Looks fantastic. You must be so happy to have it back and looking so good.

Yes it is good to have it in my garage. But there is much work to do. He got it done faster than I expected.

But No more pictures until I have the headlights in, the bed boards in, and the seat in.

Abe you sure are making progress, It will be nice to make a country road tour with all the beautiful spring colors in a nice clean 54!

the rear cab mounts were replaced when my truck was in the body shop. He didn't think they needed replaced. He didn't think new arms would make a difference.

Here is a pic of one old one. The other one he had to cut in half to get it off. The bolts were frozen and he couldn't bang them out.... Now I don't know how he got the bolts out by cutting it in half. Perhaps once it was in half he could bang on the arm and get it to move and break the rusted bolt free.


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...1c20388c57.jpg

It did lift the back of the cab off the frame by another half inch or so.

Wow Abe, looking very good. As for the mounts, I agree if the other looked similar then it was not the issue however new bushings and rubber bushings were definitely needed. Mine were wore all the way through the inner bushing, rubber bushing and into the mount itself. Needless to say mine were toast. I wonder how the rubber wedge between the mount arm and frame looked? That definitely could've made a big difference. Sometimes they aren't even there anymore which would make things even worse. Did he mention them?

Agree with the wedges may have been offset or missing plus the rusted bolts could also have been worn/rusted off-center. Once you're back on the road you may notice that the ride has softened a bit and maybe 'that occasional noise' has disappeared.

Truck looks great!

They were dry and hard. I replaced them too.

Hard to believe you started this rebuild 5 weeks ago, and are down to final details! It's like it was never off the road. Great job!

Great job by my body guy. He really hustled this time. When I rebuilt the truck the first time he had it from June 1998 to July 1999! Now there was a lot more metal work to be done: all four Cab corners, a used bed, replace windshield and rear window, sandblasting the cab, patching floor boards, and painting interior. And more.

This time: patch rear fenders, paint new bed, prime, prep and attach new front fender, paint wheels, put on new rear cab mounts, prep and paint cab, hood and all four fenders, paint running boards and front bumper. And he is very reasonable.

Yesterday I did something to the truck that I have been meaning to do for the last 15-16 years! And with the seat and floor mat out it seemed like a good time to do it! I replaced the rubber seals for the openings for the brake, clutch and steering column. I have had the rubbers from Mid-Fifty lying on my workbench in my garage all those years. Good thing they were in a zip lock bag or they might have been dry rotted too! No I did not take out the steering column, I cheated and cut the rubber to get it around the column and the remote shifter tube.
The old rubbers:
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...a2270cba68.jpg
The new ones installed:
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...ee67b55b1d.jpg

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...b9d379d775.jpg

The upholsterer called this morning and said the seat back foam was too short and not wide enough for the seat. I got it from Mid-Fifty. I will call them after I go see the foam for myself.

I've had that happen to me before, Abe. Was the foam tightly wrapped for shipping? If so that can reduce the size of the foam considerably. While it may eventually return to full size eventually who wants to wait for that to happen? My cure was to use a steamer to return the foam to full size. Pretty quick and simple.

Wow, great job, quickly done on a Great Truck

No it is the wrong size, not tapered like the picture and the description in the catalog said. It is a seat bottom I think. I told them I want a refund not an exchange. I will use the upholsterers foam.... a alot cheaper and quicker, too.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...b4ba276191.jpg


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...acb9890d51.jpg

Today I was going to give my bed boards one last coat of paint. When I got the truck back from the body shop I compared the green of the painted boards with the green of the truck. The boards were a shade off. So I took the can of paint and the painted ebd strip to the paint store lady. She matched it pretty well. To make sure the the last coat was dry I sat the boards out in the sun. Some of them bubbled up so I let them cure all day. Oil base takes a while to dry thoroughly. So I will try to paint tomorrow.

So today I painted mirror arms, the backs of the mirrors, the mirror bracket that goes in the door, and all the hardware. I adjusted the cowl vent so it won't hit the back of the hood.

A good day. Hopefully paint tomorrow.