Well, I need the "F-4" badges. The original ones got lost somewhere along the way. I'm also looking for some "dust caps" for the front hubs/drums. The ones I have are dented really bad. I was going to try to straighten them out if I can't find some better ones. I need some vent windows and also the door lock mechanisms.
The powder coater and I talked about that and he was supposed to leave me a bare spot where the the battery box mounts but it appears he forgot. I'll make sure to get a good ground spot for when I wire it up.
And I thought my thread was thorough!! Man, those welds are amazing.. It's definately an area I could use some improvement in.. This is going to a very clean truck, it's hard for me to believe its the first one you've restored lol.. Very nice, I'm tuned in!
What you should have done was leave a bolt in the chassis and let them coat over it. Remove it after and you would be ok.
Can't argue with you there. Like I've mentioned before, I learned a lot and will definitely remember these for the next vehicle.
Well, bad news, found out the rims for the F4 are the dreaded widow makers; at least five of the six are. One of them has the snap ring on the front side. I've worked with split rims before and didn't like it but at least they were the newer "safer" type. Any one know of some rims that will work on these old trucks?
We all learn new things Had a similar problem here some time back and best I can suggest is you look to find a similar wheel pattern and size in a newer style of wheel.
Good news! I was able to get some replacement rims! I posted the rim issue I had on the Ford Barn and a member replied with two Craigslist ads. I called one of the ads and was able to purchase the rims! Only issue is the rims are in Boise, Idaho and I'm in Ft Walton Beach, FL. Almost completely across the country. Trying to work out the shipping now.
Great to hear you found the rims. Maybe a (Hamb) car hauler can take them on the back seat?? Good luck with the shipping!
Too bad you didn't get them a little sooner. I was through Boise this past Tues night. I could have gotten them to this side of the country
Wow, I sure wish I could have taken you up on the offer. The seller of the rims has contacted various shippers and they all want a lot to ship those rims down here.
I've been slowly progressing away trying to get a few things done while I wait on the powder coating process. The powder coater has moved his operation and he asked me to give him a couple weeks to get situated. So here are a few things I've done. I put new bushings in the front spring perches. Man, that was a "fun" job. Praise the Lord for my air hammer getting the old ones out. I then used a brake wheel cylinder hone to smooth out the "bore" before I greased and pressed in the new bushings. sorry for the crappy picture. Here's a picture of the front and rear spring pins. You should be able to tell which ones are the new ones. I worked on the battery box too. After getting it sand blasted I wanted to fix a few things before it was powder coated. Four of the six spot welds had broken and the whole assembly was very flexible. I fixed the spot welds and then run a few welds where the "feet" of the box mounted to the top. That really strengthened it up. Much better now. Looking at some of the blasted spring leaves you can see where its sister leaf has been sitting over the years. I do have a question for you guys, once I get the leaves back from powder coating I was going to put grease between the leaves as I put them together. I thought maybe this would help them slide better and not squeak. Do you guys have any advice on this? Also, what would you use as a new center pin to hold the leaves together? Can I just use a bolt or is there something special I need to use? Now I have a few more questions. First, how do I get these back drums off???? And on the front backing plates, what should I do with these adjustment nuts? I was going to powder coat them but I'm afraid the powder coating might "stick" the adjustment plates in one position and it doesn't look like I can remove them.
McMaster Carr has .025" x 2" Delrin strips for $.81/ft. for in between the leaves. Pull the axles and you'll find two large nuts holding the drum to the spindle. Usually beat all to crap with a hammer and chisel.
Here you go David, maroon body and wheel with the cream grill and black bumper. I think your idea will work rather well. Eli
I think you're right about the powder-coating making them "stick" and when you go to turn them, the coating may chip off. Could you carefully grind off the staking, and disassemble the cams from the hex-headed spuds? There's a double D-shaped portion to the spuds that turns the cams. Then have the spuds tapped; for instance, a 10-32 button-head capscrew along with a substantial washer to retain the cams. They aren't subject to much tension (the short spring on the opposite side being the only thing), so would still retain the function. A dab of thread-locker (Loctite 204 or similar) to hold them. Also, rather than powder-coating those parts that turn, I'd have them black-oxided, or black-phosphated. Gatz
Well, it's been a couple of weeks since I've done any work on the truck...the contract I've been working on ended and I've been out of work; kind of took the wind out of my sails. Thankfully I had enough vacation time to use while the company I work for works to get our new contract in place. I've also enjoyed spending the days with my kids and goofing off. That being said, I have been contemplating various things in regards to the old truck and one of those is the brakes. I'd like to put power brakes on it while also upgrading the master cylinder to a dual resevour (sp). I've looked at some of the kits for 1/2 ton '48 Ford trucks but I really don't want to spend $300 - $400 for the kits that I'd have to modify anyway to work on this 1 ton truck. I also looked at Speedway and other sources for just their stand alone 7" booster and MC combos and can get those for roughly $150. Do any of you have any experience in putting together your own power brake system??? I could sure use some advice. I plan on mounting it under the floor using the stock pedal and it will be 4 wheel drum. thanks in advance for your inputs. David
David, I bought one of the expensive kits for my '51, but once I got it I realized it could have been made fairly easily if you have the time to mess with it. The only tricky part is fabbing the bracket between the frame x-member and the booster, to set it further back from the x-member.
I LOVE what you did with the AC - running it through the original Fresh Aire heater duct. Which leads me to believe the cab may be a '50, as the '48 & '49 Fords didn't have that heater as an option. If it is a '48, then I've learned something today: I didn't think the '48 & '49 cabs had the knockout in them that you ran the AC through! ~Jason
If you are still wondering how to get the rear brake drums off. First thing you do is remove the axle shafts, that ring of 8 bolts is what holds the axle shaft to the hub/drum. You take those bolts off and pull the axle shaft out. After that you need to get a fairly large socket to remove the nut and washer that is holding the bearings in. I think mine was around a 1 7/8" size socket. Yours might be different. But yeah, pull the nut, washer, and bearing out and then you can remove the drum.
I'm into it! Nice work!! I've been wresting with ideas of what to do with my old 43 ford "biggie" flatbed might be the way to go.
8flat - I definitely don't mind making a bracket to fit the booster and MC in there. Is the 7 inch booster the ticket to get one to fit?? I bought an 8 or 9" booster at a local part store to see if it would fit and it would not work at all. I took it back so I didn't lose anything on that. I guess I just need to find a basic booster/MC combo for drums brakes from one of the online "speed shop" stores. Jason - the kit that I used for the AC was from Custom Auto Air. They were the only ones that made a kit specifically for the '48-52 trucks. Based on the VIN the truck is a '48 and it did have the fresh air ducts plate. I was very pleased with the kit and everything fit really good. I did modify it some in regards to placement of the dryer. The kit places it in the engine compartment but the location of the compressor wouldn't allow enough room. I worked with a local AC shop and they supplied me with various fittings and lengths of hose so I could properly locate the lines and such. Once I got everything where I wanted them I "clocked" the fittings, took them to the shop and had them crimped. Worked great.
Wow, that seems like a lot of work to pull a drum but I'll give it a shot. I want to inspect the brakes and such to make sure they are not in need of repair. Thank you for your help, I really appreciate it.
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