As original as this one is, I suppose I'd lean toward the flathead. But then again, the 8ba isn't exactly original. And a diesel is way cool...

In other words, I would have the same dilemma!

Sam

 

I'm glad you share my concerns... 3:30am here and I'm having a cup of herbal tea so I can get back to sleep. Waiting for a couple of larger jobs to materialize, and my beam pickup got delayed another day. We have two smaller jobs going in the shop right now, but waiting for the clients to make decisions, so I'm obsessing about work AND this truck. Not a good combination. At least all 4 of my kids are doing well right now, and me and the missus are enjoying our first year of marraige. As far as my vision..... Well, my '37 1 1/2 ton is very original , cloth wiring, 6 volts, mechanical brakes (ok it also has an 8ba), and it's real handy around the mill etc, but I'd like a more modern and useable 'old' truck of that size. Another factor is I have this nice script stakebed from my '59 flareside project, and it doesn't fit the 38" frame of my '37, which has a poorly made all wood flatbed. This will be modern wiring and 12 volts, and those power juice brakes! Something I can feel confident delivering lumber with locally. It's a 12 mile trip to town, and some parts of the island are 25 miles away, and lots of steep grades. If all goes well with this one I may sell the '37. I'm kind of at my limit for covered space. Basically I can't stay away from this stuff. Never could. Bought a '28 AA when I was 19 and been ford big truck nut ever since........and that was 41 years ago. off to sleep, again.zzzzzzzzzzzz

 

So I finally took the ferry to get those beams yesterday, and they still weren't done.... I however went to a scrap/salvage place and got an awesome fuel tank. I was hoping (without a measurement) that it would fit in the stock location under the seat. Very close, but not without cuttin my nice floor pan. Then I set it lengthwise between the frame rails. It sticks up about 5 1/4" above the frame rails, but the wood frame bearing members(basically wood 2x6) are 5 3/4 tall. Then I checked the stakebed's stamped steel crossmembers and all the 'working parts' of the tank fall neatly between the stamped crossmembers fore and aft. They wanted 85.00 but I got it for 75.00. So not a wasted day completely. It is a brand new aluminum marine tank with sender etc, that never was used. Anyone need a rusty, crusty original tank for a '47 with no (current) leaks?

 

Nice find! You won't regret getting that tank out of the cab anyway. Looks like it was made just for your application. "One piece at a time"

 

Gotta love the Johnny Cash thing.....And brand new. Will be the cleanest fuel tank I've ever owned. Under the seat I can bring tools and spare parts and a rain coat and a shop manual and a change of underware.......

 

Not to mention a Winchester 94, and enough ammo to fight off a bunch of coyotes! I actually know a guy that cut the top 5" off of a '60 Ford in-cab tank, put hinges on it, and carried his hunting rifles and a take down fishing rod in there.

 

Perfect use for the old tank. Thanks for the idea!

 

will be starting my repair this weekend. got floor repairs too do ,i know my front cab supports are ok but not sure about the rear. you couldn,t by any chance take a picture of the rear cab support . the floor picture,s i have been checking out very often. if you don,t have time its ok. thank alot for the floor. i will hopefully have pictures too post next week. i think you should stay with a flat head!!!

 

Well Bernette, looks like a flathead to me! I went down to the shop to get some cab support pics for you, but something about camera settings was making it tough to get a close up with a flash. You gotta be a dadgum computer programmer to work a simple point and shoot camera these days. I do have some that came out. Not sure what part of the rear cab support, but Ill try again tomorrow when it's light out. Got some belts and hoses on the mainland on Monday. I told you my radiator was messed up, and here's how I fixed it. The right side upper neck was bent at about a 45 degree angle and squashed flat. I brought it closer to round with a series of oak wedges with rounded outer wedges, next I altered a broken clamp from the cabinet shop to reach into the neck and pull the back face of the tank out flush. This fixed the crooked neck. With the 8ba, the top hoses are only 1 1/4", so various methods have been used to adapt the 2" radiator necks down to the 1 1/4 thermostat housing necks. I measured some 1" black pipe and it's 1 1/4" od. I wrapped the pipe with fiberglass cloth and epoxy paste called pc 11. The second suggested use on the can under automotive is 'radiators'. I inserted these into the sanded and cleaned upper necks, effectively reducing them to the new size, while reinforcing my repairs. Parts of the neck had cracked during my 'rounding out' procedure. I tested it in the bath tub (no I wasn't in there with it) and it's ok. Still no filler neck or cap, but at first, just around the place I'll not fill it to the top. For hoses, I just looked at the ones hanging at napa and bought 2 that had the right bends and we 1 1/4". I went through all my stuff in the attic and found all the clutch parts I neede to mate up with my new flywheel. Lots of meat on the original clutch disc and some light sanding brought the flywheel and clutch plate back to a dull gray color. Then I painted the parts just so I can feel better about reassembly with used parts.

 

Looks good! I like the epoxy, I've tried to solder radiators, but it never worked out too well.

What do you have planned for exhaust? A flathead with true duals and glasspacks sings a very sweet song!

An old input shaft beats those cheap alignment tools any day...

Sam

 

The y pipe I have is shot so I'm thinking I'd make one from steel pipe. I have the 2 flanges and think I will weld them to 1 1/2" pipe... Maybe even to a coupler, so it's all thread after that. Then go through my buckets of pipe fittings and fins some 45s and such. At some points some long ugly cuts welded into a 2 1/2 pipe which turns up on the passenger side to my stack. I doubt I'll use any muffler. I have a 5" chrome stack if I really want to go Redneck. A retired dump truck driver gave it to me. He had kept it in his shop for 20 years in a soft cloth sleeve. It was his pride and joy, but he thought it would be really cool on my '59 f350 with a cummins. Only way I could see to use it on the 59 was a hole in the running board, so I never used it. I figured I could set it over the 2 1/2" black pipe, just to see. I'll get a picture of it later today. Other way to make bends in the steel pipe I'm thinking is series of slots with the cutoff saw and heat and bend, then weld. Been wanting to try that too. Yes the system will be heavy, but let's face it, the leaf springs can handle it. I bet you wish you hadn't asked....

 

I'm lovin it all Gary.

 

I bought a bottle of crown for Danny. He is the biggest Seahawks lifetime fan EVERRRR. He's worked for me for 14 years. I guess I had some too. Anyhow, I'll check back in tomorrow!

 

thanks alot! i see your changing your gas tank. could you take a picture of how the floor meets with the rear off the cab. started working on mine this after noon ,will post pictures tommorrow, there,s almost nothing good left behind the seat. previous owner had done some fabrication!!! i will have to give you something for all your help.

 

I like your exhaust plan, plumbing pipe should work just fine and it won't ever rust out. I would prefer to run mine without a muffler too, but... I'm sure the neighbors would appreciate it at 7 AM when I leave for work! As they say, "let me play for you the song of my people!"

I might have to borrow the gas tank storage idea too, sounds better than just letting stuff roll around behind the seat.

Sam