Got my lock , cleaned it up and installed. While I was waiting, I buffed half the hood and put the trim on the driver side.



Painted the dash..



Obviously not stock colors, but it goes with the door.



Put the glass in the driver door and hung the mirror. The hole in the cowl is for the aerial.

 

Looking good!

But man you need to wash it!!!

 

Getting a little more done....

Made a box for over the console support to act as "the console"



Here's the support (support for seat, shifter, brake). Don't forget, this is going to be a work truck, not a "showpiece".



Boxed in a couple cupholders..



Put the trim wood on the back, (same that I used on the door inserts).



In place with trim wood. Couldn't bend the wood front to back, didn't want to soak it for days, so I went across.



Sanded and stained..



The side plywood doesn't look great, but I don't have the room to cover it (and get the seats to fit). But the seats pretty much cover all of it anyway.



and a shot from the other side..



Driver door mechanics, window and trim also finished. Still need to poly the wood. That's all folks - there is leaf raking in my future as it is 70+ deg. in the 'burgh today.

 

Nice work! That's cool how you have the shifter mounted on the downward slope. Are you going to add a boot or anything on your E-brake handle?

I suck at wood working so I'm making mine all out of metal.

It was nice and warm here yesterday and now today it's in the 30's! If it gets much colder I may have to break out a sweatshirt!

 

Looks good !!!

 

I SUCK AT BOTH! Wood's cheaper.. And when I'm tired of it, I can throw it in the wood burner...

 

I like metal because when I screw crap up I can scrap the misfit parts and make a few cents back!

I am going to have to use some wood in the 54. I'm going to be building a sub woofer box for it. That should turn out nice!

 

John, it's looking great! Nice job on the console!

 

So I starting to figure out the mounting of an '01 explorer gas tank. First is the connectors and wiring, the location and where I'm going to make the hole for the filler (in the tank - using stock body location).



Jacked up the panel so I could fit and work.



For all you west of the mississippi guys, here's a shot of the rear of the lower pan in the rear. The really rotted piece is the x-member support. Got myself a couple qts. of POR-15 for the tank, and underbody and frame. While the brain is digesting gas tank placement and such, I thought I'd attack the back end.



Ground of the bolts to remove bumper and ground off the 1/4" of bondo
The lower fenders are in remarkable good and solid shape.



The lower pan was not so lucky





Ground and cut the bolts holding the pan to the fenders, but not sure of how it was originally. I'm gonna start a thread on the 48+ forum to gather some info from the guys who know their stuff.



Here's how much bondo was over the pan. Almost 1/2". (I pryed this off the right side of the pan)

 

wow looks like you just removed 20lbs from the truck in that corner alone.

 

Yeah! at least . Getting some help on how it's supposed to be on a thread on the 48+ forum.

 

Returned to the gas tank...

Have heard that the late 90's early 00's Explorer tanks work, as reported on the site. So about 9 months ago I got a decent '01 tank from the yard.

Now I'm getting ready to figure out how to install it. My '51 still has the original tank brackets and 1 strap still attached. The length of the Explorer tank is not an issue, but the width is. It is about 4" wider than the space between the frame and driveshaft.

The panel already has a tank in the rear out of an '86 camaro, but I don't like how it is installed. The PO cut out and put in a fill door on the side of the panel with a "stick-the-nozzle-through-it" gas cap. (It is a great collector of debris and thus will rust out the fill door assembly and the onto the body. The fill tube runs through the inside of the panel and through the floor.



Walt Disney would be proud! The floor is a 1/8" metal plate which lays over the wood deck.

Here's some shots of the mockup for the tank. I bought a neck from Tanks, Inc., so that installing the fill tube is not a problem.

First is a couple shots of the position and mock-up of the fill tube. The top of the tank rests against the frame. It can go about 1.5" higher than in the picts.





Here's 3 shots along the drive-shaft. I'm about 1.75" away (give or take)







This one shows the overlap of the frame a little better.



This shows the approx. height of the tank off the ground in relation to the running boards. (The piece of metal above the running board mount is an original tank strap.)



Here's a shot of the fill tube outside. It needs trimmed down a bit as it is from a '47 PU.



The rear bubble on the tank fits nicely into the frame notch.



And finally a shot from the *** end. It will sit at least an inch higher when mounted.



I'm looking for some chime in's before I proceed. I figure I'll strap the back using part of the existing tank mount, but run the strap on the outside of the frame. The front of the tank has a ledge with 2 rubber lined bolt holes. I'll make an angle support attached to the frame and bolt down the tank.

Need to run new brake line to the rear and redo the parking brake mechanism, which is another "Disney" work of art. Then break out the wire brushes and POR-15.

 

Just went thru you whole build so far, Your doing some fine work there, I just looked and I dont know why those pics did not show up. They were there. Maybe I made some enemys putting a cheby and Dodge under a ford body? Oh well I dont care. As far as the pic I will put it on my build page and look for the tab Rear Roll Pan. So I will get it on there shortly if my wife dont beat me for being on the computer. (was on it all day yesterday in here I am again) Sorry about the pics. But I will get it too you if it KILLS me! Let me know if its what you are looking for as far as photos.

 

All is well, they magically appeared this morning. Thanks for your effort (and they are just what I needed!)

 

That fuel tank is a tight fit, but looks to be doable. It's better than the current set up. How good are you with welding? Maybe modify the tank slightly to fit better?