Unmolested 40/41 1 Ton pickup?

[cas3]

Nice sketch you made there GB! I gotta ask, do the utility poles on your road still have all their braces?

 

[1952henry]

EXPAVR: While there are a few "mods" to your truck, it is a fantastic example of taking something and adapting it to fit your needs - in a really clever way. I love the transmission setup - Nicely done!

Always thought he was very clever adapting 4 speed tower to the 3 speed.

 

[GB SISSON]

Nice sketch you made there GB! I gotta ask, do the utility poles on your road still have all their braces?

For almost 50 years they have been burying the utilities underground in the islands. As the old stuff that's still topside needs upgrading, it ends up underground as well. We have far less outages now and yes, some old hardware finds it's way into my projects

As far as Expaver's transmission, I gotta say he's way smarter than me to figure all that out. I don't even like pulling the top covers off because it's so confusing in there. Not to mention that 1/4" dowel pin usually falls down into the gear box.....

 

[expavr]

how were the rear fenders reinforced? were there braces that attached to frame, and if so, where and how did they attach to frame and fender? the rear bumper, same question, and close ups of the tail lights and how attached? Thanks!

The rear fenders are bolted to the truck bed and anchored by a strut that is bolted to the frame and the bottom of the back side of the fender. Photo1


I cant speak to the OEM rear bumper. The Tonner had a 4X10 Doug Fir Bumper on it when I bought it. I opted to use a 1954 F 100 unpainted bumper and brackets (the holes in 54 brackets matched the predrilled holes in the 40 frame). The bumper was modified by putting a toe kick on the top. Also added a 3/8" cross member which has a CL A hitch for towing. All got painted black. The hitch and toekick have been useful for towing floats in parades and getting the grandkids in and out of the bed. Just food for thought... Photo 2 and 3


The taillights were mounted on the rear pockets. I seem to recall that the mounting hardware was also used to hold the tail gate hinge, but I can't swear to that. Photo 4

 

[411Ton]

thanks, GB!

 

[411Ton]

that's fantastic, thanks Xpaver!

 

[expavr]

Thanks for the comments about the Merc shifter mod. It was born out of frustration trying to make a Hurst 3 speed shifter fit and function on the Tonner. Using an early shift tower to design a stable shifting platform that looked like it belonged wasn’t that difficult. The hard part was turning the design into reality. To give credit where credit is due the fabrication of the components was done by a good friend who had the time and access to a machine shop to turn out the parts used in the mod. Without his help that shifter would have just been lines on a piece of paper.

 

[cas3]

Don't be bashful, thats a fine piece of work. Theres lots of shift tower mods to view, but most are a vertical to vertical thing just to change shift handle location.

Yours, is a vertical to horizontal linkage change, quite different, and nicely done.

 

[Karl Wescott]

Australia, like many countries, had laws on vehicles sold in country requiring locally built parts. This typically resulted in locally built bodies on commercial vehicles, as seen above. Usually these locally built bodies share few to no parts with vehicles built outside their home country.


At the risk of drifting the conversation, that Australian truck is interesting. It has the newer front sheet metal, but the older 38-39 three ribs on the belt line of the doors, and the three ribs are continued down the side. Is this made from a cut down tonner panel truck with later hood and grill swapped on?

It is worth noting that Australia was actively engaged in WW2 in 1940, and with a huge military buildup due to the war in Europe and the eminent threat from Japan. This obviously would limit civilian vehicle production and severely limit unnecessary tooling efforts (keeping the 1938-39 style lines on the cab sides).