Oh yeah, I seem to remember you telling me that a few weeks ago. Great color. I'm partial to the pale yellows, creams, and light tans. I'm going to have to repaint the back of my cab (again!) and was thinking of going with the same cream color I've got on the column and steering wheel. Might even do the fenders too. I've seen a couple of 2-toned trucks that looked great but can't decide if it would be an improvement or look like some kinda circus truck. Keep the build pics coming, your project looks great!
Another set back today. My machinist called today and told me the 401 nailhead block had a 4" crack across one side. It’s on the outside at the bottom edge of a water jacket. I’m looking to see if someone in the area can weld it for me. Anyone with experience in this area? I took my guy my spare nailhead to check if it's any better. I do know it will need one cylinder sleeved but that's ok with me.
Man, that's bad news. I hope you can get it fixed. This might sound a little crazy but a lot of folks have had good luck using JB Weld on block cracks. Do a search on here and you can read all the stories.
Give me a break or should I say brake! I found a shop to weld my cracked block. We will see how that turns out. He has been welding them for 43 years and seems to feel good about mine. On my way home I stopped by my machinists shop to find out my spare block had even a longer crack in it than the first block. Can you say "Boat Anchor" The guy happened to be there that I bought my first core from and he has another he is suppose to bring by to use. Suppose to even be better than the first. So at this point I'm crossing my fingers for a good fix on one and another block that may be better to use. Why can’t people drain their motors to keep these nostalgia motors from freezing to the point they crack?
Update; I picked up the 401 block from the welder. Damn things are getting expensive! But cheaper than buying another core block that may be cracked as well. Looks good but I think I will mix up some epoxy and fill the inside of the block crack as well. Just a little insurance. I took it back to my machinist and back on the money pit again. He wants to put the soft plugs in it and do a pressure test just to make sure all is leak free. Mean while I'm working on the rear end now so I can get this thing to being a roller. Yesterday I worked on the front panel of the new bed. With the sides having a nice roll and the front being square, it just looks tacky to me. I cut the top off and will weld a length of 1” tubing across there to help that area to make it look more original. But before I weld that on I have an idea of something to hammer into that area as well so it doesn’t look so flat. This thing is made from 16 gauge so it may be too heavy for the inlay. Plan on doing a test piece to make sure it will work. I also will roll some impressions in it to look original and add strength. fficeffice" /><O></O> <O></O> Well here is what I ended up doing. Rolled some lines in her and will call it good. Just was too heavy of metal to do much more.
Today was a good day! I sold my 38 Chevy Sedan so now I have the funds to get a little more serious in finishing up this build. Heading to it's new home in Oregon.
MJ---reread the entire thread this a.m. Really like the frame buildup. Hope everything works out with the nailhead. Appreciate your help along the way. I followed your advice on the headliner install---came out fine and the hot Texas sun is doing the small wrinkles in nicely. I want to reboard my door panels---going to look into ABS. Thanks, Marty
I finally have had some time to work on the truck. I bought the bed inter structure from Mack Hils and in the process of mocking that up. I must say it is going to make the bed part a lot more easily to set up.
Thanks for posting the pics of the pickup bed base - I'm fixing one up myself, and those shots are a good reference for me. A very informative and well documented build - Thanks again. Mart.
Just for reference; I did have to move the gas tank forward about an inch from the factory mounting holes. That was needed to center the fuel filler neck in the bed frame outlet. It may have been because of the Tanks poly tank. I used a poly tank in my 40 coupe and it fit factory location just fine. Looking at my black 40 pickup and it's poly tank had been moved forward as well.
I picked up my 401 nailhead from the machinist today. Short block is done and dropped off the heads to do. Good news is the bid came in lower than expected. I got all of the wood sealed with varnish and welded up the bed frame. I spent the afternoon fitting the rear bed pockets to the lower panel and tailgate.
I spent the week end sand blasting and cleaning up parts for paint. I have started to put the rear end back together for the final time. I hope! I do need to switch out the 3rd member from my coupe to the pickup project for the ratio. I put a 3:40 in the coupe but it has a 350th and runs a little high at highway speeds for me. It should be just about right for the 700r4 in the pickup. Next expense will be to order some Diamondback whitewalls and a set of Ford chrome wheels from wheelkid.
Bit the bullet today and ordered the OEM chrome wheels from wheelkid. Once again my alliance membership more than paid for itself. I ordered 15x6 for fronts and 15x8 reversed for the rear. Will post some photos in a couple weeks. Can't wait!
Been following your build thread, thank you, thank you, thank you for posting pics, it really helps with ideas on finishing up the 36 Im working on. Looking forward to seeing the wheels you got for it.
Thanks! Photos tell the whole story! Here is the wheels I ordered. Planning on running wide white walls. Never had a set but always wanted them. 15X6" 15X8" WITH 3" BACK SPACING
I started working on the cab today. It really is a nice cab and only has a couple areas of rust to deal with. I tipped it up on the firewall to work on the bottom side first. I will clean her up and coat with POR-15 black. There are two areas on the inside of the back cab corners that need attention first. While it is there I will sandblast the door jams and any other areas that are hard to get in to.
I spent the last few days stripping the paint off the body and rear fenders. The panels are a lot better than I expected. The one thing I don't do well is body and paint. I have a young friend that is good and I let him do the shinny stuff. His brother painted my 40 Coupe. He has the front and rear fenders in seal coat now and they are looking nice. I delivered the body and running boards to him today. The boards I had blasted. He will fix the usual rust areas in the rear cab corners. They weren't bad though. Now I'm working on the paint removal on the doors. I did the worst one first and again no rust. Sure is nice when you can find nice metal. After all of this sanding and grinding, I'm sure glad I sprung for a new bed. I know it will need some minor work but new metal sure looks good. I thought it might be cool to delivery the body in style.
I stopped by the body shop today to see the progress on the cab. Jesse had started welding up the body seams and replacing a couple rust areas and a hole in the firewall that used to have a heater motor sticking through. Before After Before After Before After Before After
Looking good, in my opinion these are one of the best pickups ford ever built, Its going to be a good looking truck and I really like your choice of engine. Theres just somthing about those nailheads and there vertical rocker covers. Photos of a little 41 that we have just finished for a customer, nice plain and simple little truck.
This truck is coming out very nicely. Subscribed! I really like the red one in the background of the third picture!! Paul
That was my 38 Chevy Sedan. I sold it about a month ago. I had it since 1978 but decided to sell to finish this project. The chrome wheels came from wheelkid and Rally America. Love them and they make a nice wheel. They are an Alliance Vendor here and give a discount.
I took the doors and hood out to the boys for fitment to the cab. The Griffin's are very particular to panel fitment. Especially doors and hood areas. Here you can see that the door edge to the cab is not square to each other and what Jesse is doing to fix that. The Fix;
I checked on my pickup's bodywork progress yesterday and it is looking good. The body is ready to start blocking. The grill is ready to paint and the running boards are coming along. The doors have been fit and I delivered the dash to him. I guess I better start getting serious about the colors and if I'm going to louver the hood.
Enjoying your build. Went through a similar one over the last several years. These are great old trucks.
The Jalopy Journal
