Figured I'd start a thread to post some pics of my 57 F100 truck build. Gonna be slow going and my emphasis is on working on the truck piece by piece, keeping it running the whole time. As some of you know, taking too much apart at a time means it may never go back together! The day it came home Was very pleased to find it in No. Ca., built in the Fremont plant so must have been a local truck. It has a Y-block with Merc valve covers but origin and size is unknown. I have a 292 built by McTim64 which will eventually replace this engine. Still needs to be made pretty I really wanted a short bed, so I took 8" out of the frame... Went back together well and goes down the road straight.
Found an old step side bed without fenders and then picked up some fenders which need a bit of rust repair under the steps. Although I don't dig bodywork, I'll force myself! Anyway, fitted the bed to the frame. Worked out well. Getting all the old paint off with a stripping disc and doing the required bodywork one section at a time.
Looks good in person too! Thanks for the bed, it will look good on my '58 when I get around to working on it.
Well, I figured that I'd update this thread with a few things I've gotten done to the truck. Some of these things maybe helpful to some one with an "Effie" in the future, so here goes.. Worked on getting the rear end lower. So removed the springs and attempted the "reversing the eyes" trick. Using my press and marking the spring every 2", I was able to it straight. Then reversed the arch, following a template I made of the original curve. Now I'm 1 1/2" lower than the original. Then its on the the forward rear spring hanger, which I removed and flipped. It all worked pretty well, and I ended up with this. I figure about 4 1/2 to 5" drop.
The area where I cut and shortened the frame seemed sound to me and I was reluctant to "plate" it. But I figured better to be on the same side. Cleaned the frame to bare metal (wow, it had the undercoating stuff everywhere) and made some plates to strengthen the weld area. I found that a needle scaler tool worked well on the undercoat. Disassembled the rear end and found out that it had 3.10 gears from a mid 50's t-bird which were in great shape. Took it to be rebuilt and have limited slip installed. I was on the fence on the gears and I was thinking 3.00 or 3.25 so this was perfect! She runs about 2600 at 70 mph so I'm good with that. For painting, Im using a Sprayfine HVLP turbine unit and SPI epoxy. I'm not an experienced painter and found the SPI epoxy to be user friendly and it sprayed out well. All new brakes, new lines, etc.
Wow! A thread about a guy working on his own truck! Looks good. I'll remember your comment about undercoating, if I ever decide to tackle the underside of my current car.
Sorry to hijack but just wanted to share that the old long bed went to good use. Prompted me to do a repaint and it came out so nice. I even had a bed liner sprayed into it. So much better than the old bed. Thanks man!
Wow, it’s been quite some time since I posted regarding this truck! Things are changing for me and this truck may end up in the classifieds soon. Have a sweet spot for this truck but sometimes they gotta, “go on down the road” as they say…
...Sorry to hear that you may soon sell the truck. Hoping that you might make another East Coast tour once again. ...Don.
Have not. Still have the engine that McTim64 built for me. The current engine runs so well that I never pulled it. I’ve got a Flat-O-Matic bellhousing and C-4 which was going to complete the drivetrain.
Still traveling Don (one reason for no time), and if I get anywhere near where you are, we’re hangin out!
Hate to see you sell that truck, such a nice one. I'm getting good use out of the bed you gave me. Just put A/C in my '58, getting old and like the comfort in the 100*+ Valley.
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