I am am the new proud owner of a 1950 F1 pickup over here in the UK. I have a couple of questions to ask please.
1. My truck has a 3 speed floor change manual box...where does the speedo cable attach to.Have been underneath, and cannot see anywhere it might screw on. Does it screw on ?, at present my truck has no cable at all.
2. My truck is LHD why is there only a lock on the outside of the passenger door ?. I have seen two other F1's over here, and they were the same.

 

Mate, we're on a parallel path. Mine appears to have no speedo cable. And definitely no driver's door lock.

The speedo cable runs from the passenger side rear of the gearbox housing, I believe, and is clipped to the top as it passes over the 'box just behind the bellhousing. Then it curves upwards/left into the cab area. If you lift the inspection hatch in the cab floor it should pass pretty much diagonally across the top of the grearbox right there.

Only custom cabs had driver's door locks. All others just have the passenger side one. The reasoning being that you lock the driver's door from the inside, then slide over and exit from the passenger side - onto the kerb rather than the road. Safety First!!

Presumably custom cab owners were regarded by Ford as being more expendable.

 

Is this the right gearbox?

 

Thanks for that...from another Limey. So at the rear of the gearbox nearer the propshaft....couldnt see it from underneath. Is it a screw fitting to the gearbox ?. Do you happen to know the length of the cable ?. My truck has a new dash with modern gauges,,,so I will probably have to go for a custom made cable.

Suffolkman

 

Could be...I will have to dive under and take a look.

 

Have you got modern - i.e. digital - gauges? If so, it might be that they are electronic and aren't driven by cable. They could be transducer driven, in which case you might need to look at the rear axle or somewhere on the propshaft.

It might also pay to snoop around for evidence of a GPS antenna...

Do you know if the back of the speedo gauge has provision for a cable? What I'm saying is that you might not need one.

 

No...it is not a digital dash, cant remember the make of the gauges off hand. But I do have the fitting instruction manual in the glovebox...off through the snow to retrieve it !!.

 

Greetings from another Brit
If you need a custom cable I can recommend Speedy Cables
https://speedycables.com/
They did the cable for my truck

 

Hi Steve, and thanks for the greeting. Actually I have just pulled the Dolphin gauges booklet from the glovebox. Although they look like conventional gauges (they are brand new) it may be a digital speedo. If it is not sure what to do with it. Is certainly dead at the moment. The rest of the new gauges are working.

Suffolkman

 

Great news ..just got my phone camera up behind the dash. It is in fact an ordinary cable driven speedo. I assume since the whole dash insert and gauges are made by Dolphin to fit 48-50 ford trucks, then the original Ford speedo cable should be able to be used. ??

 

Good, How about posting some pictures? Maybe we can give you better help?

 

Almost true. The custom cabs were not part of the offering during the 48-50 model years. The other stuff about passenger side only is spot on.

 

Yes I can do that, I will try and get a clearer pic. The one I have has come out a bit blurred..

 

The name Custom Cab was first introduced in 1955. In 53 and 54 they were called Deluxe Cabs.