If you are tking the pics with a digital and stuffing them on your computer..............make a back-up disc or some other way to back up the info.

Can you tell by this post that I suffered a major crash not too long ago and lost all my pics?? AAAGGGHH!!!

Thankfully my old Pepsi machine the holds the frosty beverages has never crashed so at least I still have my research and development department intact.

Bobby

 

The latch plate panel bolts to the fender flanges on the ends, the wind deflectors and the radiator support in between and the grill support bar in the middle, so it is basically the piece that holds everything together and aligned in the front. You should have two holes available in the fender flange behind the wind deflector and one down near the end just above the grill for bolting the ends of the panel in place. With few exceptions all the parts from 53-56 will interchange.

 

Axracer,
Thanks a ton for that graphic explanation. I went out and looked at my truck and saw exactly what you meant.
George,
If that hurt your heart....boy are you in for it with me. I did some crawling around under my truck in the last few days and rest asured....I will be back with more questions than you can count. My 55 in no way resembels my 73, and it took me a couple of years to get my 73 figured out good. On a side note, I looked at your restoration in progress and drooled all over my key board. From the pictures it looks like you are doing an excellant job. I realy admire your patience and attention to detail.
John....An email will be on the way shortly.
Now for the a question: I'm shooting for a nice daily driver for my end result. I'm pretty sure after this post, I'm going to be labeled a dark sider....but here goes.
I want to keep the body as original as is humanly possible, however I want most of every thing else upgraded for safety as well as dependability. I don't have a bunch of money to throw at it, but I have a very good friend with a big bone yard. I am also in no hurry to finish it. If it takes a few years, that will be ok. My plans so far call for the original straight axel in front with the addition of disc brakes as well as power brakes. I will also be updating the rear end to one pirated from a 67 F100 with 3.50 gears. I'm seriously considering one of the fuel injected 351W's and a 5 speed. I will be upgrading to one of the F600 stearing boxes instead of power steering for the sake of simplicity. I'm not sure about the interior yet, but I'm thinking on leaving it stock with the exception of adding an under dash air unit. Has any one tried any of these avenues? If so throw out your opinions. I would also like to know what if any thing can be used from later model trucks and cars.
Thanks again guys, Mike

 

You are pretty much describing my panel with the exception of engine brand. I'd highly recommend going to the Toyota PS box conversion, it's as simple a bolt in as you can get. I think I read that the 600 box is a real slow ratio box, i.e. you have to turn the steering wheel a lot of turns lock to lock. If you want safety and comfort, upgrade to something more modern than that 70 some year old design.
They now have engine management only ECUs for the EFI engines which simplifies their use and now make them a good choice. Hydraulic clutches also eliminate the linkage hassels of a manual tranny, but don't discount going with an auto tranny. The T5 is a good cruisin tranny, but it's a little weak in a heavy truck if you have a heavy foot at the stoplites. If you want to go manual see if your friends boneyard has a T56 6 speed sitting in a 90's LT1 Camaro or Mustang or even a Viper. That's the holy grail of manual boxes and Ford catalogs the parts to bolt it up.
There are a number of later era parts that can easily be used: Radiators, electric fans, under the bed gas tanks, seats, power windows, etc etc.

 

Ax,
Thanks a bunch for the tip on the toyota box. Which type and year model box do I look for, and what are the details of the swap?
Mike

 

Clear some room in your PM boxes.

 

Ax, It's done.

 

Doc,
The toyota box can be found on teh 79-85 toyota 4x4 that still used a solid axle up front (before they went independant suspension)
Its a fairly straight forward swap and I believe that there are bracket kits available for mounting the box.

Bobby

 

Bobby,
Thanks for the info. How difficult would it be to fabricate the bracket?
Mike

 

It's a pretty simple bracket when you see it, but not worth the time and effort to fabricate unless you have a machine shop, for 90.00 price tag. Mid Fifty sells the best conversion mount and even a complete conversion kit. At least buy the pitman arm and new shaft nut from them.

 

I don't know about the rest of you, but it's killing me! I paid over a thousand bucks for a truck that sounds much worse than this one!! Enjoy the victory! You're WAY ahead! have a frosty, sudsy beverage cHEERS!uM ... I mean Cher's! no wait... Cheer's! there! Whew! Budwieser afects typing! (Who knew?)

 

Rhw,
What, if any, mods are you planning for your truck.
Don't get scared yet....your truck looks a lot better than mine in the pictures. It took 2 days of spraying on PB blaster and working the door back and forth to be able to open the right door correctly. I still haven't opened the hood or left door, and the right door still needs adjustment. Also, the only solid piece of glass left in my truck is the left vent window. You may have spent a thousand more than me so far.....but I'm probably going to spend almost that much catching up to you.
Any one have a better idea on how to get the left door hinges and hood hinges to break loose so I can open them?
Mike

 

Hey, thanks for the encouragement, Doc! I'm planning on putting in a 351 windsor, a c6 or possibly an AOD tranny with a 9" rearend. Going to try a Aerostar front end but going for a mainly stock look on the body. Dreaming of painting her wimbleton white with a small felix the cat air brushed on the tailgate "Righty-O!" Oh yeh, paint the running boards, rims and grill black and have the baby moon hubcaps with the Ford logo! Wheeee! any one got ten grand I can borrow?

 

RHW,
Not sure about the 10 grand.....but I might can scrounge up 10 cents if I dig in the couch. lol.
Sounds like some pretty good ideas you have for your truck. I would like to make one suggestion...Unless you have built several trucks, I'd probably try to keep this as simple as possible. Have you considered a rebuild of the straight axle with the addition of some disc brakes, removing a few leafs, and possibly a dropped axle? It would be super simple and about as inexpensive as you can get. What are your thoughts on this?
Doc

 

I like Liquid wrench to free rusty parts. Put it on every day until it comes free. The sell replacement oversized hinge pins for the door hinges once you get them working eoungh to get the pins out. You may have to crawl up into the engine bay to spray the hood hinges. Fortunately it's a large engine bay! Otherwise you could possibly remove the 4 hinge nuts inside the cowl at the top of the kick panel push the hinge mounts out and take the hood off the truck to get at the hinges. Can you get the front catch to release?