I like the interior work so far! You are really kicking this into high gear. I notice your doors only have a hole in the center for gl***/regulator/latch install. Mine have one in the lower panel as well. Why? My cab is a 46 (had a tank under the seat). Maybe they had different doors??
Sorry I have not posted - been busy with house projects. Things should clear up for awhile until the next phase of house projects starts. I had a few hours today and I installed a cutoff switch. I had one for the positive battery post but where the truck will be in the garage I will have a tough time getting to that side. So I installed a cutoff switch that I can reach in the interior .... I placed the switch here as it’s out of the way and just under the glove box on the inside .... My present wiring just had to be moved around a little to connect to the one post. I will have to stretch over in the cab to reach it but it should not be too bad. I have been looking for a brake latch that can cut the old Ford drums for some time. A buddy of mine had one for sale and I could not p*** it up. I then picked up a roll around cart for $25 bucks and purchased two item it needed. Got most everything I need now save for an adapter for early F-100 and Ford 8” and 9” drums ..... It just needs a semi-permanent home in the garage and then read the manual. I have some drums that are too far gone to practice with. Tomorrow I am back on the project .....
Oops - that was typo - I swear! Good thing you live on the other side of the country or I would be in trouble!
That would be more apt...just installed a couple new bonnets last night. Now, more truck building! @TomT are you sewing your own seat?
No, Bandit (I am leaving out the second half of your HAMB handle lest I screw it up again - lol!) - the seat I am using is a 2-tone grey 3rd seat out of a ‘93 Chevy Suburban which is nicely roll and pleated and looks pretty retro. Actually it’s similar to the look of the 55-57 T-bird seats. It’s cloth vs vinyl but I am going with it for my interior colors, shades of grey as they say. Today I did not get a full day in but I did several returns of parts from Speedway and a few other places, and worked on the lower door strip that slips into that channel below the floor. They are a real pain in the **** to get on. I have half the p***enger side strip in place and I hope I have not installed it upside down. My lower edge is the open end - it just didn’t look right with the open end pointing up. I hope I’m right .... Nothing else to report but I will be at it tomorrow with whatever amount of time I can muster ..... Thursday’s my 96 year old Dad and I go for a ride. He still drives and is pretty spry for his age. We cruise around the ‘Burg together with him driving his new CR-V as I do not want him going on his own right now. He wants to make 100 years old so I am keeping him (and me) on the straight and narrow....
You’re making good progress. Wish that I was this far along Is that weatherstrip that goes in the channel at the bottom of the doors a readily avaiable item, like Drake, Vintique, etc. Thanks, Bill (not a bandit)
I bought that rubber some time ago but the tag said Drake. Just Googled “1940 ford pickup door rubber” and they are out there. The first one on the list said $9.95/pr.
My mom will turn 97 next month. She lives in Portland in an ***isted care joint. Our Gov's had made it impossible to see her for nearly a year now. Just phone calls. Take advantage of the time you have with your dad. Cars can wait.
My Dad will turn 97 in March and he’s got an older brother who just turned 98 this past November. He is one of 5 brothers - only 3 are left. I have had him in my life for so long, I can’t imagine him not being around. It will be tough that is for sure ....
I got back on the lower door weatherstrip and it took another hour to complete it. I was not going to go through that again on the driver side. I trimmed off an ever so slight amount from the top edge of what slips in the channel ..... In doing that the driver side took 20 minutes - go figure! It was just too much material to get into that channel. At least in my truck anyway. The green plastic piece I actually picked up from Drake awhile ago. It really helps getting rubber into tight places like windshield gaskets and the door weatherstrip. I also had some door jam rubber for my old 40 coupe I never used that is a close fit on the truck. The trucks are really drafty and they will help seal it off .... I used weatherstrip adhesive to glue it down .... It looks pretty good - I will use the hollow stick on rubber for around the upper window area and down the back side of the door.
That door edge rubber is a good idea, as those trucks came with none. Are you also using windlace? DC sent one of those sticks with my last order, it will sure come in handy!
Yes - wifey will help make the windlace. Just need to find the right filler for it ...... These trucks could be pretty drafty. It’s not so bad when you are younger but as you get older the cold kind of creeps up on you .....
Way back in the 60s-70's we used a stick like that for installing windshields but is was made out of a whitish smooth stone type material I THINK it was called soapstone.
A club member front m way back had a gl*** business and he gave me one that he had. I used it for years u til I misplaced it and it disappeared. Funny thing is, he made them out of toilet bowl cleaner handles and they were the same type of material that looked like soapstone.
Got a good day in today but I feel like I didn’t accomplish much! I worked on my throttle cable install. The way things worked out the old chrome gas pedal I had lying around ended up a bit too close to the heater box that I can’t access it easily to adjust the arms without loosening the mounting bolts. I worked on that for a bit (fortunately I removed the ****** cover and was able to reach in and hold things by myself) and got both arms straight and where I would have enough travel. I am using a Lokar throttle cable setup (I know it’s new but my wife will be driving this truck). I set up where my hole needed to be put through the firewall, and I removed the cable from the unit. I had to drill the hole in the end of the throttle arm to accommodate the pin, then drilled the hole in the firewall and installed the ends that hold the sheath of the cable to the firewall. However, the threaded end of the holder stuck way into the interior messing up the arm throw. So, using a nut, I shimmed the firewall side nut out, cutting down on the threaded shaft on the inside. I could have cut the threaded end but the end was machined so there would be no cable chafing and, not being able to duplicate that if I cut it, I used a nut as a shim and it brought the pedal throw back to where I need it to be .... You can just about see the nut in this pic. Sorry - I will post more and better pics tomorrow. A small order I had made to Joe’s Antique Auto parts came in which included my glove box door handle, an adjustable brake pedal (it can be angled up or down), and a bolt kit for the window regulator. My driver door is stuffed with everything but my p***enger door the window regulator, side gl***, window channels, and the felt pieces are yet to be installed. The pedal went in ok and will really help the wife. Without this special pedal, the pedal would be tilted downward making her only be able to use the top of the pedal due to the angle of the brake setup. Tilting the pedal up allows more of the brake pedal surface to be utilized. I had to drill out the pedal for the stud and got it all locked in place now. A simple thing like the glove box handle also gave me an issue. The holes in the door did not match the 40-41 pickup handle. The holes were too wide apart (I don’t think the p***enger and truck glove box doors are the same?). I had to widen the holes to where the handle was bolted in but if you look closely, you can see the outside edges of the holes. I just won’t look so closely! The final thing I did was to run some ground wires for the Cl***ic Instruments’s 40 standard style gauge panel. It needs a dedicated ground wire from the battery. There’s a factory threaded hole in the lower part of the firewall on the p***enger (battery) side. I ran a couple lines threading a bolt from the inside to the outside and placed a cable ready to go directly to the battery on the protruding threaded end. That’s it - more and better pics tomorrow.....
Some pics from yesterday .... First three are of the brake and gas pedals ..... Today I cleaned up the shop a bit and worked on the vacuum hose for the heater which will allow it to change modes from heat to defrost and back .... For these holes I determine where the hole needs to be on the inside, use an awl to open up the carpet a bit and drill a small pilot hole. Then from the firewall side I run through about a 1/4” drill bit being careful to not go in too far but just make the hole. I then push a Phillips head screwdriver through the enlarged hole and rotate it around so the carpet is out of the way and use a step drill until I have the right size hole for either the grommet or whatever. At any rate that’s about it for holes in the firewall as of right now. But ..... The biggest news of the day was that my engine shop called me and he is working on my motor. To recap, I bought this motor from a guy that was all ready “built” before he bought it, stating that it was a pretty stout 4.3 following the 350hp 4.3 article(s) in hot rod and either street rider or rod and custom. Removing the pan my guy found no problems, everything was super clean, all the bearings he removed all looked good, and it had been bored but to what we don’t know. He then removed the intake and it has roller tipped rockers, a roller cam, new valves, heavier springs, the heads had extensive work done on them, and they too were super clean. The intake was dirty so he will blast it and drop it in his tank. All in all, he was really pleased with what he has seen so far and is looking forward to startup and see how this baby runs and sounds. I am pumped but cautiously optimistic of the next steps to fire up. Finger crossed ....
Be VERY careful drilling through carpet. The drill flutes can "catch" on the weave of the carpet and before you can blink you have a bunch of thread wrapped around the drill bit and part of the weave missing leaving a missing space in the carpet. Ask me how I know LOL. Best way I have found is heating your awl or pick very hot first and burning a hole through the carpet instead of just poking it through.
Thanks so much for the heads up, Loudbang! I have to admit that I have been there and done that too many times! The sequence I have followed this time around worked pretty well. No pulls, nothing of consequence as you can see by the pics. I will attribute it all to dumb luck and chalk it up to that!
Sometimes you can get away with putting duct tape down over the spot to be drilled and then pressing it down tight as you drill............sometimes!
The Jalopy Journal
