I painted the hood and let’s not forget the gas cap! I just sprayed a single coat on the underside, then taped it off, flipped it over and sprayed four coats on the top. This marks the last of the red I need to spray this year.

there’s only one door left to paint, but I need to redo my skin job on that. Otherwise, everything is in color. Next I’ll be starting cutting and buffing and reassembly. By spring I’ll should be ready to deliver it to its owner (my uncle). The entire restoration will have taken 2 years.

 

Excellent work. Cannot wait to see this one done.

 

I’m still plugging away on it, it’s just cutting and buffing stuff that takes a long time.

Hood is assembled, buffed and polished. I need to find some push nuts for the screws to the outside ends of the front molding. If anybody knows of the specific size or has a link to some that will work that would be great. I don’t need the kits that have all the other clips in there.

 

Then I’ve been assembling all the fine detail work.

First put new glass in the mirrors:





Then added a little Easter egg to one of the mirrors for my uncle:



I added a new lens to the instrument cluster and polished it up:





then I’ve started adding decals:

 

It appears you are true to your words. Looks to be right on track. Question, are you going to keep the original 2 piece lock ring wheels? They tend to disappear on most restorations. Found a photo when brand new with the same painted mirrors ( rarer than the stainless version) and original 2 piece wheels ( ring painted gray) with 7.50-16 tires. Custom emblem on fender due to it being a chassis cab with aftermarket body.

 

I’m doing away with the split rims because they are dangerous and most tire shops won’t even touch them anymore. I did buy a used set of 8 lug 6” Ford wide steel wheels for it that look just like the original split rims and a set of bias tires like the original could go on there if my uncle ever wanted to go completely original.

However my uncle wanted some aluminum wheels on it so I will have a set of those with some radial tires that are close to the same size of the originals at least. Tires and wheels are one thing really easy to switch out so I’m flexible there if it’s not original.

The complete originality is more for myself than him anyways. I don’t think he cares about that part as much as I do. I like it for the research involved and the challenge.

 

Understood, the 6" wide, IMO, look closer to the original 16", the 7" wide look closer to the 16.5". A trick to making the solid wheel look like a 2 piece rim is to paint the edge of the wheel gray, similar to what UPS does to their solid wheels. Be warned, mag wheels will drastically alter the look of a "correct restoration".

 

Looking real good!

 

Been procrastinating on the updates.

The cab is all buffed out and I’ve since started reassembly.

 

I’ve started reassembly of some things on the firewall, but then I buffed the interior paint, installed the dash cluster, a new dash pad cover. I didn’t repaint the interior because it was in such good condition and I wanted to maintain the “character” of the truck with all its battle scars, so it is exactly as it was when grandpa was driving it. This will make a better experience for my uncle.








Then I added a new door warranty tag from Marti Auto Works.

 

Thanks for the update.
I thought I had subscribed way back when you started this, so assumed I had been all caught up. Wrong!
I temporarily missed all the fun progress. Was almost sorry to see you paint it, but I know it needed it and looks beautiful.

I have a tailgate just like yours. Came off a blue and white two tone when the original owner put a camper shell on it.
Literally looks brand new and I have it in storage.
Waiting for either the right time to put it on my 79 (even though it’s not correct), just for the fun factor. :-)
Or waiting to find just the right buyer. 😩

 

Nice job on the rebuild and I know how much work goes into something like this as I had training from my dad in body & fender / tin work and paint.
I did a 4 year cab off on my 81 Flare side, all by myself in my garage.
I just did it as a nice driver and to haul the weekly trash to the dump. So no cut & buff of the single stage of the same colors as your truck.
Every time I wash the truck I see more rock chips but been on the road now 4+ years and 28K miles its going to happen.

Cant wait to see full pictures when out side in the sun.
Dave ----

 

This is a great post! Thank you for bringing us along with you as you document your process of restoring your grandfather's pickup. I recall when stock racks such as the wooden one on this truck were a common sight on sale days at rural livestock auctions. The wooden racks were generally made of white oak for exactly the reason you point out here: animal waste is acidic and quickly corrodes mild steel. This is one reason the flareside and styleside trucks of Ford and GM retained wooden bed floors.

Another point that's relevant is the Farm and Ranch pickups Ford made available. The story there is interesting. A few states had a rule that a truck's load had to be stacked pyramid style and secured above the factory sides of the truck.Simply adding those red sideboards from the factory allowed a greater number of square or little round hay bales to be loaded onto a truck and legally transported on public roads.

 

Installed the rear window and trim.




Got the clutch, bellhouse, and starter on tonight and tomorrow will install the transmission.

 

Transmission is installed. Putting the bellhouse on the engine block first didn't work out well. I ended up taking it off, installing on the transmission, and then bolting on to the engine.