Oh hell yeah. Thats all I need is for some wannabe gang banger stealing a $200 ornament off of my truck. Man I can just see that on the end of a gold chain. LOL

 

I have noticed by going through the gallery that not all 54's have the same grill. I guess it is time to start buying me some books to do the research on these matters. Ed [/B][/QUOTE]

The 54 grille was aesthetically challenged, so many have been replaced with more aesthetically pleasing 55 or 56 grilles.

 

I would be upset but I have to admit you are sort of right. I will not be chroming my grill. It looks really ugly after being chromed. No offense to those of you that have done it but it is big. I will be painting it some color (probably white) when it comes time.

Cannot work on my ride today, its pouring down sheets of rain and if I open the garage I get drenched. Tomorrow I am off to Venezuela. I will be thinking of you folks while I am there swillling the cerveza and basking in the warm weather. Of course I will toast you while I am there. Ed

 

Ed,

Hasta La Vista and Buena Suerte!

 

As Guv Anuld would say, Astalavistababee. John

 

Don't worry Red as Aunuld also said "I'll Be Back" Ed

 

Well I gutted the headliner and pulled the seat out today. Some wise guy used faux alligator with suede to redo the interior. Oh thats right the last owner was........ Removed the carpeting and will start with heater and instruments after I get back. You guys be good and if I get close to a computer with internet connection I will check up on you. Ed

 

In Venezuela and I will not leave you alone. New question. I have noticed that none of the trucks in the magazines or in our galleries have the spare tire fender on the left side. My truck does. Is that not cool or is there another reason no one else has a spare tire fender. Where do you guys keep your spare tire besides your belt line. LOL. Ed

 

Sorry, but in my book, I don't like the spare tire fender except on restores. I don't carry a spare. Only an electric air pump and my cell phone in case I need to call AAA. I hate talking about needing a spare because everybody knows that causes flats!!! Good luck, John

 

I have my spare on the left side. I'm doing a modified restore though. By modified I mean a few more chrome goodies that Henry didn't put on and a different differential to get a little more road speed. I think it's personal preference as to whether you have the spare mounted on the side or even underneath. I think '54 or '55 was the first year for the underneath spare tire carrier. I don't know where you'd ever find one. If you're running original tires, you would need more than just and air pump as they have tubes in them. By the way, do you know how hard it is to find someone at a "regular" Tire shop to do tube tires? I went to Mr. Tire & Merchants Tire and auto and they looked at me like I was crazy. Young kids kept telling me tires don't have tubes. In my yout' I did many a tube tire. I still could, I just don't have a tire machine. The kid's today think you must need a special machine. I ended up having my father-in-law mount and balance it. He's a retired mechanic and occasionally visits his former employer. I guess bigger truck places could do it and not be afraid of tearing the tube, but you would think that places with tire in their name would be able to handle tires with tubes in them. Just venting. Sorry.

 

In my youth I did many a tube tire. I still could, I just don't have a tire machine. The kid's today think you must need a special machine. [/B][/QUOTE]

Fowl,

I don't have a tire machine either, but that doesn't stop me from doing all my own tire changing and balancing...tube and tubeless. All you need is a bead breaker, a couple of tire tools and a rubber hammer. I even have my own bubble balancer which does a pretty fair job....all available from good old JC Whitney. The money I've saved over the years doing my own mounting and balancing has paid for the tools many times over. As far as the spare is concerned, I'm going to carry mine in the bed under a cover and out of sight..

 

Ok then I suppose that means there are fenders out there for sale that do not have a spare tire carrier on them. I think I want to keep it so that I can have a spare tire. Ed

 

You can get the rear fenders with or without the spare tire "pocket". Most of the vendors have them I think. I haven't seen too many of the carriers though. There are probably a couple of the vendors that have them. You need to get the catalogs and look through them. I have found that although they all carry parts, all of the parts are not the same. For instance, they all carry tail light brackets. I bought 2 brackets with the license plate bracket. It turns out that the brackets I bought are the same size. When I went to put the license plate bracket on the tail light bracket, the license plate won't fit. It hits the bed side. I hace found one vendor in New York that seems to carry 2 different size brackets. Although when I called him, he didn't seem to be the most pleasant guy to talk to. However, he was the only one that advertised 2 different sizes of bracket. I guess we have to deal with unpleasant people soemtimes to get what we need. I haven't ordered teh parts yet, but when I work up the nerve to call him back I will order them.

 

I have all of the original parts in good condition so that will not be a problem. Ed

 

I saw a spare tire holder on ebay. It's up to $5.00. Good luck, John