Hot Rods Need help IDing this truck - 1950 Ford?

Hi Guys -

My niece purchased this truck a year ago without any help! She is unsure what she wants to do - sell or keep. (No this isn't a shameless use of this great site for a sales pitch - I will post it properly when ready if that is her direction). This is a request for some help identifying exactly what this truck is. The person she bought it from said it was a 1950 Ford F1. I did a little research and I am not sure it is an F1 - possibly F2 (3/4 ton). some info:

vin - 98RD432339 - Registration says 1950 - info I find says "9" up front means 1949 but this carried into 1950.
Engine - 8BA - and the vin says 8R
Engine Casting # - 30115-1 (not sure if this is the right number to look at)
Wheels - 8 lug - F2 or F1 ???
trans - T87D-1 W.C.Div. SB2 (numbers on the trans)
What else will help?

A few pics to follow .....

As always - thanks in advance for the great info from the experts on this site

 

Here are some pics ....

 

I believe you have a 50 F2. Based on the 8 lug and smooth bed sides

 

48-50 with a 51-2 bed is my guess, half ton. very nice.

 

I thought the smooth bed started mid 50?

 

Curious, Why is she considering selling already? Did she not like driving it?

 

May want to verify the SN, should be a tag on the inside of the glovebox door.
But thing is, F1’s were 5 lug.
I don’t recall the numbering sequence, is hers a state issue title from a different era than new by chance?

 

Nice truck. From my 70+ years of observation, my neighbor had a '49 F1, which was the year of my birth and I bought my first '48 F1 in '78. All the F2's I remember had long box and large radius front fenders along with the 8 lug wheels. So what we have here might have been a collection of parts. An F2 shortened with new bedsides and F1 front fenders, or a F1 with F2 axels. I'm not an expert on F1 serial numbers, but the frame numbers should determine the beginings.

 

A quick search found this

The first digit is an abbreviation for the year. 8 for 1948, 9 for 1949. The 1949 production sequence continued into 1950 and possibly 1951 (there is some debate here). Serial numbers for 1950 began at 92251 for 6 cylinder trucks, and 73088 for V8 trucks.

The second and third digits indicate a 6 or 8 cylinder engine. 7H is a 6 cylinder, 8R is an 8 cylinder.

The fourth digit identifies the model. C=F1, D-F2, Y=F3, F4=T.

The last 6 digits are the production sequence.

 

Thanks everyone -

I agree I think this is a combination based on my research as well. Could be a F2 (8 lugs) and F1 Bed???? It's definitely a new bed - fiberglass front and rear fenders. I am not knowledgeable enough to know if there is a difference in the bed between F1 and F2 - although I read F2 was 8' bed. This isn't 8'.

@Bandit Billy - it's her first standard shift!!!! And she is now planning a family. I know we have all been there. So she isn't sure what to do. I explained that we first need to figure what she has!!!!!

 

Wheelbase of F1 is 114in. F2 is 122in. The frame must have been shortened. That is if the title matches the frame. There are letters and numbers stamped on the firewall. The letters indicat the color and the assembly plant. The numbers are the last digits of the serial number. Is there a tag inside the glovebox door?

 

Beautiful pickup !

I can’t help with what exact model it is , but I can help with the ‘not sure what to do’ part, -
If at all possible try to keep it……..
If not possible maybe she has a family member (hot rodding uncle maybe) who can buy it until she can afford to get it back?

 

I think most of the truck engines said 8RT on them and not 8BA (that generally was passenger car only) but it's possible those were changed out too. Never heard of a short box F2, or an 8 lug F1, so this almost has to have been assembled from parts. But who would shorten up an F2 but leave the heavy axles? That's odd.

I'm not sure what's going on here. Nice looking rig, I just wonder what all has been changed on it in its past.

 

@clem - I wish I could take this into my inventory - need to clear a car or two!!!!
@Squablow - thanks for the engine info - "most trucks had 8RT" on them. I will investigate further.

again - appreciate the feedback everyone - very helpful

 

Ah, I was asking because I am building a truck for my wife to drive and was wondering what aspect (s) your niece was running into. Shifting is a biggie. Car seats and single cabs are a tough call as well. Not a lot of safety equipment in these. Thanks for responding.

 

Pull that truck gearbox and put a C-4 in for her...

 

If you're considering the automatic route the 8 lug rear end probably has a pretty low gear set. Go with an AOD instead of the C4. The TV cable will require some thought but its been done. JMO

 

8RT heads came debuted around 1952. But rebuilders most likely used whatever they put their hands on. Have seen a flathead with 8BA on one side and 8RT on the other.

can you post a picture of the rear axle? If it is split in the middle, it is a Timken 51524, only axle for the F2-3, it had full floating hubs. The F1 had a Dana/Spicer 44. IIRC, the 48-49 may have had a 41.

If you swap transmissions, do not toss the T87. That is a HD 3 speed, synchronizers in 2-3. Was optional in F1s. Guys looking to get rid of the spur gear T9 would be interested. Speaking of that, have a look at the transmission crossmember. The F2-3 crossmember would have a recess for the mount/bearing retainer, bottom of crossmember would have a bolt on plate to access the thick rubber mount.

 

@1952henry - Thank you - I will look at that

 

This is the rear

 

Rear end is a Ford 8.8. It's much newer than the truck. It even has disk brakes.

 

Thanks - I truly appreciate the help

 

Def disc brake. 8 lug is from what?

 

Can you pop one of the front covers off? Never really looked at an F2 rear axle before, but that looks like a wheel spacer/adapter to my eye.
Especially the appearance of it looking like aluminum.

 

That's awesome. Pretty truck. Any lady would buy that, is my kinda lady...

 

Sometimes you have to cheat and sneek over to those who have the good answers . how do you decode a vin # for a 1950 f1 - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums (ford-trucks.com)

The short version is:
vin - 98RD432339
9 = year
8R - V8
D= F-2
432339 Production number and that may have been a running production number covering more than one year. As in "We just keep making them and 1949 ends at ____ and 1950 starts with ____.
Then you throw in a couple of backwards thinking states that registered new vehicles as the year they were sold new in rather than actual production year model. Especially on trucks for some reason. That happend up though the mid 50s in a couple of states. I've seen it on Advance Design Chevys a few times. A hold over 49 got sold in early 50 and was titled as a 50 while and early production 50 sold in late 49 was titled as a 49. You can imagine the crap hitting the fan in those states when 53 F100 came out and the state wanted to title them as a 52.

 

Hopefully picture comes up. This is an F3 frame/transmission crossmember. Perched precariously is the F2-3 rear mount for the transmission. Ignore the hoop on left side. This is a frame from F3 with the Marmon Herrington 4wd conversion. It was notched/re-enforced for the front driveshaft. Just trying to help ID frame.

 

Have to defer to Onetrickpony for rear ID. The 8 lug has me stumped

 

I bet someone made an adapter to use the old style wheels