My build project is getting this 1951 (according to registration) or 1952 (according to frame number) truck on the road. It's a F-3 frontend and frame with a cab custom made for military use. All wood on the inside.

It has no engine or transmission at the moment. And it's a low-cost project so whatever goes under the hood is going to be cheap and easy, at least for now.

 

Welcome! We look forward to learning more about your truck and your plans for it. There lots of helpful and very knowledgable folks on this forum. You have come to right place for help and support for whatever you might have in mind for your project.

I have a military 52 Ford panel as well. There are lots of pictures of it posted in my profile. Just click on my user name to access them. From the color, your truck looks to be army.

 

Add my welcome. Your profile says you live in Norway. I had assumed you were European (edit - more correctly Scandinavian) because all we've seen similar to your truck were from the Netherlands. We have I'll guess four or five members with similar trucks, but yours I believe is the only true panel bodied truck. The others are window vans having been ambulances or Civil Defense type trucks. Do you know if your truck has spent it's whole life in Norway?

All the others are 1951s, which your front sheet metal suggests yours is also. All the others are equipped with Marmon-Herrington all wheel drive. Does your truck have any signs of having been 4x4? Yours was originally a flathead 239 cubic inch V8 while all the others were 226 cubic inch inline six cylinders.

Below are pictures of three other members' trucks. The third one was originally a window van before the windows were covered. Stu

 

Thanks This is my first project so I'll probably ask a lot of questions.

Yours looks to be a factory made panel truck. Those are nice.
You're right about mine being army. It never left the area it was first stationed in until I bought it. Inland climate and very little road use in the last decades has saved it from getting too rusty.

 

Thanks Yeah, I'm in Norway. The truck has always been here. The panel body was built by a norwegian coach builder. It was in use by the military from 1952 to 1967 when it was sold to a civilian. It was then sold twice after he died, and then I bought it.

It most likely is a 1951, but the frame number has R2 in it, and as far as I can understand that should imply a 1952 production date, which is confusing.
No 4x4 on this. And the flathead V8 is long gone.

 

Great project. I have never done any thing with a wooden body. Looks interesting Good luck and welcome

 

As I studied your picture I saw differences that suggested your truck began life as a Chassis/Cowl configuration. Below are the factory specification pages for it from the Ford Truck Handbook. These books were dealer/salesman references.

The R2 in your serial number, if it follows the USA pattern, is confusing. There is, of course, the prospect that the numbering sequence was entirely its own. We've seen in Canadian serial numbers, and those assigned to the Netherlands trucks I pictured, very different patterns than those used on our USA trucks. Ford had export production facilities in South Africa, Australia, Canada, and South America that I'm aware of. Perhaps other locations as well. Stu

 

Thanks The worst part with a wooden body is finding materials with the same dimensions. Things have changed a lot in six decades apparently.

Wow, thanks. I've been guessing at something like this but it's great to see the actual documents.

The serial number has a great resemblance to the USA numbers (F3R2CDX plus a sequential number). But the factory part has an extra letter and doesn't match. I took a quick look at the articles on wikipedia about the german and english Ford facilities and it seems they made trucks at the plant in Cologne. Importing from either of the two countries would make sense.

 

The serial number sequence sure is close to the USA pattern. The sequence on the three pictured Dutch trucks is F3H1ABX-----. Very similar to your pattern, but with the "H" for the 226 I-6 engine and "1" for 1951. It would seem their factory assigned the ABX while yours assigned the CDX. Probably the X stands for Export. As for the 1951 sheet metal on a 1952 vehicle, we've seen other instances where Ford continued past year(s) styling on export models. Stu

 

This project has been on hold while choosing what methods to use and what equipment to buy. Suddenly I realised that winter was coming and I still had two pieces of panel simmering in a molasses bath. Got them out today so they won't be stuck in an ice cube waiting for spring. Molasses seems to be good for paint removal too.

Before and after pressure washer:




I was also wondering if I had widowmakers or not, i read about them too often on here to not get worried

These are mine:

 

I see that the tires are 7.50-17", so yes, I believe the wheels have to be Budd #49380 widow makers. We can't see the back sides to see the joints, but from the front they are clearly semi-drop center. If they are US made you'll find the Budd number on the back side rim lips. Replacements are hard to come by in the US, no doubt much harder in Norway. It would be logical to me that your better option would be to have the center discs remounted locally into new 17" one piece rims similar to what we've seen done by Stockton Wheel in California. Stu