Thanks! guys, They look a little more orange in the post than they do for real. I was surprised that the color matched as well as it did. I think with a black bed and black front fenders and bumper they will look sharp.
Thanks again, Mark

 

I received the PTO gear, on the left, back from the heat treating shop yesterday. The one on the right is out of the PTO from the T9 that was in my truck. I couldn't find an early T98 PTO, so I modified the one from my T9. I softened the PTO gear from a spare T9 PTO that I have and the cluster gear from a '60 T98, so I could machine them. I used the splined hub from the PTO gear and fitted the gear from the cluster to it. After machining I sent it off to have it rehardened.






On the left is the cluster gear that I machined the PTO gear from, it is a cluster from a post '56 T98. The cluster on the right is out of a '48-'55 T98. Notice that after '55 the angle of the helix was changed. I don't know the reason why the change, unless with more powerful engines the direction of the thrust on the gears was damaging the transmission.
Thanks, Mark

 

Very clever work on the PTO gears! How is the hub held into the gear, just a tight interference fit?

 

Thanks Ross, It has a slight press fit, then I drilled the joint and pressed in a mild steel pin. The hub has a shoulder on the side that sticks out. I vee'd the joint before I installed the hub and TIG welded the joint after assembly. I machined the weld, my TIG welds aren't pretty enough to leave exposed.
Mark

 

Very nice work. I am impressed at your dedication to use a PTO with the early T98.

 

I was hoping you'd weigh in here....didn't you take your MB powered truck on a pretty good road trip a couple of years ago??

Dan

 

Fred, I'm building the truck to use, and I want to be able to use the dump bed. I checked everywhere I could think of for a PTO for the early T98. I never found one, so this was my only choice if I was to use the T98. I called one truck shop and they told me they scrapped all their T98 PTOs a couple of years ago. He talked like they had close to a hundred of them, but hadn't sold one in years.
Thanks for the kind words, Mark

 

We were iced and snowed in yesterday and church was cancelled, so I reassembled the PTO in the afternoon and installed it on the transmission.
Mark

 

That is certainly impressive work you're doing on that old girl. Trucks need names. Is this one going to be called, Stinky, Smokey, or Smelly? Or did I miss the part where you named her?

 

My 53 has been on several long runs, I tell folks that it has seen the east coast, west coast, gulf coast and as far north as the arctic circle in AK. All of this while pulling my teardrop camper. Getting close to 85K miles since May of '08.

 

Thanks Ray, I haven't even thought about a name. I will have to ponder that a while.
Mark

 

Just go sit in the truck and make VROOM VROOM noises for a few minutes. I'm sure a name will come to you.

Oh, don't let anyone see you selecting a name that way...

 

Some probably already think I'm a little nuts, That would just give them proof!
Mark

 

I took a break from working on the engine for my truck since it is too cold out to clean it up. I measured my front drums and found that they had already been turned .040 over max and they probably need to be turned another .060 to true them up now. I could probably turn them and use thick lining, but the drums aren't very thick. So I decided to try another route. I mocked up a bracket and disc spacer to install 2006-2015 F450-F550 front disc brakes on my F4. Now that I am certain that I can make the swap, I will have to machine the proper brackets and spacers. What you see in the photos is out of tubing and 1/4" plate to establish some dimensions. I will probably machine the final parts from a heat treated alloy steel 3/4"- 1" in thickness. It will be a little while before I can make the parts and install them, at least I know it can be done. I will still have to decide on a master cylinder and booster.
Thanks, Mark

 

That is a very cool set up for the brakes!! I especially like the fact you did it using Ford parts.

Those should be a major improvement over the original drum set up.