I go my truck and it is pretty darn bone stock but I am a little confused. I only had a heater switch and defrost pull wire on my bracket (pic 1 and 2). I have seen other folks who have 4 on their bracket (pic 3) which is correct?

 

They are both correct depending on whether you have a fresh air heater (4 controls) or a recirculating heater (2 buttons). So you must have a recirc heater which means it takes cab air and heats it, not air from the outside.

 

I have this 3 door unit. I have finally gotten the original switch and motor to work perfectly, and I had a new heater core made. It looks a little better now, but I haven't taken any recent pics. So is this a recirculating heater?

 

That recirculating heater and switch that you have in your truck is exactly like mine.
Ed
near Philadelphia

 

Yes, you have a recirc unit.

The fresh air heater used a duct that ran from the passenger side kickpanel, through the fenderwell, to the intake just above the PS headlight. The heater unit was mounted very near the kickpanel. For the 48-50 versions, the fan/motor were in the fender well - and tended to die a horrible, rusty death.

 

Croaking by corrosion!

Exactly correct. From a restoration standpoint, you are definitely better off with the recirculating unit. All self contained within the cozy confines of the cab.

The flip side, is that the fresh-air units worked pretty well, except that they had a pretty anemic blower motor that blew air at about the rate of an end-stage emphysema sufferer. For one thing, they were thermostatically controlled, meaning that the water valve on the firewall had a capillary tube that automatically adjusted the flow of hot water according to the setting of the temperature control ****. Pretty nifty.

Another was the ability to pull in fresh air. This aided greatly in dissipating the fog and frost on the inside of the windshield better. Allowing the dry winter air into the cab, then heating it, cut down on the moisture in the ambient air. With the recirc., all that moist air was contained, unless you left a window open/cracked.

Of course you could cut down on the amount of water vapor by just ceasing to breathe.

 

All true about the recirc heater! I remember driving my 54, when it was my daily driver, and holding my breath and then exhaling out the open window on frosty mornings when I first started the truck.

 

I had that 3 door unit that you have in a 50 F1, it worked very good.
We have some cold and wet weather here.
Greg