51 Ford pickup

[brawls43]

Nice! Can't wait to see it with the masking off.

[wfo guy]

Front fenders cut and buffed. I haven't done the wheel lips yet. That will wait for a day of lots of time.

[wfo guy]

If this doesn't put you to sleep, then superman should be worried! I rebuilt the glove box hinge. The pin in the spring end was 3/16". The hole in the arm is worn to 5/16". I welded, drilled and installed a hard fastener with a locking nut so I can adjust tension on it.

[wfo guy]

After an embarrassing amount of time today, I have painted both sides of the hinges white. The mounting surfaces were in epoxy primer and they rusted. Then the rust ran down the door jamb. Sad I spent lots of time installing the new ac controller. There are some flanges on the inside of the dash panel that are left over from the original Ford design that were obstructing the 2 hold down clamps that are with the control unit. Took an hour instead of 5 minutes. Smile Those of you that have fabulous memories will remember that the ac controls and vent used to be below the dash. Now everything is in the dash. The fan override switch will be moved to a panel to cover the area below the dash to clean everything up. Tomorrow I plan to finish the dash and get to the under dash panel.

[wfo guy]

After way too many hours, I'm at a stopping point. The pics are before the steering column is in and then after. The after pic also was with the lights on but the camera didn't pic up the blue light from the inverter on the white face panel. I ordered the speedo with the blue light also. For those of you that remember, the speedo was hung from the dash and it's now sunk in the new gauge face panel. It's not perfect but I think unless I purchase an aftermarket gauge kit, this may be as good as I can get it. I ran out of ideas. :(

[Motown 454]

OK I'm still awake better tell Supernam to watch out! Some of the smallest things take the longest time. Nice update.

[wfo guy]

The gauge cluster mounts have been redone. Way better. The next task for today was to change the throttle pedal. I moved it to the right about an inch. We all know an inch is important. Lunch is over, back to work.

[wfo guy]

Afternoon break. Slightly more progress.

[wfo guy]

Under dash panel on the right side. Covering the column is going to be a task.

[wfo guy]

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have doors.

[linkstar69]

Keep chipping away

[wfo guy]

Really boring update. Color sanding in the driveway. Being really careful to not break through the clear.

[wfo guy]

Pitiful update. Pitiful pics. The rear fenders and most of the cab have been color sanded with 2000. Tomorrow will be a buffing day.

[Motown 454]

It's looking good!

[wfo guy]

There's a tiny bit of hand work left and the cab is finished. This isn't show quality by any means but it's going to be as good as it gets. The fly is still freeloading on the top. I've buffed the fenders the 1st time but I couldn't see good enough to do the rest. The box will be coming in the shop to finish the buffing.

[wfo guy]

I gave the chassis a little bit of of a bath before proceeding. Moved the bed inside and buffed the fenders. Then picked it up and pushed the frame outside. Backed the 51 in and very carefully set the box back on. 3 days shy of a month, it looks kinda like it did!!! LOL

[wfo guy]

Today's 1st task is completed. The pics show the adapter that was supposed to work with the airbag clock spring. The machined adapter and the new wheel. I may paint the adapter flat black to match the column.

[wfo guy]

Task no. 2 for today. I wanted something different than the Mustang latches I used. I did some investigating and found that there are lots of latch pins that were the same size as the Mustang's without any support. Because these doors aren't near as substantial as a Mustang convertible, I decided a single pin would be adequate. I made pins from 1/2" cold roll steel. The 1/4" plate was the support that was behind the Mustang latch I used. The 1/4" plate was machined for adjustment slots and the new pin welded in. There is flat black paint to keep it from rusting. The nuts on the back side were difficult to get in place so I welded them onto a plate that has a 90 bent on to it so I can hold it in place during assembly. I've played with the doors for a while and I think this is good. There's no vibration or strange sounds when the door closes.

[wfo guy]

I just spent 2 1/2 hours with mis-matched parts and poor quality to make the horn button work. The horn button was made for the steering wheel but not the adapter. I figured out what was different from the 2 adapters that was necessary to make this work. I made a spacer for under the wheel to hold the button in place. I used a pvc coupler from the hardware store. Machined the id on the lathe and cut some recesses for the tangs to go through to allow assembly after it was in place. The coupler was 74 cents. I put everything together and no horn. After trying repeatedly, I figured that one of the parts wasn't the right depth for contact upon pushing on the button. I removed the metal contact from the outside part and took a punch and drove it towards the contact direction. Reinstalled and I have a functional horn. FINALLY. It only has 1 moving part. How can this take so long?

[wfo guy]

Thanks for the comments. Today's first task was to install the new tag bracket and plate holder. This is a Bob Drake unit that is widely used. I re-bent the tag bracket so the tag is perpendicular to the earth. The connections are heat shrink crimp style. I'm using a SAE 2 prong for a disconnect. The next task was to remove all the brackets around the radiator that weren't painted when the truck was put together for test fit. They will be finished and painted in the next couple of days.