I guess I speak mostly of 80s and older stuff. In my mind 'late model' is 1980 and newer... Everything I own and/or work on most of the time is 1980 and older. And certainly... if $3500 shocks did that, I'd certainly be upset! Was more referring to your over the counter Monroes, Gabriels, and whatnot. I know on the older stuff, once you disconnect the shock at any corner while its up on the lift, you gain a little more drop from the suspension... usually aids in spring removals or other suspension work.

 

This week is short because Mark is going to the 'Lost in the Fifties' show in Sandpoint, ID. He is taking a '48 Ford he built for a client. Needless to say, mine isn't ready! I was absent from the shop this week, I went to a farm auction Saturday and won, among other things, about six cords of firewood that I had to move. I showed up yesterday afternoon dead tired, but Mark had put the engine back in. We had it in last week but had to pull it out because the flywheel bolts from the standard tranny were too long for the flexplate of the Fordomatic. Which hasn't been the only headache, I didn't have the bell crank, linkage, or dashpot, and the throttle assembly had been butchered by my dad. The guy I bought the tranny from sent me a bell crank (which proved to be the wrong one) and a couple of throttle assemblies, one of which is workable. Mark found a NOS bell crank on eBay, so now all I need to come up with is the dashpot. However, that isn't the end of the tranny woes, the drive shaft I got with the tranny is the wrong one, it's too long. So Mark is going to drop it off in Spokane next week on his way to the airport on his way to Lost Wages for the week. So next week will be catching up on farm chores and getting the bed wood finished and painting the fuel tank.

 

That Y Block is a beautiful thing to behold.

 

That is sure lookin purrrrr-dy!

 

Glad to see you painted the trans cover and the battery cover black as they were originally...

Very nice looking truck so far, engine looking good!

 

Not much happened the past couple of weeks, and then the project took an unfortunate turn. The guy working on my truck went on vacation and my wife went to San Diego. Mark got back and fixed the carburetor linkage. The kick down rod was too short and the shift rod was too long. He welded a length to the kick down rod, but hadn't cut the shift rod yet. Meanwhile the wife was getting frustrated with the amount of time and money the project was taking. I had originally told her I thought it would be around $20K. When it approached 30 she said that was the limit. Well, it's now at 40 and she said I had to finish it myself. I was able to negotiate (we have a sort of Higgins/Magnum relationship) that I would finish the bed and interior. When we sell a piece of land near Sandpoint, ID (anyone interested in seven acres with a semi-private dock on the Pend Oreille river?) she'll let me take the truck back to the shop to get the drive train finished. With the real estate market being what it is, I'm not holding much hope of selling the land soon. So I'm banking on our rentals. We have two units that have been empty for about six months now. They need a little work which I've put off to work on the truck. If I get those done and occupied I'll be in good graces. I was hoping to have the truck done this spring so I could be taking my dad for drives this year. Hopefully I can pull it off before autumn so I can take him for drives before the snow falls. His mental condition is worsening, but he's strong and healthy physically. (BTW, thanks for asking arctic y block)

Yesterday I brought the truck home. We put in the drive shaft, set the bed on, finished the brakes and bled them (one fitting at the stop lamp switch leaks and will have to be replaced) and put on the wheels. Of course it didn't rain all day, just when I was driving home, and quit once I was here. I took a few pictures and then put it in the shop. I'm hoping to not have to take it off the trailer until it's finished, it needs to go to Spokane to have the windscreen installed and back to Mark to finish the motor. After getting it in I checked the cab corners for water. One of them had about an inch of sand still in it that was now wet, so first order of business will be to get that out and dried. After that I'll empty out an enclosed trailer I have and organise all my parts in it. Then, with some friendly advice here, and between farming and rental work, I'll be tackling the bed and interior.

One final note, when I drove in my wife had my dad pulling up some grass to feed to the pigs. I pulled up alongside him and pointed to the back and said I found some piece of junk on the side of the road. He looked and said, "I know that truck" and then told me how glad he was I was taking care of it and keeping it going.

 

Awesome! That thing is lookin SHARP! I like how you presented it to your dad... I think their replies are worth more than any amount of money you could put into these trucks. You know darn well he's probably tickled to death you're fixing up his old truck.

 

Very cool what your Dad said when he saw it !

 

great story and thanks for posting all of the photo's.
hope things work out, so that you will be driving your father around in his old truck. i think he will enjoy you having it all fixed up and the truck being used again.

 

James, so what have you been up to on the truck recently? I Finally got my IRS all overhauled and painted which is the only good looking piece on my truck, as you know.

Gary

 

Very inspiring to se a stock yellow motor restoration. I am planing same route but with a modern 4 barrel and Easton ps pump, stock chassie red body, black rims.

Love your thread, waiting for the rest.

 

The only thing I see that I would change is to a duel rams horn exhaust.

I don't think it would take any away from its originality. And the benefit
of better sound, more power and burn less fuel is a plus. I am not sure
if it was an option on the small trucks but was on the bigger ones.

Just thinking out loud Bud. Your truck is really a work of art. I hope yer
building her to drive and not trailer everywhere.

 

Beautiful Truck, what ever happened

 

Great truck and story to go with it.

 

I just love this truck. I have saved these images and looked at them once and a while for inspiration. It´s a tru beauty!!!

But I have a question?

Your front springs, are you sure they are supposed to be mounted that direction ? with the extra loop on the second leaf pointing forward?

On my thruck they where pointing backwards, it seems like they are original springs with the partnumber stamped in instead of painted and the wear and tear on the rear framebrackets indicates they have been mounted like that for a long time.

But I am not 100% sure.

Anybody that knows??