Well, staying with V-belts is not completely out of the question... I still have all the brackets from my 6.9. I much prefer the serpentine but it might be worth it for the better pump.

 

I am having a difficult time deciding on a paint/trim theme. The truck will probably be in the dark red spectrum, something similar to this:



The trim is a little tricky. Chrome/bright would have a more classic look and match better while towing our vintage aluminum Streamline camper (my next restoration project). But I really want the 80-84 mid body trim, and if I can't find the rear door pieces, one option would be to graft some sections together for the rear doors and paint ALL of the truck's trim gloss black.



I welcome other thoughts and ideas, keeping in mind that my interior is Canyon Red...

 

Thanks for the photo.
There sure doesn't seem to be much belt wrap on the power steering pulley.

If you think of adapting one, maybe a Sag from a Lincoln (that comes with an extra return port from the HB) would be a better choice?

I always thought Airstreams were cool when I was a kid.
Do you do a lot of vacation miles with it every year?

 

In a way I kinda wish I'd done away with all but the wheelwell trim on Dad's truck. I've seen some done that way and they look clean and sharp.

 

Thanks for the tip on the Lincoln Saginaw pumps. Having the extra return would be handy. I might just have to buy a junkyard one and see what could be done with the bracket to accommodate it. It might just flat out be a choice between serpentine and Saginaw.

As sad as it is, we have never actually gone on an actual vacation in the Streamline. We've lived in it a couple times while moving, but my truck just hasn't been reliable enough to take it very far. That camper is one of the main reasons I am rebuilding this truck... So that we can go places in it!

 

You live in such a beautiful part of the world that it would be a shame not to get out and enjoy it. And the combo of the restored truck and trailer will be a head-turner.

 

Gary, I have never been a very big fan of trim either. I usually dig nice clean simple body lines over chrome clutter... But I am finding these crew cabs to be an exception. They are so big and so flat on the side that solid colors look really plain and overwhelming at the same time. To my eyes, the CC benefits from some kind of trim line or two-tone to break things up a bit. I had the 80-84 mid body trim on my 1981 F250. It grew on me because the angular trim mirrored the angular lines of the body. I could leave it off, but I think my barn door of a truck would then need two-tone paint, Freewheeler pin stripes, or some kind of visual interest. I will do some crew cab image searching and see if I can find examples of what I am talking about.

 

That's the idea Gary. I love antiques of all kinds, and even if I could afford brand new I would prefer the old. I know I'm not the only one... I once towed the Streamline through downtown Williams on Old Route 66 with my rusty old 1968 F250. Tourists were leaning out on both sides of the street to snap a picture as I drove by.

 

Nice truck. Interesting that it has a short-wave antenna. 😎

 

...now I know why it was so cool that people were taking pictures! Rare short wave option!

 

I like what I'm seeing. I'm inviting myself to the party.

 

On Wednesday I received the long awaited parcel from David containing my XLS instrument bezel and nameplate. None of the online photos capture the detail that you can see in person. It is truly the most attractive dash trim I have seen. The silver and black with chrome edging really pops with contrast. It is sharp. I can imagine this would look stunning in a black dash / interior scheme, but I am not changing mine now. I spent a lot of money on the red, and an all black crew cab interior would be looming and overwhelming.

Today I pulled the bezel out of the box and attempted to photograph some of the detail. I am not very happy with the lighting results in our kitchen/dining room area, but I just didn't have time to set up something outside in natural light. I will post more photos as I go along with my attempts to clone a matching radio bezel.











One thing that I am happy to see is that the "texture" or brush marks in the silver are faint dull grey streaks. I had feared that it might be a printed image of actual brushed metal with glints and highlights in the scratches. That would be impossible to duplicate by scuffing paint. But I think that I have a reasonable chance of replicating the look if I experiment with different paints and scratching media. The Dennis Carpenter reproduction radio bezel was on the right track, but the grey streaks were 100 x too large and too numerous. It is a quality piece, and not bad looking but is not even close to the look of the XLS. For the record, here are pics of the bezel that I bought and returned to D.C.









One thing that may prove a little tricky is finding a silver paint with the correct brightness AND the correct color cast. I compared the bezel with some Krylon silver, and the Krylon looked slightly greenish compared to the bezel. Today I picked up a can of Rustolium aluminum paint, we will see how that matches. If I absolutely cannot make a convincing clone, I will probably do what Gary suggested and clone everything. That way it will match... but that is a very last resort.

 

Looking good

 

That is a beautiful piece, for sure.

 

I know... these are V-belt era trucks... and if you converted to serpentine most Ford engines have an E-series Saginaw steering pump bracket if you care to track one down. Since mine does not, I may be the only guy thrilled to find this write up, but here is a guy who modified a Ford serp bracket to accept a common Saginaw steering pump with the large "canned ham" reservoir. It's a bit involved, but I think the juice is worth the squeeze if I can run a Saginaw AND serpentine accessories on my IDI:

Converting a Ford serpentine bracket for a Saginaw PS pump

On a related topic, I found a write up on converting to hydroboost brakes (which I already have planned), but they included an elegant solution for dealing with the 2nd low pressure return line... by sending BOTH returns to a filter head for the power steering fluid. I think this is a great idea even if you are not running hydroboost brakes:

Hydroboost conversion and power steering fluid filter write up

On one of my junkyard runs I picked up a power steering fluid oil cooler from a 1999 Superduty. Since I live in a hot area, I figure it won't hurt to supplement the looped steel lines on the cross member.