Ford F1 Marmon Herrington Pickup All Wheel Drive (1952)
Sale price: US $9,990.00 Make an Offer
| Condition: | Used | Year: | 1952 |
| VIN : | F1D2LU17962 | Mileage: | 29654 |
| Make: | Ford | Vehicle Title: | Clean |
| Drive Type: | 4WD | Model: | Other Pickups |
West Sacramento, California, United States
Vehicle description
Please read this entire description at least three times beforebidding. First, never buy a Marmon-Herrington truck unless you absolutelyknow the full condition of all the Marmon-Herrington drive traincomponents. Many of these old truckswere abused, beat up, modified, worn out, etc. And finding replacement Marmon-Herrington parts is near impossible, andvery expensive. I learned these lessonsthe hard way. After searching for several years for a 1948-52 half ton MHtruck to restore, I found this 1952 Ford F1 pickup in Grants Pass. Oregon, inthe spring of 2014 (see photo of blue truck). Needless to say, the seller did not disclose the following issues in hisonline description. The truck had beensitting somewhere, in the rain, for over 40 years. It sat in one spot because the left front MHdrive hub was fatally broken. Also, the oil in the rear axle had completelyturned from liquid to solid, and the rear gears were rusted and frozen solid inthe solid gunk as well. The truck couldnot roll at all. I had to winch it uponto the car trailer, with the seller pushing the back of the truck with his4X4, with three of the four tires skidding on the ground, in order to get itloaded. After arriving home with my newrestoration project, I discovered that rain had entered the cab through a smallhole in the roof, and flowed down over the dash for many years, in one stream,that eventually rusted through the dash like a knife cutting throughbutter. Additionally, the seller did notdisclose that a previous owner had welded all the exterior body seams on thetruck, maybe he didn’t like rattling noises. The front and rear fenders were welded to the body, etc., etc. All these issues represented significant restoration challenges,but I pressed forward undeterred. Sincethe rear pickup bed was from a later 1954 pickup, I simply removed it and founda nice, correct 1952 box with fenders and tailgate. This project was beginning to lookpromising. Next I purchased a 1951 FordF2 for parts that had an excellent cab and front sheet metal. There are some small rust holes in the cabfloor, and I welded in a small patch panel, but the doors and cab were solid. I remained hopeful. But then the bomb dropped. When I disassembled the MH gear, I discovered that a previous owner manyyears ago had driven the truck many miles without the five one inch ballbearings installed in the front drive shaft knuckle joints. This action had caused both front axles tohave knuckle joints damaged beyond any kind of repair. These ruined axle shafts and the broken hubwere the only problems found with the MH drive gear. I thought, no big problem, I can findreplacements. No way. I soon found outthat these items are unattainable, rarer that the rarest of hen’s teeth. Ready to give up on this project, I found a1950 Ford Ranger MH in Texas that had the absolutely worst rusted body youcould ever imagine. I purchased if for$4,000 and shipped it back to California. Everything on this vehicle was worthless, except the MH running gear,which is identical to the 1948-52 MH F1 trucks (LD7 parts). When I removed the drive hubs, I discoveredthat one hub had been repaired, and was reusable, and the second hub wasperfect. So I now had two perfect drivehubs for my 1952 F1. Hooray! Then I removed the axles. The left axle assembly; which includes theinner and outer drive axles plus the five ball bearings, was well lubricatedand in perfect condition. Hooray! But the right inner axle was completely missing,removed sometime in the past, gone forever. After searching again for many months, I took all my rightaxle parts to an experienced truck axle machine shop where the machinistremoved the damaged knuckles and replaced them with the parts from a 1951 LandRover CV joint. This Land Rover CV jointfit perfectly inside the original MH ball, which is much smaller that modern daytrucks. The swap works perfectly! Hooray! Remember when I mentioned that this F1 truck had a brokenleft front drive hub? I don’t know whatcaused this hub to break, but I suspect that a previous owner took a very hardhit to the left wheel. Not only was thisdrive hub broken, but the axle bearing support ball was damaged as well. And the left frame and front frame crossmember were cracked. These cracks werewelded by a previous owner, and appear to be just fine. I swapped out axle cases, complete with theirdifferentials (they are identical), and installed the MH Ranger axle case intothe MH F1. Everything worked great! Hooray! Since both the F1 and the Ranger were missing the transfercase shifter and transmission bracket, I fabricated my own bracket andinstalled a NOS WWII Dodge command car transfer case shift lever. The MH F1 transfer case was in good shape,only requiring new seals and a couple of standard bearings. New front drive shaft, new small driveshaft,and six new u-joints. Of course I replaced the rusted solid F1 rear axle with theperfect Ranger rear axle (identical axles and gears). Bottom line, the MH drive train on this 1952 F1 now worksgreat. If you know of a MH transfer caseshift lever for sale, please let me know. If you are still with me, I will describe the rest of thestory. I painted the F2 cab the correctoriginal color of the 1952 MH F1; Meadow Green, and installed it on theframe. Since the front clip from the F2was in excellent, rust free shape, I used it as well. Note that the F2 front fender has a slightly largerfront wheel well opening than the F1 (1-2 inches higher), I think it looksgreat. But I could not use the perfecthood from the F2 as the 1951 hood is a little different in design from the 1952hood. And I was seeking originality asmuch as possible. So I smoothed out thelarge dent in the F1 hood (looked like someone jumped up and down on it) andused it. If you look carefully you cansee the dip in the hood where it had been dented in the past. The grill was perfect, and I painted it thecorrect ivory white (not plain white as some people do). Now my paint job is better than a 20 footerpaint job (looks great at 20 feet away). Mine has some drips and blemishes, but is a good 10 footer. Note that the 215 engine was a new engine for Fordproduction vehicles (the first ever OHV engine in a Ford production model), andwas only manufactured two years (1952 and 1953). This engine had the distributor located inthe middle of the block, and had poor oil circulation to the rocker armshaft. I installed a period aftermarketoil line that goes directly into the rocker arm with high pressure oil so thatproblem is solved. I replaced the canisteroil filter with an easy spin on oil filter adapter. I retained the original canister and bolt ifyou want it. The engine has new, pistons(233 std size pistons – which is almost equal to 30 over 215 pistons), rodbushings, main bearings (crank turned 10 under), rod bearings (10 under), oilpump, valves, springs, lifters, rocker assembly, fuel pump, carburetor, plus….aNOS oil bath air cleaner (found on a shelf in Sutter Creek with a tiny little dentin it, sitting for over 60 years)! Rebuilt starter and generator, new voltage regulator. Re-cored radiator, new hoses, originalclamps, new water pump, thermostat, 6 volt battery, solenoid, batterycables. New exhaust system pipes,muffler, hangers, all made by Waldron Exhaust for a 6 cylinder F1 (modifiedgently by me to get around the transfer case). New distributor cap, points, rotor, plug wires and spark plugs. New brake lines (both hard and rubber), shoes, front drums,master and all four wheel cylinders. Newemergency brake cables (front and rear). The front and rear glass is new, the rollup window glasses are new, andthe vent windows are original glass. Allmovable glass windows operate excellently. New anti-rattle strips in the doors with new felt channel kits. New rubber around the vent windows, plus thefront windshield, back glass, and front air vent. Original side mirror and rear viewmirror. Original sun visor. New Y n Z Yesterdays Parts wiring harnesses, new seat upholstery,original F2 gas tank was perfect (same tank as the F1), with new sendingunit. All dash gages work properly;headlights, temp, oil pressure, amp, fuel level. Both the choke cable and throttle cable arehooked up and work properly. Original 6Vwindshield wiper motor installed and will work (tested), but not wired up. New 15” Firestone military tires with tubes(still have the little rubber nubs on them). (Note: when MH installed the MHdrive train in Indianapolis in 1952, they removed the original 16” wheels andreplaced them with 15” wheels, giving more clearance in the fender wells.) New beautiful oak wood in bed (milled by the Amish in Ohio),stained with light white oak and then protected with polyurethane. Correct body color bed strips, newhardware. Truck comes with the originalignition key (not a copy) and the original door lock key, and the door locksperfectly (only the passenger side had a key lock on the F1). Truck starts every time, just pull out thechoke, turn on the key, and push the start button, runs great. Ford factory brush guard (made by Ford forthis truck, very rare). Factory tooltray behind seat. Front seat adjusting mechanism works properly. I madethe rear bumper, still need to find an original steel ribbed rear bumper. I have a clear California title in my name. This truck can drive up onto any transporter. The VIN stamped into the frame rail isF1D2LU17962. F1 means F1, D = 215 6cylinder engine, 2 = 1952, LU = Louisville, Kentucky. Stamped into MH ID plate inside cab =6LD7-4-17962, with 17962 matching the VIN. Moving, must sell. Letme know if you have questions. Send me an email to see some videos of this truck in action. I am trying to figure out how to add more photos and videos to this listing. Come and get this beautiful piece of truck history. If you can find a better 1952 F1 MH for sale, buy it. Please do not bid unless you have the funds. Jeff 916.860.9690