whats the story on 42-47 Ford trucks. some say ugly some say pure art.

Looks like some excellent sheetmetal and grille. And another one hiding behind it.

 

Yeah theres like 5 hidden behind it.

 

Here is my favorite one of these...currently owned by 55 Mercury (Sid) and that same truck mentioned here...

 

Well, yeah, that's Burt Munro as a young man, isn't it?

-Dave

 

Wow, the passenger car grille looks great on there. Quite frankly, it's the only non-stock treatment I've liked so far.

-Dave

 

Favorites??

 

Hear is a shot of mine that I just sold a week ago. Fatman front end , 351W aod auto , 8.8 with new 373 posi vintage air. power windows ETC ETC . took a year to sell and ended up getting only $7000.00 for it. No more ugly trucks for me.

 

What does it take to do that?

 

Lots of cutting on fenders and hood and an extra grille bar from what Sid tells me...

 

Sums it up pretty well! IMHO 1940 was Ford's "high water mark" in styling!

 

The Canadian Mercury grille pobably took it's styling cues from the passenger car.,

 

Moving the headlights up and over the parking lights and smoothing the sheet metal behind the grille helps a lot too.

 

The front of the fenders are off the car front clip on this one.

 

Is that passenger car fenders, grill and hood with pickup sides added to the hood? What ever it is its seriously nice.

 

Yes, beautiful work right there.

 

What he said about the grills. I've seen lots of "custom" grill treatments for these trucks, but never a good one. Leave the grille alone. Maybe get a chrome one, but leave it stock. I've been a Ford pickup nut forever, but I always wanted a '46 because that's the year I was born. They grow on ya.
Here's my '46 and my buddy Gene's '40.

 

I second that whole heartedly! When I had mine, I took a certain perverse pride in owning a Ford product so "challenged" (P/C!) that most sane people didn't know what it looked like! I remember when I had mine for sale a few years ago, the first question of the call was alaways "does it look anything like a forty?" Nope...

 

im buildin one myself

 

I've got one of these badboys too! It's actually a 43...was a firetruck on a big 2.5er frame. I got my hands on a 48-52 Merc 3/4 tonne frame years ago, with the plan of making a daily driver/work truck out of it.

As far as I understood, my body should mount up on that frame....but I don't have the original body blocks.

What body blocks would I need to order if I mounted the 43 cab and fenders on that 48 Merc 3/4 tonne frame?

I'd like to get cracking on it soon.

 

I would think you will end up making your own....not too complicated and probably cost almost nothing !

 

I actually like jailbar grills but then again I may just have bad taste

Made a parts run a couple weeks ago,

 

I like all of the Ford trucks. It is what makes them unique. You do not see many jailbars tho.

 

I got a chance for a freebie western cab,frame and supposedly good flattie ...with rusty 2 ton fenders, no box...I gotta get it home soon!

 

the grille bars ran horizontally on the "merc" versions that i believe were only sold in canada and are very rare.. the difference in the cab from the 40 and 41 to the 42-47 is the finder brackets on the cowl werent there on the 40 and 41 and the gas tank wasnt inside the cab on the earlier ones, so the 40 and 41 didnt have a hole cut out for the filler tube on the passanger side. the merc also had a mercury embelum on the dash that a happened to have found on ebay years ago that i put on my 47 ford

 

all pics of the same truck, except the merc to show what the merc grille looks like

 

Damn! As long as I've been into vintage tin (15+ yrs) I've never even seen a 47'Ford pick up. Had no idea what they looked like. Ugly, but I would still build it. Sorta like the dodges.

 

How good does it handle and steer?? I have a possible freebie one being offered to me, and the orig frame is pretty nice,I would like to keep it if possible...I just wanna build a beater shop truck ..

 

Handle and steer? You're kidding right?

My '46 has the stock suspension and brakes. It handles and steers like a - well, a '46 truck. And I don't mean that in a good way. No power anything (except windows).

That being said, I love mine and would certainly take a free one in any condition.

I plan to add front discs soon to keep up with the 460 go-power I have in it.

 

i have stock steering and f-1 brakes on mine that i turned into a hot rod, and it steers better than most cars that have power steering.. i dont like power steering.. you dont feel the road the same way. of course i also have narrow tube tires on it as well so theres not much contact with the pavement

 

Build it. Good luck!