40-47 half ton pickup column shifter?

[RPM]

Can someone tell me if and when Ford might of offered the 1940- 1947 half ton pickup with a 3 speed column shifter (as an option)? Randy Clark in Escondito CA bought a 41 with factory three on tree and it has a very unique looking column drop. As far as he can tell, it is factory as it looks like no passenger car column drop.
I am trying to locate a column drop for this application and need to know what year(s?) to be looking for. Thanks, RPM

[blucar]

I believe that Ford did not come out with a steering column mounted gear shift until the early '50's.. My father purchased a new '52 with V8 and a OD three on the tree trans.
I restored a '37 Ford 1/2 ton in the mid 1960's, doing some upgrading in the process.. The engine was a 59AB, '48 column mount trans and a Columbia. I wanted turn lights so I used the column from a '58-59 Ford pickup with the '37 steering gears. With very few modifications it worked great.

[RPM]

The column drop is what i need info on.. The one that I saw had a hole thru it for the shifter and all the switch gear was at the three o'clock position, not 12 o'clock like regular pickup. Apparently the drop was made in 1941 according to my friend who has one in his truck. Anybody got one to sell?

[rotorwrench]

The Green Bible doesn't indicate any form of remote control for the 1941 Commercial vehicles. It lists the 01C-3509-A column for the 1940/41 commercials. There is a possibility that it may be a passenger car column from either a 1940 Ford passenger car or from a 1941 passenger car. There is also a posibility that the remote shift column from a 40 or 41 Mercury car was used. There are different versions in these too for Standard, Deluxe, or Super Deluxe. The one you describe sounds like a 1941 type but which one I couldn't tell you.

Kerby

PS: In the 38 thru 41 Ford Mercury Chassis Parts Catalog it lists P/N 11C-3676-B Lock-Steering & Ignition-less cyl & keys (steering column support or drop) for the 11C78 and 1NC78 models (sedan delivery, 1NC78?). This may be one that will fit the dash but I had no drawing or pictures to tell what makes it different from the passenger car types.

[Ken Crans]

Hey RPM, I just watched a video on utube that has a 41 with the column shift. Looks like a car column to me. Ken

[RPM]

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Ken, it probably is a car column! If it isn't car, then what ? Truck maybe?
My question is about what drop to use.


Any of you know what a 41 merc drop looks like? Would it locate the column tube 2 inches or so below the dash rail. That is about where the pickup tube is located.
I'd consider using the stock 40 truck drop but the on off switch is centered above the column, exactly where the shift tube is going to be.
I'll make one if necassary, just thought Henry already did. Probably rare as heck. Kinda like the 60 horse sedan delivery on ebay the other day.

[RPM]

There is a pic of Randy's three-on-tree 41 pickup at www.hotrodscustonstuff.com, look under projects and click the beautiful maroon/black 41. It has a flattie and a three on tree.
Randy says the truck had this shifter and column when they bought it and they left it there when they restored it. The column and shifter is same as passenger 40-48. The DROP is what is so unusual. It appears factory Ford, perhaps it's not original to this year vehicle? Anyway, check out the DROP . What is this drop from? Could this be the drop people say Henry didn't make? I am trying to locate one for my pickup. Any ideas??

[rotorwrench]

1941 was a cross over year. the columns used from 42 to 48 were pretty much the same. The pick ups didn't start using them till 1948 and the shift tube was on top the column on those but no switch. I would say to start looking for a steering column in a 1941 Ford or Mercury car to see what they look like. Some even had the start button on the drop in 41 but I don't know which type car or cars had this option.

Kerby

PS here is a good link: http://www.hotrodscustomstuff.com/projects.html

[Barlea]

Column shift was a big deal in '40 and there was no way Henry would put them in pickups without mentioning it in advertising, in my opinion. The indication of column shift in "commercial" vehicles in '40 '41 in parts book would be referring to sedan deliveries. We kicked this topic around a few years ago but most had the introduction of column shift in pickups at midway through the '50 model year. ..B.

[Hamtown Al]

Here's some pics from the 40 sedan steering column w/column shifter that I put in a 40 pkp a built awhile back. I cut a flat plate about 4X4" that bolted to the original trunk dash and to the original mounting bolts from the car column which was about 4 inches in front of the truck dash. You can see the plate used as an adapter better in the second picture behind the tach. This isn't what you're looking for but it did put a column shifter in a 40 pkp. Al

[svm99]

I have a '41 pickup column shift tube and column drop, they are different than the car considerably, I will photograph soon and post. I've always wanted to put it in a pickup though haven't yet, maybe someday.
Paul J.

[RPM]

1941 saw lots of new things from Henry.
The first Mercury woodie station wagon.
The big news was the new Ford passenger cars (but with last years engine, axles, radiator etc carefully hidden under the new larger body and chassis.. and available 6 cylinder power in addition to the V8!
Why a 6 banger? Because Chevrolet had just outsold Ford by 200,000 cars in 1940! For every 3 cars Ford sold, Chevrolet sold 4. Not to mention, the nation was going into economy mode, and the V8 was too thirsty for many pocketbooks. We were also nervously watching the going's on in Europe.
In light duty commercial, the 1941 offering was basically the same old chassis design dating from 1935. The sheetmetal was basically a rerun of leftover 1940 production parts. Externally, the commercial had some minor trim changes but nothing like the "all new car" in 41.
The real commercial change in 41 was the little V8 was gone, replaced by a 4 cylinder or a 6 cylinder, with the larger V8 still available. Imagine, 3 engines, but only one is a V8!!
Ford advertising of the period stressed economy of operation with testamonials in the ads from plumbers, bakers, florists, etc extolling the virtues of their 4 and 6 cylinder pickups, sedan deliveries, panel deliveries, etc.
Exactly how many of these combinations with 4 and 6 cylinders were produced is unknown to me, yet I am sure in the post war economy many 4 and 6 cylinders were upgraded to 59AB's etc. (some even got SBC's but that's another story) The point is this: Ford made many of these in 1941, and the few surviving 4 and 6 cylinder commercial vehicles seem odd and rare today.
Odd and rare is why I think the three on tree column shifter existed in a pickup and was factory installed. Every sedan delivery already had a column shifter beginning in 1940, as did every Ford car since the 39 model, so why not make it available to the panel delivery and light truck buyer in 1941? These buyers typically used the vehicle in light duty applications, so offer the modern car like column shift. A car type shifter would give the pickup a broader market and Ford needed every sale they could get.
To put the shifter on the column of a pickup was simple: design a column drop. That's it! Nothing else needed to be designed! Everything else was already in production..ie: side shift trans, column and shifter. The expense to do this was peanuts, the potential rewards too great to ignore.
Besides, there was already lots of engineering changes under way to accomodate the 4 and 6 cylinders. In retrospect, alot for a chassis in it's last year. Here are a few; new radiator mounts, new radiators, new front crossmember with deep "U" shape to clear 6 cylinder sump (this was one year only as new chassis was in works for 42), new engine mounts, special spacer beneath fender wishbone mount and a host of others for sure. Externally, even the tailgate got changed as the V8 was deleted. This gate was in production exactly one year because the wider box arrived in 42.
If a tailgate can be produced for one year and a frame crossmember and all the other stuff can be produced for what turns out to be a one year run, it stands to reason that the column drop to install a shifter on the dash of a truck or panel delivery could also be produced. Perhaps 1941 is the first column shifter in a Ford truck, and only offered for a short period because of WWII.
I have seen and heard of these column shifted pickups and in each case they were 41's. Anybody else got one?

[Cecil/WV]

There is a member of our regional group that has a column shift on a '41 pickup in Mt Airy, Md. He says it is a #5.

[blucar]

My '36 Ford coupe is a very late production car having been built in September '36.
My car has a very rare column shift option that is located on the left side of the column. This option was only available to people that could provide certification that they were in fact left handed and/or had lost their right arm in the war.
Since I am left handed I never changed the gear shift back to the floor and/or to the right side of the column.
Oh by the way, I have a bridge in Brooklyn for sale.

[38 coupe]

Ford offered an optional column shifter in the pickups in 1940, not sure about 41. They are rare.

[Graeme / New Zealand]

Originally Posted by rotorwrench

1941 was a cross over year. the columns used from 42 to 48 were pretty much the same. The pick ups didn't start using them till 1948 and the shift tube was on top the column on those but no switch. I would say to start looking for a steering column in a 1941 Ford or Mercury car to see what they look like. Some even had the start button on the drop in 41 but I don't know which type car or cars had this option.

Kerby

PS here is a good link: http://www.hotrodscustomstuff.com/projects.html

I have seen one only and it was on a fully restored Bonus p/up here in NZ. Every time I see a a Bonus I look at the shifter and I have never seen another.

GB

[59ab]

Several years ago at Hershey I saw a very original '41 pickup with a column shift. The truck was one of the 4 cylinder models. I was amazed. You can never say never when talking about old Fords. I would not have believed if I had not seen it.

[Fred A]

Probably three years ago Chris Unger of Orange CA had pickup on his carrier that had a six with the column shift. The car was for sale and Chris mentioned the column shift as a notable feature of the car. The car was either a '40 or '41. Column shift conversions were however very popular in the era. My family '39 sported a column shifter after the war as part of my dad's improvements along with Lincoln brakes and wheels. That became a family tradition. Good Luck: Fred A

[davidgrant]

RPM,

I know this is an old post and I thought I would respond, since I too am looking for a 1941 Ford pickup column shift. As you know the first column shift was an option in 1941. My friend found one for his '41 Ford pickup, since his father purchased a '41 Ford pickup new and came with the unique column shift option. This column shift is not like a passenger car unit.

Someone else mentioned a '41 Ford or '41 Mercury column shift, which is also unique. I don't know about the '41 Ford, but the '41 Mercury has the starter button at the 9 o'clock position, which I have in a '41 Mercury convertible project car. Jack Stirnneman's '32 Ford roadster, which has been in the Rodder's Journal, also know as the Walker Morrison roadster has a '41 Mercury steering column drop.

If you were successful in finding your column shift and know of another, I would be interested. By the way, my '41 Mercury convertible is for sale.

Gook luck,

David

[RPM]

Yes, I am still looking for the column drop for a 3 speed shifter on the column for a 1941 half ton truck. Apparently 1941 is the first time this was available as an option. The drop is cast and has both the key and the switch in the 3 oclock postition, unlike the floor shift model which had the switch at 12 oclock. Hopefully someone will have one for sale. Thanks, RPM