I am very curious if there was a fire extinguisher option in '58? Because my original cab has a fire extinguisher bracket mounted on the passenger side down by the air vent. I found a replacement cab because original is to rusted and was wondering if I should bother remounting in new cab. If in fact it was an option might remount in but other wise might not. Would be a cool extra feature though I think.

The reason I was thinking about it was that this last weekend I stripped my original cab down to almost nothing and was wondering if the fire extinguisher bracket would be something worth holding onto.

Does anyone know or would it most likely be something someone mounted themselves?

Thanks will try to post some pictures tonight.

 

i've personally never seen that before, but that doesn't mean they didn't do it.
i do know that it is very popular around here for people to mount fire extinguishers in their ride, it could just be remnants of the PO.

 

Well I got a few quick snap shots of it. Yea it looks a pretty tough but I am still debateing on maybe having that look or not in my finished truck. If I think I would just get a new bracket and extinguisher. Would be different and kind of look, a cool look, but subtle.

I just don't have a clue as to if this was added later or was factory. I think I have seen a few pickups with them installed in them.

 

It does look like a bracket for one of the old brass liquid filled fire extinguishers. They were an all brass tubular body with a nozzle in the center of one end and a keylike pumping handle in the center of the other end. They were filled with carbon tetrachloride liquid that would come out the nozzle in a stream when the handle was pumped in and out. It wasn't too long after '58 when carbon tet was declared a major carcinogen and outlawed for use in fire extinguishers and dry cleaning. The government issued a safety recall and asked that all carbon tet fire extinguishers be turned in. Should you find one that still contains liquid, pump it out into a glass bottle with a metal cap in a very well ventilated area and cap immediately. Avoid skin contact and dispose of the liquid in a hazardous chemical dump site. The extinguishers were usually able to be opened for refilling after use. if so open it up, flush thoroughly with alchohol and allow to sit open outside for a day or two before reassembly and putting in your truck.

 

There were Ford branded extinguishers of that type, according to the picture in an accessory catalog. Something to watch out for at swap meets... hopefully not all of those were destroyed.

Is there an alternative liquid than can be used to refill those? It seems like a Bad Idea to have an inert fire extinguisher around, unless it's prominently labeled as such.

 

We had one hanging in our basement that had belonged to my Grandfather. He was an avid fisherman fishing from rental boats at night on Lake Erie and the Finger Lakes of NY. In those days you would provide your own small outboard engine, life preservers, fire extinguisher, and Coleman lanterns, the rental marina provided a bare boat. The life Jackets he used were Navy surplus, filled with cork blocks and kapok. When he passed, my father shared the motor and gear with my Uncle but it was stored at our house. Between fishing trips that I was allowed to join when deemed old enough, that extinguisher hung on a post at the bottom of the basement stairs. I think I was a almost into my teens when they banned those extinguishers, I remember my father taking it to the fire station and trading it for one of the red liquid baking soda solution and vinegar ones that we still see today. The red one was bright, but it never had the sparkle, lore, or memories of the brass one in my eyes.

 

I have that same exact extinguisher mount I had in my boat (built 1949) and the extinguisher in it was CO2. I'm not sure about the body/case design of the Carbon tet models, but the CO2 bottles were round on the bottoms and held in place by the concave bottom plate - like yours. The cylinder measured 14 inched by 3 inches in diameter and had the conic flip up nozzel that was about 2 1/2 inches in diameter on the end and with the neck about 12 inches long. I remember the body of the cylinder being banded/grooved (as though it had been turned on a lathe) And it was quite heavy - maybe 15 pounds.

Might be, might not be - just thought I'd throw that in as food for thought.

 

Well I did remove it today and of course the first thing I looked for was a FoMoCo marking in it somwhere, didn't find one though.

Thanks for the information I will have to keep an eye out for one at swap meets or garage sales.

Would look kind of cool I think having a brass extinguisher instead of the usual red and white one.

 

I saw a dealer sheet that showed a fire extingusher from tat time . They used the old Carbon Tetra chloride Brass extinguishers then . Ed Shaver

 

Does anybody know where the brass extinguisher would of been mounted on the '56 pickups back in the day? How about the road reflectors? I have both items but not a clue as to where or how they should be mounted in the cab. I also have a grille guard that is in need of restoration but not sure if it is "Correct" for my '56. I know how to email pictures to individuals but I have had trouble in the past trying to post to a gallery or a thread. I may start a new thread if this one doesn't generate any replies.

 

I was thinking today a fire extinguisher would be great. Perhaps it is because my carb is spitting gas all over the engine.

 

Under the seat seams to be the typical answer. E-mail the pictures to babbiebuddie@***.net and I'll post them for you.

 

Road reflectors: there is another thread about this too: I know of no place in the 53-56 trucks specifically to store the reflectors. most put them under the seat.

I have pictures of bigger trucks F-600 and up where the Ford fire extinguisher was mounted on the cab floor between the seat runners and the door on the drivers side. I guess you could mount the bracket anywhere.

 

between the seat runners AND on the door?

Now, that seems like overkill.

 

They weren't a "factory" option (installed on the assembly line) AFAIK, but rather dealer sold accessory items, much like all the customizing accessories: bed liners, lift kits, side steps, gun racks, etc dealer's sell in their parts dept today, so there was no "official" place to put them. Each owner or dealership installed them wherever they saw fit.