How to trace history of an '51 F3 pickup ?
 

So before I get into it, I'm brand new here and have been lurking a little while reading the oil threads... but I thought I'd chime in with a question. I couldn't find a dedicated thread for this kinda thing so I figured 'Early V8' would be as good a place as any.

Important bit: I have Ford F3 8BA powered pickup. I'm in the UK.

Little history, the truck was imported into the UK in about 2014. I am the second UK owner. It is a very original example which is what I wanted.

I have a Washington title for it and original plate (or what is believed to be the original plate ) where it was I presume sold by Lost & Found Classic Car Company based in Washington. Though the title says Barn Fine Classics So.. :confused: maybe a trading name or something.

Obviously this is dating back 10 or so years now. though I did find an old for sale video on youtube from the company though which was kinda cool.

The Title is the sum total of the paperwork I have with the truck haha. Which I guess was kinda expected considering its a pickup truck. I does retain the build plates in the glovebox and bulkhead and I wondered if there was any way I could trace any kind of history from here in the UK?

I would love to know where it was built, if it was always a Washington truck or if it came from another State.

Any ideas or help much appreciated.

Re: How to trace history of an '51 F3 pickup ?
 

This link shows how to read the truck rating plate.
http://www.vanpeltsales.com/FH_web/F...1-52trucks.jpg


Also check out the Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forum.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/forum41/

Re: How to trace history of an '51 F3 pickup ?
 

It’s been my experience that vehicle title searches met their end in the 1990s. A federal privacy law was enacted that stopped states from honoring search requests. Stu

Re: How to trace history of an '51 F3 pickup ?
 

Due to privacy laws, as Stu has stated, make it very difficult to trace vehicle history. The ID plate(build plate) will tell you a lot about when and where it was built. Unless you have an old registration certificate that would show a prior owners name you are basically out of luck to trace owner history.

Re: How to trace history of an '51 F3 pickup ?
 

The data tag on the glove box is going to give you a lot of basic information about the truck from when it was new. Date produced, color , engine, transmission, model, where it was built. But I don’t know of any source for finding out who owned it after that unless you start to look locally from past stories on the truck told to you by the PO even at that point it’s a crap shoot.

Re: How to trace history of an '51 F3 pickup ?
 

Thank you all for the replies. That was very useful.

Shame title searches don't go back anymore, I mean to be fair that's more than you get here in the UK. Our titles are called "V5C" (vehicle logbook) and as far as I am aware there is simply no way to trace anything with it.

And thanks to Bob for the link to the plate reader page. that was very useful though it seems mine is an earlier design (perhaps) but I did glean some useful information!

If I'm reading the tea-leaves correctly it points to a 1951 truck, V8 model made in Richmond, Virginia.

there are some other numbers which don't seem to correlate to much on the picture though. After the F3R1... bit there are 5 more digits; "14753" and a model code of "1RY"

Stamping on the bulkhead has the colour code of Vermillion "N", so seems original paint.

Also this now adds more to my inquisition as the truck started life 2200 miles away from where it ended up (few more miles if you count my garage! haha) and there are some stampings on the keys from a key company in Alabama I believe it is (don't have the keys with me right now).

Well this has definitely whetted my appetite to try and dig the history out a bit more! Thanks again all of you for being so helpful

Re: How to trace history of an '51 F3 pickup ?
 

The 1RY means 1951, V8, F-3 model. The five digits are the unique serial number for the truck.

There are several answers I’ll give now to questions you didn’t ask, or didn’t know to ask. The year 1951 for the F-3 model found some on-the-fly specification changes from early to late year production. Sounds like you have the early data plate, so you might also find that you have the early Lockheed brakes vs later Bendix brakes. One way to tell is the location of the brake handle. If it is located in the left footwell it is an early truck, or to the right of the shifter it is a late production truck. This obviously will matter when ordering parts, and is in a large way important because the Lockheed rear drums are 14” i/d while the Bendix are 12” i/d. The Lockheed drums are NLA while the Bendix are available.

Now the really bad news. Those 14” drums necessitated the 17” wheels found on all 2wd F-3s. These are a two piece design known as the Firestone RH-5°. Today known as widow makers in the states. Hard to have serviced here, and I’d suspect worse there. I’ll let this be all I’ll say for now and let you tell us what you have. Stu

Re: How to trace history of an '51 F3 pickup ?
 

I love to find out things I never knew that I never knew . . . part of the fun of old vehicles in my opinion.

I'll have a measure up when I'm next with it and see if its 14 or 12 drums. I believ the handbrake is right of the shifter, though it does seem quite far away from the drivers position, maybe people had longer arms in the 50s.

I do believe the wheels are of single piece steel welded construction as I have the rears off at the moment (though truth be told I havent really looked in detail at the wheels yet) as I'm lifting the bed to do some much needed welding on the bed sides and passenger floor pan.

Yes there are definitely a few things which are more challenging over here but luckily this isn't my first rodeo with older vehicles as I used to work in prestige and vintage, predominantly European pre-1940 cars so thankfully used to the welding, fabrication and machining aspects of not being able to source something so having to make it from scratch, which I actually enjoy.

Thank you again for the great information and when I'm next with it I'll be sure to check that out.

Re: How to trace history of an '51 F3 pickup ?
 

Park brake lever sprouting from floor suggests 12” brakes. Those one piece looking wheels are actually 2 piece they join almost in the middle. You will see a rib where the two pieces join. Those are the widowmakers.

Re: How to trace history of an '51 F3 pickup ?
 

Yeah, you are living right if you do have the Bendix brakes. I mentioned that you appear to have the early data plate because the 1RY will not appear on the later type data plates. I too have a 1951 F-3 that has the early data plate with 12” Bendix set up.

Regrettably, though, all F-3s 1948 to 1952 continued to be fitted with the widow maker 17” wheels. They were rated for a higher load than the 16” wheels used on the F-2 model. There were no one piece 17” truck wheels made during this era. Easy to tell just by looking at the tires. Likely you have 7.00-17” or 7.50-17”, which will make it a certainty. If, however, you find you have a set of 16” wheels and tires on the truck you can start dancing a jig because your prior owner already remedied this problem for you. Having the 12” Bendix rear brakes allows you to substitute any later F-250/E-250 type wheels having your 8 lug x 6.5” pattern. Stu

Re: How to trace history of an '51 F3 pickup ?
 

There was a place on Memorial Highway in Mt.Vernon Washington called 'Barn Fine Classics." It was going great guns until the Great Recession put an end to the fun (for a while). I bought a 51 F3 in Mt. Vernon about 2004. It had been brought out from N.Dakota by a guy from there that traveled here seasonally and always brought a truck to flip. I sold it maybe 5 years later here on the island, but it dissappeared soon after. I bolted up a set of 16" wheels from a '90s F250. Any signs of 'Old Glory' under the hood paint? :)

Re: How to trace history of an '51 F3 pickup ?
 

Building on Baron’s initial theme of tracking his truck’s history, I have three 1951 F-3s and am lucky enough to have prior titles on all. Two will be parts donors for #3 that is a M-H project. It came to me with an open 1986 Idaho title that I was able to transfer, and was permitted to keep the canceled original. This summer I did a drive to the west coast and detoured down through Idaho’s panhandle to visit the town where my truck called home. I didn’t expect to find the prior owner but at least got a sense of its history. Stu

Re: How to trace history of an '51 F3 pickup ?
 

So on further inspection the handbrake lever is located next to the shifter, in the same gearbox cover plate, not in the footwell. It is absolutely wearing 17" split wheels with 7.5x17" hoops as you described Stu. Might look at changing those... I didn't take any wheels off the other day when I was with it but I have the bed lifted so I'll have a measure of the drums, but potentially Bendix brakes based on the lever location you described. Hopefully. As the brakes do need work as two of the four are binding a lot.

~

The paint on mine is by my eye all original vermillion red. I can't even see anything that looks like its been repainted or touched up. Also mine has a hellova front bumper extended out from the chassis rails by a foot with a tow ball on it (my guess is early modification as they are gas welds).

I did however have a closer look at the keys that came with it, and it has keys made by companies from Indianan, Wisconsin, Ohio and Alabama. Which perhaps traces is movements a little. I'm not sure why someone would order keys from so many different states (700 mile radius) for any other reason than being there. And one other key which seems very old and worn smooth with "DAK77" stamped on it but no other markings. Interestingly only two keys actually do anything, the ignition (stamped All Lock Co. Selma, Alabama) and the gas cap (stamped Stant MFG. Co. Incorporated. Indiana)