40s vs 50s FFPW

[Nor'Easter]

Hi All-

I recently purchased a 53 FFPW and have now found a local FFPW from the 40s according to the seller. It is a great parts truck. Are there any differences between the earlier and later trucks? I am thinking mainly the frame, cab, and bed. Drivetrain not so much as I will be using a Cummins engine.

[Desoto61]

Hmm, I'm not expert on it but there are some, VPW and the other Power Wagon forum will probably give you more detail, but most were fairly minor. The biggest being they went from the 230 engine to the 251 which is longer and required the front to move forward. If the grill sits flush it's the smaller 230, if it sticks out of the front it's the later 251.

For your application the engine isn't important but the sheetmetal might, the 251 doesn't look as clean IMO, but that extra bit of room is helpful fitting the Cummins. Using that setup would have helped with my packaging issues right now.

Otherwise lots of little thing changed over the years, but I'm not sure exactly what in which years. Cab mounting changed slightly though the cab itself did not, just the brackets. There are different bed styles, at least three I've heard talk of, etc.

It's probably worth getting regardless, if you're not worried about staying original then most of the parts you would want it for should work fine.