As much as I hated to, I bought a new grille shell and chrome grille insert from DC. I just prefer the NOS Ford parts over the aftermarket guys. Yeah, I know DC buys some of the Ford original tooling to make some of their parts BUT there still not originals in my book!! The grille shell and insert look good tho!!

 

4 extra sets, now you're just rubbing it in. haha. Currently I can't even afford to say the work budget.

Do you search out all these NOS parts or just have them fall in your lap? Either way you'll end up with a brand new truck.

Think I actually prefer the tail gate trim you painted over the NOS one.

 

I bought a few extra sets in case I wanted to install them on some of my other trucks. They are very hard to find.

Fall in my lap? Ha, no I have searched hard for most of them!

The one I re-painted turned out nice BUT no comparison to the NOS one!!

 

I painted the covers for the seatbelt retractors and installed them...I think they turned out awesome!!

 

If your gonna do it...do it right, that grill looks pretty dang right to me.

 

Got some more interior work done. Carpet is in and finished trimming. I put the door panels on and was able to get the weather-stripping on the doors along with the scuff plates down!

 

Scott x2 on the NOS fog lights. How does the DC grill shell compare to an original one? I've seen some of their door panels at some swap meets and I thought they seemed rather thin. Literally you could see the light of the sun through the repop door panels. Now FWIW they could have very well been seconds since they were being sold by other vendors, but had DC's labels on them. Either way it made me think twice about trying their items.

 

Wowza! This is looking fantastic.


Super job Scott. I can see you are getting very close to the end. You've started with a very solid example and have turned this into a black beauty!

 

Yeah the look is very nice and the overall quality is pretty good, but NOTHING like the factory originals. I found a NOS outer grille shell but the guy had it "bright dipped"....so, I thought it "might" be to blingy for my likings!! He said it looked like a high polished chrome vs aluminum.

 

Well, in being "totally" honest here, they look great, overall quality is good, BUT they are much thinner than the factory originals. I can tell there's a big difference in the material specs. "If" I had known this prior I would have tried to re-finish/bright dip/powercoat my original, and still might. I'm thinking if I hit a big hard-shell bug at 65mph it will "probably" leave a dent.

 

Thanks I appreciate it man!! Yeah it makes such a big difference when restoring one that's rust-free to begin with.

 

I have to fab up a seat pan so I can use a set of grey OBS 40-20-40 seats that I have. I think the rear seat is a direct bolt-in from what I remember!

 

If repops door panels are flimsy, I'd spray the back sides with bedliner (aerosol is fine) to add mass.... and be less likely to crack when impacted.

 

Wow, your truck is looking great. Awesome work and inspiration(for those of us needing it)!

 

I am extremely jealous. I wish my military pay check would allow me to do that to my truck. You do awesome work. Keep the pictures coming.