bkahler

.....bed wood or the metal box? The next major task is the assembly of the bed. I've got all the information from Pilothouse.org on what size the wood planks need to be and I have read Dave Erb's excellent article on how to build and install the bed. Even with all that information I still have some questions. Did the rails originally sit on top of the wood or were they recessed? Dave's article wasn't to clear on that subject. If recessed then to what depth? I kind of like the idea of them sitting on top of the wood but at the same time I'm hesitant to do so, at least for now. I definitely want the strips proud of the wood surface but just how much is what I'm struggling with. Was the original bed a gloss, semi-gloss, satin or flat black? Right now I'm planning on painting the wood black but first I'm going to do some staining of a few scraps of the Cyprus lumber that I'm using to see if a stained and sealed finish might might look acceptable. In Dave's writeup he mentions that his angle strips were welded to the bed along the top edge. Mine were definitely spot welded in place and I plan to replicate that either using my spot welder or using a MIG welder. I'm curious how many other's had their strips welded along the top edge? I'm also looking for suggestions on how to assemble the bed, i.e. on the truck or on saw horses or some thing in between the two. And the last question for the day. Dave's article states the wood is 3/4" thick. Is there any reason to not make it any thicker than 3/4", say 13/16" or 7/8" ? I'm sure I'll have more questions about this subject and will add them as they come up. Thanks! Brad

Interesting idea and it actually makes a whole lot of sense. The humidity here has been atrocious and I know he had been trying to paint at the definite low end of the temperature range. I'll pass the info on to him, fortunately the weather is finally starting to warm up some. Thanks!

Exhaust system is done. All gaskets are in place along with all clamps and hangers. The weather is finally turning nice enough that I will soon be able to push the truck outside for it's first start

You want me to take a chain to the nicest thing on the truck?!! Brian spent a lot of time and effort on these decals with great attention to detail. It's little details like this that help bring these trucks back to life. Thanks Brian!

I can't help you with any info but I do like your truck

I've installed one of Brian's decals on my 51 filter housing. The engine is almost ready to fire for the first time. I still need to finish the oil line from the gauge to the block. I had the line installed but in the wrong location which blocked the starter from fitting correctly. The decal came out really nice. I'll have to post a better picture one of these days. The decal is a lot nicer than the rest of the restoration I did on the filter housing

I mentioned that to him and he said he changed the oil very recently, possibly he heard the same thing you did about old oil being a problem. I think he mentioned something about looking into what type of filters he has and whether or not they need changing. Thanks!

Actually I don't think the sawn surface is quite that rough! I'll be posting more about the wood in the near future. I have lots of questions on bed building and assembly

The seller is probably having supply chain issues like everyone else

Here is the ebay listing for the aluminum ties that I purchased.

The wood planks arrived as expected. I've opted to use Cyprus mainly due to availability and it is supposed to be have good resistance to the elements. The boards are 4/4 12" x 96" and surfaced one side so I have plenty of area to get the boards I need out of them. Also I got seven of them, just in case One of the decisions I have to make is do I want the surfaced side up or the sawn side up. I will be painting the wood and metal strips black.

Not much progress in the last week or so. Weather, job and a massive tree removal project has slowed me down. I think I did finally manage to find the correct exhaust gasket for the front down pipe. Hopefully I can fit it this weekend. It's amazing how many manufacturers don't know what 2 inches really means The large gasket is for the factory rear dump and the small one is for the new front dump. I also received the aluminum tie straps that I ordered a few weeks ago. These came from England. And I received the fixed exhaust clamp a couple of days ago. I will need to put a 90 degree bend so that it matches up to the underside of the frame. So for the exhaust I just need to install the new front down pipe gasket, bend and install this hanger, install a hanger just aft of the muffler and weld the splice joint in the tail pipe. Painting is currently at a standstill because the painter is having issues with fisheye and hasn't been able to figure out why. We are now going to wait for some warm and sunny weather to see if that helps. And last but not least sometime today I should be receiving the bed wood Assuming it shows up I'll post some pictures tonight. Brad

If it was a Texas truck all it's life then it's probably rust free which is a big bonus when restoring.

According to DCM Classics the range is 90 - 0 ohms. I bought one of their sending units and it's installed but not yet tested.

Mark wants better pictures and an address......

I bought some of the cheaper key blanks that came wrapped in a bag labeled "made in china". I did review the auction and it listed them as "new" but no where did it list the country of manufacturer. I guess as long as they work I can't complain to much. They definitely look better than the keys I currently have. I had three ignition switches and took them all to a lock smith to have them re-keyed so they all use the same key. I figured if one of the switches fails I'll have a back up and won't have to worry about changing keys

Did you sand 1/16" off the glass or the track?

Depending on which ebay seller you bought from they could be NOS key blanks or key blanks made in China. The cheaper ones (I bought a couple) are definitely made in China. But they still look better than the keys that the lock smith was able to come up with previously.

That's because you know what tools you're going to need, you know what steps to take, what to do and most importantly what NOT to do! Looking good.

You are of course buying all these trucks so they don't go to the scrapper......right?

Maybe the best way to describe the issue is the side wall is wavy. This area really does need to be straight so the angle fits properly.

I went ahead and ordered a solid style of mount this morning. I'm guessing originally all mounts were of the solid type. I will be using a flexible mount right above the rear of the muffler. That should provide enough flex, or that's the hope anyway!

I tend to agree with your assessment. The only real concern I have is getting the side flat enough to be able to weld the angle strip in place. There are two dips or low points on each side of the fender opening that will cause issues. I'll try and get better pictures this evening to show what I'm talking about. I'm sure it's fixable, just need to make sure it gets done right the first time!

Also a little more progress on the passenger side bed wall. Once I finished removing the spot welds some of the bow came out. However it appears there area two low spots on each side of the center area so I'm not real sure just yet how I can straight them. I'm open to suggestions

I think other than hangers the exhaust system is basically done. I do still need to weld one joint but I'll do that this weekend. I'm sure it could have been done better but overall I think I'm satisfied with how it came out. The only thing I'm debating is whether to use a soft mount at the end of the tail pipe or to hard mount it with a mount like Mark used. Also the bottom of the muffler is a little lower than I would have preferred but it will do Brad