A little back story for those who are interested. My wife's father was a big Ford fan (most of my vehicles were frowned upon ) and amassed a small collection of cars and projects over the years. A few years ago he passed away and her mother decided that the 39 pickup project should come our way as I have a habit of fixing and restoring things. I have no background in Fords or flatheads but know my way around cars and restorations. As I am tearing into this lovely truck I realize how special (aka hard to find info and parts) 39 pickups are. He provided a large stack of manual (many now out of print) that have been very helpful. The truck is very original save for the hack job that someone shoved a 52 Mercury motor into it. My plan is to first get it back to driving and then restore it. Possibly keeping the Mercury motor but making it look more 1939. Question Time: Am I posting my build / questions in the right area? If not please let me know where Any original diagrams for what was original inside for buttons and knobs? There were some added over they years but everything is so old I dont know what was original. There is a very strange heater setup in the truck. Odd blower and thermostat in the truck and a large radiator / heater core in the engine compartment. I can add pictures later, but is there any information on what the original heating system looked like in these trucks? Someone added a hack of a dual exhaust that is all but gone. I want to add dual circuits to the brake system but no booster. Given everything else is stock is there a manifold / exhaust that someone can recommend? I am not interested in performance more sound and fit without cutting. Part B to the above are all flatheads the same on the exhaust side of the engine? Do I have to worry that what works for this Mercury wont work if I go back to an older motor? I have ran all new hard lines, soft lines, wheel cylinders and a single master (for now). I have bleed the darn thing so many times but cant seem to build a pedal. Any tricks or just suffer more bleeding? The floors in the truck are rotten plywood. Google has not been kind to let me know if the originals were plywood or what is going on there. Can someone help clarify this for me. Right now the engine cranks but Im worried that there is so much carbon and nastiness on the valves that compression is poor. Any advise other than pull the heads? The truck is all there. Lots of rust. Lots of future cursing. But I am looking forward to doing my father in laws project that he never had the opportunity to do. Any info is much appreciated!
Make sure you have the brakes adjusted, so all of the pedal is not being wasted. Sounds like a cool truck, pics would be good.
Looks better than it is ha ha. House paint and bondo over the original blue, nasty frame rust. I will tighten up the brakes and give it a try thanks!
Cool, it looks pretty darn good if it's from The Buckeye State. I'm originally from there, Athens, to be precise.
Cool, yep original OH farm truck (Zanesville area). Have a few titles going back to the 40s amazing it made it. We live in Alabama now. The ride down is the first time it moved in 25-30 years tires still held air. New tires are on the list once the engine fires and it stops.
Great looking truck. There's a '39 truck post one here and also check out the Ford Barn for more stock type trucks. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1938-1939-ford-truck-club.474480/ https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/
I recently acquired a 38 pickup. However it is not so nice like this one. It is basically a cab mounted on an o/t frame, with most of the sheetmetal in a pile. But my point is , can anyone explain differences between the 38 and 39? Mine looks exactly the same as this 39. I agree, yours will be a great project in honor of your father in law.
38 mechanical brakes 39 juice brakes. Something about the grill trim is different between the 2 years but pretty minor IIRC. Nice truck I've got a 52 EAB engine in my 39 and most don't realize that it's not the correct flathead.
Sometimes marvel mystery oil in the spark plug holes will loosen up the valves after quite a few revolutions. Starter fluid helps get things firing, and of course make sure you have a spark at each spark plug. 38 model and a different grill trim and a V8 at the top center of the grill. The hood ornament was different for each year. My son and I are working on a 39. Also the headlight buckets were different for each year. Other than that and the brakes they were the same truck. Did you have any extra rear fenders lying around? Richard
I have driven my 39 every day for 17 years. The 39 has one strip of metal down the center of the grille, the 38 has three. The windshield has a vertical crank open knob while the 38 is horizontal. The brakes are as mentioned above. They are mostly the same truck
The Jalopy Journal
