Ok so I played 'repo man' and retreived the '60 panel from the kid who didn't mow my lawn. I had the 223 running really well, but the PO before me swapped in a 4 speed back in the 80s and never finished. It came with two driveshafts in the back. 1/2 ton with splines right outa the tranny and the 2 piece 3/4 or one ton 2 piece shaft with a square flange that bolts to the flange on the back of the 4 speed tranny. Was there a one piece shaft used when a 1/2 ton was ordered with a 4 speed? I would like to make one from what I have, just so this isn't a dead vehicle with no way to hold it stationary on a hill. There are no brakes or parking brake and currently no drive shaft. It is a 3500 lb skateboard looking for a hill, and I have plenty of really steep ones here.....

 

Hey Gary, how does a panel compare to the length of a pickup, Short box or long box?

 

Same 110" wb as a short bed. Coulda waited for Gary to answer but have the charts right in front of me so spoke up. Stu

 

I've never seen or remember seeing a 4 speed with a single drive shaft bolted to the 4 speed flange but I'm pretty sure they had them. A single drive shaft bolted to the 4 speed flange would require a slip joint I would think.. I think the slip joint bolts to the trans flange then the drive shaft slips into it..

 

That's how I built mine after work today! It is not intended for highway use . I chopped up both driveshafts and used some exhaust pipe for sleeve spacers, some heavy structural tubing, some 2" water pipe and a few short pieces of old driveshaft. It's built like a 10'telescope in the closed position and then welded up. Used the best of the u-joints. Didn't quite finish installing it before dinner. Pics tomorrow. It's more 'comical' than anything else. Not my best work, but it will be quite strong for moving it around the place.....

 

Here it is....Who knows, maybe I'll be driving around the place tomorrow with no brakes.

 

With the low gears in 1st and reverse you shouldn't need any brakes as long as that drive shaft stays in one piece LOL

 

As ugly as it is, the welds are burned in pretty deep and they are all in shear. If they were welded clear around the joints then the welds would be 6 or 7" long. I got in a hurry trying to finish before dinner and knowing we have company tonight, so I didn't get my reading glasses from the house and did the welds pretty much by feel. After thinking about it last night, there is little chance I'll have any clutch action with that hydraulic clutch system. I have ressurected many pre-'39 ford trucks over the years. Mechanical brakes and of course clutch. If you can get it started you can drive it. Not so with the 'modern' rigs. This has been a short break in the action of working on my '47 one ton panel. It even has new brakes now, thank God.....

 

The hydraulic clutch is a pain, I've had to rebuild mine several times over the years, just did the master again a few weeks ago but it had been 10 years since the last rebuild.. New slave cylinders are pretty cheap, on Ebay all the time.

 

The drive shaft looks fine for what you built it for. Sure can see why you would rather play with the '47, did you get the coon tail back on that thing?
Maybe if you give the new panel a custom Sisson paint job it can have a little more Mt Pickett character!

 

Spur, on your reccomendation I made a special bracket to hold the piece of 1/4" rod since I don't have an antenna. If I paint the fridge panel, it will be camoflauged so it can hide in my woods. My '60 F350 parts truck is a canary yellow and it's starting to look like a wrecking yard here....

 

You are describing a perfect scene to me. When a fridge is painted white, it really lives up to the name! You may have the Enviroment folks stop and make sure you have properly removed all the freon! LOL!