Nice stock, straight, clean truck! What are your plans for it?

Are those the original steel painted (not stainless) hubcaps?

 

Thanks. I'm pleased with the way it turned out.

The vinyl cover is from LMC's upholstery kit. I used 2" lux foam I ordered from Foam Factory. I ended up replaced the burlap backing with canvas.

If I were to change anything, I'd probably have gone with the 1.5" foam, to make it easier to stretch the vinyl over. I'm sure it would still be plenty firm enough.

 

Thank you!

Thanks, Abe.

As far as I can tell, yes. Those are the original (riveted) wheels and steel painted caps.

As for plans, I'm just driving it for now. One of the POs did the 12v upgrade, but other than that, she's pretty much stock. The 215 runs like a sewing machine even if it is a little low on grunt. She has a little flat spot just off idle, but otherwise runs, drives, shifts and stops about as well as you could expect a 63 year old truck to do those things. I took her on a 65-mile jaunt last weekend and she handled it well. She does top out at about 55 mph on the freeway, though.

I'll probably leave her stock right now, but there's always something to do on a truck this old. For now the list is somewhat short: dual master cylinder, fix the horn, replace the door weatherstrip and window channel, re-upholster the seat, rebuild the carb, and swap out the round tail lights for the shield style (I like them better). Ah yes, the radiator has a small leak in the top tank. And she needs new wipers. I probably should get wheels that are meant for tubeless tires, as I lose about 5 pounds of air pressure in each tire in a week.

But no IFS, 4 wheel disc brakes, or fancy EFI engines for this one.

 

This weekend I start wiring. I'm still hoping that I'm on the road (after about ten years of working on it) by the 4th of July.

 

Looks great, love the color

 

Hey Jvmcc,
Your truck is almost there - looks like you are past bodywork! Go team go!
I can never tell color well from pics. Is it like U.S. navy grey?

Ben in Austin
1950 F1

 

Thanks for the encouraging words. Yes, body work is all in the past, except for polishing out some imperfections in my paint job. The color is Glacier Blue. It was one of the stock color options available in '53. It had originally been Meadow Green (another stock color) but I was nervous that my inexperience with bodywork would show up as bright reflected highlights on the darker green paint. So, I chose a lighter color. Even if I still have some misc interior work and wiring to do, I'm thinking that in a few weeks I'll try starting it up. It's been about ten years since the engine turned over.

 

Just trying to finish the brakes so I can set the motor back in and get it mounted.

 

This is where am at after a few years waiting for the paint job

 

Seats out of a 2004 Buick




My Rat Fink mats




Sonny Depalma painted my glovebox.




Come to the Dark Side

 

Ah, another stocker in our midst! But be careful the Dark side is very treacherous and deceitful. Don't fall prey to their mind games! Some may think putting the shield style taillights on a 53 is innocuous. But it could be the start of a slide down their slippery slope! LOL

 

long ways to go

 

On the road and lovin' it! Still testing overheating issues, but she did well this morning, putting on 50 miles without a hiccup.,

 

What is that rear differential out of..?

 

Decided to install a suburban fuel tank between the rails.


Had to tip the bed up to get to the frame rails.




Looks like this is going to be too high...