I'm sure that I can't be the only one watching and waiting for the completion pics. Such a dream build.Great job with the details and pics. you make it look so easy.

 

I had the honour and pleasure of seeing this truck yesterday and to meet Gary. The truck is beautiful and sounds as good as it looks. I'd say your wait for completion pics won't be long!

After seeing Jon's truck we went over to another hanger where I met Bill, a friend of Gary, and Pete their body man who had just painted the body of a '29 Ford that Bill is hot rodding. Gary showed me his '55 F100. Those completion pics should be ready in April or May, right Gary?

 

I would love to think that Jon will be driving his truck by early Febuary which would make its roll out date exactly 3 years from conception, but as you saw yourself, there a hundred tiny little details to complete so your estimate may be closer to the truth. Besides, I want the final photo set to be out in the sunlight because this paint job really pops in sunlight.

 

Hey Gary,
Looking forward to your final reveal! I feel like we are watching a Chip Foose show minus the lame pranking of the owner & the ridiculous " we did this in 7 days".

I'm going to go outside now & bury my '50 under a rock so noone sees it & compares it to your's. Beautiful work.

Ben in Austin
1950 F1

 

Progress has been slow since James dropped in, I have been totally involved in copleteing the annual service and inspections on our 4 helicopters and I still have the fixed wing to go.

I did finally get the front fender struts fabbed up and installed and have begun taping off the inside of the fenders in preperation for applying the last two coats of rubberized undercoating to seal all the fender seams.

I wish I had more news to share.

Gary

 

Well, the truck is still not done ,,but it was a beautiful day so I pulled it outside in the sun for it's first bath.


Sitting at ride height



at show height



ride height



show height

 

Looks great, Gary!

Hey, where did all your snow go? Must be nice living in the south.

 

Isn't it weird, it's Febuary and the snow is gone and daytime temps in the 40's.

The truck got it's revenge on me again because it ran out of gas before I could get it back inside. I just love pushing 4000 lbs uphill into the hangar.

That reminds me to break out the scales and get a new dry weight on it now that it is fully assembled and see what the weight ratio's are.

 

Where did you get the engine mounts for this truck

 

I fabbed them from 1/4 steel plate approx 4" wide where they met the frame and tapered them down to about 3" at the engine. I made them in a "T" shape, flat on top with a vertical gusset below and a chunk of 7/16 tube for the motor mount bolt. Make them a little long and trim to fit.

PS; I tacked the tube in place with the engine set at the correct output pinion angle so there would be no twisting load on the mounts. You can see this angle on page 2 of this thread.

 

I walked in Sunday and the truck was sitting all the way down on the bump stops. Thinking that someone had dropped it, I got in and tried to lift it back up but as soon as I turned the system on I heard a major air leak and only one of the compressors was working.
#1 compressor was popping 30 amp fuses like a popcorn popper, it refused to run, and was leaking air from the head. The truck hasn't even hit the road and it's broke down,,bummers.

I yarded the unit out and called air ride Monday am, they told me to send it in for repair but that there would be no warranty because it was bought over 1 year ago,,,yada,,yada. I was a bit POed but thats life.

So I fedex'ed it to them and was really happy to get a call from them a day or so later during which they said that it was indeed an internal failure of the compressor and that they were going to replace it for free.

I want to send air ride big cudo's, it's not often that a company will stand up and revise their warranty policies these days and their action impressed me.

The new unit arrived yesterday and I will plug it back in today and test the system.

 

Gary,
I have been looking at sound/heat insulating the cab on my 49 and reviewing options. It looks like on Jon's truck you covered essentially all interior surfaces with Dynamat. I did not see a picture of the doors and assume that you did the inside surface of the outer skin surface of the door. Yes? Given my measurements, it would indicate that Jon must have purchased 2 of the bulk pacs (approximately 36 sq ft per pac) yes? Did you install any other insulation? Any suggestions?

 

Morning,
We bought the dynamat through speedway. It took 71 of the 72 square feet to completly wrap the inner cab surfaces. We did cover the inner door skin as well.
The floor and firewall have an additional 3/8 inch jute pad under the carpet.
We still haven't got it on the road yet but I'm betting that it will be a quiet ride.

Gary.

 

Gary,
I really like the stance of the your truck project. Could you please post the distance from the top of the frame to the floor front and rear at the extrem ends of the frame. That would help me set the mounts on my 4 link and establish how I fab the mounting plates for the front end. I have been planning on a 4" drop at the front and 3" rear but am now questioning that it may be too much drop.
BTW I built a Sonex for my last major project. Great flying machine!

 

Marty, I'll be out of town much of next week but I will get the measurements you want when I get back.