Projects The LeGrange Produce Tribute Truck build

I bought 50 square feet. They have it in 100 sf rolls. I still have to do the floorboards and the insides of the doors. I plan on buying another 50 sf.

 

I hope you don't go over 70 with the blue painters tape. Could loosen some !

 

Not a lot getting done, but I did get some new shoes for the Produce truck. I ended up putting a 1957 Ford Pass car rear end under the truck and I couldn't find any info of the tire size/wheel offset etc. I am documenting this to save some poor sucker a lot of work.

Here are some pics and wheel/tire size references.
I wanted to run a big tall tire on it without sticking out of the fender, so I opted for a 15" x 8" wheel with a 4" backspacing. I bought BFG 235/70-15's. Here is a pic of the spacing etc.



I wanted to run a classic looking cap, so I have always gravitated to the 1940 Standard caps and the ribbed beauty rings. I bought repops. I can't afford the time to search out OEM caps, just to be a purist. If I lose one of these, it's $20.

I'll post a few pics of different angles. The rear of the truck will have to come down a little. I am thinking 2" blocks should suffice. I don't want to slam it too much, because I need to have a little there when I hook the travel trailer or the race car trailer up.

 

That looks like they fit in there just right and I bet two inches down will put them right on the money.

 

Thanks Dave. I think you are right. I'll throw some 2" blocks on it and see how that looks.

 

Remember...it's going to settle a bit with use.

 

Looks just right Root!

 

No, actually it shouldn't. The leaf springs I have on here are from 1950. I used the Chevy AD Pickup front springs. I would guess they are probably as flat as they are gonna get.

 

It's lookin good. Roger

 

Great look with the wheels and tires!

One of the better builds going on 'round here.


jerry

 

Damn, I just found this thread. What a cool build with family history, to boot. Kick Ass!

 

I am enjoying the build, Chris! Thanks for taking us along!

 

So, for those who were worried about the blue tape holding everything together I finally got the coupling installed. It turns really smooth. I'm pretty happy with the way it all lined up. no u-joints to worry about.

I finally put the tie rod in permanently and semi-adjusted the alignment. It's close enough for now.
I mounted the passenger side running board and rear fender.

I pushed it outside just to get a look at it and take a few pics. I am gonna have to take a few weeks off. Heading out on business trip, so progress will stop for a bit.

 

Anxious to see how you handle the mods to fit the 2004R. Look forward to your return. Like the build a lot.

 

Sure is looking good.

 

The 200-4R is supposed to be finished by the time I get back. I will probably make fitting it up a priority. The deep pan just showed up today, I hope it fits. It looks massive.

 

Although I am out of town, I did want to post this pic.

Sunday I installed the gauges. These were from Speedway. The company that builds the gauges is Omega. They are the only ones being produced that fit the stock Ford hole on the speedometer. They are built in the USA and I was surprised at how quick they responded to me via email. The owner of the company contacted me regarding a question I had. The kit came with all the senders, the mounting hardware and decent instructions (for a change). I am impressed with the completeness of the kit. They have quality plugs for the wiring etc.

I know they aren't super rare SW gauges, but I like my gauges to work and also be accurate. I have had my share of speedos that read 30 mph off. I am too old for that crap these days. I'll update you on the performance after they are wired up.

I mounted the voltmeter and the gas gauge in the eyebrow overhead. Sorry for the crappy pics.

 

They look great Chris....and compliment the colors nicely!

 

I like the gauges a lot, 200 pans aren't cheap are they.

 

No, they are not.......that's why his one stays in the package until I am sure it will fit in the frame.

 

Really nice

 

It will fit in the frame with a little trimming on x member legs, but I don't believe it will clear the wishbones mounted with the CE center plate, plus the plate needs the front half trimmed off. My experience anyway.

 

Gauges look sweet in the dash!


jerry

 

Nice looking truck. You're making great progress. Is the steering coupler you used completely solid or is the black portion rubber/poly that allows for a little flexing? Just curious. I like how the box and column are aligned so well.

Never mind. I just went back and read the entire thread. Vibration dampener.

 

So what did you do with the wishbones?

 

I moved the wishbones to the outside of x member legs with these brackets I made using the "ears" off of the CE plate that contain the bungs for the tie rod ends. I bolted them on for now until I know this will work. The only other option I see is Speedway four bar, but they will not work with my SoCal axle, it is too narrow at the perch mounts. I have also included a picture of the frame trimming necessary. I opened up the rectangular hole on the drivers side to allow access to the speedo cable connection thanks to another Hamber that sent me some picyutrs of his 40 using the four bars. He made that suggestion and it is a good one.

 

That's where I was going with my ideas as well. I just didn't want to spread the arms too far, reducing the triangulation of the bones. I had mine split to the outer frame rails in high school and it basically rendered the front end useless, but poor people have poor ways.

 

I tried to keep them as close as possible and yet still clear the 2004r pan. I will construct a cross piece to connect the two sides together and drops under the trans pan. That is what the two empty holes are for.

 

So I have been off for 2 weeks THRASHING on the Produce truck. We have been pulling some long days trying to get this thing up for the next Hot Rod hundred in Sept. I'll be adding a few things as I get time.
So, the wife and I decided we needed some storage since this will be pulling our vintage travel trailer. I pondered it for a while and remembered a trunk that my grandpa gave me. It was a trunk off of an old Overland I believe that his mother used to have back in the 20's. I have been dragging this thing around for 30 years.

The first thing I did was sandblast it and spray the inside, the back and the bottom with bed liner to weatherproof it a bit. I should be a sales rep for Raptor as much as I pimp this stuff.

Then I drilled off all the hardware pieces . They don't make stuff like this anymore. Quality that lasts 100 years.


A few minutes on the buffer and it looks like new.

I ran by the Help rack at the local parts store and bought 6 shock mount rubbers. I mounted the trunk on those and bolted it to the bed of the truck. It serves as isolators and also it raised up the trunk to allow the water not to pool against it and rust out the bottom of the trunk.

Looks like it belongs there.

 

I'm not a huge proponent of fiberglass parts, but every once in a while, I figure I got a deal. I bought a set of these fiberglass rear fenders at a swap meet for $80 pair. I decided to gamble on them. Fast forward 25 years and I actually have something to use them on. We just kinda collect 35-37 Ford pickup parts, knowing some day we will need them.
These were kinda light weight compared to today's standards so I opted to beef up the area where they get the most abuse, the front side where they attach to the running board. So, I had some .125" aluminum and I fabricated some doublers to attach, to help beef it up someone decided to jump up on the running boards.
I did some research and I settled on an epoxy resin that actually has a G rating from the DOT.
It's called Fusor 108B. You have to buy the large gun if you get the big tubes like I got. I found one on Amazon for about $35. It mixes in the tube as it comes out. Pretty slick.




I let it dry for a few days, even though it said it would be good in an hour. I had plenty of other stuff to do. It worked awesome. It worked so good I used it to install my newly fabricated battery box. I popped a couple of holes in it, dropped 2 bolts in to draw it up tight and it worked perfect. Water and air tight seal.

Here's a pic after the obligatory Raptor coating.

Then I just back drilled it and installed it.