I have a 50 F-1 that my grandfather bought new. It was fairly nicely optioned with a V8, radio, and two windshield wipers. The radio in my truck works great, but the glass on the dial is broken. Does anyone know where to get parts for this radio? I have never seen another 48-50 truck with a radio.

 

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Try eBay, there is usually a Ford truck radio on there about every two months. They usually go for a pretty steep price even when the seller states that they don't know if it works (I'm sure they don't or the seller would state that so he could get a lot more for it.) Also the radio out of a '48-49 ? Mercury car has the same front bezel except that it is chrome plated. I have also seen these radio on eBay. You could strip and paint the bezel to match the stock radio.
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I don't think those are factory radios, mine has rounded ends on the radio glass face. I'll try to post a picture of it soon. I know this one was factory installed.

 

 

The rectangular radios are the factory radio for the 48-50 trucks. The pic at the top of the previous post is correct.( 8C 18805-B) If your radio has the rounded corners, it must also have the adapter plate on the dash. This makes the radio stick out slightly. That adapter allows you to put the 49-50 car radio in the trucks. It was a dealer installed option available after you bought a truck that didn't come with a radio from the factory. Ford was (and still is) big on dealer profits and this was a way to make more on the sale. You can find the car radios at a much cheaper price on Ebay or anywhere else than the truck radios. The last truck radio went for over $500.00!! The car ones average around $30.00 to $50.00 depending on condition.

 

That's strange, I have seen the car radios and they don't look like my radio either. Guess I'll have to pull it out and look at it closer. Thanks for the info guys.

 

How about posting a pic of the radio? It could be a aftermarket radio, there were lots of add on stuff back then.

 

I'll post a picture in a few days when I can get back down to where my truck is. It is sitting in my parents garage where I am rebuilding the 255 Mercury V8 for it. The radio has a cream colored plate around it that matches the speaker grill.

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 07-Jan-03 AT 10:39 PM (EST)]I have a 48 truck radio in my 52 F-1. I had it rebuilt @ bob's radio. Had a hard time finding one with the original *****. If you look in the shop manuel for the truck pages 282 through 284 It has a lot of info ( model numbers and and pictures). A 1950 should be a 0A-18805-B part number and a ocf made by Colonial or a ozf made by Zenith. The dial will be rounded on the ends and the plastic face plate should have a little plastic portion sticking out @ the center bottom that reads ford.The manuel will show pictures of all sides of the case, several of the face, and an interior of the 2 different models, showing the # and placement of the tubes and misc. Hope this helps. Michael. 52 F-1
PS. Bobs radio ( www.bobsradio.com ) was able to get the scratches out of mine He said he could cut a new one but it wouldn't have the ford logo in it. He said that no one made repo face plates.

 

You are correct on the model numbers for the 50 F-1, but the pics in the manual show the 51-52 radio and dashboard, not the 48-50 radio and dash. All the pics are clearly the 51-52 series dash. In the later series,(51-52) you can also use the 49-50 Ford car radio as a substitute for the truck model. The 48-50 radios looked the same on the outside. As one of the above posts said, you can put the 49 Merc radio in the 48-50 dash. I've seen a few done and it fits perfectly. You can either paint the chrome bezel or leave it alone for more chrome on the dash. There were kits offered then to install the 46-48 car radios or the 49 car radios in the 48-50 trucks. They appear on Ebay now and then. As soon as he posts a pic, hopefully the mystery will be solved.