Awsome thread Dano. You and your Dad should be prooud, nice work!!! THanks for sharing your project. Joe

 

Great job!!! I have been doing most of the same stuff on my 55. In fact, I used the $219.00 ebay chrome column as well, looks just like yours. Used a grant wheel and adapter as well, wish I would have read your post first. I used an 18 circuit wire harness from Speedway. It came with a secondary black adapter specifically for the aftermarket steering coulms. The one that was already on the harness did not marry up well to the aftermarket coulmn. I didnt get that positive "click" when hooking the two together. Anyway GREAT JOB!!

 

Thanks Ben! I love the way it sits too, unaffortunately I'm on borrowed time with the front leaf springs. They are shot and sagging pretty good. Only about 1 inch or so from the bump stops. New springs will raise it up and i don't have the $$ right now for a drop axle to get it back down with the new springs. That opens up a can of worms anyways as I might as well add disc brakes and then I'm re-plumbing my brake system to accomodate the discs. So it'll just have to stay like that for this summer and re-vist the situation this fall.
I might be one of the loud parents... I put myself in the stands this year and already I'm having a hard time not trying to 'coach' the kids. We'll see how thie works out...




Thanks Joe! Dad has taught me lots over the last 20 years. He's an old streetrodder from back in the early days. Built many-a-car and had his own repair business when i was a kid. Wiring a vehicle from end-to-end was one of the few things i had left to absorb info from him. So it was a fun experience and I did learn a lot. Still no expert but definately have a better understanding of how it all comes together now.



Thanks! Yep, Gearhead Enterprises i believe? It's not bad for the price. Sure solved all my problems, so I'm happy with that. I wound up ordering the other side of that connector either from CPP or Ron Francis. Mine doesn't 'click' in like that either, but it's stuck together pretty darn tight. I've got the loom routed and tied up pretty well, so I doubt I'll be having any problems with it. Will keep and eye on it though. Also went to Napa and got another terminal end to be able to add the PRNDL light into that main connector rather than on a seperate wire and plug. Looks waayyy cleaner. Stupid terminal spades were a freakin $1 each! Highway robbery...

 

Well got the OEM stock replacement radio antenna from Mid-Fifty and it looks as if I may have a non-stock antenna hole punched in my cowl. Not a happy camper! From these pics can anyone tell if my hole is non-stock or if the antenna is correct or not? It was a spendy investment, but I wanted the right part with a good fit. I may start a new thread on the antenna subject and post up some better pics.






Moving onward, at first i was just going to leave a manual valve on the intake manifold to control the heater temperature. Upon further thought, I figured I'd better not, pulling over on the side of the road and popping the hood to turn on/off the heat didn't sound like much fun. So I adapted this '68-'72 F100 heater water control valve to work in place of the impossible-to-find original '56 unit. I just ran the cable through the hole that would have been used for the original '56 water valve. The cable is from another '53-'56 truck but cannot tell you exactly what it was for. Got it from the local '53-56 used parts guy, one he had laying around. Probably a cable for the fresh-air option heater.



Removed the temporary mech. temp gauge and got the proper matched sending unit installed for the modified temperature gauge that I made... finally..! Seems to work pretty well. Need to figure out the scale somehow. IMO it reads a little higher than I'd like to see, but nevertheless, it seems to work!


Also got the wiring pretty much all wrapped up. Have a couple circuits open for any future addtions. Everything seems to work perfectly!

And a shot of the backside of the dash. All wires custom ran and tied up nice and tight, cleanly ran. Gauge cluster easily removed in less than a minute or two thanks to the two connectors to disconnect the wiring.


Dash is completed! All ***** installed and modified heater controls are working great. I also took the time to clean up and adjust the ash tray (after pic taken). Also completly went through and re-did the glove box door so it would stop flopping open. Had to completely remove the hinges and re-peen them to tighten them up a bit and adjust the spring a bit. Now it works like a champ. Had gotten a new door spring and bumpers from MF but the replacement spring was weaker than the original, so i used the original.


Here's a pic that better illustrates how i got the heater controls to work within the dash and not use the lower bracket. I had a couple extra holes in the dash from the factory and decided to make use of them.

I assume the one immediately right of the column was a throttle control cable. I was able to use a '63 F100 (if I remember right) combination cable/switch cable to control my defrost/floor heat door as well as operate the 2 speed fan. Pull it in and out to operate the door and twist to operate the fan speeds. To use the '56 ***** I orderd an extra wiper switch bezel, retaining nut, and ****. I turned the bezel upside down and drilled a tiny hole above the main hole to locate the bezel's guide pin. Installed this switch as you would have a wiper switch. The '56 wiper **** slid right on and works great. To glance at it, no one would know the wiser.
The hole furthest (and bottom) from the column was the choke cable. I replaced that cable with a much longer cable out of another 53-56 F100 from a local '53-'56 parts guy. I'm assuming it may have been a cable originally used for the factory 'fresh-air' heater. It happend to be just long enough to connect to my water control valve I installed. I had to use a choke bezel with that cable, that's all that would work. Blanks would have been nice, but no vendors seemed to offer any.
So now i can control the temperature from within the cab and essientially the heater is totaly controlled with just two *****.

And speaking of heaters, i finally installed my added 'BLING' to the heater. i had sent a spare grille out and had it plated. Pretty nice, eh?



So with just a few odds and ends left to do, it's really close. I tossed the seat back in, just need to bolt it down. i ordered seat belts for it, so the seat may have to come back out to install them when they get here. However, i'm gunning for a maiden voyage this weekend sometime (I have 2 birthday parties for the kids going on this weekend, so we'll see) also weather permitting. Got to tighten up a few bolts and go over a few things before it hits pavement. Trust me... I've got the ITCH! So hopefully my next update will have some madien voyage video to accompany with it!!

 

Hey Dano,
Your dash looks great! Looking nice! I'll need to get lessons on how to tighten up the dash door - mine flops open as well. I replaced the spring & to your point - it's more loose than the original. SHoot some video of your first truck outing!

Ben in Austin

 

Great thread, I could have done the same thing but it took me ten years to accomplish that much!! Congratulations

 

Thanks Ben! I should have shot some step by step pics of what i did, but it was after midnight and i was on a roll and didn't want to stop!! Pretty straight forward once you disect it. Your truck may be a tiny bit different but basically the same. i need to do the same thing to my dad's '56, so i'll try and make it a point to take pics as I do his. I'll definately send you some video when i get it on pavement. As much as it's raining, I'm about to start building an Ark! Just non-stop rain!!! Crazy weather... Going here in a bit to get the truck licensed. Got me some vintage Washington '56 plates to put on 'er.


Good things just take time. I've lost count of how many weekends I've spent out in the shop LATE at night some as late as 3am. It would have took me a whole lot longer (probably 10 years) if i had slowed up for the painting process. I decided to skip the paint and roll the patina'd look until the truck is mechanically dialed in the way i want it. i'm sure yours will get there... just keep pickin at it.

 

Hey buddy, in regards to your engine temp, try an infrared temp monitor to relate the the actual temp to your meter's temp.

 

Yeah that's an idea i was tossing around. I believe China Freight has one reasonably. Not sure how accurate it is though. The other concern was taking a infrared reading might not beas accurate as it's gettin the surface temp, not the actual temp of the coolant itself. When i had the mechanical gauge hooked up and coiled up laying on the intake, it would read at 185-190*F. Its got a 180* T-stat and with it all just laying on the intake collecting engine heat, that could be about right. (actual 180*) The gauge in the dash shows the needle hanging right about the "M" of 'TEMP' now, which could be easily where 180 is read on the gauge. I'll just have to break down and get one of those infrared units and see what it says. Maybe compare readings with other engines that do have mechanicl gauges hooked up to see if there is a small margin of error to correct for.

 

Well what I've been (and some of you) have been waiting for. FINALLY got it out on the road! Took it out on it's maiden voyage last Saturday. I managed to put about 40 miles on it that day. Drove it all over and even jumped on the freeway fora short blast to see how it'd do. Well, enough jabberin here's a couple of videos. Excuse the poor shooting, trying to drive and hold up the camera at the same time.


<a href="http://s103.photobucket.com/albums/m121/Dano14093/1956%20F100/?action=view&amp;current=2012Apr7Goinforacruise3.m p4" target="_blank"><img src="http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m121/Dano14093/1956%20F100/th_2012Apr7Goinforacruise3.jpg" border="0" alt="'56 Maiden Voyage1" style="width: 160px;"></a>

<a href="http://s103.photobucket.com/albums/m121/Dano14093/1956%20F100/?action=view&amp;current=2012Apr7Goinforacruise4.m p4" target="_blank"><img src="http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m121/Dano14093/1956%20F100/th_2012Apr7Goinforacruise4.jpg" border="0" alt="Engine running just before re-wire" style="width: 160px;"></a>


And here's a few pics I snapped of it after the 'voyage' -









All in all I was very happy with it's first trek out. I've got a few leaks to address yet. That's partly why the hood isn't on it.I have a soft plug in the block weeping, and naturally its the one right under the motor mount. So I'm gonna have to lift up the engine a bit to get at that one. Also my 'original 1956' heater core seems to be leaking now.. Not terribly bad, i just see an occasional drop as I'm going down the road. Also noticed that the T-stat housing is also weeping from a plugged boss on it. Small stuff. The transmission is doing weird stuff when it's cold but once warmed up seems to work great!? Not sure where to go with that one. I can see what you mean with the brakes, they aren't like my 70's trucks! But i think they will be fine, just need to drive it accordingly.
I did take it out earlier this week and also again today. Noticed I got a leaky power steering pump now too. Not a biggie, it was used and can be expected. I love driving it... so much I don't want to pull it apart to fix the freeze plug!! But i need to so I can put the hood back on. Brakes are feelin better and better the more I drive it. Probably just need to wear-in a bit.

I'll tell you what.... been a GREAT feelin crusin around in this thing. Granted it's not painted or very pretty and the exhaust doesn't sound the greatest (on the to-do list still) but i got lots of thumbs up and compliments on 'er everywhere I went with it. You guys with projects still in the works... keep at it, it's well worth the effort! You won't be disappointed once you get there.

 

Hey Dano,
That's a beautiful sight! It runs so quiet - very nice. It looked like you
got it up to 70 somewhere on that video - I still love your dash.
You did much better than our maiden voyage where our brakes locked up & the muffler was nonexistent! Looking good up there.
You going to paint that old pickup bed trailer to match?

Ben in Austin

 

NICE Dano! That is exciting, and great one-handed driving video. You're making me want to leave the computer right now and go work on mine! I bet the smile's there every time you drive it.

 

Sounds great, now the crappy part working out all the bugs instead of driving it..........

 

ALLRIGHT! Dano - Your truck is looking SWEET. Congrats on getting it on the road. I'm sure it feels great.

Joe

 

Man you are at the step I been wanting to get at. I feel like I am with in a month or two to be able to pull my out. Great pictures. Seems like for every two steps forward there is at least one step back to take care of all the little things that pop up.