mattb73lt

Do you have the original door? That one looks like a replacement. Barring finding another replacement, I would completely strip that door to see what you really have. Evaluate that and see what can be done with it. Patches and the door bottom can be made if you can locate a good fabricator. Certainly, a good replacement would be the best and easiest solution. Keep advertising your need, one may appear.

Still getting lots of little stuff done and collecting up the things I need to finish most of the tasks that need to be done under the cab area. Looks like the cab and radiator will go on the weekend of May 22nd. With the need for a lift and extra hands I needed to set a date to coordinate it. Got the front brake air lines routed and built a few sections of my exhaust for the back drop manifold. It looks like the pipe will clear everything that concerned me. The bigger news, and this is more of a HUGE sigh of relief, was that I was able to motor the engine on the starter to build oil pressure to fill all the new external oil lines and new filter. Saw 30 PSI just on the starter. That gave me enough confidence to give it a little whiff of ether to see if it would catch. It did and keeping the RPM's low, I let it run for a few minutes. Oil pressure built to 60 PSI at a low idle. It sounded really good with only about three feet of straight pipe. This little thing has had me worried, as I've had the engine over 20 years and haven't heard it run since before I bought it back then. I had it heavily lubed internally and kept rotating it every so often with a wrench. I couldn't get a video of it as I didn't have enough hands, but soon enough once the fuel is hooked up to it. So, a good day finding out the engine is good and not a pretty boat anchor!!

Catching up to you with my exhaust system build. A few sections of pre-made exhaust pipe from Fleetpride should do it and one piece of flex pipe to make up an angle I can't get. Started it off with a stub I cut from the pipe that came with the engine, then an extended 45* bend to clear the transmission mount. The rest is pretty easy. I'll wrap about 2' in header wrap where it runs under the floor boards. Shouldn't be any interference with the cab floor or mounts from what I can see. This, some air lines and battery cables, then I'll be able to drop the cab and radiator on in about two weeks!!

Well, it was worth it. Beautiful paint!

Nice work! Quite the bed you fabricated for it. That’s going to be fun to play with.

They look sharp. Nice paint work, BTW. Great gloss and reflection.

It's looking great!! Now for some enjoyment in driving the fruits of all your labors.

It’s the little things that make you 😃😃

So many things to get done, find and hook up. At times I feel like I’m going in circles at this phase. I haven’t had a vehicle this far apart since the late 80’s when I did a complete restoration to my ‘27 Model T. That was like a model car compared to this truck. Lots mounted and back together since the clutch issue and I’m still on track for the cab and radiator going on by the end of May. Air reservoir, hydraulic pump, steering box and some of the linkage, power steering pump, fan belts redone are just some of what got done. Starting to rough in the air lines for the brakes. Waiting on the driveshaft to return. My fabricator friend is making me some mounts for the hanger bearings and the list goes on.....

Well, it was a learning point for me. I’ve put many clutches in, but this was the first one that required them. Ft. Wayne said you can pull them when needed to get more life out the clutch as it wears.

As much as I wanted to put the cab on back when I put the engine in, I’m glad I didn’t because this would’ve been a much more difficult fix.

I was just thinking, have you tried contacting the ATHS regarding your paint scheme search for the Coca Cola colors? Maybe they have some archival photos in their records.

Wow, that is really looking great in primer!! It's coming along nicely. Your little helper is getting some good training.

All back together and it functions. Quite stiff with hand pressure, but it’s definitely not a Girlyman truck.

No idea. They had two thicknesses, .122 and .150. The gentleman I spoke to said it was the .122’s, but he checked to make sure anyway. I think you could get them out without dropping the transmission, but it would be quite the job and laced with expletives.

Damn, that was quick!! You gotta love a company that’s great to work with, open to your questions and responsive to your needs!! Talked to them Thursday and here it is Saturday morning. Way to go Ft. Wayne Clutch!!! What a difference .122” makes in the spacing of the clutch fingers. Lesson learned, there.

No worries, I did that. It’s .042” stainless safety wire. I think originally it just had soft wire looped through it. My preference, as my background is more aviation maintenance related.

Yeah, that would’ve been a huge pain to fix with the cab on.

Minor step backwards yesterday. I had to drop the transmission off the engine to get at the clutch because it wouldn't release. It can be tough putting things together you didn't take apart, because you don't know what is supposed to be there. My engine came from one source the flywheel from another, with a used clutch assembly, and a new clutch from Ft Wayne Clutch in Indiana. It all went together, but wouldn't function. After some questions and a call to Ft Wayne, discovered I was missing all the shims that go under the pressure plate to space it properly. Ft Wayne was VERY helpful, especially since I bought the clutch way back in 2005. So, that fix is enroute. Dropped the driveshaft off at Fleetpride for a few things and that should be back Mon or Tue. That should put the driveline in the completed column late next week or early the following. More steps forward than back, which is always good.

That looks really good and very clean. I love it!!

Yeah, the stories I hear from my friends are frightening. The CSP aren’t even giving an entrance exam anymore. Numbers are way down and retirements are unbelievable.

Doesn’t really get used much, now. It’s heyday was late 80’s-mid 90’s and used mostly for enforcement on passenger vehicles. Never really did much commercial enforcement with it.

Drove about 70+ rivets back into the hood halves at my friend's shop today. It may not pass an airworthiness inspection, but I haven't forgotten how to drive rivets from my schooling 40 years ago. Interesting coincidence, the plane I was flying when I found the truck was in the shop for it's annual inspection and was right next to where I was working.

That looks great. I think you’ll be fine grafting those fenders together into one. I still can’t believe you used the entire cab back I sent you!! It look really good.

That was neat! Cool video.