Thanks, your a handy guy to have around.

Thanks, i'm pretty excited about it.

 

Looks pretty darn good, rear fenders are off a later model, 53 - 56 maybe.

 

You know, when you look at it, that tailgate is a dead giveaway. The FORD lettering looks way off, too new for this truck for sure. It was piled under some stuff in the bed so I hadn't looked at it until this afternoon.

 

hey looks like a nice truck and its awesome to see another from wyoming. Hometown is sheridan and in laramie right now for school.

 

Looks like a great start! Were those running boards cut?

 

Yes, if you look back in this thread we discovered that it's the wrong bed for the truck, it came off a later model. Working on that right now...


Question for you guys (and Julie). If my VIN = F1H1RH21239 is "H" the paint color code? This would make it Silvertone Gray, it's the only letter I see that matches up with any color codes.

Also, is the "21239" of any use to me or is it just your number in the series to identify one truck from another?


By the way, I got the old van seats out of it last night and got to play around with the trans, it's the 4spd, not the 3, pretty excited about that.

 

21239 is the serial number for that truck. I would look on the frame for the same number, too.

 

"H" is not the color code. It goes with the "R". RH = Richmond, CA assembly plant. I believe that production number sequence started at 10000.

Also, the first "H" in the sequence (after the F1) decodes the 6 cylinder engine.

 

Hmmn, what's the "1" after the first H?

Can I assume then that there's no way to tell the color?

The color code deal-a-ma-bob on this forum says that 1951 was the first year for color codes, maybe mine's an early '51, before that change?

F1 - Model of truck
H - 226 6cyl engine
1 - ?
RH - Richmond, CA
21239 - Serial#

 

I wouldn't get too excited just yet. First gear in that 4-speed is a granny gear and is useless for normal driving. You'll want to ignore it and start off in 2nd. NONE of the gears in that tranny are sychronized, either. You gotta double clutch it all the way up and back down too. It's a heavy duty transmission, but definitely not my favorite.

 

1 denotes the model year as in 1951. 2 denotes a 1952.

Find a spot inside the cab that wasn't repainted or exposed to the elements. Look behind the instrument panel, behind the fuel tank, pull away any left over upholstery, look on the back of the door inspection cover plates, etc. Unlike 48-50, which some had this info stamped into the cowl, finding the original color in the interior would be your best bet.

 

well i know on the later trucks the color code and trans code and all that good stuff is listed below the vin # on the data plate. Do the older trucks not have such a set up??

 

The sync thing might be a pain, but i'll probably swap out the gears in the rear end which should make that granny gear a little more useful, we'll see.

Ha, I knew that, I don't know why I didn't think about it

 

I've got the 4 speed in my 51 F-1. It definitely took me a while to learn to shift it properly, but I've got it down now (mostly... still grind a bit on the downshifts). Even with taller gears in the rear-end, the granny-gear is still likely to be useless as it is super low. Second gear is really low itself... I've got the 3.92 rear and I shift outta second gear at about 10 mph.

It'll be fun to watch to see what you do when you get your truck up and running. I thought I had transmission problems with mine for the longest time and wanted to switch to one of the synchroed 3 speeds, but it turned out just to be operator error on my part. As my familiarity with the truck has evolved, the only real modification I am thinking about is taller gears in the rear end so I can cruise down the freeway a bit faster than 50-55 (oh, and those pesky safety mods... like seat belts). But I also like driving something that feels old, as opposed to some folks who want a more modern vehicle with more power. I think the best advice I have gotten here is to let the truck tell you what it wants to be.

 

Do you know of a good way to tell what gears I have before it's up and running? Yeah, 65mph would be a lot nicer.