So my boss has decided that he wants to build a hot rod truck and of course I'm all for it.. He has decided on a 39 thru 41 Ford. I might have a line on a 46. What all is involved (besides money) in putting a 39 thru 41 nose on the 42 thru 47 cabs? Is the 39 and 40 car sheetmetal different from the 39 and 40 truck? If so, can it be modified to work? Any good source recommendations for these parts? He's OK with fiberglass fenders and hood. Any info would be helpfull. Thanks. PS. Anyone have a lead on a 39thru41 Ford truck in the Northwest area ?
The cab's the same but the frame is different, parallel springs and the wheelbase ahead of the firewall is different. You'd have to change the front suspension or location to make the front sheetmetal clip work.
Those are two totally different cabs. The late model trucks got quite a bit wider. Why not run the stock front end. If he really wants a 40 front end, tell him to get one of those VW kits with the 40 style front end.
'39 and '40 Pick Up front sheet metal doesn't look similar the way '39 Deluxe and '40 passenger car sheet metal does. '39s still have the big round grills rather than the '40s that interchange grillls with '40 Standard Passenger cars. The '40 & '41 Pick Up sheet metal looks the same as the '40 Standard Passenger car, but it doesn't bolt up right. The whole nose of the Pick Up is shorter, so if you add Passenger car stuff, you'd need to change the mounting points for the "V" bracket that connects the front aprons to the crossmember. If you see a '40 Passenger Car parked by a '40/'41 Pick Up, you'll see that the "skirt" area behind wheel opening is different between them. The Pick Up hood also has a bead on the sides where a passenger car has the snapped on stainless trim, so the passenger car hood wouldn't blend right with the P/U cowl. I've seen a '40 Deluxe Grill on a Pick Up, but the guy wasn't running a hood. But anything's possible with the right amount of work. I think '40 to '47 cabs are the same and giving a '42 -'47 a nose job with the '40/'41 parts is not uncommon.
Ah, 40LUV, thanks for catching that. Your totally right. I guess that I had a rougher (rougher............what a stupid word) day than I thought. I should have known that. Thanks for the information.
In summary, you can use a 42-47 cab with 40 pickup fenders and pickup hood on a 35-41 pickup frame or 35-40 passenger frame. Fordnutz
Eleven year old thread, can anyone post before and after photos of 42-47 trucks with earlier nose sheetmetal? Bob
37 kid, you can't tell the difference, they look exactly the same. the minor details (spelled out on another thread) are hidden or inconsequential. floorboard stamping shape, gas tank filler neck in RH quarter (can be filled easily) WS wiper tower locations (again easily filled/moved). the "other thread" http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...42-47-ford-pickup-cabs.1020790/#post-11541637 What are you trying to figure out, everyone keeps saying the differences are minor. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...ab-dementions-opinions.1002788/#post-11553988
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