Now that's funny right thar....

Pretty solid looking Truck. Chassis condition looks a lot like mine when I started.

 

Looks great!

 

Not sure how to correct a rotated picture taken from an iPad. Suggestions?

 

I have tried several ways and none work for me. The only way I have found is to take pictures with the on/off button on the screen to the left.
Elmo

 

Not to much visible progress made on Mater the last few weeks. I have the block at the machine shop having valve seats done. Been collecting a few parts over that time.
I found a replacement tailgate, a rear bumper off of a 64' ford pickup with brackets, a Carter WCFB carb from a 1955 Buick, an after market 1960's air cleaner, and an original early Offenhauser 4bbl intake. The intake was stained pretty bad so I gave it a light cleaning, disappointed cuz I lost the "patina". Not sure if I can recreate the aging.....

The weather is warming up so the pace should pick up again. I'm still shooing for driving this ole fella on our local cruise night in August.

 

So I was out the other day and thought I take a few more whacks on my recently acquired rear bumper to straighten it. I've been chipping away at it with a rather large ball peen hammer. I was beating on it from the inside and the handle fractured. The head went flying mid stroke and my hand continued toward the bumper.....my first thought was I should have put my gloves on.....tooooo late.

Mater won that round w/9 stitches to the top of my finger.

Hindsight is 20/20.

 

Ouch! Mater just wanted to make sure you had skin in the game.
I hope you heal quickly.
Your bumper looks pretty good so far.

 

No truck work is complete until you spill some blood.
Elmo

 

Ouch! Those bumpers respond well to heat.

 

The amount of time you are dedicating in the cleaning, and reusing of the original parts where ever possible is impressive. Thumbs up, and keep on what your doing. It's going to be a beauty when your done.

 

Pics of the stitches?

 

The frame came out really nice. I have no experience with POR-15, but I know guys in the snow belt areas use it on everything. Since I moved to Nevada, I have been using Eastwood's Extreme Chassis black satin. POR-15 have any downside effects?

 

I've tried to keep from adding a lot of conversation to this build thread but I thought it relevant to answer walts comment on POR-15.

The product is amazing. Great adhesion to sand blasted or etched metal. Fuel resistant, tough and durable. Sprays easily. It's pricey but considering it does not need priming.....it is a good trade off. It works great for large parts as well as small pieces. The best value I found is ebay for $120 gallon shipped. I sprayed the chassis and large parts 2+ coats with less than 2 qts.

 

This phase is out of sequence but I cannot pass up the opportunity. I have a friend who agreed to show me how to form the patches for the 4 fenders. This one is is the worst of the 4. He is a master and has all of the cool tools for forming. If all goes as planned he will teach me how to form the panels and I will weld them in. Done a lot of sheet metal welding on the Model A Roadster, he says the forming is the easy part....we'll see! I'm excited about this opportunity.

Will keep you posted on my progress.

 

I had time today to visit my friends shop and he taught me to use the shrinker - stretcher tool. It didn't take long to make the panels and inside backing plates. I was bummed that I forgot to take my camera with me. The 90 degree lips were formed on a sheetmetal break and then the panel was placed into the foot operated shriner to form the correct radius. I have made a few panels by cutting reliefs in the lip and weldind them up. This was a whole lot easier and has a cleaner look. I did not form the backers like ford did but rather formed a flat plate to support the running board. The wheel well bead for the front fender was formed seperately and will be welded in after the patch is fitted.

The block comes home tomorrow so it may be a couple of weeks before I get back to weld these in.