1948 Ford COE

W

Wmgreer0513

Junior Member
First off forgive my ignorance when I post my question this is my first ever restoration project. Now that I got that out of the way here is my question. I have 1948 Ford COE truck and I also have a 1952 Ford f2 3.9 liter flathead. I am want to know if the 1948 Ford COE cab will fit on my 1952 Ford f2 frame, is so what problems do you see am I going to run into?
 
I see folks trying to make pickups out of COE body parts. Best I can say is that the fenders are made for the big wheel assemblies on cab overs so it will look funky with the big fenders and any wheel less than a 19.5". A person might be able to work over the smaller fenders and get them to "blend in" but I don't know. There may have been folks on the HAMB forum of the jalopy journal that have tried this but you would have to inquire on there.

It might be more of a customization than a restoration in this case.
 
I also thought about swapping out the inline 6 for the 1952 flathead and just restoring the 1948 ford COE to its former glory. It has short wheel base, so the bed on the 1952 Ford f2 would fit on without having to modifying the bed.
 
Seems like all the cab mounts on the frame would be in the wrong place, you would
have to redo the steering location and I would think on and on. What are you wanting to end up with. A lot of them I have seen they use a forward control motor home chassis and adapt the cab to that.
 
Why do you want to use the F2 frame? I would think restoring the COE as is would be a lot easier than adapting it to the later frame/chassis. Call Chuck Mantiglia of ChucksTrucksLLC.com at (203) 288-2769. He is the guru of COEs and trucks in general.
 
There´s a lot of brackets that has to be moved from the COE frame to the F2 frame.
The weight gain by swapping frames is not worth the work, if you want a driver go for more modern axles and lighter springs instead.
Build a utility bed like an old wrecker and put it to work.
 
After reading the reply post my questions. I am leaning more to restoring the 1948 COE, but I defently want swap out the motors. The i6 in the COE is locked up and since buying these trucks I have fallen love with the Ford flathead. Has anyone ever done a swap on a 1948 COE, if so what problems did you run into while doing it?
 
Other than a different radiator, throttle linkage, and various connect locations for electricals and such, it should be pretty much a bolt in. You might look for a truck engine to get the large truck type accessories with it. Most Fords trucks below F7 that have the V8 all use the same basic radiator. The only difference is that the trucks used the 4-row heavy duty one from new where it was an option for the F1 through F3. A lot of trucks used for farm type work were relatively low mileage compared to a city delivery truck. Farmers only used them for harvest and taking cattle to market so they didn't generally have to go very far.

We can't tell what part of the country you are from so I don't know whether you can find farm stuff locally or not.
 
The COE doors and door sills are totally different compared to pickups. Look at the cutouts on the front/bottom edge of the doors for the front fenders. The cabs are "basically" the same but sit on a pedestal for the COE.

A 52 COE is a very desirable truck, I would definitely go for restoring that. Slipping in a flat V8 isn't that hard, as described above. But a key point is, is your COE body complete? Many body parts are unobtainium; battery cover, steps, running boards, etc. The hood especially.
 
308664

Bill
How about posting a few photos so we can fall in lust with your project as well?

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The 6 cover is likely bulbed up more at the rear for the taller/longer engine if there is much difference. The V8 cover is bulbed up at the front for carburetor & air filter clearance. The 6 needs clearance for ignition system components. A 6 cover might work for a V8 as long as it clears the carb & air filter hook up. I see a lot of non stock set ups due to the rarety of parts for them out there.
 
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