This might just prove how nuts I am. Last night I was talking to my friend at his shop, the place where he is letting me store some of my junk, as my wife would call it, I concider it my stash of valuable parts, anyway, he had another guy in his shop who is storing a '74-75 1 ton Ford that runs good but has a rotted body that he is going to rob the dump bed off of for another truck. The deal is, he might give me the truck if I remove the bed. I have a cab from a '52 that is not too bad and a complete front end from a '48-50 F-2. I think you all know where I am going with this.

The main problem I see, is not trying to fit the old parts on the newer chassis, that's going to be a piece of cake compared to getting idea pass my better half. I still have the panel truck half together and I hope to have it in primer and driveable in time for the Dash to the Dells this fall and she'll want me to finish that before I start another. She doesn't quite understand the need to buy and put together projects. I came here with this idea because I feel you guys are the only ones that could understand.

 

Bob,

I'm sure the better half would rather have you in the garage working on another project than at the track betting on the ponies or at the neighborhood bar swiggin' Jack Daniels...she just needs a little perspective and some attitude adjustment...

 

Bob, all I can say is that what you looking at sure sounds a lot like what I'm doing now with my F-3, just that I'm using a 79' frame which is very similar to the 74-75.

I'd say go for it

 

You just tell her you have an "opportunity" -

Give her a grossly high estimate of what it'll cost to refurbish the old frame, etc and then gloss over how little it'll cost to go with the alternative , emphasis most of it will be labour.

She won't beleive you (at least Betty never beleives me) but she'll give in cause she can't figure out a way to prove you being full of s........

Always works though. (And she can't bitch about the time you spend on it cause that's the trade off for not spending the high $$$ for the first alternative.

It's a win-win situation!

 

Back in my MG days I had an "opportunity" to buy another MG at a give-a-way price. Wanted it for parts and then found it was in WAY too good a shape to strip for parts. Called my wife up and with GREAT ENTHUSIASM said "guess what Babe?" and after suitable delay - timing is everything - I said "I bought YOU a car...an MG...your own SPORTS CAR"..."Yes it needs a little work"...(okay that was a lie - lots of work was more like it) "But I'll work on it first and I can drive it home so it's not toooooo bad".

Okay...she was thrilled!!! I did drive it home but it cost me a two night flail at a friends house, lots of motor oil (thing had about 2lbs oil pressure) and even more brake fluid (definitely not one of the smarter things I've done).

I never did make it a driver but did end up using the OD box out of it and sold it for a slight profit. That will never work again for me but for about 2 years my wife bragged to everyone about the MG I bought for her.

SO...tell her the truck is for her to drive to the car shows WITH you. That you'll paint it to her design and if she is the slightest bit gearhead minded that may help. Bear in mind that you only get one shot at this and it will never work again - but it did work for me!

Yes my wife still speaks to me...mostly with a sad shake of the head and eyes rolled back in her head...but probably won't ever again if she reads this post!!!

New projects are cool - go for it!

 

Bob
I was about to jump in your DOO-DOO for coming to us twice in one year for the big "excuse".
Then I remembered that you didn't get the Wrecker.
I would suggest that you look up that thread and review the sage advice that was laid upon you at that time.
It's hard enough for us'ns to come up with our own gambits to run on our Sweetie-Pies.

Should the "Rule Review Committee" look into this as a constitunal amendment?

 

The plan I think I am going go with is to start on the truck and get some work done on it, that way she'll see I already have something invested in it and won't want to me to lose it. Hey, it might work. BTW, If I feel like doing something I'll usually go ahead and do it and listen to her yell later. If she wasn't such a great girl I wouldn't take it from her but oh well.

Jon,

I have a question for you. Did you have to cut your firewall to accomodate the '79 engine in the in the '79 frame? I hate to have to hack up the firewall on the cab I have, other than a few minor rust outs it is a fairly decent cab. What is the web address of your pictures, I don't remember where they are. I'd like to see again what you had to do.

Dick,

I just like to bounce my ideas off of you guys once in a while, as I have stated in previous post, no one at home really likes talking old trucks. You should me in person, I'd talk your ears off about these old truck

Thanks guys for your input.

 

It is always easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission!!!!
I am not getting into this one. She probably still wants to meet me after your last trip to Peoria!

 

You guys are really starting to sound like a bunch of co-dependent horse traders. We probably should spring for some group therapy

Bob, you should have enough projects around there that you can just haul it home, park it behind the others and ignore it for awhile. Then when your wife 'discovers' it, and confronts you with something like "when did you buy this?" you act surprised, shrug your shoulders and mumble that you're not sure but it must have been a long time ago.

An alternative is to convince her it was abandoned on the street in front of your house and you just wanted to help the city/county by cleaning up the neighborhood.........

 

It sounds to me you had the "misfortune" to fall in love with a woman who is not a car nut. Well, take it from me, married to a lady who IS a car nut is worse. I have too many projects (if that's possible) because my wife not only says OK, but she also FINDS them! I'm the one who has to say no. Maybe she justs like to keep me in the garage where I can't bug her.

 

I was just reading the General Automotive thread "The Fastest Speed You've Gone" about the guy who did 145 MPH in his Bronco and now this.

 

Bob, the pics are in my FTE Gallery, just click on the link on the left.

As far as my firewall goes, I'm not sure on the clearance since I had already replaced the firewall by the point I mounted everything. I have plenty of clearance with my new firewall, so the old one should work out fine as well, since the new is about 3/4 of an inch in front of where the old one was.

Any other questions, just ask. I can try to get more pictures if you need them since I'll be home this weekend.

 

Where else can a guy go to get truck advise and be psychoanalyzed at the same time?

Tim,

You got something there. I have enough parts scattered around the town in different locations that I can tell her that I want to straighten things up a bit and want to save space by stacking things up. I’ll start putting things together and by the time she realizes that I am building another truck it will be too late.

Jon,

I checked out your pictures again. How high does the cab sit on the newer frame? From the pictures it looks like the wheel openings might be quite high. If I do this project I would like to keep the truck as stock looking as possible. Also, the chassis I am looking at has dual wheels in the back and I would probably go with a flatbed so I don’t want the cab sitting higher than the cab.

 

Bob, I don't know the ride height of the cab off hand, but once I'm home (now at college) this weekend, I can pull a few measurements. I do know that it will be higher than stock, but not sure how much.

I guess the quick way to check on your particular truck, would be to figure one inch of clearance between the framerail and the lower lip on the back of the cab.

With my project, I'm not using the stock mounts, so I know mine might very well sit higher than someone using the stock setup, so concider mine to be at an extreme. I'm also planning to put the bed on spacers as well so it will sit at the same level as the cab.