1935-1936 Ford pickup tech for the masses

1935-1936 Ford Tech

I spend a good part of my free time surfing the HAMB. I see a lot of guys on here that have way more technical abilities than I do and sometimes feel that I can't really contribute during tech week. It seems that there is a super-craftsman for every topic and I mean that in a positive way. I can do a lot of things sorta okay, but nothing really well.

So, I have been thinking about something I could do to help give back.
I started thinking about questions sometimes asked
I will try and walk you through a pictorial on my favorite subject matter.


First, some history. The 1935 Ford pickup was the first year for the new body style. It was taller and more defined than in previous years. The cabs were no longer bolted together using wood for a sub-structure. They were a one piece cab. The visor on the cab would disappear as would the square cabs. The beds increased to 69 inches of load length.In 1935 the spare tire was mounted on the side of the bed, this was a first for Ford and would continue for 14 years. The 221 CID Flathead was producing a whopping 85 HP.

The wheelbase was stretched to 112 inches. For those who thought the rear sliding back glass was a product of the 80's, think again. It was introduced as an option in 1935, although very few farmers saw the value, so in 1947 the idea was dropped.

1936 was the first year for the wide 5 wheel pattern. This was used through 1939 until juice brakes hit the scene.


By 1936, Ford had produced 3 million trucks and was way ahead of the competition as far as sales go.


Let's cover a few of the differences on the 35 versus the 36 and later we will cover the commercial trucks.

 

The 1935 pickup has a very unique grill shell. It is approx. 6.5 inches deep . This is the more popular grill for hot rods due to its streamlined design.


The 1936 is approx. 8.5 inches deep.

 

This is a 1935 Ford grill, notice it has the V8 badge provision in the center of the grill bars with a small plate welded to the back.

 

In 36, the V8 emblem was also removed from the center of the grill bars. I assume it was because they moved it to the hood ornament and that would be kinda redundant.

The emblem/radiator cap cover is shorter than the 36 due to the difference in the depth of the grill. These emblems will not interchange.

The grill on the left is the 36 and the one on the right is a 35.
These grilles will interchange from 1935-1936.

Note the height difference from the side.

 

The front fenders on the 1935 pickup had a hole cut in them for the bumper arms to
protrude through. The body shops and dealerships of the day started to complain to Henry Ford that the bumper arms had to be removed just to do a simple fender change. This issue would be remedied in 1936 with the lower part of the fender being removed to allow easier fender removal. The fender openings on the pickup were designed to accommodate the 600x16 tire that came on the truck. These fenders will interchange from 1935-1937. The big trucks share the same style fender but the opening is for a 20" wheel/tire. Also, the inner fender braces will not interchange between big trucks and pickups. I think you could shorten the big truck braces and make them work, but it will take some modification.

 

The only difference between the hood sides is that the emblem was moved from the center of the cooling louvers in 35 to the front of the hood in 36.

 

The cabs, although interchangeable, do have some slight differences. The most obvious is the A pillar configuration. In 1935, the cab has a more pronounced body line right below the windshield. It is more abrupt, as you can see pictured below.

 

Another subtle difference is this small indentation, right in front of the door. This is a 36 only body line. It almost looks like the door was opened too far, but it was actually designed that way. Why? Who knows?

Inside the cab one of the more noticeable differences is the removable garnish moldings on the 1935 model. In 1936 the garnish moldings and the door pulls are all part of the inner door structure. On the 1935 they have screws and you can remove the moldings. This is a 36 pictured below.


The beds, tailgates and running boards will interchange from 1935-1937. The logo changed for the 37 and the bed is approx. 10" longer. This difference all takes place behind the rear axle.

 

That pretty much covers the differences on the 35-36 pickups. Now let's cover the difference between pickups and the commercial versions.

There are differences in the grilles once again. For years I thought that they were the same grill shells. That is not true. The commercial grill has a much flatter point on the very lower lip. This grill is not the best but it is a good example of the lip if you can look past the damage. The lower lip is more rounded. It meets up with the larger fender body lines much better. I have seen a lot of pickup grilles that have been swapped out over the years, so don't count out the grill you see on the grain truck in the field. I have wondered if Ford didn't farm some of these pieces out to different sub contractors and coach builders. Can't prove it, but I can't see Henry tooling up with different dies in house. He was an extreme tightwad.

They will still interchange but they are not as pretty in my opinion. I will post some pics of the two side by side. Pay particular attention to the bottom of the grill area where it comes to a point.

The grill on the left is the big truck grill and the one on the right is a 35 pickup.

 

On to the front fenders. On the commercial trucks the fenders have a 20 inch radius for the larger truck wheels. These fenders look identical but they are much larger. If you see a set at the swap meet or on ebay, the easiest way to tell if they are big truck is to look for the bumper openings. The large truck fenders have no holes for the bumper arms. The arms came out below the fenders.

The running boards were generally half boards and stopped right behind the cab on the big trucks. The inner fenders are also matched to the fenders so they will not interchange.

The cabs are essentially the same but the gas tank is located under the seat on the large trucks.

I hope this has been somewhat informative, thanks to Ryan and all of the guys on the hamb that make this place such a great asset to hot rodding.

 

Thanks Ryan for moving this for me.

 

Great post, its amazing all the little differences between two years.

 

This is great! Thank you!

 

Cool info Root.

 

Root this is awesome stuff. This should spawn a wave of similar technical posts.

 

Nice man, you won't find this info in any books, thanks.

 

Good info. Thanks, Root!

 

Thanks for taking the time. I've got a '36 so this is very interesting to me!

 

wish the two pictures were bigger

 

Sorry. I have the new Mac and I can't seem to get my scanner to work right. I tried for 2 hours to get it to view larger.

 

Thanks, root. I've been a '35 - '37 Ford pickup fanatic for quite a while and (like you) have been ferreting out the differences between the years. I appreciate having this tech post 'cause it summarizes the 35 - 37 differences very well and is in a nice, concise reference.

 

Cool of you for doing this, man. Thanks

 

Thanks for the info also. I've got a 35 pickup and have always noticed that their seemed to be a difference between the two grills.

 

I might be wrong but wasnt 1936 the first year for the wide five wheel pattern?

 

Is there a difference between '35 and '36 hoods?

Also, what about bumpers?,...I bought a whole pile of '35-'36 truck parts, and a pair of chrome bumpers were included, but they look like car bumpers to me, are trucks the same?

 

Jay, good catch. I was thinking 35 was the last year for the std wheel spacing. My bad. I fixed it.

Mr. Gasser, yes. they are different but they will interchange.

The only difference between the hood sides is that the emblem was moved from the center of the cooling louvers in 35 to the front of the hood in 36. The hood tops are the same.

 

The pass car bumpers had the V dip in the center. They will fit but they weren't standard equipment.

 

Thanks for the info Root...

 

root i would love to get a print of the tech drawing early in your post with the side view and rear view showing all the demensions and wheel base,and chance of getting a copy ? thanks, decayed40