Trying to keep it chronological but I have a ton of pics. Forgot to insert this in the appropriate place.


Cleaned up the rust, sparyed with Kleen Strip to kill any rust, painted with Rust Reformer, then a couple coats of rubberized undercoating inside and out, and then flat blak.

 

Glad to see you'e back and have updated your thread as it has good info for others and your build turned out great, well done! Progress is good.

The stance looks perfect, love the red wheels. My rad support was the same way. I have been trying to use a newer radiator from a crown vic 4.6l but it is tricky and I think I will go back to a truck radistor and just adapt hoses as it seem that will work best.

I am happy to see another old truck still on the road.

I'll check out the FB group as well, seems to be better traffic on there even though I find this site way more valuable it's just some much slower around here, but I will still use it and update my thread.

D

 

 

So actually I got ahead of myself. There was a lot of prep work before the core support and inner fenders were hung. All the parts had to be cleaned up and ready and as with most farm trucks that have been sitting unkept in the weather and environment for almost 50 years, no amount of soaking or heat would release most of the smaller diameter bolts. I think all of the fender bolts broke as well as most of the bolts in the brackets. Since some were pressed on nuts, this meant extra work. I bought a pack of serrated 5/16-18 bolts and nuts and went to town.



The original grill was protected by a homemade grill guard that would have stopped a buffalo. Just needed some TLC.

Saw this on a Jay Leno show. Thought I would try it out. Supposed to kill any rust as well as polish and protect. Very pleased.

Turned out nice.

Here are the inner fender under mounts bead blasted. As you can see only one bolt came out alive.

First I punched out the pressed in nuts.

The 5/16-18 nits slipped right in the holes where they were welded in place.

.

Looks solid to me.



Finished product.

The bolts are long for this bracket but I bought a bag of 100 and had to find a happy length for all my needs.

Everything that could be blasted was and then painted with Rust Oleum Rust Reformer paint then flat black. I'm not a shiny type of guy.....

Springs were blasted and painted too.

Same with the hinges.

So this bolt was a booger. It broke off during disassembly at the bolt and just left a nub. Cut it out and left a slot to slip a bolt in and weld it in place.

A little long but perfect. Time to hang the inner fenders and core support.
Here are some picts.

 

So the next steps were to paint the inner fenders and core support, repair the rust on the fenders, hang the doors, and put the front end together. At this point it was only a few days till the car show so I didn't take many pictures of each step and all the little tasks but I did get some overall pictures.

For the inner fenders and repaired core support, I sanded off the rust, painted them with Rust Reformer, and then hit them with a couple coats of rubberized undercoating. I then painted them with flat black. Once painted, I installed them.

Fender repair: I am not a body and fender guy but my goal was to eliminate the rust and make it look like some guy who barely knew what he was doing did the rust repair in his backyard. Nailed it! Original fenders were in bad shape at the bottom corners. The passenger side was rusted through the fender and the support that runs vertical behind it. The drivers side was rusted through on the fender but the inner support was salvageable. Luckily when I was given the free cab and front clip that was wrecked, the parts I needed were there. I actually ended up with an extra fender. I ordered the rubber gaskets for the denders but they were not in yet so I went ahead and put the front together without them with the intention of taking it aprt later and putting it together right. For now it was about getting to the show and I had more important tasks to spend my time on. After the fenders were on I temporarily hung the doors. No rubbers or glass yet as these were coming off. As you will see in a later post, I ended up buying different doors a few weeks later.

Here are some pictures.


Painted and ready to install.



Repaired bracket inner side.



Repaired bracket outer side.



Inner fenders and core support on.



2 + 1 1/4 = 2.



Passenger side. Cut out the rust on the fender and inner support. Used the parts fenders for replacement metal.



Inner support welded.



Rust cut out.



Metal cut in.



Welded and ground off.



Looks like a big ole bruise.....



Set in place. Like it....



Driver's side was less work.



Welded.



Smoothed out.



Painted.



Set in place.



With the doors hung.

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Grill and valance hung.

 

Next I attacked the brakes and clutch. I first installed a manually adjustable proportioning valve but was having trouble getting pressure to the rear. Went ahead and bought the matching proportioning valve. Both the Master/booster and valve were bought from Summit. Very happy with them. Direct bolt on and there is room for the clutch master as well as the engine. Pictures....


Booster/master and stock clutch master mounted. .

Plumbed in a manual proportioning valve. .

Since the bottom crossmember was removed, decided to run the lines over the top on the firewall. .

Everything in place. .

Decided to drill some holes and run the line straight down and use l brackets. Made it much easier. .

The new clutch line won't fit. May have to bend it a little. .

Decided to paint it. It was way too shiny.... .

Mounted. Looks good. .

A better view. .

So the manual valve was giving me fits so I scrapped it for this valve. Glad I did, works much better. .

The lines look much cleaner also. Don't worry, I replaced the pinched off line with a plug. .

I wasn't getting enough clutch slave movement on the FE clutch. (Yes I bled all the air out and adjusted the slave as well as clocked the pushrod cam). Ended up buying a longer adjustable pushrod and problem solved. Lots of travel. .

 

Next on the agenda was to mount the fuse block and wire up the engine compartment and dash. Most everything is new as I now have an FE big block with electronic ignition and aftermarket gauges. Really not a lot to explain except I didn't take too many pictures of the wiring or dash modification as I was under the gun to get it done. The speedometer was broken and I ended up replacing it later. The glass was broken also. Initially I put the old speedo in and no glass to get me to the show.

For the dash I used Autometer guages. I use a holesaw and drill press to get the right holes on the front bezel. I then assembled it without any guts and used the front holes as a guide and then drilled through all the other pieces using the drill press. I then assembled it and wired it up. Once I received the replacement speedo and glass, I took it apart and took a photo. The film over the bright indicator light ws missing and boy does that burn into your eyes that way. While I had it apart, I went ahead and taped some blue film. Later learned the film was originally red. Oh well.Here are the pics I have.

Hard to see but this is the best shot I have of the wiring. I do have a video I took with my phone and if I can convert it, I will post it. .


Used this kit. Don't remember where I got it. .



Screwed it to a piece of plywood and used a holesaw in a drill press to get the holes right. .



Sorry no in between pics but here is the front after it was assembled. .



Here is the back after assembly. .



Wiring this side. .



Wiring that side. .



Mounted in the dash. .



Light are on the dimmer. Works great. .

Taken apart after I receive the replacement speedo and glass. Extra inner bezel piece to protect it during shipping. .



Now to cover up that laser bright indicator. .



Perfect. Works great too. .



Pretty. .



I used silicone to pad the glass. Had a buddy with a glass shop cut down the sides of the glass.



Reassembled. .



This is the night view once the truck was rollin...... .

 

I actually skipped modifying the stock steering column to work with the rack and pinion and installing the horn saver. I thought I took pictures of shortening the steering column and installing the column saver but apparently not. Anyway my pictures wouldn't be much different than the pictures in the instructions. Basically it was what is in this link. https://www.performanceonline.com/St...d-Chevy-Truck/

I also installed the Williy's horn kit. There isn't a specific kit but separate pieces you can buy. I think I found the part numbers on The HAMB. It allow you to use your stock wheel and the horn when you do a steering swap.

Pictures....


Th internals of the horn saver is a brass bushing that you epoxy in place. You drill a hole right above it and run your horn wire through the center of the shaft and out through the hole. You then solder it on the bushing. I didn't have the correct wire but replaced it later.



You drill an opening on the column that exposes the bushing.



You then install the spring loaded contact onto the column with short screws. The contact is for a bigger circumference column so I ended up putting a rubber spacer I cut under it.



Here is the completed column ready to install.



Secured the plate to the floorupside down to move the hole lower to get a better angle to the rack and pinion. Used the clamp type bracket to secure it.



Close up.



Here is what I ended up with.



Cut the slip yoke and installed it. I did notch the edge of the frame rail to make sure I had clearance.



Hooked up the horn wire and it works.



And thar she blows......



As I said before, I wasn't sure what wire I needed as I didn't have the correct one so I thought I could run one and modify it. I was wrong but I had a big enough hole on the steering column to re-solder the correct one in place. First I soldered the end to the existing wire and pulled it through the shaft and out the hole I made.

 

Thanks for the link for the steering column, that's a great piece and I may do the same for mine.

D

 

I am pretty sure the next step was the glass. My buddy Scott Ledbetter came up and helped me (really did it all, I just held stuff....). He is a long time F series guy and knows literally everything Ford, especially F series. You may recognize the name Ledbetter. His dad owned F100 Central.... He also has a pretty cool F250 Fridge....

Anyway the hardest part was getting the rubber on the glass and the trim in the rubber. He is a career body and fender guy so he made it look super easy. Once the trim was in place, the windows went in in literally seconds. I don't have pictures of the install part as I was helping (hold this, push here, get me that tool, etc....).

Anyway here are some pics.


Cleaned up the rust, painted with Rust Reformer then red primer.



Same as front.



Rubber first, then trim......




Popped right in.




Rear window went in as easy as the front.





Clean....

Pretty good for being the original.



Oh, when cleaning the windows, always look at which can you grab. That was too close......

 

Great Progress, keep it up!

 

I love this build. It's cool that it's a big window too!

 

Next was mounting the bed, the rear bumper, rear lights, and tailgate.

I ended up finding a beat up rear bumper with brackets in the back of a early sixties truck that was waiting to be built for a derby truck. Was working on a tractor and as I drove by the boneyard, the bed caught my eye as it isthe same as ours. Later learned they used them into the early 60's on some builds. As I drove by I snapped a photo and also caught a glimpse of a bumper with perfect patina. After I finished the tractor, talked the farmer into selling me the bumper and brackets for cheap. It is of of a flareside but I like it. Mounted right up and has the stock hole for an L type bracket for a tow ball. (later on that in another post).

my buddy Barry came over and helped with the bed mounting. First we lifted it off the stand and then set it on the ground. With the spring over axle swap and the new shock mounts, the bed will hit so I cut some temp holes. The plan it to raise the floor 3". I am going to use a 1" x 3" tubing to build a frame around to perimeter inside the bed. I'll tack it down and then cut the old floor out. I'll make sure to seal around the bed edge so water cants get in and then drop a 3 piece floor in it. I will probably drill and tap holes in the frame so I can use either countersunk machine screws or rounded truss head screws. That way I can take up the floor to work on the fuel tank lines and shocks.I will also put in a recessed gas cap and maybe a flip up door.

I was able to clean up and reuse the rear light sockets after they soaked in CLR ovenight. The license plate light was toast so I went to NAPA Auto and bought a generic light, removed the old light from the bracket, cleaned up the bracket and then put the new light on it. Works fine and it up in the hole where no one can see it.

Tailgate went on easy. I do need to make some bushings for the hinges though. Chains look great on there Oldbleu.

Here are some pictures.


Fridge bed on a slicktop. Came from the factory that was but the gem is the bumper in the back.





Got is for a song....



Looks good on the truck.



Truck is ready for the bed.



Barry and the bed.



Cuttin' holes.



Holy bed Batman....



Put new wood spacers and it dropped right into place.




Gonna fit fine and the bumper don't look bad either.



Temp hole for the things that will clang.



This will eventually be a recessed filler in the new floor.



Lined up nice with the cab and doors.



Tailgate is on. I need to blast it, clean up some weld and then try to paint it to match the patina.



Taillights.



McGyvered the license plate light.

 

So at this point it was Thursday (show is Saturday) and ready to drive except that leak I thought was a hose clamp but was actually the waterpump and mounting. Off it came and to the parts store for a warranty return then back home, paint, and then it went back on. Took it for a quick test drive to get fuel and get an overall feel of how it was gonna handle. I could not believe how well it drove and sounded. It needed an alignment but with the power steering it was easy to drive. The suspension handled all the bumps awesome and didn't bottom out even though the bumpstops were not in yet. Ended up picking up Barry and went cruisin'....

Next day(Friday) before work I took it to the scales to get weighed and then to DMV to get the plates and tags. At the scales I had flashbacks to my high school days racing my 67 Galaxie 500 at Sac Raceway. Was like I was at the tree waiting to gun it. Thought about heating up the tires but the weighmaster probably would not like that. Final weight (hood in the bed0 was 3700 lbs, 1580 on the rear axle and 2120 lbs on the front. Also lucky for me, the DMV manager is a friend and she arranged for my VIN verification and paperwork process without getting in line which was out the door and around the building..... Went smooth and the plates look great on Ruby's 58!

Saturday morning I got up early, put the hood on, and then scrubbed her down with CLR and a Scotchbrite pad then washed her with normal carwash. Put a coat of Turtlewax on the cab and she was ready to go to the show. Had a blast and she did get a lot of attention. Some pinup girls even asked to take photos with her.



Bad waterpump but under warranty.



First road trip since 1969. Gettin' gas....









3700 lbs with a full tank.



1580 lbs on the rear axle.



That means there is 2120 on the front axle.



Line at DMV.



All legal and the like....



Hood on, scrubbed with CLR and a Scotchbrite pad, and a coat of wax drying.



After a few coats, it will have that perfect sheen.



Exactly the look I was going for.




Next to my buddy Scott Ledbetter's truck.



Ruby in her 58.




Pin ups liked the truck.