seyman Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 Growing up here in Southern Illnois (born 1948) I have seen all my life, up through the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and today, a good deal more of those late 40's - early 50's Chevrolet pickups on the street than I have of the Ford pickup trucks from the same era. Do you reckon this is because there were just a lot more Chevys sold initially? Or was the Chevy a hardier vehicle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 Chevy only had a six banger in the 1950 Chevy. A 216 and later a 235.Ford had v-8 going back into the earily 40's.Not sure what the price was on ether new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles2 Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 As I recall from having worked on a lot of both of them, the Chevrolet had a much better body that did the Ford but the Ford had a much hardier engine. The Ford engine had full oil pressure to the insert connecting rods while the Chevrolet had a pump driven, oil jet to connecting rod scoop, lubrication system for the poured babbit rods. It is not hard to convert the 216 cubic inch 1950 engine to inserts and full pressure; this produces a much more robust engine. Or, you can easily replace the original engine with a 1953 (powerglide only) or 1954 (powerglide or standard transmission) or newer 235 cubic inch engine that has standard full pressure lubrication. The "splash-lubricated" Chevrolet "babbit beater" engine had a reputation for throwing rods at inconvenient times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 Interesting post since I own a 49 GMC. I have no idea as I do not have production figures in front of me. The "Advanced Design" Chevy/GMC's were better looking and had a more modern cab then Ford. The overhead valve design (I think) made them easier to work on, top end wise. Any more ideas or hard production numbers would be interesting.Bryan Moran1949 GMC 5 window deluxe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 I had a 49 chevy 3/4 ton, with eight lugs on each split rim. It had the 4 on the floor, and 1st gear was not needed.It was screaming at 49mph. The rear main on the 216 leaked oil like crazy.Only thing I hauled was a christmas tree onces a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest De Soto Frank Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 Fords may have had "a better engine", but Chevy's didn't overheat... I think I've seen more old Advance Design Chevies out there still working than I have Fords of the same period, and this is recollecting about 35 years of vehicle-watching.I see more Chevies at shows, either as stockers or rods...Can't say as to which had "the better body;" the AD Chevy is plenty rust-prone; if the Ford was worse, God help them.For me, the AD Chevy of '47-'54 is THE classic "old truck"...probably because they were in my extended family during my childhood. And I have my Grandad's '54 Chevy 3/4-ton five-window cab pick-up.I kind of like the '48-'52 Ford pick-ups...they're neat looking...I would like to own one someday.The '53-'56 Ford Pick-ups looked kind of dumpy and front-heavy (to my eyes).Ford did have an advantage in terms of powerplant options, with the six and the V-8; I believe Ford also made Master-Guide power steering available in 1954...The GMC shared the same basic sheet metal with the Chevy, but had different engines (the front cross-member in the frame is different too, to accomodate the longer GMC engine block. GMC's had full-pressure oiling systems from the late 1930's, along with replaceable "shell-type" insert bearings.No matter what make truck, back then they were built and bought to be work-horses! They were run( and often abused ) until they wore-out and/or fell-apart ("flogged to death").My favorite truck of the post-war period is the '48-'53 Studebaker...a really nifty, clean design. Not many of those left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aanderson44 Posted October 17, 2005 Share Posted October 17, 2005 <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Growing up here in Southern Illnois (born 1948) I have seen all my life, up through the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and today, a good deal more of those late 40's - early 50's Chevrolet pickups on the street than I have of the Ford pickup trucks from the same era. Do you reckon this is because there were just a lot more Chevys sold initially? Or was the Chevy a hardier vehicle? </div></div>Chevrolet outproduced Ford in the pickup arena something like 3:2 through the years represented by the AD Chevy pickup. Both were sturdy as hell, particularly as Ford offered a virtually bullet-proof flathead 6 in their trucks 1942-51, and an equally good 6 in the I-block OHV engine in 52.Art Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest De Soto Frank Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 I think the Ford sixes are really underappreciated...The first ones, the flat-head 215, produced just as much power as the famous V-8, with less cubes...The 223 was another good six...I've owned nearly a dozen pick-up trucks in my little life, and only one of them has a V-8: my '70 Ford F-100 Sport Custom...that had a 302...which was a little small for that application...Otherwise, it's always been sixes in my trucks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPrice Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 As far as the body durability is concerned, you must remember that back in the '50s, rustproofing was virtually nonexistant. What most people did was to have the dealer undercoat the vehicles with a tar-like substance.So, I doubt that either one of those trucks would outlast the other on that basis.Rog [color:\\"blue\\"] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John N. Packard Posted October 19, 2005 Share Posted October 19, 2005 I worked for a local appliance dealer in the early fifties. He had both a Chevy and a Ford pick-up. What I remember accompanying his technicians on appliance deliveries is that the Chevy could go real fast while the Ford was much slower. Maybe it was the driver. The technician who used the Chevy was a good bit younger than the one assigned to the Ford.jnp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest De Soto Frank Posted October 19, 2005 Share Posted October 19, 2005 Dunno...I know that most given vehicles have their rust-prone areas...the AD Chevys rotted first in the inner cowl panels and the "banana" panel in inside the front fender. The the outer cowl panel down low, then the rear cab corners.I've seen AD Chevys that were solid in all the above-mentioned spots but had rust in strange places: middle of the beltline reveal in the back of the cab, dashboard under the ignition switch; header over the windshield, and some other weird stuff.Studies (both car and truck) seemed to have some real rust issues back in the '50s & '60s...Guess I'll have to get me a '48-'52 Ford F-1 or F-2 and see what they're all about after having Chevy's the last 30 years! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry burger Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 the chev outsold the ford by a good margin,also they were very rugged,and babbit 6 or not they could take a beating,they ran cooler in hot weather than the ford,and easily out torqued the flat head v8 on adverse,or with a heavy load. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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