If that was "Baby Steps", I cant wait to see what's next!!!

 

Very excellent work. It looks like you had some 2nd rate replacement cab corners that didn't fit too well. Where did they come from so I can avoid them? I had gone over my cab many years ago, but didn't get all the rust out You and others inspire me to get in there again and do some heavy work to get mine cleaned up again.

One non-related question: In the middle photo above, what are the two tubes at the front of your truck? They are angled 45deg. I'm guessing it is part of your pulling rig.

 

Deluxetruck,

What size wheels tires are your running? 17'" wheels?

 

Jared, did you get any pulling in this season?

 

Thanks for the compliment, and the cab corners are Key Part brand. I hesitate to say that, because I've had excellent results with them in the past. Their parts are generally of high quality, but in the case of these cab corners I believe they were designed to be installed over the existing corners. Needless to say I wasn't going to take that shortcut after putting so much time into the rest of the cab. I ordered another set from a different manufacturer, and the problem was the same only the stampings were half as thick. In any event, on the first corner I hammered the edge of the patch panel flat. I then used a hammer/dolly to re-form the edge. That worked ok, but being without a shrinker/stretcher I wasn't able to get the curvature perfect. I had to use a little more filler in that area to make it right. Not the end of the world. The other side I ended up cutting the edge off of the piece all together and making a patch panel. It probably cost me 2-3 hours of labor, and I was pretty miffed at the time. The 45 degree angle deals are receiver tubes that are hidden behind the front bumper. I pull in a cheater stock class most of the time. Some places allow the use of a weight bar, others don't. My bar slides into those tubes and is secured with two hitch pins. Finally, I'm very happy if I inspire anybody to do some work on their old Ford. That's high very high praise in my book, so thank you.

Old school wagons in the 16.5 inch flavor. For me they just look "right" on these old highboys. Between my brother and I, we have three sets of them. I don't know when they changed, but the older wheels have really thick centers and are welded to the outer rim differently than the newer versions. I like slots too, and the factory scs rear wheels at all four corners along with the stock dog dishes is a look I love too. I run 35's most of the time, but my brother had my good set on his truck so I've been stuck with the 33's most of this year. I recently came across another set of 35's, so that's what's on there now. As far as pulling, the 33's work better for me on good hooking clay tracks, the 35's for everything else.

I did Eric, thanks for asking. I pissed away half the season while getting my truck back together, but that's pretty typical for me. I hit just about every pull I could, with at least one per weekend since the end of July. I only came out on top once, but I did manage to stay in the top 2-3 most of the time. My brother was the guy taking home the wins most of the time, but I built his motor so it wasn't all bad. I'm going to offset grind one of my internal balance stock cranks and build a 514 short block in the coming months if money allows. Thats the plan for now anyway. How about you? Any pulls and any good fortune?

-Jared

 

My Brothers truck is the Blue 85. Last pull of the year for me. I'll see if I can link some vids.

http://youtu.be/0qAl3g8ZmK4

That pull is from the last hook of the year in Viola, WI. First time there for us, and the track was a whole lot better than we expected. I had the 35's on, but the 33's would have been the ticket. I ran a little short of torque at the big end. If you go to the deluxetruck youtube page I have a bunch of videos uploaded. Most aren't labeled, as I just put them there for my dad to see. Some are good, some aren't. Pretty good snapshot of my season.

-Jared

 

Wowza talk about extreme! Cutting up an old cab the way you did and totally redoing it Deluxe you are the extreme. Hats off to you on a job well done and thanks for the slideshow it was very enjoyable.

 

That's good, glad to hear that you didn't miss the whole season. I also pissed away some of the season when I did a motor/trans swap back in July. The old stock motor was knocking hardcore and the trans was slipping bad in 2nd and 3rd, so I threw in a very tight stock 460 with a little better cam and a built C6. I also swapped to a BW1356 T-case for a lower final ratio at the same time. I hit a few pulls but I had a lot of issues. The motor ran like crap for a few pulls until I got it tuned right, then I broke the output yoke on the T-case at another pull, a few other pulls got canceled due to rain, track was a mud bog at another. Long story short, bad year for me. I was trying to stay in "street stock" class this year, but I got hasseled everywhere I went because I have a GM-style HEI ignition, meanwhile the Chevy right beside me (with HEI ignition) is idling like a top-fuel car through quiet mufflers and they don't say a word. Anyway, I'm fed up with stock class BS, so I'm building a real motor for next year, and I'll pull anywhere they let me. Bumping up a class will allow me to tow in also, which is so much less hassle that driving in, breaking, then calling a buddy to come and get me. Sorry for the hijack, rant over.