34 Pickup ?? 32 Bed ?? What do I have ??

1932 V8

1932 V8

Senior Member
Hi everyone , I have a 34 pickup that has been modified long ago, supposedly 1959ish . It's a neat old Hot Rod but the truck is not really Ford Barn friendly since it has a Y-Block in it and other mods even though it's not to far off. In order to fit the engine they decided to move the cab back about 2" so they didn't have to cut the firewall. Then , I was told they put a 32 bed on it since it is shorter at the front to accommodate the cab being moved back. I see signs of the bed being shortened in the rear a little .I have also read that 32 pickup fenders are different in many ways than 33/34 pickup fenders, including the radius which would mean a 33/34 pickup rear fender would not fit a 32 bed. I am thinking this is a cut down 33/34 bed with 33/34 fenders ? but I am not sure ? I know it's not a 32 tailgate because of the Ford logo but what is it ? I know the rear fenders have what it looks like are 33/34 car tail lights on them .
So , can someone positively identify the rear fenders and the bed/tailgate ?
Thanks for any help .
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Probably a cut down 34 bed. A 32 bed has a rivet in that small section of lower horizontal bead between the front of the fender and the stake pocket.

And 32's didn't have a hole for the gastank neck to fit through, though that is easily added. Check the under/inner sheetmetal right near that gas neck and see if it looks like the neck has always been there.
 
Interesting old pickup. It has what appears to be '32 passenger car running boards and has 33-34 passenger car tailamp stands and tailights mounted on the fenders. Interesting that it has a rumble step pad on the left rear fender? I suspect this old truck may have been featured in an early magazine like Hot Rod, Car Craft, Rod and Custom, Hop Up, etc. It has all the right 50's stuff like the Y block, the 50 Merc caps and trim rings.
 
All '32 commercial vehicles such as the pickup truck used the same running boards as the '32 passenger cars.
 
Dave, I agree with you , but it's strange that the running boards would be on a '34 pickup. It's tough to tell by the photos , but it almost looks like there is a filler panel between the boards and the frame.
 
'32 Car running boards were rubber covered steel. Pickup running boards did not have covers but had a non-skid pattern stamped into the board.
 
bills1020 said:
'32 Car running boards were rubber covered steel. TRUCK running boards did not have covers but had a non-skid pattern stamped into the board.
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Fixed that for you. As David G. said, all '32 pickups built on regular chassis had rubber runningboards. Bigger chassis had the diamond-tread, but they won't bolt onto the smaller pickups.

In '33 is when they went to a diamond-tread runningboard for the pickups and larger.
 
It's hard to tell in the pics, but I believe the running boards are 33/34 boards . Someone put a rubber cover on them . If I look under the rubber cover it has the diamond stamp pattern like a 33/34 . The frame is 34truck,cab is 34,rear end is stock 34,trans has a later shifter housing but I haven't inspected the case,grill is 34 .The only unanswered questions are the rear fenders/bed/tailgate.
Anyone on the rear fenders ?? I have searched through a bunch of threads but I never found any definitive answers on how to tell and if in fact the radius is different ??? Bed ?? Tailgate ??

Thanks
 
Any evidence on the inside of the box sides where it would have been cut down in front of the fenders?
 
The tailgate is '35-'36. If the underlying running boards are '33-'34 and there's been no modification of the rear fenders where they attach to the rear of the of the running boards, then they are '33-'34 fenders as the fender-to-board bolt holes are spaced differently when compared to their '32 counterparts.

You'll likely never be able to perceive the other minor differences between the fenders from photos of them when they're attached to the frame and bed.
 
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Original style trans , frame is not cut , just a few extra holes for engine mounting and F100 box .

No obvious signs of the bed being cut . I am sure a real body/paint person could find something but from what I can see , the job was well done. I guess I will need to get some measurements from the front of the rear fender to the front of the bed on a 32 truck ??

Thanks David .

It also has a 32 3 window dash in it . Kinda cool .
 
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