I will leave the inner fender panels as is giving them a good cleaning and buffing while restoring the chassis components to a new look.

I bought a motorcycle jack at a garage sale this summer, it has been a valuable shop tool for lifting the front and rear of my Model A with a single jack. It's padded and with two lifting bars it works well on the F1 too.....not bad for twenty bucks!

 

Looks great! I love the look of a freshly painted frame. Keep plugging away.

 

Looking good! Few have that solid a truck.

 

Here are a couple of pictures of the top of the springs. When I removed the crud the original ford part numbers are still in tact.

 

I took a 1/2" piece of aluminum and bored a 1 1/2" hole to accept the master cylinder. The bolt pattern layout should be evident from the photos.


I tapped the three holes for 3/8-24 bolts to thread through from the pedal support. The upper two bolts in the pedal support are original. I tapped two 3/8 studs into the plate to match the brake master cylinder mounting holes (need longer bolts in the photo).


Most folks should be able to reproduce this with the aid of drill press and some simple shop tools.


I need to give the axles another coat of paint after assembling the backing plates, then I will be able to proceed with assembling the brakes and testing them this week. The steering box is reassembled and installed, I need to find a good pitman arm. Hopefully I will find an NOS ford part before next summer when I take my maiden voyage in Mater.

 

To many hen's inside today so I worked on Mater for a while. Removed the window glass, wiped the gray primer off of the dash and did a little buffing to see if I could revive some of the original Meadow Green. Here are the results.
I'm happy with the results so far. The body has patchy primer. I tried cleaning a small test area and under the primer are patches of Meadow Green. I will try to remove the primer and leave the original ford paint and primer to see what it looks like with these cleaned patches of paint while retaining the rusty look. The underside of the cab was cleaned and treated to two coats of POR-15.

 

Looks good! I am doing a similar "patina" rod as well ( or rat rod, or junk rod, or POS, whatever you want to call it).
Wish I could work outside today, must be nice! I am on generator power after a nasty snow storm last night.
Keep up the good work, I need reading material.

 

My replacement 2nd gear came in and I finished the transmission, bolted it back together and it is ready to install.



I decided to replace the king pin bushings, it did not need them but it made sense to do so now. I found two original Ford bushings! I reassembled the front axle and am ready to finish installing the front hubs.
I cleaned and painted the drive line, afterward I cleaned the u-joints fully expecting to find considerable wear. I discovered what I think are the original Spicer u-joints. Both are in great condition......boy, i'm beginning to wonder if the 18k is the original mileage?
Also pictured are the original tie rod ends.....tight and in good condition too!

 

I was bored last night so I went to work cleaning some of the cab. While some of the rust is well into the metal there are patches where the Meadow Green and primer are still in tact. The deep pitting in the roof may have been from a cover or using it as storage. I hit it with the buffer to see what the end result will look like. Once it is re assembled I will wetsand it to try and blend in the panels.
The splash aprons still have original paint and buffed out nicely.

The block and crank are at the machine shop to hone and deck and have the rotating assembly balanced. Still looking for a set of EAB heads.....

 

Looking good... Keep on truckin along like this and you'll be finished in no time at all.

 

FYI, if you need to replace front drums:
I bought a 2nd F1 front axle for the brake parts. The shoes were not worn much and the drums were in good condition, It came off of a pickup that the owner had installed a IFS. I did not give it much attention, had the brake drums turned to .030 and wondered why there was a small 1/4" ridge on the inside of the shoe..... went to assemble the front brakes and the drums that they were running on the 2nd axle I bought did not fit, come to find out they were rear drums and the ridge was from the drum not covering the shoes all of the way!


On a tip from one of the forums in FTE I ordered a set of 86 F150 drums from Napa (440-1455) and they fit fine. Not happy that they are made in China but they will do. Because they are for a 2.5" brake there is a lot of surface area for cooling. The drum to backing plate seal is better than original, which for dusty conditions should help keep more junk out of the brakes

 

That's a very nice looking project! Subscribed!

Dan

 

The original front u-joints are very deeply dished on one side (on the center cross), while none of the replacements are. That doesn't look to be original, I'd suspect it is a replacement that was bought and found not to fit. Unless they are dished, they'll hit the cap on the end of the splined section of the front yoke. You can pound the yoke in to make clearance.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...placement.html

 

Found a set of EAB heads for the 8RT build. This is my first time building a flathead. I'm leaning heavily on the advise of others to get it right. Will set the EAB heads up to improve compression and take advantage of the cam and 4bbl carb. Stock they are the highest CR ford offered @ 7.2. I'm hoping for 7 3/4 after milling. One piece at a time........still looking for a 4bbl manifold but it will be another few weeks before I'm to that point an have time to find a good deal.

Bought a nice 48 grill (thanks Paul). Sent it to the sandblaster. I need to determine how to finish it. I'm thinking using a ford red urethane primer that will blend into the patina.

 

I'm rethinking my plan to build a mild flathead. If this little doll is going to drive it I don't want the boys to catch her! Maybe I should add a McCollough SC?
The grand kids are having as much fun with Mater as I am.

Got the block back today, when the bearings come in from Red's Headers and he head bolts from C & G early ford parts I'll began preping the block and fitting the EAB heads.