Hot Rods '35 Pickup Build Thread - Alaska in August '18!

Love what you've done so far. It'll be a great PU when done. Keep us updated.

 

Updates!




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Nice video, nice neighborhood and nice truck. You’re coming along!

 

Thanks! Starting to get a little stressful over here....

 

Morning folks, little update. I’ve been busy doing lots of things, but not much that looks impressive. Things like wiring and running lines... but I did make an adapter for my manual temp gauge for the 59a heads!

If any of you are familiar (it was new to me) with the 59AB heads, then you know they have an electric sending unit and there isn’t a shoulder to seat a mechanical temp sender. Apparently there is a fitting specially made to make this work, but no one seems to have them. I started bay trying to use an old sender and modifying, but when that didn’t work I found that a plumbing fitting just needed some persuasion to work.



Also did some work so I can mount the bed.



And a bit more work on window channels; “after” pic to come.



This one’s just for fun. Pablo Escobar.




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Little setback. Found this in my radiator when I was checking fluid level. Not sure if it was in the heads or the radiator, as I never saw it before....


Plus side is I found a radiator shop to check it out and should have it back soon. Here’s hoping it checks out!


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Radiator is cleaned and back in, truck's running well. Replaced the water pumps while I had it drained, as the old ones were leaking from the shaft (by the way, anyone know how to rebuild those? I'm guessing I need a press...) and cleaned out the water passages while I was in there too. Lots of rusty gunk, but I didn't see any real issues, so that's comforting. Now I'm waiting on the windshield to come back because I couldn't get the glass to seat properly so I'm leaving it to the pros. Next project - exhaust.

 

there are many threads about rebuilt water pumps with better impellers. Skip Haney is the guy. http://www.fordcollector.com/water_pumps.htm

 

That's a steal of a deal! Thanks a million.

Mike

 

Update folks! Sorry, no pics.

Got the windshield in and working! Had to take it to a local glass shop to get it in the frame though, my meats couldn't make that rubber slide into the frame at all. Seems like they used a little thinner rubber and didn't have the same issues I was having.

I've been cruising around the neighborhood and noticed the clutch doesn't completely disengage, so I'll have to adjust the linkage a bit. Next thing is to get the exhaust fabbed up and ran, and the wheels/tires balanced. Then I should be ready for some longer test runs.Gotta get the window regulators figured out too as they're giving me fits.

Progress!
Mike

 

Update with pics! Got some exhaust ran last night. Right side was easy, left not as much. It’s not quite as straight as I’d intended, must have moved finish welding it when I had it out, but it’s in! Which is important.



Also got my bed wood cut and ready to install, just waiting on some mounting strips that hopefully show up today. It’s black walnut that I locally sourced, and I plan on finishing it with some linseed oil so it’s easy to repair when it gets scratched inevitably.



Next up, fenders!


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Looking good! Gonna make the deadline?

 

We're leaving regardless, so it better be ready to go!

Seriously though, while it won't look as good as I'd like it to, I don't think I'll have an issue meeting the deadline. I've got wheels and tires out for balancing right now, which means I can start test driving it around this week pending brake light wiring. I won't have headlights until I get the fenders repaired and on, so likely next week sometime, but daytime drives should be good. I mostly want to shake it down and make sure the basics are all decent - brakes, clutch, etc. and that there's no glaring driving issues. We'll see how that goes.

So far from my little driving I've done, I need to adjust the clutch linkage as it's not completely disengaging, making for a bit of grinding getting in first gear and quick shifts from there. Not a huge deal, but those are the things I'm hoping to figure out here in the next 4 weeks.

 

Update! With pics even.

Went to NC last Saturday to pick up some sheet metal. Guy had a bunch of 35-37 trucks he parted out over the years. Not much left, but I got a pair of fenders that needed less work than mine for a good price, and a few other odds and ends that will help, namely a trans cover. I got all that prepped and primed this weekend, paint today or tomorrow.



Not show worthy, but good enough for Alaska. I also got the bed wood oiled and partially installed. I’m running thicker wood than most must be, because the steel runner bolt kit bolts were way too short! But I got her figured and just need to get under it to install washers and nuts.



Found an old lead repair in one of the fenders where they all crack, but forgot to get pics. It’s always interesting seeing “original” repairs.


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Go Man!!! Enjoy watching this build, looking forward to the roadtrip stories.

 

Glad you're liking it! There should be plenty to tell during/after, so I'll try to keep up.

 

More updates! Painted fenders and got them quasi located in the general vicinity of the truck. Mounting up today hopefully.



Not my best work, but they’ll do for now.


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Well, I got the fenders on, with a little persuasion. Looks like someone at some point modified the inner fenders so they don't quite line up like they should, but it'll do for now. There's going to be lots of things that I'll have to fix like that when I get back from the Arctic circle...



Also got the headlights mounted, though they still need adjustment. Luckily someone converted these old buckets to sealed beam, so the 12V swap was pretty easy, and 7" halogens are cheap. Still have to wire them up, but that won't take long.


The grill is going to stay that way for the trip, even though it's ugly, and I'm going to add some wire mesh to it so as to protect the radiator. If you haven't noticed, cherry stuff isn't really in the cards for the Alaskan roads, but that means I'll be more inclined to have additional fun! I do intend to fix it all eventually. oh, and a teaser of the interior!

 

Went for the first real drive last night! She performed pretty well all told. I need to adjust the clutch linkage for a little more travel/disengagement, and the Columbia vacuum canister seems to be a little sticky, so I'll have to get in there and see what's hanging it up, but overall it was good! Oh, I did lose the nut attaching the drag link to the pitman arm, so that was fun. Must have missed it at some point during assembly. Moral of that story is don't ever put something together saying "I'll finish it later!"

 

A lot of people use a grease pen to mark the bolts when they torque them down so they won't skip one by mistake.

 

Sweet build!

 

Good job. Keep us updated. Bob............

 

So... What happened? Was there a trip? I’ve been in suspense now for 2 months.

 

Mebbe a polar bar et’ him.....lol

 

Oh man I missed this whole thread before! What a bitchin’ truck!!

 

You're Bitchin!!!!

 

Sorry 'bout that! There was a trip! Though much less eventful than I had hoped. We left on Thursday at about 10 am out of Detroit, which was a day later than we wanted to leave as we had to be in Seattle, Washington by Sunday for tech inspection. We had spent the day prior (our original set-off date) testing when we started having fuel delivery issues and some speculative overheating problems. I re-jetted the carb thinking it was running a bit lean, and that seemed to help our stumble, so we turned our attention to the overheating we thought we were experiencing.

The original temp gauge was reading all the way at the top of the glass, so we decided to install a secondary mechanical gauge as well, and got a cheap one from Autozone. Installing it, however, the brass adapter fitting snapped off at the head! At 9 pm, which is when auto stores close around here. We thought we were done, but since they open at 6:30, I decided to get another one the next day and see what we could do. Got that one installed, tested a bit, and we were on our way!

Driving on 2-lane highways to avoid the interstate and get some miles on the old girl, our planned route had us detouring around Chicago through Indiana, but every 50 miles or so we would get a burble and "run out of gas." Thinking the problem was in the fuel pump that I had just rebuilt, I would get out, clean the screen, and she would start right up again, so we chalked it up to vacuum buildup or something odd. Until we got to Indiana.

Headed south on 31, our fuel pump quit again. Or so we thought. I got out and tried the fuel bowl trick, but didn't have any luck. So I swapped out the fuel pump on the side of the road, which didn't take too long, but we were so disenfranchised by the issue that we looked up the nearest parts store and decided then and there to put in an electric fuel pump.

We stopped in to the NAPA in Plymouth, Indiana and bought 4 things: an electric fuel pump, a fuel pump regulator, some 3/8" fuel line, and a couple self tapping screws. Borrowed an electric drill from the guys behind the counter, and installed an electric fuel pump! That seemed to cure our fuel problem for a while anyway.

That's when we noticed we also had an overheating problem that kept causing us to stop and top off the radiator. We first thought that it was the non-pressurized system causing the coolant to heat and boil off, but it kept getting lower and lower until we would have to top it off after 100 miles or so rather than the coolant finding its own level, as I would have expected. That's when we also found out we were getting about 10 mpg! Even with 3.54s and a Columbia to help drop the RPMs.

Eventually, we made it to Rockford, IL around 1 am, and at a gas station Hardee's that was way too cold for a rainy night, we did the math and realized we weren't going to make it to Seattle in time. Reluctantly we found the nearest hotel and called it a night.

We drove to Milwaukee the next morning and took the ferry back across the lake so we could minimize miles and barely had a hiccup the whole way, which made us start to rethink our decision, but time wasn't on our side. On the highway we could only maintain about 60-65 mph, and after we got off the boat we had fuel delivery issues again!

Finally getting home I was able to do some extra diagnoses and figured out that I 1)had vapor lock at the carb which was solved with a spacer and 2) the timing was all out of whack. Rebuilding the distributor and setting it all up on the bench fixed that problem and she runs great now!

I wasn't quite sure anyone was still interested, to be honest.

We're going to try again on the 2020 winter rally! If you don't hear from me, it was that damned bear!

 

Thanks! Glad you like it!

 

I look forward to watching your adventure in the Alcan 5000.
Hope you can share some adventures before 2020 in your new truck.

Phil