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I'm getting ready to cut a hole through the front, right, fender on my 50' F1, to mount the radio antenna. Would someone give me the hole location from their F1 that had a Factory installed radio? Thanks,
Newt
Like everything else with these old trucks, no two items are the same. I have a '48 F-4 (same cab) with a factory radio and the antenna is mounted on top of the cowl:
The '51 cab that was originally on the truck had the antenna mounted in the same place as Hotrods but didn't have a radio in it, the delete plate was still in place. I think the reproduction antenna instructions and in the shop manuals diagram shows the antenae mounted on top.
Take your choice.
Bob Jones--Fat Fender Aficionado-- 49 F-2 pickup
48 F-1 panel truck
49 8N tractor
51 F-4 flatbed Click here to visit my web site
The '51 cab that was originally on the truck had the antenna mounted in the same place as Hotrods but didn't have a radio in it, the delete plate was still in place. I think the reproduction antenna instructions and in the shop manuals diagram shows the antenae mounted on top.
Mine also has the radio delete covers, but the antenna has the antenna cable attached to it.
Like Bobby said, mine will also get removed and replaced for a hidden antenna whenever I get that far.
I think a lot of people mounted whatever kind of radio they could find under the dash with "L" brackets. I bet if you look under your dash you would find a couple of extra holes there. When they sold the truck the first thing yanked was the radio to put in the next truck.
If you'r elucky all they did was drill a few extra holes back behind and out of site. In my case (and I'm sure I'm not the only one) they used the old smoke wrench to blast out the opening in the dash....aagh. And they had a real steady hand holding the torch too.
I had a 60 Ford eyars ago that looked like someone used a church key to open up the radio opening....double agh!!
Mine had the cowl antenna as shown above, and IMHO it's a crappy place to put it. For one thing, the cowl isn't flat there, and the darn thing was never tight, and water leaked in there. I think a classy looking place would be in the middle of the roof, aimed backwards, but I'm too timid to drill there. Another good spot could be on the flat side of the cowl just behind the front fender.