I have located a 1950 F-1 that is all-original, V8 with 3-speed on column, and it has a large rear window which really appears to be factory, yet it clearly has a 1950 dash.

VIN is 98RC 475353

Does anyone have information as to whether or not Ford actually did make some 1950 F-1s with the 1951 style larger rear window. I have heard the story about service cabs having the larger rear window, but this truck has a known family history and clearly never had the cab replaced.

Please educate me!

Walt

 

No one I know of has successfully documented such a vehicle, you could be the first. If the interior panels are out, a picture of the inside of the back panel would tell a lot.

 

It would be interesting to know the assembly plant and firewall stampings. My bet is still post-assembly modifications somewhere along the line.

 

Wayne,

Got some pics.

 

A picture of the inner seam where the back wall meets the roof would probably tell a lot.

 

Nick, IIRC I saw a NOS back panel and roof for sale at Hershey several years ago which would indicate that the assembly with the weld/seam could have been factory. The joints would be at the A pillar.

 

I plan to go see this truck soon, so let me know what/where to check to validate it. I will get the build numbers off the firewall, but the tag is on the firewall and it matches the frame numbers, vin posted above.

Walt

 

Bill, That may not always be he case. There is a fellow collector here that, when he was looking at my truck a few years ago, told me he had a new '48-'50 truck cowl and roof section that he bought from the local Ford dealer years ago when they moved to a new location.

 

[QUOTE=walt460;16065595]Wayne,

Got some pics.



Wasn't the column shift introduced late in 1950? Looks like the truck was made during the transition from '50 to '51 with a new cab but an old dashboard.

 

That's the highest serial number I've seen on a '50 from the other thread. Oops. Just found another with a higher s/n but it doesn't say anything about the window... 98RC481822 in post 114 by FordPUs back in January, 2006. He hasn't been active since June of '06, so I can't ask him. I sent an email... we'll see what happens.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/4...n-cut-off.html

It would be nice to know if Ford started using the cab rears with the big back windows before the '51 model was introduced.

 

Does this truck's bed have raised panels or flat sides? Wood bed floor or steel or wood? The column shift change is alleged to have occurred at about the same time as the bed changes.

 

The truck has flat sides on the bed, pic above shows. I have not seen inside the bed, but I was told it has a steel floor. It does have a column shift.

 

I have in my barn two cab repair pieces. One includes roof, a-pillers, cowl, dash and firewall. The other piece is a complete rear section of cab up to roof seam above rear window. These two pieces make a complete cab minus floor and rockers. Has small rear window and dash is the '48-'50 configuration. They appear to be NOS replacement parts.
This truck in question being a late production '50 model could of had a rear cab replacement with a large rear window while relatively new. Or it may have been late production and they used what was available in that plant.

 

Joe, My understanding is the consecutive unit numbers were issued to the different plants in batches, so plant A may be using 320,000-325,000 while at the same time plant B would be using 326-350,000, for instance. So while having a high CSU would be an indicator of a late build, it may not be as late as one thinks. We need to know the assembly plant and date code to determine further.

Flat panel bed sides came with wood floors, accordingly raised panel sides had sheet metal over wood floors with the full subframe. The change was a complete redesign of the bed assembly. If the floor is steel in a flat sided bed, it was added later.

There was an NOS cab assembly still in the crate on ebay not too long ago. It came in 3 pieces, back panel, cowl and roof assembly, and floor. The body shop had to put them all together when replacing a cab. That one had the 48-50 dash with the 51-2 big back window. Ford had no reason to stamp 2 different back panels when the big window part would work fine as a service part. That's just the way things were done then. It was a cost saving thing.

 

"Flat panel bed sides came with wood floors, accordingly raised panel sides had sheet metal over wood floors with the full subframe. The change was a complete redesign of the bed assembly. If the floor is steel in a flat sided bed, it was added later. "

After reading Wayne's comment above, I called owner and asked him again about the truck's bed. He had told me it was steel with plywood on top, but when he actually unloaded the bed and lifted the plywood, he found a wood bed. In fact, he thinks the wood might be original wood as it has been covered with plywood for as long as he can remember (prior to 1974).

Walt