I just finished painting the bed on my 1952 F-1 and I need to get or make some new chains since the old ones are worn out. Has anyone tried making their own sets? My bolts are in useable shape. Hardware store chain is pretty cheap and made-up sets are pricy in comparison. What size chain is required? My old ones are 3/16 gauge, but I don't know if that is original. I understand that '52 chains had some kind of lever. Any drawings or plans?

 

53+ had a fancy lever setup. 51-2 just had a long link that looped over the tab on the tailgate and retained by the chain hook. Yeah, the kits seem kinda spendy, but they do come complete with cover and all the hardware to make a correct looking plug and play unit.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/51-52-1951-...W/191153536146

 

Buy a stock reproduction. Well worth it.

 

I wondered about that, so I spent some time with Dr. Google to compare the reproductions available and compare them to my old ones which probably are original. Here are my conclusions and what I bought.

All the vendors I checked, agreed that the long link without the fancy lever is correct for 1951/52 except for Southwest Classics. For the long link, most plain steel had them the same gauge as the main chain which is never stated but I assume is 3/16" like mine. Some are cut so they can be attached and would need welding to give it any strength. The stainless chains used a 5/16 Quick Link. None of the vendors offered much by way of product description. For the plain steel ones they didn't specify if they were bare steel, galvanized or bright zinc coated. The hooks differed also in both shape and thickness. Some were 3/16" and some were 5/16" judging by the pictures. Mine are 5/6" and fit the holes and I believe are correct. I think the ones offered by Early Ford Store (Tailgate Chain Hook - (1938-1952) – Early Ford Store . San Dimas, CA) are probably the most correct. It is not always clear in the descriptions if the items come as a kit requiring some assembly (Tailgate Chains+brkts/ 51-52 (macsautoparts.com) or are a "plug and play". The Ebay offering mentioned appear to be complete assemblies but would cost me $149.76 CAD including shipping, assuming I don't get dinged for tax or duty crossing the border.

So I did the obvious. I went to the hardware store and purchased 3 feet of 3/16 zinc coated chain for $5.37, 2 - 5/16 Quick Links for $6.98 and 2 - 3/16 Quick Links for $3.49 for a total of $16.63 with tax. The 5/16 Quick Link is exactly the right length and the proper thickness. I'm reusing the bolts which are in pretty good shape. I had planned to reuse the hooks but discovered that they are of different lengths and out of shape. I plan to head back to the hardware store on Monday to buy a length of 5/16" rod and bend a couple of hooks using the Early Ford hook picture as a template. I will be painting everything body color. It is recommended that zinc coated steel needs to be painted if it out in the weather or it will rust.

 

Excellent. Try and remember to take a few pics of the fabrication process. I'm sure there are several of us that would be interested to see how they come out.
I need to fab some new hooks for my 62 Studebaker.

Bobby

 

[QUOTE=bobbytnm;20577795
Try and remember to take a few pics of the fabrication process. I'm sure there are several of us that would be interested to see how they come out.
Bobby[/QUOTE]

I made my hooks this afternoon. It took a few hours since I first had to figure out how to do it since 5/16" steel rod is pretty stiff and will only bend easily if red hot. I used Inkscape to turn the picture into a scaled full-sized pattern and printed and it as a pdf and as a paper copy. I determined that the hook should have a 7/8" curve and decided on a 3/8" eye. Each hook needs about 10 - 12 inches of rod which allows extra for needed leverage.
Step 1: Stick the rod in a frill and hold it against a grinder or sanding disk to round one end. Sand the whole thing to clean it and give the paint some "tooth".
Step 2: I used two short pieces of 7/8" OD pipe held in the vice with a 5/16" space between them. They were anchored in place by 2 long bolts which were sunk in holes in a 2 x 2s at the bottom and a vicegrip at the top. I started heating the rod at the beginning of the curve and stuck it between the pipe pieces and started to bend it around one pipe. I found you had to take your time a do it in small steps until the right curve was achieved.
Step 3: I used the same basic procedure to make the eye except I used two 3/8" bolts spaced 5/16" apart but anchored top and bottom the same way. To get a complete circle you keep bending as if you're making a spring. When the circle is complete you cut off the excess material and hammer the eye flat. I've attached pictures as requested.

 

That looks great. Well done!

Will you be putting some rubber on the chains to keep them from chipping the tailgate paint?

 

I'll paint them and cover them with 1" clear vinyl tubing.

 

Nicely done!! Thanks for taking pics and sharing the process.
They came out great.

Just an FYI. When hooking the chains into the brackets, I was taught to bring the hook up from the bottom and then let it flip over. That will essentially lock it in place.
If you just drop the hook down from the top, like in the picture above, there is a slim chance that on a rough road it can bounce up and out of the bracket. It doesn't happen often, but there is a chance

Thanks again
Bobby

 

Thanks for the compliments. Since I now had the process figured out so I could get a consistent bend I thought I'd improve them a bit more and eliminate the Quick Links which Henry would never have used. I made up two long links with 3/8" bends. I still had three extra links from the 3 feet of chain, so I am using two of those to attach the chains to the hooks. I left both of the short and long links cut open so they can be pried apart for insertion. I think they will be plenty strong without welding or silver soldering and can easily be taken apart if needed. I've attached some pictures. If you're wondering why the post is sticking up from the bed in the picture with the tailgate down. I needed that for support when climbing inside to paint the inside of the bed. It would be pretty hard for this old man to climb inside the bed with paint gun in hand and not touch any freshly painted surface. I'm returning the Quick Links back to the store for a refund. I bought 4 feet of 5/16" rod and still have a foot left for finishing my battery box. Total cost of the project is around $13.00. If I were to do it again, I would try to source stainless chain and rod and polish the result. Maybe I'll do that this winter. I think at this point I have made the chain almost exactly as the original. Oh, and I think the hook is in the correct way in the picture.

The big link bent into the proper shape. The link is then taken out and cut through with a zip blade or hack saw. It is then flattened.


The big link fits snug and the hook is positioned correctly I believe.



The chain is the correct length so that the tailgate is level.

 

I'm glad you removed the quick links. It looks better without them. But why paint the chains? Just put that clear tubing over them. Were they painted at the factory?

 

Awesome!!! Yes, looks much better without the quick links. You do really nice work!

and yes, this is the correct wat the hooks should be when they are in place, no chance for them to bump out

 

I decided not to paint the chains but plate them instead. I dug out my Casswell Copy Chrome kit that I bought a number of years ago. I hope I got every surface covered. I tried plating the chains as well but didn't like the result and bought new chain instead.

My plating setup. It's supposed to take about an hour, but I gave it more time and moved it around to try to get every surface. Plating only works with a direct line between cathode (the part) and the anode (the outside sacrificial plates). The parts are hung into the electrolyte solution with copper wires.

 

I installed some 1" clear plastic tubing as well. I think this project is done!

 

Looks very nice. Good work.

But you're not done. You need to punch a weep hole in the tubing at the very bottom of the chain when it is in place like in your picture to allow water to get out of the tube.