Started breaking in the engine, but Bob from ICS who build the short block, was a little concerned over temperatures, as I don't have gauges yet. We had one of those thermal guns to read temps, but he didn't want to push it. SO. I ordered oil and water gauges.

I had decided to go with Dakota Digital so I had already installed their sensors. I guess I need a place to put them.

I downloaded their drawings and made a paper template of the gauge layout for my wood dash insert.



I used rubber cement and glued it on the insert, then sprayed a little primer on it.....







Drilled some holes and dug out the trusty coping saw...



I also painted and installed the glove box door and put rubbler trim around the drivers end piece and installed it. Have to mess with the glove box door to get the right depth, so the insert lines up.



Honey do list will keep me away from the truck for a couple weeks...

Gauges will be in in a couple days...

 

Had some time to work, so here it is...

Never broke in the engine because of no gauges and my engine guy thought I should have a fan shroud to optimize air flow and cooling.

I got lucky and found a nice one on ebay....



Of course it wasn't going to fit (4" inches deep and I had 2.5") and the fan diameter was smaller than the factory. So I slotted the shroud..



and hammered down the edges, then welded them...





The notch on the left side was to clear the nut on the P.S. Pump.

A little sanding, blasting, priming and paint. Put in, fiind it didn't clear between the crank pulley and fan, put it back out, trimmed it, and put it back in (always the hard way!) ....









Next, received Dakota gauges and installed them in dash, along with the rubber trim around wood.





Also started body working the front fenders. After hammering out the folded dent, I have a half-moon split in the fender...



So, welder in hand, started welding the seam, grinding and hammering. Only took this one pict after doing about 4". I suck at this compared to some of the work I've seen here and on the HAMB.



I redid the wiring under the dash since I started doing a crummy job just to test things. I found that Microsoft Visio software is great for creating a wiring diagram without paying a ka-zillion dollars for software (or paper and erasers).

 

Project truck is coming along great; really enjoy the humor of your trial & error stages.
Keep up the good work.

Mitch

 

Been working on the fenders and dash...

Now if you're looking for how to repair, you have come to the wrong place !

I welded up and ground down (multiply by at least 50) the cracks, splits and holes on the fender. Ran out of Black Beauty, so I didn't finish blasting the underside and the bottom of the front, but I did Phosphoric Acid the metal on top and just had to hang it just to see....

I had almost forgotten why they're called the "Fat Fendered Fords"





The 14" wheels look kinda small in the "tire hole" (Just need some $$ to fix that.)



Gonna blast the underside this weekend, finish hammering and grinding, re-phosphoric acid, sand, rust-bullet and prime. Then I'll get to really see all the imperfections. I'm of the theory that a 1/16th " of filler over metal for look is not really a truck sin. Besides, I could spend 10 hours heating and tapping and still end up with a little dimple or ripple. The only thing on the rotisserie here has been me!

Also hung the dash to make use of the guages (which actually work !)





Still have another fender to go, but it didn't have the crap completely beat out of it. I guess you can see the drivers side fender from behind the wheel, but not the passenger side.....

 

Been busy preparing to work on the truck.....

Body worked the other fender a little and had to hang it, just to see.



Starting to feel like the guy who built a boat in his basement (the walk-about space is getting a little small ! )

Anyway, I should put this under bodywork forum, but..

Needed to blast the under side of the fenders..

Winter came...

Snow came....

Price went up on the blast material, so it was getting expensive covering the gravel with it....

I needed a blast booth !

Didn't have a ka-zillion bucks to buy one that the hood and fenders would fit..... Sooooooooooo

I decided to fabricate a $100 or less blast booth..

I had a corner of a room to put it in, so I build a simple 42" x 84" frame and got a old piece of duct from the local heating and ac guys junk pile..



Angled it so the media cold go downhill and end up in a bucket.. Also trimmed the edges so I didn't slice off a finger..

Bent another piece of scrap for the collection end.



Hung that on and used duct tape to seal the edges. Flipped it over and hung it on the wall and threw on some legs and hung 6 mil plastic on the back and side wall..



Cleanup the seams with duct tape (an excellent choice for those hard to join materials ! )



1/2 roll of duct tape and a piece of concrete reinforcement grid later..



Next I took a 2x4 and an old piece of trim and wrapped a piece of the plastic over it and screwed it together. I had a 24 x 36" piece of plexiglas and wired it to hang from the 2x4 with wire and eyelets. Eyelets on top top hand from ceiling.



The room hand a drop ceiling so I put those style hooks on the frame.



Hung it, let the plastic drop, trimmed the plastic and cut out where the plexiglas was.



Used my friend the duct tape to seal the plexi to the plastic..



Hung plastic at the left side with extra to overlap the back and front...

Here it is with the fender inside. Blasted for about 20 minutes and hardly any material escaped. I used "Black Beauty" as my blast media, which is a slag product. It is washed and makes no dust. I didn't get fancy with arm holes and expensive gloves. just extra plastic at the bottom and edges to wrap around my arm...



Now I can get something done on the truck !!

Blasted about 45 minutes and didn't kill myself or blacken the floor with media !!!!

 

Fantastic cabinet - tho I'd like to see the area after your 45 minutes of blasting! I know with my "sealed" cabinet (I used silicone sealant when assembling), the dust from what is removed still eeks out of every space!

OK, so I went back and reviewed the entire thread - awesome!! Love the work you did and really was inspired by your trials and tribulations. So sorry about your son. Looks like you honored him well by finishing the build. I'd bet he would be proud of this effort.

Thanks for sharing!!

 

Nice work on the homemade cabinet John. May consider something along those lines if I can't afford a cabinet!

 

Not much dust as I knock of the "ugly" stuff with a 50 grit grinder first. (Now that blows some dirt - but usually outside). The cabinet does let out a little media, but I am the proud owner of a broom and shop vac. Besides I don't have a pretty shop to maintain !

Also not doing this for a living, only to fill the time between running a business, honey-do list and sleep.

 

Note on Blaster.. Don't be cheap like me, buy the real sticky expensive duct tape, not the cheap crap that loses it's "stickie" after a week or so.

 

I have some stuff we use at the nuke plant I work at...Good stuff, thanks for the tip!

 

Haven't posted progress for a while, because mostly haven't had much. If things were easy they wouldn't call it work! (Even if you really enjoyed it )

Got the two front fenders straight enough and with holes filled with weld steel to begin the delicate and artful work of making it look like it came from Henry. If they came from the factory with little ripples and dents it would make our lives easier !





Here's the hood in the "blast booth", just about the time my ol' craftsman 6.5hp compressor decided to crap the bed and not develop much more than 70psi (and take a while to get there).



So I started saving $$ for a compressor, and after seeing how expensive they were I found a decent 2-stage Gilbarco 225psi 80gal for sale on Craigs List. In moving it, I knocked all the old dirt loose in the motor so I pulled it and it is at the shop getting a go-over (must weigh 110 lbs.). It smoked a little and sparked a little and was really noisy but spun fine !



I also needed to get the 14" rims off of the front and get some real wheels.
I ended up ordering 15X7 Gennie 14 series wheels from WheelVintiques. Had them powder coated gloss black at a local shop in Butler, PA to match the paint and will put the stainless caps with the Ford script on them. Just picked up rims today (they looked super) and took over to get some skins on them. Will post some picts when I get them back...

One last pict with the fender hanging when I measured for the tires. Thats a 14" rim with tire diameter of about 25", I'm going with a 15" with a diameter of about 28"



That's All Folks

 

We'll, Life is good, or Life sucks and then you die!

Nothing like having to buy a new motor for the "new" compressor for about $475. (One winding bad, internal contacts shot and one bearing starting to go) Guess the project is going to slow down for a bit. Don't have the bucks "squirreled" away to crack that "nut". (Tree hugger humor )

 

Nice progress Sean would be proud...

 

Still waiting for the motor rebuild for the compressor. But I remembered I had a little one we use to blow the dirt out of the computers, and it's perfect for blowin' primer, so I've been working on the twins....







Also today I got the tires back mounted on the rims which were p-coated.



Just like any kid with a new toy, had to put on, hang the fender and shot some picts. They are P255/60R15.





Threw on the hub cap (Ford Script)....







From the front they sit in about 2.5" from the fender outside edge, although I don't have the fender bolted on so it will probably be about 3.5"



Now I just gotta get the fenders done, then hood, then it's FLAME TIME !!

 

Looking good, love the progress so far.