New Guy with a 38 Pickup

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psykokid

Junior Member
Hey All - figured I'd introduce myself as I'm newish around here, been browsing for a while but haven't had anything to post about.

Finally managed to bring home my 1938 Pickup that had belonged to my Dad. He had owned the truck since the mid 80's and it was his daily driver for many years. My Dad passed away unexpectedly in his sleep in March of 2018. Right after he passed I didn't have time or space to bring the truck home. His boss was kind enough to store it at his shop for me until I had a chance to come and retrieve it. Well, COVID happened and pushed things back much further than I had originally intended.

Ended up doing a turn and burn to where the truck was being stored near Yosemite from LA on the Saturday over Labor Day weekend. Left LA @ 7:30AM and pulled into my driveway safe and sound @ 12:15 AM.

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The truck had been sitting for a couple of years before my Dad passed and then for three more after he passed so had to go through things and bring her back to life. Fortunately he drained the coolant and gas before he stored it so things were in good shape there. There were some weepy fuel lines here and there and the brakes needed to be bled out and adjusted but managed to get it fired up and moving and stopping under its own power. Got the registration sorted out last Friday and did a little cruise around town to celebrate

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One of the first things I did was order a new lock cylinder when I got it home as I didn't have keys for the door. He lived out in the woods and never even bothered to take the key out of the ignition, let alone lock the truck. Not locking your door in the woods is OK, but in LA not such a good idea. Turns out the door latch was missing the pressed steel cover bit, with the brass eccentric and the locking pawl to actually make it lock. Now that I had it running I figured Id take a trip out to the Early Ford Store in San Dimas to see if they could help me get my lock situation sorted out last Saturday. Fortunately for me they had a junker passenger side latch that had all the bits I needed to get my door lock functional.

Just figured I'd say hi to everyone here in the barn and hopefully will have a chance to meet some of the local so-cal guys while out and about..

Jake
 
psykokid said:
Just figured I'd say hi to everyone here in the barn and hopefully will have a chance to meet some of the local so-cal guys while out and about..

Jake
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Hey Jake .....Welcome to The 'Barn. I'm liking that truck. And you sure are going to spend a few more bucks at The Early Ford Store in San Dimas before you're done....what a neat place! Keep us posted, and we love pics. DD


474217



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Condolences on your losing your dad.....when your cruising down the road ......I'm sure his smile is as big as yours !!!......the “Welcome Home “ movie marquee is very appropriate. Welcome to the Barn.......Mark
 
Welcome from a '39 p/u owner in SoCal. In addition to the Early Ford Store you've got C&G in Escondido which is fairly local. There are many other vendors as well through out the country. My go to for parts for my p/u is Joe's Antique Auto in Uxbridge, MA. But that's just me. It sounds like your dad or someone else converted the brakes to hydraulic since hydraulic's didn't come out until 1939.
 
The hood handle looks to me like its a '39 handle. Does the truck have an ash tray and the window crank that sticks straight out of the dash? Its not that uncommon to find a '39 hood that was used as a replacement for a '38.
 
Jake,
Welcome to the Barn. There are a bunch of folks on here that can help with almost anything. And if we don't know something, we can make up some pretty cool stuff. :D

Love the truck. Awesome that it belonged to your Dad. I say keep it just the way it is. As someone mentioned, perfect patina. Fix the mechanicals and the electricals and drive it.

Heard
 
Hard to tell from the photos but it doesn't look like it has wide fives. Possible that it was changed over to '40 or later brakes with 5 on 5 1/2 pattern?
 
51504bat said:
Hard to tell from the photos but it doesn't look like it has wide fives. Possible that it was changed over to '40 or later brakes with 5 on 5 1/2 pattern?
Click to expand...

I think you're right. The left rear looks to have a chrome reverse wheel. I've been around a long time and have never seen a chrome reverse wide five.

(Now watch them c0me out of the woodwork.):rolleyes:
 
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All you need is 40's drums to put 40's wheels on a 39t. So maybe. White letter Nascar tires are interesting.


Neat truck, Like the picture outside the theater.
 
Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!

Some keen eyes here -

It does have a 39 hood ornament and it is indeed not on wide 5's. It does have the t-handle for the windshield vent and not sure about an ashtray as there is a "custom" wood dash bolted over the original dash. From peeking from underneath the original dash has been hacked up. Also present is a later GM style tilt column :( which bugs me so I'm going to be on the hunt for the correct type of column / drop / steering wheel.

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The truck has the correct grill for a 38 - it was missing the furniture at the top so I picked that up along with the door lock / key and a set of 38/39 truck door cards that were on clearance from Bob Drake. It's also missing the stainless trim that goes in the center and around the edge of the grill which I know is going to be quite the scavenger hunt to find replacements for.

At some point previously in the trucks life, I believe prior to my dad owning it, it received a SBC 350/ TH350 swap. The fronts brakes have been converted to 5x4.75 discs while retaining the original type spindles on the solid axle / transverse leaf. The rears are drums, also in 5x4.75 but other than that I haven't managed to figure out what rear axle it is as of yet. It's got a funky home brewed rear ladder bar setup with a watts linkage on the rear end.

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I have another frame / rear axle and a pair of rear fenders that are in pretty rough shape still being stored up north ( along with a another SBC core )

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Body is solid overall. A little bubbling at the very bottom of the doors and a small spot in the back of the cab at the bottom in the center. The rear crossmember / stake pockets for the bed need to be replaced as they have been patched poorly in the past. After the bed is repaired I'll work on tracking down a tailgate as there has never one on the truck in the time my dad owned it.

Plan is to slowly work on projects here and there, focusing on mechanical first and get the truck up to the point where I wouldn't hesitate to hop in and drive anywhere in SoCal. Drove it to work today and took streets from San Gabriel where I live to my office which is just south of downtown as I don't quite trust it on the freeway as of yet :D Gotta love manual brakes and manual steering. Fortunately the truck isn't very heavy in the grand scheme of things.
 
Sorry about your father, I have gone through that too.



39s had metal door "cards". The grill pictured above is not a 38 grill.

Best of luck! Fun ride!
 
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Thanks for all the kind words. Like i said before his passing was very sudden. He had just turned 61 two weeks before. Went to bed one night and just didn't wake up the morning. Ended up being undiagnosed heart disease which was odd as he saw his regular physician and the VA doctor on a regular basis. He was taking medication for high blood pressure,
so you'd have thought that heart disease would have been something on their radar. When it's your time, it's your time.
 
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