took thursday off from work to work on the 53 and accomplish something , and it was one of those days ......... it all was flowing along nicely , then whammo ! first i discover i have to remove the shock mounts off the axle housing as they are in the way of the u bolts and tie plates . then the tie plates despite coming off a 55 are not what i require and do not resemble even remotely the ones on the 53 chassis . then the front pins will not fit into the new bushings and i am having to hone them out to get it too fit and get the front springs on and axle . a grease zerk snapped off in one of the front spindles and i ended up having to drill it and do not have a tap of the correct thread pitch for a new one ( anyone got a clue what pitch they are ????? ) then the final blow .... we had to sit the hood outside for a moment to clear some of the crap brenda had stacked in the bed , out and put it in a truck and run it over to my storage unit . it was stood up at an angle to keep it from flopping over against the bed . along comes maw nature and she blows a mighty wind and it got flung over . it dented the hell out of it !!! all along the ridge from the front to midways down the hood and many creases across the width of it side to side . well i was thinking about taking the ridge out after seeing a couple of guys on here's hoods , but d@^^mit it made it 59 years with no appreciable damage and .................... oh well tommorrow the sun will shine and it will be a better day .. we hope ! i want to get her together and drive her again soon if my luck will allow me too .............

 

Dang, when it rains it pours! Sorry about your bad luck Kevin but you will get it squared away...

P.S. Seems like I remember using a 1/4 inch fine thread tap for a grease fitting.

 

Days like that sort out the guys that just think they want to restore an old truck. We've all had them and most likely will have some more. Hang in there.

 

Sorry to hear you had such a cra^%y day! You made my day ,yesterday, sound like a raving success ( I got the fuel gauge and temp gauge working, sorted out my TPS issues, adjusted the toe-in, took it for another test spin, and accessed the rest of the computer codes so that I can start in on them). Go get yourself a chocolate honey- moon and relax!

 

Here's all you need to know about zerks, but I guess you'll have to pull a similar one to find out whether they are NPT or straight threads...
Zerk Fittings / Grease Fittings

 

thank ya ross !!!! we will get it done , driving the 52 is really making me crazy as i want to drive bessie again ! iron sides is cool but it isn't my truck ! yeah it sucks but like i said gives me the excuse to do a lil' customization to the hood and lose some of the badging etc. , and maybe make her a lil' more personal for me . but that may require some cubic dollars for some real good flatty goodies ... oh honey how much is in the account ????................... i even found me a body man who's doing work on the side , to tackle what there is , and reasonably too . i think i'll order a rear roll pan now with my bed kit from mar k ...... i think this may be escalating and getting me in trouble yet !!!

 

Seems like once a day catches a wave heading toward the rocks, there just isnt any stopping it, it just gets worse and worse. Im sorry to hear your day went south on ya. Hopefully tomorrow will be a great one. Happy Easter/Passover.

 

On my '52 the rear zerks are 1/8 NPT and the front axle and spindles are 1/4-20 NC