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Abe's 54 Rebuild Thread

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Old Feb 26, 2016 | 06:12 AM
  #31  
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Good stuff. What are those little clamps you are using and where did you get them?
 
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Old Feb 26, 2016 | 07:50 AM
  #32  
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Originally Posted by Harrier
Good stuff. What are those little clamps you are using and where did you get them?
I got them from a local auto re-upholsterer. They are just little clamps that you put the wire in and crimp it.
 
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Old Feb 26, 2016 | 06:58 PM
  #33  
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Nice job on the seat. That looks really good.
 
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Old Feb 26, 2016 | 07:08 PM
  #34  
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Looks great Abe! Keep the pics coming! Maybe see you at spring Carlisle ? Let me know
 
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Old Feb 26, 2016 | 07:10 PM
  #35  
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Thanks, Dennis.

I found out how to bend the spring steel. I went back to the furniture store where I bought it. They said I must first make the steel flat. You put the steel in a vice and use a large screw driver or crowbar and loop by loop straighten the bend.

I need 6 angled bends for my application. Same thing. Put the steel in the vice where you need the bend and use that large screwdriver to make the bend.

Easy peasey. If interested a chance to work on it this weekend I will post picks. And then off to the Amish upholsterer. Hopefully he will not have a lot of jobs lined up. His phone message said he is out of the shop until March 1.
 
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Old Feb 26, 2016 | 07:13 PM
  #36  
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Originally Posted by Jafo56
Looks great Abe! Keep the pics coming! Maybe see you at spring Carlisle ? Let me know
Thanks, Joe. No not this spring. I don't think i will need anything. I am going to Ford Carlisle in June..... as a vendor.
 
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Old Feb 26, 2016 | 10:54 PM
  #37  
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Looking good Abe!
 
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Old Feb 27, 2016 | 08:33 PM
  #38  
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After a failed trip to the local junk yard looking for a seat for a 52 for a local FTE member, Bill (bhalemail), I went to work on my seat. I got tips from the furniture store upholsterers as I said above so I put them to use. I straightened and then bent it to the shape i needed.
This is the early attempt at my shaping of the wire.

It needed to be flatter as it pushed the seat up too high so I had to make the bends greater.
The rest of the pics show the completed wire in place and crimped in.












So now wait for the Amish upholsterer to cover it.... Oops, I do have to paint the parts of the frame that will show before it goes to him.
 
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Old Feb 27, 2016 | 09:00 PM
  #39  
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Originally Posted by Mervy49
The springs on the passenger side looks like a wide and curvy bum size depression and the drivers side look more like skinny or more narrow bum depression.

Originally Posted by abe
The passenger side is where my girlfriends sat!
Ha ha. That's funny stuff. Trucks coming along nice Abe.
 
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Old Feb 29, 2016 | 09:46 PM
  #40  
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Update February 29, 2016:
My body man is making progress. Went to see him about my hood hinges. I took one pair of used 56 hinges and a pair used 55 hinges I've had for 17 years to see if he thought they would be better than the ones on my truck. He was eating supper so I left them there and took some pics. He is making progress. I am pleased.
here are two pics of my new bed.



Here are two pics of my rear fenders that need patched and my new front right fender.



Here is a pic of Old Betsy all alone in a back part of his sprawling complex.


Here is a pic of his recently purchased 48-50 pickup he wants to fix up and a pic of two Advance Design Chevy trucks. He has another one inside that he chopped and is painting for a customer.



Funny thing is, after he finished my truck in 1999 he said he will never do another old total rebuild... I think he likes old trucks now!
 
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Old Mar 1, 2016 | 05:08 AM
  #41  
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Like the progress abe. It is going to be great.
 
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Old Mar 1, 2016 | 05:52 PM
  #42  
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Looks like the seat really turned out well. Enjoying watching your progress.
 
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Old Mar 1, 2016 | 08:15 PM
  #43  
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Went to the body shop today. He says he wants to paint the truck this weekend! He is really moving along. I have got to get my bed boards painted so I can get them in the bed so it's ready to put on. So I better hustle!
 
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Old Mar 1, 2016 | 08:59 PM
  #44  
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Looking Good! Abe
 
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Old Mar 7, 2016 | 02:21 PM
  #45  
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Update 3/7/16

Beautiful day today in Central PA! Temps in the upper 60's. After painting part of my seat in the garage last week, I finished it outside today.






I plan on taking the seat and seat back to the upholsterer tomorrow.

Question that I asked on another thread: For those of you that have stock style seats, how wide is your bolster at the top of the seat back? As in this pic from the 1954 Ford Truck Full color catalog:
 
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