According to my memory, and what is in the Green Book, you are supposed to have a couple springs between the cross member and the support. The carriage bolts go through the springs.

 

Yes, there is fender welting on that short segment. I have both pieces but they are really hard and brittle. There is no holes through them as there are no bolts passing through that area. Originally they were stapled to the fender flange. Musta been a heck of a stapler. I plan to get a set of them and slide them into the gap with some black sikaflex polyurethane marine adhesive sealant to hold them in place. As for the springs, yes there are 2 stout springs that go on the long carraige bolts. The bolts are castleated so the nuts stay on. My plan is to use slightly shorter springs and nyloc nuts. What I was asking about was a rubber pad the the radiator support sits on so it isn't metal to metal on the front crossmember. I called Bob Selzam in New Jersey about grill bars, which he didn't have, so I asked him about the pad if there was one. He said it's about 1/2" thick with the two holes, so I made one out of conveyer belt (with slotted holes)and lifted the support with a crowbar and slid it in place. After that the remainder of the bolts in other places fit in better. This afternoon I installed the front bumper. Not easy by onself lying in the gravel. I finally disassembled the whole works and did one bracket at a time. Twice, because I first put them both on the same side of the frame. The two brackets are supposed to sandwich the frame in between.......This will put you to sleep it's so long, I've fallen asleep twice while typing it. zzzzzzzzzzz

 

Gary, really like the progress you have made on the truck. That Ford script bed is really nice. Wish I could find one for my truck. Could you tell me witch bolts you are referring to that get the springs? I know the bolts for the cab mounts get springs but I don't think you are talking about those. Also, the rubber pad for the radiator. Does it go between the radiator and the support or between the support and the frame rail. Sorry for all the questions.

 

There are 2 carraige bolts about 3 1/2" long that attach the large u shaped radiator support to the front crossmember. They have springs that slide on from underneath and then washers and castleated nuts and cotter pins. The rubber pad goes in between the support and the crossmember. With these two elements in place, there is much allowance for flex of the heavily loaded truck on uneven ground. There are two more spring loaded carraige bolts in the upper rear corner of the front fenders. Yhere is a specially formed steel stamping that lets you slide in a carraige bolt from the cowl side, then the spring is up under the front fender. If I get a chance today I can get some pics if you'd like. Worth a thousand words for sure.

 

Thanks for the info Gary. I can visualize the springs for the radiator. Completely forgot about the springs for the rear portion of the fenders. We dismantled my truck several years ago and should have taken pics to make re-assembly easier.

 

I just took mine apart in January and it's like reinventing the whole thing over again putting it together. I do remember there should be two steel straps that go from spring loaded bolts on the front bumper brackets out to the front corner of the fenders. .
I haven't yet found those brackets in the heaps of parts in the corner of my shop. When I put the bumper brackets on yesterday, the springs were over the long bolts as a reminder. It's like the January Gary talking to the April Gary. My heart goes out to you after waiting a couple years. But maybe you aren't gonna be 61 in May.....Now if I could just find the rest of the u-bolt hardware that attached the stakebed to my '59 f350. I pulled this script stakebed off my '59 to install the 9' flareside bed, and I knew full well I would be using it again. After work today I started making the needed hardware because I know I won't find it. Not until the homemade replacements are finished and installed. Then there they will be in a rusty coffee can on a top shelf..... OK, goodnight zzzzzzzzzzzz

 

Well Gary if it is any consolation, I'm 52 and my wife says I have a mind like a steel trap because nothing gets in and nothing gets out! I hope to be doing half as good as you when I'm 61.
I wish the chassis manual for these trucks was a little more detailed in how the parts actually go together.
You mentioned in an earlier post about needing some grill bars. I just got a decent set from rockymountainrelics.com. They may have another set.

 

Gary your having way to much fun. No man at 61 years is allowed to have
this much fun. I do envy you my internet mentor. I also am just 61. And
don't have many good days. But I am healing and getting better. Just to
get feeling good and go out and tear myself up again trying to keep up with you.

Keep it coming bud. I live for your almost daily updates. And can hardly
wait to see what ya drag home next.

 

Arctic, i don't even think I know your real name..... I am flattered that you care about my distant scene out here. Today was very, very rare that I was working on a jobsite instead of in the shop, and I didn't get home til six and my bride was already in the house cooking dinner, so I did nothing on the truck tonight. Normally we work in the woodshop til 4:30 and then Danny leaves and I have til six when Ravin gets home. I get 1 1/2 hours uninterupted each evening to do truck stuff. I DO have a huge amount of fun/satisfaction working on trucks each day. I really do appreciate this time, and I used to pay the devil just to get a few truck hours a week while raising 4 kids. Hey, are you doing ok?

 

Just for the record, you do have too much fun. I promise I won't laugh at the wooden grill bars, only because it sounds like something I would do. Would some pieces of driftwood be too redneck?

I just back from the junkyard and I forgot how much i love that place! All kinds of good stuff, cheap too! I found a real nice seat in a newer F150, it feels less like a truck seat more like a couch. That works for me.

Sam

 

Sam, I truly get what you are saying. The junkyard where they let you in is a vanishing treasure! The seat in my '59 f350 came from an f150 in a junkyard in Anacortes. We were on our way to Seattle for the weekend to visit my wife's sister and I had to stop to find a 'rear view mirror'. Well before you know it we're loading this soaking wet 25 dollar seat from a windowless truck in mid winter in our 'going to town clothes' . It sat in the living room near the wood stove for 3 months until it was dry. Near the end it became an awesome couch. Got to think Foxworthy might say "If your couch has seatbelts and sits on an adjustable track, you might be a redneck".... My wife admits it's the most comfortable seat in the whole fleet, and it almost makes up for the huge stack of leaf springs and the incessent clatter of the straight-piped diesel engine in the uninsulated engine compartment! Soon I will post pics of my latest work on the 2 ton.

 

If your ever down in Auburn, check out budget truck wrecking, all kinds of good parts there, no charge to enter the yard, just a great family business. And it anything older than late 60s shows up they leave it in the yard till it's stripped. They've got 3 mid 60s GMCs there right now, one with the v6!

Sam

 

Been working on the grill and now I'm about to come up with a fill pipe from the marine tank I mounted between the frame rails. Here's a picture of the now (sort of) painted cab corner and the hold downs for the stakebed. Maybe I can make some better progress tomorrow. I have been really busy with the woodworking business lately, but it gets in the way of my truck project....

 

Looking good

 

Ok I finished the grill. It's hard to explain to the total restoration guys, but I just wanted to fix the grill, or more importantly fix the piece that ties the front fenders together. The piece with the headlights in it. It was bashed in and torn at the lower driver's side. I had to draw it back together with nylon load binding straps before I could weld it back into one piece. The bars were pretty messed up too. On top of all this, a PO had painted the grille bars black and I din't like the lack of contrast. I didn't want to drive it all smashed up like that, but I also didn't want to drive it all restored like a show truck. To do this, I mixed up some strange paint that I hope matched the original ivory paint on the headlight and parking light bezels and applied it to the bars and removed it in an unconventional manner. It's just how I do these things. I also started my painting of the driver's side fender. I fogged it with flat black, satin black and gloss black, glossier at the top, flatter below. Then I buffed it out with a dirty old somewhat oily shop rag. This puts a sheen around the areas that get more use, and keeps it from looking too much like a faux-tina job. Even if I DID want a restored looking truck, I wouldn't want to pay for the 20,000.00 that is easily consumed in the process. What I'm hoping for is, solid engine and drive train using good used parts, 12 volts, rebuilt brakes, good bright lighting etc, all the while keeping the look of a survivor vehicle and a useful driver capable of hauling the heavy loads it was intended for. So far I have achieved this goal and after it gets used around the place and dirty and dusty, I don't think it will looke like the 'restored' truck that it is. The tail lights are from my '60 f350 parts truck, but are just the same as the lights from the '59 stakebed I'm using. The lights were in good condition and all Ford. I think they look like what someone would have done in the 60's when the old glass lens tail light finally bit the dust. I also ressurected a mirror from the junk mirror box under the bench. Now when I go for my next local test drive. not only can I see who's coming up behind me, but I've got those great bright brake lights to flash at them. I plan on putting a huge beam I have between the two already on the bed. It is still riding pretty rough. So far I'm running on a total loss battery system. A marine/deep cycle battery that I haven't charged since I first got the truck running. Thankfully it starts real easily. Sometime soon I'll hook it up to the charger, and maybe this summer I will buy the one wire alternator and slingshot bracket I'm planning on. Another goal is to license it with that '47 WA plate I bought. That's on a trip to the mainland though. I hear the cops over there are more serious about such matters..... Edit.... I see I didn't show my driver's side black on black fender. That'll be on the next installment