Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[kaybee]

Hi, thought I'd share some pics of my '46 Ford panel truck, since sold. It is an ex Fire Dept vehicle from just outside of Chicago, and has done only 16,000 miles from new. Runs the flathead V8 of 95 fire- breathing horses and a 4 speed non synchro box,






It had only ever been used to tow a rescue boat and had done 4,000 miles by the time it was disposed of in the 70's. One of the firemen bought it to cart his collection of gasoline pumps to and from swap meets and that's where the extra miles were run up on it. It was in mint condition, but I found it to be a bit tedious to drive, not much on road performance, slow transmission with a lot of gear noise from the straight cut gears and it didn't have rear shocks fitted from the factory, the result was a strange forward pitching ride. It had a rare Southwind gasoline heater in it, and a small vacuum operated cooling fan that could be directed at the driver, and even the original tools and the sales brochure were still in it. I kept it for a few years, but decided to sell it because it was too rare to do much with ( like re power it ) and it wasn't much fun in stock form. Probably regret it one day, but it's too late now regards, Col.

[Old-Nail]

That certainly was a beauty though wasn't it?

I sold my '57 Ford Popular for similar reasons, the actual driving speed/experience didn't match the ones that I had imagined... Iguess it was never the car that I thought it was all along.

[Rick]

Super shape to those old American panel vans!! those sleek shapes don't make the best use of the available space I suppose, but in those days style still mattered over function

R
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[oldgoaly]

KayBee, thats about 250 miles from me! how did you find it? It is rather common for small towns to have older vehicles as parade cars. Now a buddy moved to Lenzburg, Il. He calls me they needed a head gasket for their back-up fire truck a 1927 mdl T Ford, Primary one was a 52. Now since he has become mayor and gotten 2 new fire truck and new main water lines in the town, cause the old ones would not feed enough water to the new trucks.
tt

[kaybee]

Hi Oldgoaly, finding it was easy, it was advertised locally by a nearby F100 parts supplier, he had purchased it in the US from the guy who got it from the Fire Dept. in the 70's , and he imported it into Aus. for his private collection where it sat unused for some years. When we bought it, it had a thick layer of dust on it, water pumps seized, brakes stuck on, engine had forgotten how to turn,etc. So after a quick clean and polish and a bit of mechanical work,it was up and running again. Had to be the best Flathead I've ever heard, totally silent, all you could hear was the fan belt. But it was pretty unpleasant to drive, and too good to fool around with, so we eventually decided to sell it about 2 years ago, regards, Col.