Well a major change in my life but no major changes on my truck After 34 years I have officially retired from a career that I truly loved. I can honestly say there was never a day that I did not want to go to work. Not to many people can say that. But anyway, the new, up and coming Firefighters have pushed me down the road I'm OK with that. I have hobbies and plenty of stuff to do. The first thing on the agenda is my wife and I are heading to the Grand Nationals F-100 @ Pigeon Forge in two weeks. I would love to meet any members that might be there. Anyone else going? Of course it will be minus the truck. Maybe someday So progress on my Truck? None, but I am getting closer to getting the shop put back together and actually have it sitting in there. Now, for finding all my tools that are still boxed up from the move last fall, building work benches/shelves, etc. etc . Baby steps........but now time is on my side.

 

Great news Dave, now you are a man of leisure. Lol. Enjoy your time with your family and hopefully the truck will get a little more of your time as well.

 

With a little rearranging you can definitely put a car lift in that shop haha. Congratulations on the retirement Dave! Hope you look forward to doing everything else just as much as you enjoyed heading to work everyday.

 

Dave, I am so glad you posted! I was thinking about you and your truck yesterday and was going to send you a PM. But in my retirement I was too busy to do it! And then last night when the rain chased me in and I had time I forgot about it.

Your truck is looking good. It will wait patiently for you.

 

Congrats Dave! Looking forward to seeing you make more progress on your truck.

 

LOL! I always remember that I need to connect with someone when I'm driving, or in meetings or something of that nature. Then, I promptly forget.....

 

Well I finally got the shop, tools, and truck all in one place. What a good feeling! All my shop tools and supplies were boxed up, and stored in a 20 x 20 building, that was in bad shape to say the least. The old building is now gone and I've moved into my new shop officially. With that said I got to work today. Finished putting the engine back together after the head bold debacle from last year. Rocker arm, intake manifold, carburetor, coil, exhaust manifold, spark plugs, and hoses. Of course the 6 Volt battery was dead so I had to charge that before I could fire it up. Cranked it a few times to verify fuel was getting to the carb, Attached the fuel line, cranked again and nothing. What now? Duh.......turn the key on, it might help Dumb A$$ Turned the key on, cranked again, and it started right up. Couldn't enjoy it to long because I had to put coolant in the radiator. I let it get to operating temperature and surprisingly no obvious leaks. I finished the day by giving the ole girl a bath. I am so glad this day finally came. My spirits are renewed!!!


My shop the last 9 months!

 

Good to see you're back at it again Dave. At times I had to remind myself that restoring the truck was intended to be fun and when other things needed my time and money, the truck waited until I was ready to enjoy working on it again.

Grant

 

Dave, good for you! It's great that you are settled with a new shop and you now can work on your truck! It so good to see your thread back in action!

So what is the next thing you're gonna do?

 

Thanks Abe! I want to get the hood back on. One of the pre-welded nuts, that you can not get to, broke off. I have the kit from MF's to fix it. That is if I can figure it out! LOL Do you have any experience fixing those?

 

Yes I do. I used the kit with those nutserts from Mid Fifty on my 54. It came with some instructions didn't it? It worked for me.

There was a thread on this a week ago.

 

GOOD - Bed parts came back from my Body/Paint guy yesterday. They truly turned out stunning. I remember when I started this journey of getting the body and paint done. I kind of got lucky when I ran across Brian, who moonlighted on the side of his full time job at a local paint shop. So here is a shout out to Final Touch Auto Restoration. I went in with the thought of getting "just a paint job" to getting a top class "show quality" results. Yes it was pricey but I do not regret my decision. I would highly recommend this guy.

BAD - As I reported I got my engine put back together and took it for a two mile spin. I am still getting oil in my coolant So it is back to square one with that. I have gotten a few new ideas that might narrow down the problem. Unfortunately none of them are very easy with even less positive results. The saga continues.........

 

Wow! Not bad for an old farm truck! Bed sides are hard to get perfect because they have two sides that show. Post some before pics again so we can compare.

 

Looking very nice. Hopefully the suggestions you have received on your engine will lead to something. That has to be frustrating for sure.