Upholstering. I will post photos soon.

It has been a looooong time since I updated this thread! I have been working steadily on getting this truck done!

When I left off, I was fitting the ABS panels to the roof, back wall behind the gas tank, and the inside rear cab corners. Once I had it all fitted, I pulled it back out in order to cover it. I had purchased unpadded vinyl to glue to the ABS. The flat sections were easy-roll glue on both surfaces, let it dry, apply-stretch-form the vinyl, roll it, wrap it around the panels, and glue it to the back side. Nothing to it!

Of course, I got a few wrinkles, but careful use of a heat gun enabled me to smooth out the wrinkles.

The headliner presented its own set of issues. First, the stock interior light did not fit well, as the ABS has quite a bit of curve to it. I bought an LED horizontal light that fit just fine. Because the light would be mounted only to the ABS, I fabbed an aluminum frame for the light to screw into with a spot for the toggle switch. I glued this to the back of the ABS pan el, cut the opening, and fitted the light. I re-installed the headliner just to make sure that everything fit, which it did. On to upholstery!

Because of the deep compound inside curve at the rear corners, the vinyl could not be made to lay smoothly, without wrinkles or seams. In a flash of inspiration, I marked the corners, then clamped the vinyl over a milk crate. I happened to have a large glass ball (yep-a crystal ball!) left over from another job, which was just about the right size to fit the corner. I set the glass ball into the vinyl, which was clamped to a milk crate, then used a heat gun to soften the vinyl and stretch the corners. I did this with one corner, then the other, and repeated the process until I was satisfied with the fit. I did end up with one seam in the center, about 4 " long, that was mostly covered by the light. Again, I rolled the glue on the ABS and the vinyl, then very slowly and carefully hand pressed the vinyl into place, smoothing out the winkles as I went. Again, judicious use of a heat gun helped to soften the vinyl and allowed me to work out the majority of the wrinkles. I pushed them out to the edges and to the center, where I folded the vinyl and created a seam.

No pictures of the process, but the results:

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...ad8d981a36.jpg
Vinyl Covered Headliner Tucked Over the Windshield
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...39e051eeac.jpg
Vinyl Covered Headliner Tucked Over the Passenger Door.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...80aa5fdbc5.jpg
Vinyl Covered Headliner Rear Inside Corner.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...827766c236.jpg
Vinyl Covered Headliner Rear Inside Corner.

I was quite happy with the results, so I installed the gas tank.

That turned out to be a real PITA!!!

More to follow......,.

John , that is awesome !!!

Looks really good. I love the color.

I want to use the ABS headliner as well.

I was thinking of cloth or a good plastic paint.

Thanks for the photos - really helps with the decision process.

Thanks

Dan

I had the original gas tank, which appeared to be in pretty good shape, with no real rust or damage. I bought 3 gallons of Evaporust to use to clean the surface rust from inside the tank. I capped off the outlet in the bottom of the tank, made a temporary plate to seal the fuel sender hole, and made up a cover for the filler hole. I dumped in the 3 gallons of Evaporust, closed it up, and let it soak, rotating the tank every few hours so that all surfaces would be covered. Worked quite well-when I emptied out the Evaporust, the tank was nice and clean inside. I did save the Evaporust for future projects.

I sandblasted the exterior of the tank, then primed and painted it. Then I tried to install it...

And ran into the first speedbump.

Apparently, I had set the repaired floor and rear cab bottom about 1/4" higher than it was originally. The tank would not fit.

I opened up the bolt holes in the tank where it bolts to the back brace. I ground them down as far as possible without cutting into the tank welded seam. I cut 2 thin rubber pads to place under the tank instead of using the correct thick rubber pads. I pulled the carpet away so the tank would sit directly on the rear floor brace, with only the thin rubber between. With a bit of prying, I was able to get the tank to slip under the back brace; by standing on the tank, I was able to get the bolts started then installed. I then trimmed the carpet to fit around the tank.

So it was in. I connected the filler tube, and installed the correct plumbing at the bottom of the tank, bending and fitting the fuel line to the fuel pump. I installed the fuel sender unit. Then dumped 2 gallons of gas into the tank.

And found a leak around the plumbing at the bottom of the tank.

I had put a shutoff valve in line at the tank, so I was able to disconnect the fuel line and drain the tank, without spilling too much gas on myself and the floor. I pulled the plumbing back off, cleaned it all, replaced a few of the fittings, applied the proper sealant, and put it all back together.

This time I was a little smarter and only put a gallon of gas into the tank.

And found the same leak. Again.

After cursing at it for a while, I drained the tank, disconnected everything, and pulled the tank.

Examining it on the bench, I discovered that the fitting on the bottom of the tank was actually riveted to the tank, with I assume a gasket of some sort in between. I had managed to break the seal of this gasket-fuel was leaking from around the fitting, not from my plumbing. I did not see a good way to fix this, so....I bought a new tank.

I have a perfect tank with a slight leak available for the cost of shipping if anyone is interested!!

I primed and painted the new tank and enlarged the bolt holes same as I had done to the original. The same prying and standing on the tank was necessary in order to get it bolted in place. I modified the fuel line plumbing, adding in an electric fuel pump (to be used to prime the mechanical pump), and got everything connected. This time, there were no leaks when I added the gas!

Finally, some real progress!

The electric fuel pump turned out to be perfect for priming the mechanical pump without cranking the starter endlessly. The truck starts and runs very nicely.

At this point, I installed the shoulder harnesses that I had purchased from Juliano's, and installed the freshly upholstered seat.


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...5712bc4069.jpg
Seat Installed.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...d6766884b4.jpg
Seat Installed.

I decided to get the rear window installed. I had used the original glass as patterns and had new laminated glass cut by my regular glass supplier. He has done quite a bit of glass for car restorations, so he knew what glass to supply. I bought a set of "bugs" from 3rd Gen Automotive, date coded the same as my original glass February 1951. I was able to use the old glass to locate the "bugs".

I decided to install the glass the messy way-using butyl sealant on the glass itself, then installing the rubber gasket. I worked a bead of the butyl around the window frame, then installed the glass, using suction cup glass lifters to hold it in place until I got the gasket started over the sheet metal. I did it myself, which was surprisingly easy. Extremely messy, but easy. I cleaned up the butyl sealant that was on EVERYTHING, using old terrycloth rags and lots of mineral spirits.

This is when I discovered that I had cut the ABS headliner panel too short around the rear window; apparently, the gasket is supposed to lap over the headliner, which mine did not.

I needed to make some sort of molding to fill in the gap-something that would look good and not like I'm covering a mistake. Using the original glass as a template, I cut a frame out of an old aluminum sign that I had. Because the lower back panel sits proud of the headliner panel, I had to bend the bottom edge to go over the top edge of the lower panel. Not having a brake, I formed it the same as every other piece of metal that I had to form-I pounded on it with a hammer over a form. Once I formed it, flattened it out, then adjusted the shape, I sanded, primed and painted it black. It slipped behind the rubber window gasket and laid flush over the ABS panels.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...e7dc520d81.jpg
Custom Frame Around Rear Window.

Very nice work..... for a woodworker! LOL

It turned out very nice, you've done an amazing job throughout your build..

I was not sure that I liked the Edelbrock 1405 4 Barrel Carb that the PO had installed; it seemed to be running a bit rich, in spite of having been recently rebuilt. I toyed with the settings and got it running well, but I wasn't convinced that it was right. I decided to redo the jetting to try and lean it down a little. Bought a kit, tore the carb apart,....

Then I decided to call Edelbrock Tech Line for advice.

The tech guy advised that the the carb was too large for the flathead V8, and that attempting to lean it out would probably damage my engine. He said it is a 600 CFM carb that will always want 600 CFM-lean out the fuel delivery, and the air/fuel ratio would be off. They now make a carb that is smaller for the flathead V8, AVS2 1901 500 CFM. So I ordered one.

Of course, when it came, it wasn't exactly plug and play. I posted a while back that I had made my own throttle linkage set up, so that I could use the original firewall mounted throttle linkage from the pedal to the carb, which comes up on the passenger side of the carb. The Edelbrocks need linkage on the driver side, so I designed and built a linkage setup to get across, which worked perfectly. With the old carb.

The new one has silghtly different linkage, so I made a new short linkage arm that was bent instead of straight. Worked perfectly!!

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...5ac736a2b6.jpg
Custom Linkage to Transfer from Passenger Side to Driver Side.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...2acc77742c.jpg
This is The Linkage That I Remade With Offset Bends. (This is the original)


I made a few adjustments, then started the truck.

I was very happy with the way it runs with the new carb. I still have to fine tune it, but it is a definite improvement over the old carb.

Thank you everyone for your kind comments. It has been a real labor of love, that's for sure!!

All I can say is WOW. Amazing attention to detail and it shows in the final product. You should be very proud. I recently purchased a 51 in similar condition and disassembly. I have read your entire thread and it will certainly help me. Thanks for that. Cheers.

Thanks!! https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/i...ons/icon14.gif

Hey, all-out, welcome to FTE the best Ford truck forum on the World Wide Web! Good luck with your truck. Soon start your own build thread and show us pictures of your truck.

It has been quite a long time since I updated this thread. Plenty of work has been done since I last posted, when I left off at the interior.

Once I had the interior done and the new carb installed, I went back to working on the exterior. The PO had provided new bed sides, front, and tailgate, and the original fenders. I cleaned up the flash rust on the bed parts and set up a cart for assembly and painting. I decided to plug weld the back panel to the 2 side panels, and weld in the 4 tear-drop shaped caps at the ends of the bed side top rolls. That went smoothly, so I prepped and primed the bed. I didn't take pictures of this process, but there wasn't much to see.

The rear fenders were a different story altogether! There had been at least two attempts at welding in patches which were poorly done, leaving the fenders badly misshapen where they were bolted to the bedsides.There was also at least as much rot on the lower sections as the front clip had suffered. I thought long and hard about trying to salvage the fenders, but finally decided that, given that I had no reference for reshaping them, I would just purchase reproductions. Found them, ordered them from Melvin's Classic, and waited for delivery. When they arrived, they needed some minor tweaks and massaging in order to fit, which I had expected. Sanded them and primed.

As I had sprayed the underside of the cab and the insides of the front clip with Raptor Bedliner, I masked off the outside of the fenders and laid out and masked off the bed sides and shot the Raptor there as well. When cured, I masked off the bedliner, sanded, primed, sanded, and painted the fenders and the bed. Meanwhile, I made up the boards for the bed, using marine grade plywood and applying Kingwood veneer to the faces with epoxy.

I used the set of oak bed wood boards that came with the truck to lay out and cut the new bedwood to fit, then laid the new bedwood in place, checked the fit, bored all of the bolt holes, and sanded and finished the wood. I used a mahogany stain to give the veneer a richer, deeper red, then finished in SPI clear.

Cut and buffed everything and started assembly.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...4d5486ae4d.jpg
Assembled Bed Ready to Install.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...dcc0769691.jpg
Assembled Bed Installed.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...8257880227.jpg
Bed and Rear Fenders.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...f52fe60884.jpg
Bed and Rear Fenders.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...30a79548a3.jpg
Bed and Rear Fenders.

I was very pleased with how it all came out.

More to come......

Looking good, Hulley, looking good!

That's not looking good, it's looking fantastic, great job..:-X22