I did a little filling on the frame where there were some rust pits with no structural concerns. I didn't smooth the entire frame, just where the rotted bed wood and the battery shield had held water against the frame surface. When the truck is finished, the bed wood will be well above the frame crown in the back, and I'm going to space the battery shield out with a couple of stainless washers. It shouldn't rust again.

The frame was primed with "Zip Cure" a pretty good however cheap primer, and painted with Dupont "Nason" which is a tough paint for machinery and farm implements. It drys with a pretty good shine without having to add hardener. It's what I'm used to for heavy equipment. Your mileage may vary.

I used a medium reducer which always seemed to dry to quickly. Frames are difficult to paint because you can't keep a good sweep going with the gun. You have to paint the outside of the frame rails, the inside, the cross members, inside and out, the connections between the cross members and rails, yadda, yadda, yadda. You get the picture. You need a slow drying reducer so when you go back to a spot you left several seconds ago, the paint there isn't drying.

Safety Note: When spraying automotive paints, always wear/use the proper PPE! Rule of thumb I use for the respirator: if I can smell the paint, the filters aren't' working.

My "Paint Booth" is a 10'x20' King Canopy with the side curtains. The heat/ventilation is the indoor half of an old 1-ton heat pump. It's wired for the heat strips to work, and even has a thermostat. The filter keeps the incoming air clear of dust, so nothing lands on the fresh paint.

I have finally got used to the new HVLP gun, only to find it would have been easier to use the old siphon can gun. The top mounted cup kept getting in the way when I was trying to shoot some of the tight spaces between the cross-members and rails.

Pictures:

 

Thanks for the information.

My donor cab was a Standard, but it had the dome light and electric wipers. I knew the wipers were extra, but didn't know about the light.

 

To soften the ride, and lower it a little, I lightened the spring packs by removing every other spring. Mid-Fifty trucks has a recommendation on their website as to which ones to remove. To be honest, I don't remember if I left out the ones they suggest or not.
Safety Note: Put big clamps on your spring packs before you take the center bolt out. You might not get hurt when the springs and bolt fly all over your shop, but why take the chance?

I know there are those that say you can paint in between the springs, and those that say not. I don't recommend it. In my 3.0 build, I did and they "popped" when the truck had been sitting for a couple of days. If it was cold they popped LOUD. In 3.5 I've cleaned off the paint, re-stacked them, and then painted the entire spring pack. I may wish I'd installed the spring poly-liner, but I didn't. We'll see.

On the front springs I used new center bolts with the longer head so I could install 4-degree wedges. They give the front wheels a little more positive caster angle to improve handling at today's higher highway speeds. The center bolts and wedges are available from Mid-Fifty and other suppliers.

I had replaced all the spring pins, bolts, king pins, bushings, and tie rod ends in 3.0, so I left them alone. I did however replace all the zerks (grease fittings) everywhere. For the record: It's cheaper to buy a big box of mixed zerks than to buy just the ones you need.

The truck originally came with a 4:27 differential, which was bad enough in itself, but with the lower profile rear tires and the 1:1 top gear ratio, the poor little flathead would be screaming at today's highway speeds. My donor truck had a 3: 92 ratio, which is still low but a little better. All the bearings looked good except one outside axle bearing, so I replaced both outside axle bearings, all the grease seals, and the gasket.

I was never happy with how much thread was grabbed by the lug nuts with the new, thicker aluminum wheels, so I replaced all 20 lug studs with longer ones. Now I'll feel better cruising down the road.

Question: Can you see the assembly mistake I made in the last picture? I'm not going to change it.

Pictures:

 

Breaks: In January of 2012 I had a run-in with the tailgate of an M817 dump truck that crushed a few fingers on my right hand. It put a halt on my F-100 for a year and a half. The problem wasn't just the healing and physical therapy, it was getting caught back up at work and everywhere else. I HATE doing something stupid.

I started back on my truck in August 2013, and I have to say that after taking the time off I've really enjoyed getting back to work on it.

Brakes: I don't mess around with brakes, they have to be right. There's no point in making it go, if you can't make it stop.

After much consideration I decided to keep the drum brakes, front and rear. If I don't like the way the drums feel in the front, it won't be much trouble to replace them with disks later. Since I'm not planning to do any serious hauling I decided not to install a booster.

I replaced the entire hydraulic system. All new soft lines, hard lines, fittings, and cylinders. The wheel cylinders are stock replacements, but I went with the Mid-Fifty dual master cylinder. If I add front disks later, this cylinder can be valved to meet the need. I'll say more about it in the next post.

All the little parts that weren't perfect (springs, keepers, spreaders, etc.) were replaced. Everything else was cleaned and painted. I'm not sure why I went through the trouble of detailing inside the drums, nobody will ever see them. Probably the same reason I painted the inside of the bell housing. You have to admit it looks cool.

Don't look at the pictures if you're squeamish :

 

I bought the double master cylinder kit from Mid-Fifty, part #5914, the bracket #5912, the brake light switch kit #90518, and even though I didn't think I needed it, the clutch bracket and shaft kit #5950.

Some of the parts are actually from Classic Performance Products and they were the same price. May as well give the business to the ladies at Mid-Fifty and get their fast shipping, great customer service, and Tootsie Rolls.

I didn't see how I needed the clutch bracket and shaft kit until I installed the new cylinder and my original bracket and shaft. They were right. The bracket would hit the bolt holding the push rod into the master cylinder. Props to Amy at Mid-Fifty.

Since I kept the drum/drum set-up, the new MC and brake light switch adapter wouldn't work. The drum/drum uses 3/16" brake lines, but the new set-up was machined for 3/8" line. I would need a different fitting, another fitting, and a tee.

I took out the original fitting marked "A" that came with the brake light switch adapter and put it in the scrap heap. It was replaced with NAPA #7912, which allows the 3/16" line to connect with the adapter.
The fitting marked "B" is Autozone #BLF-20C and allows the 3/16" line to connect directly to the MC.

The original MC assembly had 3 outputs for the rear, right front, and left front brakes. The rear is split on the differential. The new MC only had two outputs, front and rear. I knew I would need a tee "C" to split the front, but forgot to ask Amy at Mid-Fifty about it. I found what I needed at NAPA, #7900 for the Tee. I needed a tee with 3 female connections, but they only had male/female/female, so I needed connector #302x3.

I spent all morning looking for everything I needed to make this work, and be KISS simple and safe. I didn't want to cobble something together that looked like crap and worked worse. Before finding fitting "B" I even went to Advance Auto Parts. (I didn't want to, but the guy at NAPA said he heard they had a lot of fittings.) It didn't take long to figure out that if they had it they would never be able to find it. However before I left they pointed out that they had STP injector cleaner on sale for.. and I could register to win a Cracker Barrell gift basket by...

To figure out what I needed in brake lines I used #8 copper wire to bend into the shape I wanted. I marked it, streatched it out, and measured how long it was to see what I needed to buy. The brake lines all came from NAPA.

I also bought a cheap tubing bender from NAPA. #776-9001. No, not the $6 one, the $12 one.

I'm not happy with how the tubing looks on the rear axle, but after spending all morning looking for that stupid little fitting "B" I wasn't in the mood to keep working at it. Even though the spare tire is going to hide it, I'll probably replace it later.

Added note: It's not right if it's not serviceable. The tee looks trapped behind the engine support/cross member, but it can be detached at the left front soft brake line, under the bell housing, and at the MC and slide right out. Just in case it ever needs work.

The pictures:

 

Nice work. And great pictures!

 

Don't look at the pictures if you're squeamish

Your right, those turquoise springs with red cylinders, and black drums could make some guys squeamish!

No, seriously, that tailgate did a job on your fingers! I hope you got full use of them today. What is the purpose of those pins in the tips of your fingers?

 

The engine is an original 239 Flathead V-8, with around 87,000 original miles on it.

As important as the engine is, there isn't that much to say about it. It was cleaned, checked out, and over hauled.

The bore and pistons are original, and within acceptable tolerances, so I went with standard rings. Compression ring gaps were around .016" and second ring gaps were around .018". A little big for a 3.1875 bore engine, but with the heat a flathead can create, acceptable.

The crank was turned .010/.010.

The block and valve seats were checked for cracks and they all looked good. The valves/seats were lightly ground to clean them up a bit, but they really didn't need it.

The heads are vintage Offenhauser 400's from the late 1960's or early 1970's, not the new ones everyone complains about.

Added note: Flatheads are almost notorious for leaking head bolts. I sealed every one with "Permatex 2".

The intake is an old Offenhauser 1075, not the "super" with the carburetors spread apart. Again, late 1960's or early 1970's vintage.

Speaking of Offenhauser, it has their one-piece front crank seal. I'm not sold on it, I'll have to see if it leaks before I have a solid opinion.

I wanted to paint it the original color, so I bought "Ford Green" forgetting how far off it was. There is a picture below of a painted head bolt beside the bell housing. You can see some of the original green on the housing. The new color has way too much blue in it. Now I wish I'd painted it back "Ford Blue" like I had it before. But, it looks good, I'll live with it.

I set the engine back on the frame on Saturday evening, after I was finished with the brake lines.

Pictures:

 

They ran all the way back through the knuckle to keep me from bending them until my fingers healed. Splints wouldn't have held them tight enough.

Believe it or not, they pulled the pins out with a pair of cheap vice grips. Seriously, not even good ones. They had to come from the $2 bin.

 

If you want overdrive and originality, get one of the R10 overdrive units that were optional for your truck.

 

Great story and pictures. jealous of your history with your truck. Keep us informed on your progress.

 

I'm soooo jealous of you having a painted frame, etc...

Keep up the good work. PM me if you need a helping hand, etc.

 

Great job Ken!!! I really enjoy the history behind the truck too! I also rated this thread too.

 

Hi Effietrucker,
I'm also working on a 53 F-100. I've had mine for 38 years. I just about got the repairs to the cab done. I see that you've replaced the forward sections of floor. I am curious about your plans for the front cab mounts. I purchased new cab mount cups for mine, and they came spot welded onto pieces of sheet metal plate. I cannot find any reference to these plates in the shop manual. And it still seems strange to me that welding these plates to the side of the rocker panel and onto the floor is part of the original design. Did you find evidence that such plates were part of the original truck? Are you intending to add these plates, or just weld the cups onto the bottom of the floor? I really enjoy your posts. Except for the finger photos....

 

Jvmcc, I've looked at old pictures of my cab before I cut the floor pans out, and can't see them. True, the pictures are very poorly lit and that area is hard to see, but I think I would at least see an outline.

I think I'm going to tack the cups to the floor and go from there.