1952 Ford F1 Marmon Herrington Pickup All Wheel Drive

Second update: The high bidder contacted me to say he changed his mind and doesn't want to buy this truck. So it is back on the market starting where the bidding left off. Please text me for videos of the truck. Thank you. Jeff

Update: Good news! Someone contacted me through Ebay and has a correct MH transfer case shifter and bracket available for sale to whoever wins this auction. Fantastic!

Please read this entire description at least three times beforebidding.

First, never buy a Marmon-Herrington truck unless you absolutely know the full condition of all the Marmon-Herrington drive traincomponents. Many of these old trucks were abused, beat up, modified, worn out, etc.And finding replacement Marmon-Herrington parts is near impossible, and very expensive. I learned these lessons the 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, in the spring of 2014 (see photo of blue truck).Needless to say, the seller did not disclose the following issues in his online description. The truck had been sitting somewhere, in the rain, for over 40 years. It sat in one spot because the left front MH drive hub was fatally broken. Also, the oil in the rear axle had completely turned from liquid to solid, and the rear gears were rusted and frozen solid inthe solid gunk as well. The truck could not roll at all. I had to winch it up onto the car trailer, with the seller pushing the back of the truck with his 4X4, with three of the four tires skidding on the ground, in order to get it loaded. After arriving home with my new restoration project, I discovered that rain had entered the cab through a small hole 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 through butter. Additionally, the seller did not disclose that a previous owner had welded all the exterior body seams on the truck, 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 found a nice, correct 1952 box with fenders and tailgate. This project was beginning to look promising. Next I purchased a 1951 Ford F2 for parts that had an excellent cab and front sheet metal. There are some small rust holes in the cab floor, 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 many years 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 to have knuckle joints damaged beyond any kind of repair. These ruined axle shafts and the broken hub were the only problems found with the MH drive gear. I thought, no big problem, I can find replacements.

No way. I soon found out that 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 you could 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 discovered that one hub had been repaired, and was reusable, and the second hub was perfect. So I now had two perfect drive hubs for my 1952 F1. Hooray! Then I removed the axles. The left axle assembly; which includes the inner 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 right axle parts to an experienced truck axle machine shop where the machinist removed the damaged knuckles and replaced them with the parts from a 1951 Land Rover CV joint. This Land Rover CV joint fit perfectly inside the original MH ball, which is much smaller that modern day trucks. The swap works perfectly! Hooray!

Remember when I mentioned that this F1 truck had a broken left front drive hub? I don’t know what caused this hub to break, but I suspect that a previous owner took a very hard hit to the left wheel. Not only was this drive hub broken, but the axle bearing support ball was damaged as well. And the left frame and front frame crossmember were cracked. These cracks were welded by a previous owner, and appear to be just fine. I swapped out axle cases, complete with their differentials (they are identical), and installed the MH Ranger axle case into the 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 and installed 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 the perfect 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 larger front wheel well opening than the F1 (1-2 inches higher), I think it looks great. But I could not use the perfect hood from the F2 as the 1951 hood is a little different in design from the 1952 hood. And I was seeking originality as much as possible. So I smoothed out the large dent in the F1 hood (looked like someone jumped up and down on it) and used it. If you look carefully you can see the dip in the hood where it had been dented in the past. The grill was perfect, and I painted it the correct ivory white (not plain white as some people do). Now my paint job is better than a 20 footer paint 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 Ford production vehicles (the first ever OHV engine in a Ford production model), and was only manufactured two years (1952 and 1953). This engine had the distributor located in the middle of the block, and had poor oil circulation to the rocker armshaft. I installed a period aftermarket oil line that goes directly into the rocker arm with high pressure oil so that problem is solved. I replaced the canister oil filter with an easy spin on oil filter adapter. I retained the original canister and bolt if you 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), oil pump, valves, springs, lifters, rocker assembly, fuel pump, carburetor, plus….a NOS oil bath air cleaner (found on a shelf in Sutter Creek with a tiny little dent in it, sitting for over 60 years)!Rebuilt starter and generator, new voltage regulator. Re-cored radiator, new hoses, original clamps, new water pump, thermostat, 6 volt battery, solenoid, battery cables. New exhaust system pipes,muffler, hangers, all made by Waldron Exhaust for a 6 cylinder F1 (modified gently 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. New emergency brake cables (front and rear).The front and rear glass is new, the rollup window glasses are new, and the vent windows are original glass. All movable glass windows operate excellently.New anti-rattle strips in the doors with new felt channel kits. New rubber around the vent windows, plus the front windshield, back glass, and front air vent. Original side mirror and rear view mirror. 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 sending unit. All dash gages work properly; headlights, temp, oil pressure, amp, fuel level. Both the choke cable and throttle cable are hooked 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 MH drive train in Indianapolis in 1952, they removed the original 16” wheels and replaced 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, new hardware. Truck comes with the original ignition key (not a copy) and the original door lock key, and the door locks perfectly (only the passenger side had a key lock on the F1). Truck starts every time, just pull out the choke, turn on the key, and push the start button, runs great. Ford factory brush guard (made by Ford for this truck, very rare). Factory tool tray behind seat. Front seat adjusting mechanism works properly. I made the 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 is F1D2LU17962. 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. Let me know if you have questions. Antique California license plates currently on the truck and custom truck cover included. Send me an email to see some videos of this truck in action. We made an action video of this truck climbing a little hill this morning. All photos were taken today. 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