Awesome! Now that you have it home, the real fun can begin.

 

Congrats on getting it home safely and under roof!

They do reproduce the 50th anniversary horn button. Good luck and keep us up to date.

 

Good luck and keep us posted. Yours looks in as good a shape as mine did when I started.

 

Not a whole lot to report, but my son and I decided to see what was under the sheet metal that was used to attempt to smooth the tailgate. After my son ground down the welds that were holding the sheet metal on we found that someone had stuffed rags, socks, towels and not sure what else under the sheet metal against the tailgate. My guess this was to attempt to keep it from sounding hollow or keep the sheet metal from flexing too much. Of course these materials all held moisture and had made the rust even worse where these had deteriorated and settled at the bottom.


Sheet metal that was removed from tailgate


Tailgate after sheet metal removed

Yes the tailgate is is rough shape, but I think it can be repaired or rebuilt enough to be usable. This will also give me some practice welding again, it's been years since I have welded so like the truck, I'm rusty as well. Once I get some coupons to my liking I can move on to the tailgate. For now we just smoothed down the welds and painted it with rust converter to stop the rust.


Tailgate after wire brush and rust converter applied


It still needs a lot of work, but my son did 95% of the grinding and wire brushing and this was his first time behind the grinder or "Spinning death wheel" as he called it. He has been chomping at the bit to do something on the truck so this was a great small thing he can mess around with. There is still a few welds that could be ground down and some rust pitting that could be cleaned up some more. Need to get some different wire wheel attachments for the grinder, ones I have are pretty wore down so he can keep on working on it.

The bottom of the original tailgate was sheet metal rolled over and welded back with plug welds? possibly. Since all of that needs to be replaced. I think that could be done with some round tubing and sheet metal just as easy. Similar to what others have done with the top of the bed. Just need to make sure that nothing will interfere with it opening or closing if it's done that way.

I know this update is nothing compared to some I see on here, just glad that we are actually doing something on it again.

 

So 2 years later and 239 pages later I caught up to my post. After lots of interruptions and life getting in the way I have finally got some momentum going again. I have done a little dent removal from where a limb had hit the hood and front fender. Still more to do on the hood and some sheet metal work, lots of sheet metal work, I'm not looking for show room quality, just want it to be held together and safe.

Anyone know how to remove the brace under the hood? It's bent and would be much easier to straighten off the hood, I may just have to cut it off and weld it back. I am assuming it's spot welded and I just can't see them.






Did try my first attempt with POR15 pricey stuff but pretty pleased with the end result for sure. My hood front locking panel wasn't too bad on top, lots of surface under so figured I would give it a shot.







I also picked up a 223 and 3 speed trans out of a 63 F100, runs good on a portable tank, hopefully this will get her moving again.





Got a quote for some sheet metal, man has it went up since the last time I bought any, of course that was 20 years ago. Need some shielding gas as well, I have a almost full cylinder of straight argon, but no C25. Anyone do the Airgas lease, is it affordable? Figure when I run out of straight Argon I can get it refilled with C25, maybe I will find a cylinder son I can use.

Anyways, hopefully I can keep up the momentum and have her yard driving pretty quick.

 

Following this project! As I am in the same boat with a 52. Love to see others and their progress! Keep on keepin' on!

 

Did a lot of dismantling of the front clip and seeing where all repairs need to be done. Pretty much all sheet metal has some rust spots, or some type of damage somewhere. Guess that is to be expected on these old trucks, had to cut or grind a few bolts, some broke and others actually came right on out.




Took about two nights and a little help from my youngest son on some of the ones where I couldn't reach to hold and ratchet off at the same time. Lots of swearing, but only a few scrapped knuckles. At some point someone put what looks like seam sealer all over the back of the radiator side skirts and outer fender bolts and nuts. So I had to chip all that off to reach the bolts with a wrench or ratchet, other places are covered in a tar like substance, maybe undercoating. Need to get a magnet and pick up all the bolts, nuts and washers that dropped all under the truck while getting it all apart.




Did manage to get the radiator support frame off as well, those bolts did break, tried heat to get them out with the stubs that were left, that did not work. Welded nuts to the stubs and those twisted off as well. So ground them flush for the time being and will drill and tap them when I get that part cleaned up.

I do not have a media blaster, and wire brushing the frame is going to take a little bit, probably leaving the cab on for the time being. I know it needs some work, but figure I will get most of the work done to the front clip first, frame cleaned, sealed and coated before moving to the bed or cab.

I need to pull the old 215, got to get some pics of the linkage for the shifter and clutch, take a few measurements and make sure the newer engine's mounts and all are close to the same. Still debating on using POR15 or Corroseal and a undercoating for the frame, will see when I get closer and have the engine out and pressure washed the frame down a bit.

Stopped a little early tonight, but made good progress and got a good look at where the problem areas are. Now to find some sheet metal that won't break the bank.

 

Still working on cleaning up the front end sheet metal, not sure what as been applied to the back of some of the metal. Thought it was seam sealer, but it is more tar like. Here's a few pics of the front air deflector and valence with this stuff around it.






I have cleaned up one side already, knotted wire brush to get most of it off, grinding disk to get a little closer to metal, then a flapper disk. Here's the other side in the middle of the knotted wire wheel process.




Going to take a while, get them cleaned up to metal, convert just surface rust areas and repair the rest. Need to get a C25 gas cylinder, I have Argon and not the easiest to do mild steel with it and flux core really sucks and my skills are not the greatest.

Keeping on cleaning and repairing where it needs it so it can be bolted together as most of the damage is in the seams or areas that are not really structural or in areas that are really visible.

Need to get my engine hoist to pull the old engine and get to cleaning the frame as well. Slowly getting back on tract, of course these short days don't help.

 

Have you been able to staighten out the hood brace?

 

.................

 

Not yet Abe, trying to get most of the front clip all squared away and fit back together. Figure the hood will be one of the last pieces for the front I mess with since it was the first to come off.

If you have any suggestions on how to get it straightened without butchering it up feel free to let me know.

 

 

Thanks for the info John, was debating heat but didn't want to make it worse by mistake. No sandblaster, but may have to invest in one to make things easier. This stuff is all over the entire front so far. So would have to replace all front sheet metal, if I can clean it up enough to get by I can replace later when the budget allows.

 

Shawn,
Great your getting into your 53 truck project. If your up for suggestions on cleaning parts easier? I would recommend the Electrolysis process. I have done many large items like your air dams to remove almost all of the junk and even most of the rust. Its not sandblasting quality when it comes out but it sure is much better than a lot of grinding and stripping. The process typically removes paint gunk and rust. Parts still need work after they come out, cleaning, wire brushing .... The process is shown on line, but if you need some other example let me know. I like it because its safe, no chemicals, and works when I am sleeping or doing something else. For parts truck size you will need a good sized tank. But water and Armand hammer washing soda are the only things in the solution, A good battery charger and a old used 12 volt battery, plus some wire and several ole pieces of steel for the sacrificial anodes.
Regards,
Chris

 

Chris, thanks for the info and advice, I have done electrolysis on small parts like the hood safety latch and some others. Have not thought of doing larger items that way, I guess a rubber stock tank or kiddie pool may work. My only dumb charger is pretty old, this may finally kill the old thing, but if I do I will keep you posted.

Was hoping to have more done, but Christmas is fast approaching so only tinkering when I have the time. Bed is off, going to need some welding done for a new lip around the bed for sure. Bed frame supports may just get replaced or rebuilt from some square tubing or channel, they are pretty beat, holes wallowed out and pitted from rust.




Bender works well as a cheater bar to either break them loose or go ahead and break them off.

Started taking things off so I can clean the frame and get it coated probably with por15, there's still paint on some areas of the frame, but that may just flake right off. Tried a small area with the wire wheel and the paint seems stuck on pretty good. if it cleans up to bare metal pretty easy I may prime and paint it, will see when I get to it. Removing everything not riveted onto the frame. Still have to pop the ebrake lines from the crossmember and drop the leaf spring shackles so I can clean and coat those well. Hopefully they come out easy, the retaining pin nuts were not locked up and turned pretty easy.

I knew someone had put a trailer hitch on the truck, was there when I bought it, actually I have used it in the past. Always figured it was just bolted on, well no it was welded on as was one of the bumper mounts. Bumper mount had already been welded in a few spots and is toast, it crumbled away past all the mounting holes. I was attempting to break the bolts/nuts holding the hitch on, then I realized it was welded to the bumper and frame. So I just cut it to remove the bumper.






I have one upper shock mount that will not come off, other side was just a bolt with a small piece of metal pipe over it. If need be will just cut the other one off since I need to replace one might as well replace both. Will see when the shackles come off how the pins look, prob just need to get new ones of those as well. Did find one spot on the frame near the break line/ebrake support mounts that may need a little help from the welder, You can see the chunk missing right in front of the ebrake cable bracket in the pic below.



Did realize the 63 trans has a different spline count than the 53 trans so will probably need to find a slip yoke for that spline count. Hopefully that won't be a big deal to find one, new ones seem to be pretty pricey.

Hopefully next posting I have blown off the carport, lots of sand and loose rust in the frame that needs to come out as well, but man is it dirty with dead grass and leaves. Want to get the rear frame, leaf springs and rear end cleaned up and painted, any worn/broken parts replaced before the end of this year, probably will not happen, but we shall see.