Spent a little time playing with the fuel system.Got the bungs welded to the tank for mounting the pump and got it plumbed up..

 

Looks nice!. Too bad you have to cover it up with the bed.

 

Had some time today so I started welding up theholes in the firewall. Cut plugs out of sheet metal I bought at Home Depot..not sure of the thickness but very close to original firewall.

 

i hope your state allows bottom fuel tank pickups. that is illegal in many states. Not sure I'd be comfortable with mounting the fuel pump to the tank unsupported either.

 

Today I spent an hour or two attempting to smooth the firewall a bit....I had forgotten how much FUN bondo could be!

 

I have been busy with body work lately...I had forgotten what a pain in the butt it can be..a necessary evil. The worst thing is, I'm doing it in my shop in single digit temps and the dust is going EVERYWHERE! I choose not to run the heat as I am afraid of the possibiliy of a dust explosion..I have seen it in other instances but I'm not sure if bondo dust presents a real possibility..better safe than sorry..I am to the point of planning out and plumbing the brake system on the chassis..I approach that job with caution and anxioty...as far as the body work goes the front leading edge of the roof above the windshield is the worst..I am not worried about cab corners and floor as I have patch panels ordered that should be here Tuesday..The roof is bad though...I actually thought about following the lead on an article from Scotts Hot Rods..,.Scott's Hot Rod Shop - Southern California's Leading Street Rod Builder & Suspension/Chassis Fabricator.. I don't really know what I'm going to do. I need to break out my TIG and practice with it instead of trying to MIG it..Suggestions..opinions..?

 

An awful lot of work to "semi-shave" the drip rails IMHO. Looks like they first were going to replace the drip rail with the 3/8 rod then something went wrong in finishing so they then decided to cover what they did with a piece of sheet metal?

 

I kinda thought so too but I was unsure of why they said " shaved" yet added the rod...

 

I started on the breakes, rear first. Put new pads and caliupers on because these had been out in the weather for a few years.I fashioned the rear solid line from wheel to wheel and that was about all I had time for..I am NOT a plumber!

 

A couple questions on the last set of pix:
It appears you ran the flex hose from the MC (frame) to the rear axle T fitting between the frame and the axle? They make a threaded tube fitting to run the brake plumbing from one side of the frame to the other, either a short one to to go thru one wall C channel frame or a a long one to run thru a boxed or rect tubing frame without going underneath the frame. Not a good idea to run a brake line across the bottom of the frame especially above the axle.

What is the "pig tail" tube for? Never a good idea to put a coil in a brake line, almost impossible to bleed out all the air.

 

The pig tail was to take up excess length..either I have a crappy flaring tool or (more likely) I don't understand how to use it..everytime I tried flaring an end it would crack..As far as location of the wheel to wheel line I just replaced what was there from Ford..not thinking that the rear secrtion was on the bottom of the factory springs..guess I better re think that one. I'm going to get a different flaring tool and try it again..
I get so excited about working on the truck I guess I miss the most obvious of points..Thanks Ax for pointing out what I obviouly didn't even consider..It's good to have different eyes on it to keep me where I need to be.

 

Hi, Glad to to see You are back at the truck! Do not forget to fix your shock mounts, Hate to see You break the shocks. Can I offer a bit of advice on Your body work, I would get all the metal patching done first before adding filler, You should try to not let filler set around too long without having sealer over it . You may need to move metal around to get patches to fit and you my crack the filler you already put on. Once you get the meal work done prime all that freshly sand blasted metal!

 

I hope you understand that I am not trying to be critical or nit pick your build, You do nice clean work, just trying to keep you safe and possibly help provide insight as to why things are done a certain way and introduce parts and ways of doing things that us PI (Pre-Internet) builders had to learn the hard way.
Flaring brake lines is made unnecessarily difficult because of the tools that are commonly offered for doing it and lack of good clear instruction. The typical 20 - 60.00 flaring set, that looks like some sort of medieval torture device: two hinged steel blocks with 1/2 holes in each mounted with a a press designed to break fingers er.. push down a flaring die, requires a combination of wizardry, McGivering, perseverance and patience of a Pope, and a great deal of luck to make a successful double flare ESPECIALLY if it has been (ab)used previously.
Hint: if the flares are cracking where folded back, you are likely clamping that bend too tight. It should NOT be tightly folded back on itself, but stopped just short of touching. The spring and the give that small amount of space created is what makes the seal when the fitting is tightened!
There are much better flaring tools that have recently come on the market that make double flares childs play, problem is they are a bit pricey, in the 3-500.00 range.

 

Hey I welcome ALL comments good or bad!! That's why I get on here and put my stuff out there is pics.....I NEED the help so don't feel bad slam away!!! LoL..
The rear shocks are about three items down on my to do list but they will not be forgotten.
I didn't know about leaving the bondo unprotected...yet ANOTHER thing that will help me out!!
So PLEASE.. if you see me messing up bring it to my attention..I have never done anything like this before so all comments will be welcome!

 

Picked up the doors from media blasting today..they appear to be pretty solid doors..MUCH BETTER than what I had to start with.
I need to weld up the west coast trucker mirror holes and then see what i have and which direction to go next.