Thanks for the kind words

Having a sandblaster makes this process much easier. If I didn't have one, I probably wouldn't have cleaned up so many obscure parts. It makes me feel better knowing that they are clean, even if no one see them.


I am excited to get the interior done. I'm hoping that it'll be quiet enough for me to hear myself think


As promised, here is the video
1979 F250 460 w/glass pack - YouTube


_____

In other news, I got my gantry crane finished today, so I'll be working on prepping the bed for removal tonight.


-Jameson

 

Our compressor died Most of my projects require air in some way, so I'm kind of dead in the water until we get a new one. Looking at a shop sized one on CL, might end up buying it. Would take a new outlet in our garage, because it requires 480 3 phase.
Compressor, huge.

Because of scheduling conflicts with the body shop, I won't be able to get my truck in for another week or 2. In the mean time, the bed is coming off. I finished up the gantry crane that I was building, and got a 2 ton chain fall, so I now have the means to take it off. Only things left to do are disconnect lights and undo bolts (But those require air tools.... )



Jameson

 

As frustrating as it feels, I wouldnt lose sleep over it. You are doing an awesome job. Besides, maybe this will give you a little time to detail out that sweet daily driver Caddy!

 

Well as it turns out we don't have the right wires pulled for three phase. Bugger. So now back to searching

The body shop called me today, and he has a spot for me. I'll be taking my truck up tomorrow after school. I've got this terrible nagging in the back of my head that I missed tightening down a nut or bolt somewhere, and something bad will happen on the drive... Only time will tell...


Jameson

 

Got a call from the body shop, and he wasn't able to fit me in. It will be at least two weeks, but probably more because I had to spend the money I had saved for it on a compressor (which I'll talk about later)

So in the meantime, I got the bed off. 5 bolts came out with no problem, while the other three required drilling out.




Fortunately, I had the back half of the frame from my parts truck lying around, so we rolled it down and put the bed on it


The back of the cab ended up being in a lot better shape than I was expecting. Only one patch of rust, below the window on the drivers side


Getting back to the compressor, we made a quick decision about buying a compressor today. There was a guy who had a 185 CFM diesel powered one, and a 125 CFM gas powered one. I chose the gas over the diesel, because the diesel was going to need about $500 worth of work. The one I bought is an older one, powered by a 302 Half the engine powers, while the other half compresses. This is the only picture that I have of it now, and I'll get more tomorrow. We paid $1000 for it, which is a screaming deal, considering most used ones go for upwards of 6, and new ones (they still make them) are near $12000


Something else to keep me occupied, I got a jerry can for $10 from a local salvage yard. I have about half of it stripped using a wire wheel



Jameson

 

Awesome progress and pics Jameson! While the bed is off, are you planning to restore/repaint the frame and do some gas tank cleaning/maintenance?

 

Hopefully. I'll be able to get the rear tank in the sandblaster, but the side tank is too long. I'll wire wheel the frame, replace filler tubes, clean up and reseal the axle, and just generally tidy things up. If I don't replace the bed, I'll clean up the underside and coat it with rubber


Jameson

 

I was pleased at how little rust there was on the back of the cab. I expected more





Most of the frame has only surface rust. I'll get it all cleaned up and sealed


Finished up the jerry can this evening. Because some of the metal was weak near the bottom, I accidentally blasted some holes in it the usual three step process: blast, prime, paint







I am hoping that I can get my truck up to the body shop next week to seal up the cab. I've been needing to get it done for the past month or so...



Jameson

 

I really like your truck and what you are doing to it. Keep up the "tinkering" on it and keep us updated, I really like reading about what you are doing. It really is nice to see another young person interested in fixing and driving one of these great old trucks!

 

Thanks! I appreciate the support


In other news, I am finally going to be taking my truck to the body shop. I'll be taking it tomorrow after school. Which means I had to zip-tie the lights to the bumper I hope they stay put. Also had to add mudflaps (which are just a set of floor mats held on by c clamps )







Jameson

 

may i ask if mudflaps are required by law?

don't get me wrong ... i'm not hatin' on the flaps or the zip-tied tail lights .... i'm lovin' every second of it.

that's just not something i would have bothered with, the flaps i mean.

 

They are. If i don't have fenders, I need to have mudflaps of some sort. If I was going a short distance I wouldn't have worried about it, but the shop is 30 miles away


Jameson

 

Got my truck back from the shop yesterday. Finally have that part of the cab sealed, so now I can start in on the roof of the cab

Here's how it was before. You can see how rusty and full of holes it was


Here it is after. Bad picture, but you can see the rusty section is gone. The culprit for the rust was that little notch in the drip rail in the upper left hand corner. It was allowing water to drip down there. I need to coat with primer and seam seal still



I am just now able to start getting the interior of the truck ready for paint, just as winter is arriving. I can fit my truck in my garage (just barely), but it's not heated. So it only stays about 5 or 10 degrees warmer than outside....



Jameson

 

Jameson, Love the mud flaps! I am on the Base and have had friends pulled over in Jeeps and other 4x4 that got warnings for "mud flap violations". What shop did you take the truck too? I am battleing carb issues right now and once I get the Lone Ranger running properly, I will work the image issues.

John

 

I've also had friends get warnings about bad/no mudflaps. I was lucky to not get pulled over. I specifically didn't go into Oak Harbor for that reason. I got lucky

I took it to a private shop outside of Oak Harbor. When coming from the south end, it's right before you get to San de Fuca. The shop is Scott's Creative Customs. He does some great work



Jameson