Projects King of Trucks Chapter IV…new beginnings

Not quite. 1959 Cadillac 390.

 

nice truck
luv that panhead!
cheers to both!

 

Any photos of how you did that grill, I went back through those links but all the photos are gone ?

 

Making two out of one. The body went on another chassis and the Nailhead is going in a Model a Sedan.

 

BTW, good to see the pickup back with who it belongs!

 

Thanks dude.

Thanks Dock, I’m extremely grateful and appreciative.

 

So I had a bit of free time today. I jacked the truck up to get a good gander at the shifter cable and linkage. Nothing really stood out as a problem. I kind of tugged on it gently to see if anything was loose. Nothing there. So I cranked it up and was able to put it in gear and drive around my neighborhood. Upshift was fine, downshift was fine. Reverse was fine. Low gear was fine. I don’t know, I’m kind of shaking my head, but not questioning a good thing for now. I’ll post a video later tonight.

Still need to address the leaking freeze plug before I get into some actual road testing to see if the trans issue was really real or just the truck being sad to be gone and happy to be home? For now, I’m just gonna chalk it up to the magic of the universe and positivity.

Here’s a pic of my dad in 1959

 

So I have at least three leaking freeze plugs. I have a new replacement set from cad daddy. Might as well change them all if I’m already doing half. That’s next and should have me on the road. Took it around the neighborhood a few more times and did not experience any trans issues.

Very near future plans after the freeze plugs will be clean the engine bay and tires, pull the seat and clean the interior, and fill some screw holes in the interior. I got a line on a proper bench seat. Then paint, insulation, all new knobs and carpet. Hope to have all this done in the next month or two.

And by the way, I’m looking for some nice Shannon caps if anybody has some they’re not using. Thanks always.




My dad’s interior done in Tijuana.

 

Dude I am so happy to see this truck again. The universe is coming around for the 2008 Crowd I've got ants in my pants as well. Dropped away for a bit too and now I want to PARTY. Looking for my next project and putting together parts. Congrats and good luck

 

You nailed it! I want to PARTY!!!

Thanks.

 

Subscribed! Watching to see where this goes. Needing to read the old threads as well.

 

Thanks dude.

 

It’s going down. Freeze plugs are out.

 

I got the freeze plugs out, back flushed the block, and put new freeze plugs back in with no issues other than getting dirty. I filled the coolant back up and got it warm in the driveway to check for leaks. No water where it shouldn’t be. So I took it out on the road for a rip. So far so good. No leaks. Trans is doing what it should. First real drive for me in six years. First real drive for the truck in six years. Nice.

Next up on the agenda in the immediate future is more driving around town to check for any bugs, but I don’t think there will be any. Also, the truck is filthy under the hood, under the body, the tires and wheels, all the chrome, and in the cab from sitting for a while. I mean, it’s not filthy, but it is dirty compared to what it was before sitting for so long. So I’ll be cleaning all that up.

Once I have a fresh pallet to start with, it’ll be on to all new bright interior.

Out on the prowl

 

I saw those too Mark. A very cool truck!

 

Yes, US Royal Masters. They were NOS when I put them on way back. Sitting for six years didn’t help them out any. And thanks!

 

I forgot about those tires. So good!!

 

@terd ferguson do you have details of how you floated the grill?
I’d like to steal that idea and save a headache figuring it out

 

I’ve been driving around town as much as possible. Found and fixed an intermittent starting issue. The battery is in the bed in a plastic battery box. That leaks and holds water. The positive terminal and cable were rusty from sitting so long so I replaced that. I’ll have to find a solution for the battery box. Probably just plug the two small holes in the lid and make a drain in the bottom. I’d like to move it? But not under the hood. Anyway, future plans are for a tonneau cover like my dad’s so that should keep it dry.

I also got the vacuum gauge out and fine tuned the carb and adjusted the idle after. Not much difference, but now it’s “just so”.

I tidied up the wires in the engine bay. I rewired the whole truck with a new harness front to back six plus years ago before I traded it. So I just added some zippy ties as inconspicuous as possible today to keep them bundled a little nicer. It didn’t look bad before, but it looks better now.

I got some proper air pressure in the tires and I washed the tires and wheels. I had chromed the wheels six plus years ago and now they have some rust spots from sitting so long. I’ll end up having to rechrome those sooner or later. Some Shannon caps should hide the worst of it around the back lug nuts til then.

I cleaned the firewall and inner fenders. I still need to clean the engine and polish all that chrome and aluminum under the hood soon.

So, next step is getting the seat out and getting the interior spotless and ready for paint. I think I’m going to do the same color as the firewall and inner fenders which are 2001 Ford ultra white. Floors will probably be por15 black. I should also probably take a look at the brakes and check and grease the bearings as I don’t exactly remember what kind of shape they were in when I had them apart so long ago.

Tires need more work but reversed six lug centers on Buick hoops and US Royal Masters sheeeeesh.



Cleaner

 

I happy to see your truck back on the road.

 

Thanks Dick!!

 

I’ve been driving more, as much as I can. Cold start is a little harder than I’d like. I put a choke cable on it. All the years I drove it, I’d pop the hood and manually set the manual choke. But anyway, I’ll have to dig into why it’s hard to start cold. But otherwise, it’s running, driving, shifting, and stopping great. Hot starts are no problem, pretty instant.

I spent this morning getting supplies. I took the seat out and cleaned all the years of dust out of the cab as much as I could. Then I prepped the floor and got two coats of por-15 on it. Just finished. In the dark. I’ll have to wait til tomorrow to see how good I was with a brush in the dark.

Anyways, next is sound deadening and insulation, but that will have to wait for me to order it. That should be an easy day. I also need to remove the gas tank to get some of that sound deadening and insulation under there. Once that’s done, I’ll start prepping the cab and dash for fresh paint. I haven’t decided if I’m taking out the windshield and back window yet to do it?

So that’s where I’m at today.

 

I haven’t mentioned it, but the main reason I started with the floors after getting the truck driving again is to try to keep some of this hell fire heat out of the cab. So after laying down the por-15 on the floor yesterday, I got the seat back in today. I’ve got some of the double sided foil bubble wrap on the floor for now under an old shag rug til the Kilmat comes in. When that gets here, I’ll cover the firewall from up under the dash to the back of the cab wall. It’ll also go inside the doors and up under the headliner on the roof. Then I’ll cover the firewall and floor with that double sided foil bubble wrap.

I also got all the firewall rubber grommets for the wire holes to cover some more space for hot air to come in. I need to get a couple more or something similar to cover the heater core hoses holes and the cab will be pretty air tight as far as heat from the engine bay goes.

Besides that, I put in the new headlight bezels and front park lights. I got new bumpers and brackets with the truck and I was going to put those on but I don’t have the bolts for the bumpers to brackets.

So next up is to get the kick panel air vents apart, get that area all clean, then por-15 in there. Get the Kilmat down when it gets here, and in the meantime, start prepping the dash and cab for paint.

 

Got the cold start issue sorted out. It’s in the new choke cable. If the truck sits more than a few hours, it likes full choke just until it cranks. New choke cable isn’t giving it full choke so I’m back to setting it by hand under the hood for now

I’ve still been driving it every day as much as I can and I think I’m pretty much road ready daily driver reliable again. I ordered the Kilmat, should be here by Saturday. And I’ll probably do those kick panels I talked about on Wednesday.

I really just wanted to make a post to post a couple of pics.

 

Awesome! I remember following your original thread. Looks great!

 

see if you can find a used choke cable...they used thicker wire back then...they don't stretch like the crappy repops

 

Thanks bud.

Some repop stuff is good, some not so good. I get 99% of my stuff from The Truck and Car Shop. They’re in Orange, CA and my small town of Concord, NC. Most of their stuff is pretty good.

 

Yup. Unfortunately most of it is only made by one place (for each type of part), and everyone sells the same stuff.

The aftermarket "manual choke conversion" choke cables were crappy too...no where near as good as the originals.

 

Really cool little stepside! Love the grille...
My '55 F100 has the battery box (stock place) under the passenger footwell. A removeable stamped plate (near battery size) covers it, but the battery is close to the starter, so a mile of #1 cable is unnecessary. Good grounds, one to frame and one to engine block @ bell housing bolt. Hot start!

How close are your headpipes to floor, Terd? My bro-in-law had a '32 with steel floors, hopped up 400" SBC had 2" headpipes, 1" below floor. He even installed Classic Air to cool the interior... I moved the exhaust another 1.25" down and into the 'air flow', cooled it right off.
Insulation is a great idea, makes it sound like a "real car" when closing the doors.
Your Dad would be proud...