years is the Gauge cluster and the rear window size. Grills changed as well as hood trim. Ford stamped numbers all over the place on the firewall and other places. Some of them don't mean a thing in helping to identify. And since this truck seems to be a combination of different years there is no guarantee that the frame is the original one either. Torchie
Check Van Pelts site as well. He has Codes for trucks as well as cars. I tried to post a link for you but I couldn't. Torchie
The Vin that I found said it was a 52 model that was made out of Louisville, KY. The original motor was a 239. The glove box isn't there anymore. Whoever had it only left a hole for the gauge cluster and filled everything up. They did a nice job with it. It is pretty smooth. A person will probably just have to sand it down and see about getting it back to original. I really want to make it look like a 51 or 52. I like the fenders on a 52 better than the ones that are on it.
One of the great things about 48-52 Ford trucks is they are the last of the "Early Fords". The platform was sound. Straight axle, early Ford engine and transmission mounts, open drive and a decent rear axle. The Ford 9inch from 57-72 F series trucks will bolt in. A lot of that has been lost in this truck. It looks like the engine mounts and the core support has been monkeyed with due to the tilt attempt. I can plainly see the front frame horns have been cut off. There's no where to mount a front bumper. No telling whats been done to the front sheet metal for the tilt. No telling whats been done to the inside of the cab. No telling what this truck really is. There is the frame# on the rail and that's really the legit one....likely they used the 52 data plate off another truck. In short it's a mess. Especially if you are going for lightly modified stock. I think you are way behind the 8ball starting out with this one. My best advice for you is to save up about 3-5 thousand and get a complete maybe even running and driving truck. I think if you add up all the parts and pieces you need right now just to get it complete you'll have that and maybe a lot more in this one. Then it's still in pieces. I would use this one for parts. Sorry, but I think you need a better start.
Thanks for the info. I do not intend to use the stock frame. I am going to change the frame out on it. As far as the inside of the cab goes. It is pretty solid. Not sure exactly what all I am going to do to it just yet. Still mulling the options.
Here is what I see you have so far: 53 Bed 48-49 Hood 48-52 Cab. Could be a 48-49, or it could be a 50-52, nut its difficult to tell from the pictures. 50-52 Big Truck Front fenders that have had the upper and lower seam filled. Those fenders will look weird with normal size wheels and tires. The riveted VIN plate on the 48-49 cab goes on the p***enger side of the firewall just below that horizontal seam and there is also a factory code number that is stamped in the metal almost centered on the firewall. Easiest way to tell what your cab is, is to look at the dash and the back window. I also think that you have a 48-49 Cab. The 48-49 had a smaller back window. If the dash hasn't been modified, the dash is totally different between the two (see attached pictures). You stated that they smoothed the dash. Unless they cut everything out, you'll still be able to tell the difference between the two. The glove box doors are different between the two dashes, and are not interchangeable. If you click on the picture of my avatar, that is a 48 Cab with 51 Front fenders and hood. I also had to cut out front seam on the front fenders to repair the rust out. Make sure you look under the front fenders where the seam was filled. They should have cut out all of the old rusted metal and the inner seam and bracing if they filled that seam correctly. If they just slapped body filler over the seam, you'll likely have rust out come back after a couple of years.
Your truck looks nice. I plan on taking the front clip off of it and just use the grille, maybe the hood. Not sure on it yet. It seems hard to find hoods for those trucks. It does have the smaller back gl*** in it and it does have what I call a half oval gauge panel in it which would be an earlier cab than a 52. I am also going to probably get a different bed and rear fenders for it. The bed looks like it is in good shape, but I would like to make it look like a 52 as much as I could. Someone had put aftermarket bucket seats in it. Any idea where a person might find a bench seat for one?
I used the middle seat out of a minivan. Try to find one that has the handles to tilt it forward on the drivers side or on the top in the middle, instead of the p***enger side (as most minivans only have the sliding door on the p***enger side). You can usually find what you need from a van that has the sliding doors on both sides. Also, pay attention to any built in arm rests as its weird to have an arm rest only on the p***enger side (until you get the chance to get it re-upholstered). You should also try to find one that already has a slide mechanism so you will have seat adjustment. You'll have to make your own brackets to bolt it to the floor, but that's pretty straight forward and only limited to your own creativity.
If the cab is solid and you're not going to use the frame that's under it, I see no reason not to use this body. And it's got a ***le which is a plus, even if it didn't originally come with this cab. I'd be tempted to find some junk 53-56 fenders (fronts or rears would work), cut the wheel opening out and weld them into the big truck front fenders so the wheel opening matches the current rear fenders. I like the square, flared profile of the later fenders and if you did it really cleanly you'd have people scratching their heads. It's already going to be customized, considering what you're starting with.
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