New Guy to the forum

[BulldogTom]

Hi all. My name is Tom from Woodbridge, CA (near Lodi and the Clements BBQ). I have a 52 pilothouse that I am starting to fix up for my 15 year old son. He turns 16 this summer, and I would like to have his truck ready for him by then. I have been reading your posts for about a year and gotten some great ideas from you guys.

I am an accountant, and have not done a lot of mechanical work. So, I am hoping you might take the time to put up with my basic questions.

Right now we have takene most of the sheetmetal off the truck. Almost all if it is taken down to bare metal and lightly primered. We hope to finish that process in the next couple of weeks. We are leaving the cab on the frame.

All of the instrumentation has been removed from the dash. The doors are off and the interior is bare. Windows are out.

I want to convert to 12V so we can put a nice stereo in for the kid. I have lots of questions about this process, and adding a new wiring harness.

We are keeping the flathead six stock. I think we should replace the fuel pump. I will have lots of questions when we start looking at the engine. When I bought the truck, it was being driven regularly, but it has been sitting in my garage for 18 months.

We will keep the drum brakes for now, but will try to replace all the cylindars and hoses.

We will clean and repaint the engine compartment.

I need to add seatbelts.

I am thinking about using composite decking for the bed. Anyone tried this before?

Anyway, I will be lurking over the next several months.

Thanks for listening.

[buds truck]

welcome to the forum. This is the place to get those much needed answers. These guys are great. Bud

[greg g]

For the money your are going to spend on brake parts, you might consider switcing the fronts to discs while you doing the original work. The drums are adequate but they can be difficult to adjust. Also there are lots of stories on the forums about NOS parts and new Off shore parts failing shortly after installation. Also discs are easier to maintain and the upgrade will assure readily available replacement parts in the future. Charlie Ackers a forum member (Old Daddy) makes a conversion kit, check out his Rustyhope,com website. Several other conversions are available but Charlie is a neighborhood guy.

Juliano's Rod shop has a couple how to for installing seat belts on their website. Remember to mount the belts to the body assembly and not the frame.

Welcome and good luck to you and your son on getting his truck up and running.

[48Dodger]

Hey BulldogTom, great to have another Pilothouse fan close by! Feel free to stop by the ranch and I'll be happy to show you some of the yard art as well as projects underway. My son is 16 too and learning a bunch in my shop. I know you guys will enjoy the build and hope you plan on making the BBQ.

48D

[BulldogTom]

48dodger. We would love to take a tour. My son just got his permit and will be driving this weekend. We may just drive by sometime. And I would love to make the BBQ. Will have to see what the schedule is for that day.

[grey beard]

Tom Bull ,

WElcome aboard. Let us know how we can be helpful.

Good Luck with the project:)