I need to get all new interior handles and cranks for my 1949 two door Sedan. It must have 1950 or 51 doors on it. I can buy brand name reproduction replacement parts and that would look nice. This is a mild custom car, so why go back stock? Maybe hardware from a Galaxie or Thunderbird or Lincoln might fit right in there? Might be an easy custom touch. Can someone please tell me what year FoMoCo changed from the old round shaft with a pin style interior handles?
From 1920’s through 1949 was the square shaft with a retainer pin. 1950 changed to the splines. Lots of early hot rodders used 1949 Ford and Merc interior handles in their 30’s Fords. It’s a very common early mod.
Many mid-'50s Mopars also used that square shank but no pins. They used a weird 'spring' to hold the handles on and the tool to remove them is very hard to find but does turn up from time to time. But they did have some interesting handles...
Yes there are some fancy Mopar handles that will fit right on the square shaft, and they even have the holes for the pins. Like the flip handle late 40’s Chryslers. But it will either take big bucks to step up for a set, or two lifetimes of searching the misc handle boxes at swap meets. I’ve only lived one life so far, and am almost halfway to a set.
Ok guys, turns out I don’t have 1949 doors, I have a round shaft with splines and a pin. How far up in years does FoMoCo use that style handle?
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