I'm not an expert on Mercury trucks. But didn't all Mercury trucks have more chrome and bright parts than standard Fords? like the extra chrome strip along the fender.

 

Having a wood bed would automatically put out up to 50 points depending on whether or not they declare it unauthentic exterior body parts. There is no 40 point deduction for the box component specifically but there is for color and finish...

That said, judging it will be a bunch of people intimately familiar with F1's of the era and in the absence of a factory list of components, I am sure they would side with Ford F1's. And if I am hearing here they had steel floors, I would need one.

I have done other AACA cars. I am familiar with the process.

 

Hmmm, hopefully some of our Canadian brethren will chime in here and lend us their expertise.

 

My understanding is that a wood floor is acceptable under AACA judging but I could not prove it

 

Ford and Mercury trucks built in Canada will have differences from the U.S. production Ford trucks. The Mercury trucks are exactly the same as the Canadian Ford truck production, except for differences in chrome trim and badging.
I have a 1951 Canadian Ford F-1 and the box has wooden floor boards with metal divider strips. It is correctly painted the body color of the truck. All of the hardware for the fenders, etc was painted silver as the black fenders were assembled after the cab and box were painted and mounted on the frame.
The 48 to 50 trucks should have metal floors in the box with wood supporting the metal floor according to my 1948 Ford of Canada brochure. The box and floor should be painted the body colour. The hose clamps on the previous pictures appear to be correct when compared to my 48 to 51 Canadian Chassis Parts Catalogue. As for engine color the jury is still out. My 51 is painted correctly with a light tan color for the engine, with cast aluminum intake manifold and black oil filler, breather tube, generator and mount. I can't confirm the original engine color for the 48 to 50 trucks, but it was likely different from the U.S. production. The windshield should only have the black rubber molding as the chrome insert is for 51 and 52 Deluxe or Custom Cabs (Five Star Extra in the U.S.).
Your truck looks correct in the pictures you have provided. The judges in the U.S. will try and compare the characteristics of the Ford F-1 in the U.S. and the Ford F-47 and Mercury M-47 will have their differences.

 

Mercury truck brochures and manuals are as rare as hens teeth. Do you have the titles of the publications - might make them easier to find.

You are right about them using US F1 characteristics to judge in the absence of any factory documentation.

 

I have limited knowledge on the Canadian Mercury's. To the best of my knowledge in the Ford F-1's if the bed has raised sides (as your truck does), it should have the steel over wood floor. Mine is a 49 and that was the construction. I am one of the few that took out the original floor, replaced the wood and spot welded in a new floor. I did it myself and installing the new steel floor (I don't know if it is available now-it was made by Mac Hills but he sold the business a number of years ago.) is a difficult job. It is almost impossible to get the new floor flat-the factory did not. It was amongst the most challenging work that I did on my truck. I thought that the raised bedsides were changed out to the flat, 51-52 sides in later 1950.

 

Ed, You may want to look for the "Truck Chassis Parts Catalogue - 1948 to 1951. There is also a Passenger and Truck Body Parts Catalogue. They appear on eBay and other sellers from time to time. I have several brochures for Canadian Ford and Mercury trucks. Most of my materials are for the 1951-52 models. I have the 1952 Sales manual as well for Mercury Trucks. I have noted that the Literature is based on the U.S. literature (brochures) and is edited for the Canadian Ford or Mercury Trucks. It may contain errors as the sales information was created and changes were made in Canadian Production. The Parts Catalogues are the best source, but they don't have information on engine colour etc.

 

Just got the search on my watch list on fleabay.

Now for all the folks on this board, someone must have seen a near original block in 50 m47!

- The van pelt site puts it at 'Green' or tangerine for Mercury, but do they mean car and in the US?

- prevailing wisdom on many chat boards puts the Ford color at red for trucks for sure for the US (with some deference to gold).

- early V8 club agrees with both above but makes no claim for Canada.

Having not been to a show yet in Canada, what do you see on these trucks for engine color?

 

There is a lot of debate on the factory engine colour for the flathead V8 trucks made in Canada. The references you list and the colours mentioned pertain to U.S. production. My 51 239 cu. in. flathead is correctly coloured a light tan. I don't have an original 48 to 50 engine to refer to. These trucks were 25 years old when I started driving on the farm in Saskatchewan and the original colour were hard to remember as they were covered in oil and grim. Also, the trucks had engine changes and rebuilders may not have painted engines the factory original colours. We also had car engine swapped in to trucks to keep them going on the farm. My advertising literature shows different colours, but the images are artist drawings of the engine and chassis and don't reflect actual production. ie. U.S. engine air cleaners, etc. I think it would be difficult for a judge to dispute the engine colour as there isn't good documentation for Canadian Truck production. Hopefully, someone else here can provide more information.


1951 Light Tan color

 

This is my 1952 M3 that I purchased from the original owner. Engine is blue. I have these manuals as well. (Not for sale). , Doug

 

Thanks for the pics. I notice both engines have a raw intake manifold. Mine is too, I guess I'll leave it.

Right now I have a super dark green/black engine was replaced in mid 50's, I know that, and rebuilt in 94 so I am clear case of the the original color gone situation. I asked the original owner what color it was but he doesn't recall. Always been black to him!

I'm going to be at the Daytona Turkey Run this weekend. Remote chance I might run into someone there that might know something.

 

I was just looking through the AACA judging rules and saw a section about truck floors that may interest you
http://www.aaca.org/images/judge/201...Guidelines.pdf

Go to page 2-20 Paragraph 15

 

I read that. Thanks for noticing it and bringing it up. I have a friend who is a judge and has a 30's Chevy pick up (Senior), and had to paint his flat black, and when he looked at my truck told me I would likely have to paint the bed flat black. But, what I am afraid of is there are so many Ford trucks around it is likely that I will get a Ford owner on the judging team and they will know it is supposed to be steel and body color and I will docked.

So I will likely paint it flat black and the right judge might keep me from a junior but equally good chance I can get Junior with flat black. If I get Junior will have to expect I will have to go to metal to get a senior.

 

Re Merc engine color; my 51 M3 engine and trans were a tan/bronze color; until I used serious degreaser which blew off this paint to reveal Ford blue underneath. Go figure. I believe this tan/bronze is correct for the Merc trucks.