I wondered how you were doing on that truck. It's been awhile since I dropped off those parts for you. Glad to see you are back at it again. It's looking good!

 

Hi Tony, nice to hear from you! I have to swing by your shop again one day to see your truck!

 

Hi Doug! Yes, it has been some time and appreciate what I got from you. My short term goal is to finish up the cab bodywork and then start fitting all the other panels including the bed. I'll be able to finally set the truck back on the ground for the first time. That is gonna be a good day!

This is my first nut/bolt resto so if you or anybody sees something I'm doing out of order (cart before the horse kinda deal), defiantly let me know! I'd appreciate that feedback!


Thanks!
Gary

 

Just need to finish welding and metal finish repair. Its been a while since I made a patch panel and took a while to get it right. I kinda wish I made my cut higher into the cab so I can access the other side of the weld seam easier but I think it will work. I'll finish this patch off this week and get started on the rocker patches.

 

Looking good Gary

 

Thanks! I tell ya, before I got started again I debated real hard looking for a more sold cab to replace this one. It sure would save a lot of time... But for now I decided to keep going with what I have.

 

I think you'll do fine saving that one. Can you still get a light behind your welds to check for any spots that might still need a bit of weld..?

 

Oh yeah, the cut is about level with the floor. I still need to finish welding it in. I worked on the patch all day and just ran out of steam towards the end.

 

That cab corner looks great. I'm glad your build thread is "Rocking Again" It's a good how to reference for myself and many others, I'm sure.

 

Been working past couple days installing the new TCI rear leaf suspension kit. It was more money that I wanted to spend but I am happy with the quality and the bolt in fit. I wanted something to drop the rear, mount the axle on top of springs, and something that I didn't need to c notch. This kit met all of these requirements aside from price but it is proven and well made. This is an explorer axle that is 3.25 and the kit comes with stuff to bolt in a ford 9 inch which is 3 in in diameter. So I need to come up with a solution for the tie plates. Either I am going to use the explorer tie plates, modify the ones from the kit or remake new ones. BTW, the perches from the kit fit this axle perfectly so am going to use them.

more to come....

 

Thought to post if will help someone. So I'm using the TCI rear leaf spring kit and it is designed for a ford 9inch, a 3 in axle and I'm using an explorer 3.25 axle. The tie plates and spring perches from the kit do not fit the explore axle. I was able to grind the edge (not bottom portion) of the perches a little and they fit the explore axle perfectly. I also modified the tie plates from the kit to fit. If you turn/rotate the tie plate 90 degrees the holes will line up perfectly for the 3.25 ubolts. So, I cut the tab on the bracket where the shocks mount to and relocated to the adjacent side of the plate... Here is pic, worked out great, fits perfectly!!!

Note.. haven't TIG welded in a while and the welds do not look perfect but had good penetration.

 

Finally, after three years the truck is on all fours! Got a long way to go but its nice to see it standing on its own. Next up is to finish up the cab body work!

 

 

Thanks Tony! Been a long road to get to this point and still a long road ahead. The real excitement is going to be after I finish the cab work and start fitting the rest of the body panels on.

BTW - I paid 25 bucks on CraigsLIst for that set of wheels and tires...LOL Just needed something throw away to set it down since I changed the lug pattern.