Well, as most of all you already know, I have a very unique project. I started the research on this danged thing about 5-6 years ago. I dunno, about a year before I became a FTE member. It started out as a '53 crew cab Big Job. Due to a major lack of funding, and scarcity of good parts that I would be willing to hack, and bash to make them work, it changed to a 53 with a sleeper. The sleeper I got was WAY too big, and, in all honesty, it was gonna look like pooh, unless I came up with about $5000 to do it right, and that was just in parts, having me do all the labor. Then, of course, the fire truck came. That was an interesting venture, until mom died. Once again, things got side lined, and frustrations mounted. Then, father in law died. So, to get the ball rolling, since the family was gonna sell the property, I had to cut some major losses, and throw together a major hack and wack pile of a '55 (it's what I had at the time). I had to send tons, no, I mean it, TONS of old iron to the crusher (I wasn't too happy), and throw the truck together just enough to make it move, and get it towed. Then, the post moving in a hurry bills mounted. Had to sell the fire truck.....score, by some grace of god, buyer has me hold it for almost a year, then tells me to keep the truck, and he's gonna write of the purchase price, which was $3500. So, "keep the truck, and the money", WOW. So, once again, it was decision time. Since the fire truck was a no go, and it turns out, that the only part worth anything, was the Ford part, I decided to strip it. I justified it by taking note of the very crudely built apparatus on the rear, that was some off brand that went out after like 8 years. So, enter the rebirth of a vintage appropriate build of a 1953 Ford F-750 tandem axle tractor, with a Caterpillar N/A diesel, and a 5x4 transmission combo. Man, what a beast. I went to great lengths to transfer all the required measurements from one truck frame over to the other. I measured cab mount positions from a common location, and made sure everything was as close to exact on the Louisville frame, as it was on the '53 frame. So, the thing just bolts right together, and I only had to fabricate a few parts. AWESOME!!!!!! Now, since I sold the vin plate and title to the '53, I now have to figure out paper work. NO PROBLEM!!!!! I have a vin tag for a '54 F-750, friends on the police force, and access to the ability to lien a vin number. Paper work taken care of, just got to get it back to DMV, with the money to pay for it, and I'll have the clear title for a 1954 Ford F-750. Now, for the details. Took my time to make it look like a factory unit. Mounted valves, and lines, and such so that they look like they were intended that way. Get the beast running, and drivable, and DANG IT. Rear main is leaking something fearce. No biggy. Yard the tranny out, and got to replace the pilot bearing, and clutch release bearing at the same time. Whoopie, took like 3 hours to do the whole thing. Awesome. Do some more checking.....DANG IT, I DO HAVE TO PULL THE HEADS!!!!!! Was hoping my hunch was wrong, but it wasn't. Getting too much pressure, too quickly in the cooling system, and wouldn't you know it, there is evidence of moisture contamination under the valve covers. NOT GOOD!!!!!!!. So, heads come off, and yup, there's been some mild seapage into a couple of the cylinders. Not much, just enough to **** you off, and make it just seem "somethings not right". You know that gut feeling you get when something seems off? So, I got the drivers head off, and will get the passenger one off this weekend. No biggy (well, BS, they ARE big, and danged heavy too). I managed to pull that heavy SOB off by hand, all by myself, so don't mess with Joe, he's got Popeye arms this week (wait until next week, and I'll be Wimpy again). Well, I cleaned the SOB up today, inspected it real close, and found absolutely NOTHING wrong with it, except the before mentioned moisture evidence. No leaks around the valves, no cracks, etc, etc. So I resurfaced it, hot tanked it, and cleaned it up REALLY good. Sand blasted the valve cover, and gave it a fresh coat of Caterpillar Yellow paint. I taped off the deck surface, and the intake port, and taped the valve cover to it to keep the whole thing clean. Aint she purdy......?

 

outstanding!! your gonna have a great looker there.. how much does that thing weigh?

great story too (altho I could use some paragraph breaks).. I am fascinated by the big trucks, but don't have the skill to work on one. You build has taught me a lot, so keep it goin..

Sam

 

Beautiful job you did Joe. What I don't understand is the bit about buying and selling the vin plate. Up here you own the vehicle you own the vin, no questions. Don't understand the reasoning behind your system.

 

I sold the vin tag, and the matching title off the cab. Right now, there is no vin number in the truck. Its legality is questionable, but in a court, the seller will win......because "if the truck is smashed, and needs a new cab, what do you do with the vin tag" you remove it, and attach it to the new cab. Sam, the head weighs somewhere in between 150-200 pounds. It stalled the resurfacer at work, so I had to hold up on it, just a bit, and get the machine moving, and then could let it grind under its own weight.