Hot Rods Ooltewah Speed Shop builds a '57 Ford truck

hells yes! looks killer bro!

 

Looks like what I ran on mine 59-60 F100 bumper.

Later,Bill

 

X President now

 

Yes, 59-60. I may be wrong, but it looks to be the same bumper that was on my '66. Seems like the bolt holes are wrong for a direct swap, but you can get them in chrome. A little bit of bracket magic and you should be in business...

 

Thanks on the bumper ID. I really dislike the original bumper on my truck. Anyone hear of a 57 Chevy bumper being used? I thought I read here that a 57 Ford was running one and it looked good but I can't find the post now.

 

Here is a bad shot of mine from when I first brought it home. I can't figure out how to change the size of my better pics and get them downloaded yet.

 

Say WHAAAAT?

 

same bumper on mine. pulled it off a 59 in the yard,tucked back3-4 inches. yah,no idea where that idea came from......

 

I could have sold those valve covers 50 times... I just like them because they are different.

 

Later,Bill

 

Yeah, mine will get the "Bill Bumper" treatment too. It just looks so much better with the bumper slid back where it belongs.

Speaking of bumpers.... Probably won't have a rear bumper on mine.

I've been fitting up a flip down tag to hide a receiver hitch. I had a dually fixed like that. Worked great, and hid all the hitch when you weren't using it. Not so much the full roll pan, just the hidden hitch.

What do you think?

 

Did you get a hitch set-up yet? I am doing the same with my 57' so I can pull an old travel trailer. I have been playing around with what hitch I can modify to work it all out. I agree the 57 doesn't need a roll pan and looks good with no rear bumper.

 

I slid my front bumper back 3 1/2" and it really helped but the flat cheap'o bumper still needs help. I think I'll order a 59 like you guys are running.

 

no rear bumper on mine either.

 

I have one that I'm going to fit in there. It's gonna be upside down from it's original configuration, and MAJOR overkill, but with a little bit of original rear roll pan magic.... You'll never know it's there.

Here's the gap between the '59-66 bumper to the lower grill opening. If you shortened your brackets 3 1/2", you will have to re-group. Looks like 2 1/2" would be the right number here.

I'm thinking maybe some kind of nerf bar... ?

 

Something like this........... Later,Bill

 

Uh.... Yeah.

 

I see the bracing inside the cab. Did it move around any when the floors came out?

This truck is going to be killer. My favorite Ford truck, by far.

 

It did sag a little in the front door hinge area with both sides cut out. A floor jack and porta-power will fix anything.

It's square now after about 3 hours of jacking it around.

 

Does anybody know if these '57 rearends are 28 or 31 spline?

 

Let me rephrase that....

Is there any way to tell what axle spline 9" rearend you have without tearing it apart?

Maybe that's a better way to ask the question. Surely someone on here knows.

 

All the 57 -59 9 inch fords I have had were 28 spline.

And no there really isn't any way to tell without pulling the axle.

 

Hey Dude, the truck is looking good!! My experiance with the 9" rears...... if the axles have the 2 drilled holes in the center of the axle flange, 90% of the time they are 31 spline. If they have a rectangular concave, they are always 28 spline. 1957 was the first year of the 9", so alot may have changed over the next few years. Hope this helps.

 

I was hoping to get out without buying axles, but either way I'm using this stuff... Strange Nodular center section, 31 spline Detroit Locker, Tex 3.80 gear.

So.... If it has 28 spline axles, is there a stock replacement 31 spline or is it an aftermarket deal?

 

Like it a lot but I may be prejudice. Tucking thefront bumper in really improves the front looks to me. Here is a pic that was my reason for building one.

SPark

 

Yeah, the green truck is really cool, and one of my favorites. Not so sure about his red one...

I've been wondering about your inner cab corners. Did you fab them? Pics?

From here on, the front bumper tuck will be called the "Bill Bumper" treatment. Might not be the first time it was done, but by FAR the most recognized mod to these trucks. Made famous by our friend NovaTattoo.

 

cut it out................

Later,Bill

 

Here's the red one mentioned above..... Not a Hamb truck, but there are some aspects of it that might appeal to us.

 

It doesn't take much to check the spline count. Just pull the wheel and brake drum, unbolt the bearing retainer and pull out the axle. Takes less than a half hour and one or two beers. The plus side is that you can check the seal at the same time.

 

Ok.... Here's the end of the axle. 2 holes = 31 splines. Right?

Here's a few more shots, but now from the bottom side as I was squaring up the panels. Like I said before, these are NOT the best replacement panels I've seen, but I'm fairly certain they are the only ones available for these trucks.

Alright, here we go again....