Technical Ford 1932 truck grill

I thought I had two similar grills to my 1932 Ford truck. As I compared those side to side they are not similar. One has car style support for vertical bars and the other has what I thought was the truck style. Is one of my grills a 1933, and which one?

 

The one on the right is a '33.

 

There is also the 34 truck grill that has the holes around the bars for the stainless trim.

 

I was also thinking the one in right could be 33. It actually has holes for trim. Is It then from 34 pickup? If if was a 33-34 truck grill it would be deeper?

 

The 32, 33 and 34 shells ae all different.
The 32 and 33 have the grille emblem, Ford oval, mounted to the shell but the 34 has a chrome ornament which the emblem mounts in.

 

The 33&34 truck shells are deeper than a 32.They also angle back at the top as opposed to straight up and down in the 32.

 

Don't want to hijack, but recently picked up what I thought was '32 Commercial? But is there a sticky/tech thread for I.d. differences in these variety's?

 

33 or 34,,show a side view. HRP

 

Side view

 

Ilari, post some side, full view.

 

I believe it's a 34 Shell. HRP

 

There is an "early" and a "late" shell for 32. The one that looks like the car is the "late "one.

 

This is the only full picture I have so far. I can take new pictures today.

 

Looks like you have two '32 truck grilles. No idea why the stiffeners are different though.

 

This doesn't apply to the commercial shells,,there was only one shell. HRP

 

If back surface of the shell is parallel to the front surface, it's a '32. '32 shell is also very shallow, just enough metal to cover the radiator. If it's from the German truck, it's a '32 because the Germans never made '33-4 trucks, they kept the '32 BB in production right into early part of WWII.

 

Bruce,you never cease to amaze me,,I had no idea the German produced trucks through 34 used the Deuce shell.

Was this the case in the other country's that had Ford manufacturing plants? HRP

 

Everybody was different...Russia Gaz, Ford England, Germany...England made AA's with B engines and '34 rears AND some BB's at same time, Russia made B powered AA's for Many years, everybody had B engines coming off the lines until after WWII.
Germany made the '32 BB into about 1940, and made B powered later trucks after the war...and models overlapped, they made some combination of '35-37 type trucks alongside BB's, and their main wartime truck was a roughly 1940 type big Ford with several versions of 239. England, Germany, and Russia had enough overlap in the motor pool that they could all use captured vehicles very efficiently.
The later (not sure of year) 1932 BB's in Germany had a new rear on the cab with some curvature like a later truck...presumably a little better driving position for large drivers. Having an ultra short cab was not as important as it was not used on the short ch***is, like a '32 pickup.

 

Yes, one of these grills is from German Ford. I have no idea what the other one is from. I decided to restore the one from german Ford, started with replacing the missing ribs and used the crank hole from the other grill. Tomorrow I will continue with the lower part of the grill.

 

....every time you think you know it all about something.

 

I hear you, fleetside. I had my first ride in a '32 about 53 years ago, and have been a pretty attentive student for the last forty. But on this site, I'm in kindergarten....

 

I think it´s turning out ok. When I´m looking at you guys doing metal work, I see that my skills are really limited.

 

Still some patching to do. I´m leaving the part from the backside of. Is there a reason I should add it?

 

Those spotwelded back plates are a water trap. They are a guarantee that rust will form there. I would see if there is a way to bolt the thing on, and have all the parts well-painted first. Maybe a couple small studs welded to the backside of the grille?

 

It helps deflect air through the radiator instead of under the truck. Mine was rotted also so I cut off an area in the bottom so that water will run out instead of collect there and then tack welded it back on.

 

The grill on the left looks like one i have from a ca 1940 German Ford BB. The shell and ribs are stamped out seperately and then tack welded together. the starter crank hole portion is just a square tin peice with an oval hole in it.
Unlike the USA models.
The inner flange is kinda unfinished after stamping and not even to the curvature of the shell itself, it has a more rough utility "we dont give a damn" feel to it, than the more proud looking Americans. Mine is hanging besides an American NOS 33 truck shell, and looks very rough in quality but many guys i know prefer that look, and are emidiately drawn to it when visiting.

 

They were built into the early part of WWII as '32 types, the super rough one may be wartime. I have a book on WWII German Fords that shows many pics of their most common model, a 1940 type big truck...those went into the war looking just like ours, then started getting rougher and rougher and more and more simplified, with fenders becoming simple boxes, etc.
The late war ones were almost unrecognizable in their crudity...

Do either of you have a picture showing the back area of a later German BB? The stretch cab would interest a lot of people.

 

Here´s pictures from the backside. My truck is a bit rough as you see. All the wood is rotten also.
I have this model a type of steering wheel, but it´s cast aluminium. Looks kind of cool to me. I suppose it´s original, but is this a regular truck steering wheel or just in german trucks?

 

Must be a German wheel. Note the axle...AA's and BB's made in Germany and England long after their end in the US got the 1934 type full float axle after it became available.

 

Here Here! I was going to input my 2 cents,,, and low and behold I don't know squat.