Taking a break from the project a bit to enjoy the 4th. Before the 4th, the frame got painted and I installed the brake pedal, vacuum booster, mc, prop valve and the lines running between the two, the two front brake lines, trans cover and pedal/column cover plate ..... I had some leftover fender welding and it worked out perfectly for the tranny cover and column mount. Fir the cover plate, since there is a recess lip underneath it, I had some gasketing lying around that filled the void nice and snug. Presently I am fiddling with the interior under the seat AC hoses and fittings and how they will run under the cab.
I have been busy preparing to remove the bed off of the truck but the body dolly I was going to use is full of truck parts. The bed was filled with empty boxes, my front fenders and gas tank- in other words, loaded. My initial plan was to make a rolling shelving for not for all of the parts and use the body dolly but when I was at Hershey last year I bought two follies used for medical equipment with tall wheels and can handle 900 lbs. He was up in the orange field a few rows down from us and I bought two, figuring to use them for engine and trans carts. After er looking at them, my plan changed to putting an upper shelf n the body dolly to hold the fenders and gas tank and build a new bed dolly ..... I started by attaching them together with an end result of a 4x5 footprint. They had two mounting holes from underneath at each wheel so the wooden rails you see are lag screwed to the frames. I then built the perimeter ... With this ready I added an upper deck to the old body dolly for the big pieces and cleared out the bed ..... I made the bed dolly high enough to just slide the bed right not it with two rails on the dolly and two wooden left to right supports using existing bed holes. This is an original bed that will need some additional tlc other than what I have all ready done. Couple stake pockets and some patches mostly but it’s not all that bad considering it’s a “shop truck” theme. The bed dolly rails are about 25” off the floor and there’s enough room with the truck rolled forward to turn it 90 degrees behind the truck. I have a cement pad by this door and when I want to work on it I can roll it out and still have room to work on the back of the frame. It’s a win-win so far ....
Very nice bed , I'd say. I would have been thrilled with that. Congrats on getting all the stuff re-arranged so you can continue to work. Great work , keep it up.
Wow, talk about a timely post. I am preparing to remove the bed from my 41 ford and have been thinking about building a dolly for it. Looking good!
Bandit - the bed dolly was a piece of cake really. I set up so the dolly had two 2x4 “rails” about 25” off the ground and the two 2x4 beams laterally in the bed using existing holes and literally slid it on to the dolly. If am sitting on a roll around stool, it’s at the perfect height! You might want to make it higher - I am pretty short! Lol!
Finished putting all the tools away today and returned what lumber I did not use and ran some other errands so I had a late start. I made two wheel stands for the front two wheels out of spare pieces of lumber .... These are helpful when using an engine hoist as the legs never fit between your jack stands and then you have to put or pull an engine at an angle. With these the legs will go right under. I then worked on the front wood bed support. I first whittled out a couple supports for this piece as the cab wood I ordered was a cheap one and did not have the extension pieces past the cab to the back of the truck. These pieces, or my version of them, was done using the leftover cab wood, trimming them to size using my small, portable, table saw. Not exactly stock but it works. Now, I have to admit to something. I always thought this from bed piece was right behind the cab. Since both my cab and bed bubble towards one another, I started contemplating on how to remedy them not running against one another. There are a set of holes right behind the cab and then another set 3” further back. After fiddling around with this a bit, I went on line and found out the second set of holes is what I am supposed to use and the bed support sits at the end of the support rails ..... What you see here is the end of the support rail and the wood mount would be to the inside of that rail. When all is said and done, that will leave me enough wiggle room for the slightly bulging cab and bed so they won’t touch and with room to spare. I will be replacing a portion or all of this corners bed stake so the rust holes you see will be taken care of. Great - dodged that bullet! Movin on to the next hurdle .....
Thanks, Joel! The bed is just “ok” but for my purposes, it’s perfect. The truck is ok to be rough around the edges as it’s supposed to be an early 60s shop truck and with the wife at the wheel, plenty of miles put on it. I found this bed for sale on line at least 15 years ago in Ohio as it was not good enough for this guy’s restoration so he bought a new one. I think I spent $800 for it and sold off what I had for bed for half that amount so for the money, I cannot complain!
With the bed level and with the ability to work on it, first thing I did was check it over and I found a problem right away. The passenger front corner was down at least 3/8” because the back panel was not welded n level and the replacement passenger bed rail was tilted down. This is the side I will work off of ... And this is the low side after I started cutting into it .... I got most of the rear panel loose but I am waiting on some spot weld remover drills. I worked on the bed rail and after some work got it straight with the rest of the bed. Since I am waiting for the spot weld remover, I placed the boards I had been saving for my bed wood ..... A buddy of mine gave them to me - they were from a tanner. This is the bottom side and here was his work surface .... I like both looks really but I think I will go with top side (that’s if the wife agrees!). It will be a great conversation starter if it is that side! They are 2” too short but I will add extensions. Presently I am looking for a hardwood supplier to match up another wide board or two smaller ones. If I can get a wide board I will put that one in the middle, but if only two narrower boards, they will be on the outside. That was all yesterday - today I worked on mounting the gas tank, getting the two wood bed supports in and the two metal cross pieces located on the frame. This is not a bolt on by any means since my frame is a 36 and I am using it for a 40 and there are differences that require elongating a few holes. But using the old bed rail I picked up years ago, and knowing where the rear metal support bolted onto the frame, I was able to get the front metal support located and there was actually a tapped hole there but at the angle of the frame, I bolted it down using those holes and I have carriage bolts to complete the top side mount. The rear support I had some old bolts I scrounged out of the 2 1/2 plus an extra cab that I bought and salvaged enough sheetnetal to build my own truck and sold off the rest. Ever since then I would upgrade to better fenders, running boards and hoods to get the best of what I could find. That actually required buying two more 39 pickups of which I upgraded my stuff with and again sold off the rest .... I keep chipping away at it .....
Tom, I have a question about the lower bed extensions that go from the bed sides to the running boards. Those appear to be also attached to the rear fender with one bolt.... maybe. Were they riveted to the bed side or bolted? Good job on the end panel; even on the new beds, there is a lot of clamping and welding to keep the parts square.
Joel - they were riveted to the lower lip of the bed and bolted to the rear fender. This is a pic I f the original and repop with the matching hole passenger side .... This, placed in its location and this last one is free m a nearly finished truck .... Here is a pic of the driver side but you can see the two holes I am talking about ... This is what I know right now but I have been wrong before! Lol!
I had a thread on the main board regarding electric fuel pumps but in the end, I decided to go with the Holley I had purchased. The real question was where to place the filter and pump. I know they are a bit loud but hopefully, this being a truck, it will not be as loud. Based on the main board thread I wanted it close to the tank and they want a coarse filter in front of it. Here is what I came up with .... I did not to hang on the truck bed frame, and the side rails were out for me. Since the rear crossmember is just sitting there, I went on top of it, and in the middle .... I also installed a piece of channel to attach them to, welding the bolts to the back side for easy of removal and install. I mounted the tabs for the KYB shocks with two holes, one a hit lower in case I was towing something which is not out of the question at the moment. It won’t be much but it will give me more shock travel in the lower position. I had to trim the lower lip of the rear crossmember about 3” to either side of the shock. I am using lower leaf spring plates off an early 70s Torino which has a shock mount threaded post. I have new loaded backing plates with shoes and drums from a Granada/Monarch which use a 2” shoe vs the 1 3/4” setup and that was on the axle when I got it some 20+ years ago. It’s an 8” rear and I have. 3:50 pumpkin to go in and new rear axle bearings to install. I am making progress, albeit slowly .....
Did you use something like rubber between the mounting points of the electric pump and frame? They sure make a reduction in noise and vibration from a solid mounted one.
That looks great! I may copy it. Have you enough room to service either the pump or filter, reaching up between the rear axle and crossmember? Also, where did you find that 3:50 gear? I'm looking for that or a 3:25. Thanks, Bill
hotroda/Bill - thanks for the kind words! As far as enough room to service the pump and filter, I have welded the bolts onto the crosspiece that holds the pump and filter. To replace the filter or rebuild the pump I will have to remove them and I should have enough room to do that over the axle or actually remove the wood floor of the bed to get at them topside if I am caught away from home to do that, making the hoses with either method is the most difficult part imho ....
Tom, after looking at the way you have the fuel pump and filter mounted and comparing it with my 40 Tudor I have one recommendation; leave lots of room under that filter to remove the can when changing the element. I found that out the hard way and relocated it and the pump to the rear side of the cross member so there is nothing underneath to make it hard to lower that can and element. Rich
RAK, my plan is to remove the filter to change it - just have to come up with a good way to unhook them from the 3/8” fuel injection lines .....
Hi Tom, I like the looks of your pump install but I think you might cuss yourself blue when you need to service it. When I looked at the install instructions for your type of pump and others that I have used it mentions mounting them as low as you can without exposing them to hazards. After an early pump failure on my coupe I installed a K&N pump (This pump is whisper quiet.) My plan was to mount it low and make it easy to access if it failed while on a trip. I carry a spare filter and and pump ready to install. I can easily crawl under the car and change this pump out in minutes as it it is plumbed and wired identically to the one that is mounted on the car. Leaving enough gap between the filter, pump and hard lines allows for easy removal. Just an unsolicited opinion I felt compelled to offer up. I know you have built enough cars by now to know hat you want but hey it is the HAMB and this is what some of us do.... (offer unsolicited advice). I am enjoying your build thread! Sam
Tom, understand but I agree with Sam on this. My setup is similar to his just different pump and filter but the same location. After struggling to change that filter element every year for 10 years (could NOT get a wrench on the bolt) taking it off and reinstalling it, I moved both to the rear and now have clear access. Am enjoying your build also, Rich
I am wavering on this - I am working on the bed right now outside while the weather is good, giving me a chance to think on this ......
Been working on the bed as of late while the weather is good and I can work outside. So I rolled out the bed (love the dolly I made - makes life so much easier in and out of the garage, on my pad - it’s like a merry go round when I just spin it to move around it!), cleaned up the back panel on the outside and rusty metal primed it ..... before ... and after ... ..... did what would be the rear fender well areas and primed, went over the entire outside of the bed with a stripping wheel, and welded the ends of the tailgate where it would hang off the chains. The metal had split away and there were other cracks ... One bed side is fairly nice and probably could be scuffed, primer sealed, a filler primer applied, sanded and shot. The other side is pretty rough but we will see how it goes. I feel like it was a real productive day .... the pics tell the tale with the one showing how rusty the back panel was and that is the inside I have not done yet. The inside of the bed however, is the real challenge ....
Tumbleweed, good work on the pickup... but(you knew it was coming!) you might recall a certain red 40 pickup you sold long ago to a fellow in Smithfield, VA. That guy routinely would burn up electric fuel pumps... so regularly that he installed TWO elec fuel pumps on back of frame rail with the power only hooked to one. When that one failed; just switch power lead to other pump and drive on home.. and replace the failed pump in order to be ready next time. I could not figure the reason for the continually failing elec pumps but lived with it. It didn't happen too often so out of sight; out of mind. Well, after building another 40 pickup; I sold said red one to a pal in GA and warned him about the elec fuel pump issue. He enjoyed the truck and drove it aplenty and he, too, had to switch the lead to the reserve pump a time or two and replace the failed one. So, later he completely rebuilds the truck into a stunner that was very well received and envied by many; ME included! In the course of the rebuild, he realized that the jim dandy big brand name fuel filter was attached a bit high up under the bed to the bed frame rail I believe. DUH!! As soon as he told me that I realized, just as he was about to tell me; that the pumps kept failing because they had to pull gas from the tank UP to the fuel filter and then back down to the pump that was mounted much lower!! What a dummy I was not to realize that long ago when I first saw it!! Anyway, he lowered the filter down to an inline one just ahead of the fuel pump on the rear frame rail and never had an electric pump fail again. I said all that to say this: Don't mount the filter high! The truck came to you like that I think and I used it as I got it from you. The problem mostly occurred on long trips... again, I was too dumb to realize it! Dang pump got tired after awhile of sucking gas uphill through a big filter and then back down to pump. Anyway, keep up the good work... but don't mount that filter high! I've already proven; and had my pal in GA verify!, it ain't a good plan. All the best, Hamtown
Another nice day today do I got on the bed again today. I went over the two outside bed sides again, doing a little hammer and dolly work and note stripping of old paint and bondo and got the angled tops as well. I have been using a stripping pad ..... This works pretty well so far but for the rusty crusty I used a heavy wire brush on my grinder and that is what I used on the inside of the beds and inside back panel ... I redid the rear wheel well areas and reprimed them ... ... and after wire brushing the original bed rail which was pretty rusty, I hit it with the Zaire wheel on my grinder ... ... using Rustoleum rusty metal primer and not sparing it either. I doused it as best I could. We are not supposed to get rain until the afternoon tomorrow so I will go back over the bedsides again, and use the stripper on the insides as well. This is one messy job ....
Hamtown, I still miss that old red truck. I can’t wait to get this one done and drive the begeezers out of it (with the wife’s permission, of course!) !!!!! Btw, where the filter is now is almost level to where it comes out of the tank - if I move things around I just have to figure out the pump location to go directly into the fuel pump with no up or down .....
As I was cleaning up the bed yesterday, I thought I noticed that the bed had been painted another color at one time and the green then painted over. Turns out I was right- I don’t think it was the original color but the bed was originally a medium dark blue, scuffed, primered, then painted the green. There was no way then that I could leave the green in spots and paint over it. So, I started stripping the entire bed today.... I have about 2/3rds of the other inner bed side to do but I ran out of gas and called it a day ....
Got the rest of the paint stripped from the bed save for the hard to reach area nooks and crannies. Any tips on how to clean those areas of old paint? Started on the stake pocket .... then ran out of welding wire before I could finish it! Grrrrrr..... old piece off ..... The area that needs a patch .... ..... metal was pretty thin and I was blowing through in spots but I wasn’t doing too bad ..... sorry no pic just yet. But I will be able to roset weld the patch to the bed rail behind ..... Tailgate chains - I had one complete one and the other I was missing the hook. Used some screw links with some same size galvanized chain I had to make up a new one. Each link was two chain links long. I can’t seem to find a hook - if anyone has an old 40-41 Ford Pickup bed chain, I am in need on one hook .... If I cannot find one I will try and bend one up - it’s 1/4” rod. The new chain is nearly exactly the same length of the very worn original ...
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