Welcome aboard! Looks in better shape than mine did when I started. It's a long and expensive road, but you'll be glad when you've finished. That is if they ever are finished. All my cab corners were gone , replaced front floor boards and firewall, fenders, bed and much more. I could have bought two or three of these trucks already done, but I didn't. Good luck and "Keep on Truckin". Mine is in my gallery ,not quite done yet ,but we're gettin close to it.

 

Welcome to FTE Aaron. You gotta solid looking project there. Looking forward to seeing what you do to her. Although I really love the 55 grille, I have to say that the 54 grille is my favorite...but I'm biased. Thanks for joining in.

 

Hey Aaron,
We weren't sure what to do about the cab roof either. We ended up
patching the rough spots & then we sprayed bedliner up there after
doing POR15. If you aren't too particular about staying with headliner that bedliner stuff covers up a multitide of sins.

Ben in Austin

(We love ABQ - come out at least once a year from Austin - there's a wonderful Mexican place with a great patio down under huge trees El Pinto mmmm..)

 

Hi Aaron! Welcome to the forum!

That looks like a great project you've found. And it sounds like you're the perfect person to return it to glory. You've got a good plan, imho. I like your idea of cutting out the rusty seam and putting back flat metal. That will cure several problems in that area and be a permanent fix. And you're going to love the Cleveland. That's one of the best looking engines ever built and they look great under the hood of an effie.

I do think you'll find that big Lincoln 9" will be way too wide for your truck. The wheel bolt pattern on some applications are an oddball 5 on 5, too. A better option for matching your MII bolt pattern would be the late model Explorer 8.8 rear. Disc brakes are available on those, too, if you want them. They're plentiful in wrecking yards for not too much money.

Good luck with your project.

 

Just an update. I got the Lincoln rear end today. It measures 2.25 inches wider than the stock rear on my truck now. This shouldn't be a problem as I measured over 2 inches from each tire to the fender before removing them. Keep in mind, my fiberglass fenders are widened 3 inches. The ratio is 2.45 so that will need to be changed. The bolt pattern is 5x4.5 so that should match up with my front end but it doesn't match the current wheels. That is ok I wanted to replace them anyways, just looks like i will need to find some sooner so that it can be a roller before im done.

Thanks to everyone else for the input on my project. I would have had pictures but I'm really tired and I have to work early in the morning. Next weekend, or maybe sometime this week. Im going to hoist the engine out and begin prepping the frame rails for the front end.

Aaron

 

@ben

Man I wish my cab roof looked like that. The seam itself in my truck is literally almost dust.

 

Got a little done today. Took the Mark 5 rear and cut all of the brackets etc off. Then ground them flush. What a job that was. Also I got the engine and transmission out of the chassis. Pictures are below plus a picture of the cab roof rust I was posting about earlier. Still waiting on the front end, I suppose 2 weeks or so till it arrives.

On another note I am debating going with some sort of paint like POR 15 or powder coating. Looking for opinions or experience with having either done.

Aaron

 

I have a couple cabs that are rough in the bottom, but great up top. If you find yourself wanting a section from another cab, let me know.

 

My 54 was similar, maybe not as bad but I made 2 patches like this. Then I welded the whole seam because the joint where the patches were made got filled in some. more pics in my photo gallery https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/m...ch+panels.html

 

I like what you did, thats pretty much what i had in mind except on a little bit larger scale.

 

If you decide you are in over your head, you could always bring it to me to do the repair work for you and/or if you wanted to stay in the area for a period of time I'd be willing to let you work along side me and learn how it's done.

What are you planning on powdercoating? Powdercoating is not the same as painting, the coating is applied as a dry powder that sticks by static electricity. It is then baked in an oven until the powder melts and forms a solid surface. The coater needs to have an oven large enough to hold the part while baking, the part must be totally free of oil and grease and prepped by sand blasting. The coating cannot be welded on or touched up afterwards. If you want to PC say the rear axle, it must be completely disassembled all interior parts, seals, bearings and gaskets removed and cleaned inside and out. After blasting it needs to have all machined surfaces masked off with heat proof tape, all drilled holes plugged with silicone plugs. In other words there is a lot of labor involved, so it is expensive. If you want a special color, it's even more for the extra clean up of the coating room before and after, a speck of a different color power will end up as a speckle in the different color coating.

I know it's not what you want to hear, but putting that too wide rear end under your truck is going to cause you no end of problems later. Go out and find another one the right width and with a gear ratio you like. You will be a lot of money, time and headaches ahead. Many will even bolt right in. They are not particularly rare or difficult to find, any good size wrecking yard should have a selection to chose from. If you aren't sure what to look for, go to the top of this page and click on "Tech Guides" in the light blue bar. drill down the menu selections until you find the article on selecting a rear axle for our trucks for a complete guide.

 

I appreciate the offer but wouldn't that take the fun out of it?
My buddy owns a powder coating shop. The oven they have is 10x10x21 feet. I plan to powdercoat the frame after I mock up the suspension. The rear I will paint with something like POR.

The rear end is only 2.5 inches wider. Which I assumed wasn't that big of a difference considering the amount of clearance I still had between the current wheels and the fender and being able to select a different offset when I replace the wheels. Am I wrong?

Edit: To be more specific the rear end measures 63. 75 inches from flange to flange. The 54 measures 61.25.
With the widened fenders I had over 2 inches between each wheel and the narrowest edge of the fender.

 

It's not the fender clearance that's important it's the tread width compared to the front. Changing the relationship changes the steering geometry, ackerman and scrub radius and simply looks awkward, kinda like a farm tractor. Yes you can adjust somewhat with wheel offset, but that means finding or having made wheels with non standard reverse offset for the rear and the opposite for the front, making them non interchangable like having two different bolt patterns, not to mention the severely limited selection. Then you still must buy a new ring and pinion to get the desired ratio (NEVER try to put used gears into a different rear end!) Not all 9" rear axles are created equal, not all parts interchange. If you end up with a ******* unit, you may be stuck or have to pay big premiums for aftermarket parts. Once more, there is many good reasons to go with tried and true than to strike out on your own and learn the hard way why others don't use those parts. I am only trying to save you a lot of grief and expense.

I'm sure your buddy will tell you to mock up the entire build before PC the frame, not just the suspension, otherwise you'll be stuck when some unforeseen interference or needed/desired changes rears it's ugly head. Even drilling holes will compromise the film's integrity. PC is certainly nice, but for major parts like a frame has more drawbacks than advantages IMHO (this is from a guy who owns a PC gun and oven).

 

I appreciate the input. I picked up the rear end cheap and may just resell it. I had not known the importance of the Ackerman angle until I started reading this afternoon.

 

Hi Aaron,

Nice project you got there. I also picked up the '55 grill detail when I started looking at your pics. As a couple of others have mentioned, it's a matter of what you like and want for your truck. I personally have a '55 that will be wearing a '54 grill to match the panel. I guess I could also be biased as Jon is, but I do like that grill the most.

Keep up the good work and remember to keep the pics comin' for the rest of us.