Here are a few more progress pics. A good friend of mine donated some fog lamps to the build so I mounted them to the frame horns. I have already converted the parking lights to twin element bulbs (parking lights and turn signals) so I'll wire the fog lights up as actual fog lamps. Kind of a novel idea I think. haha. Also, I made a "frame" to hold the AC evaporator. After looking as some pictures of when I originally mounted the AC evaporator, I realized that the unit is about 1 to 1.5 inches to low so I'll fix that this coming weekend. As soon as I figure out how to keep the pictures from posting upside down I'll upload them. The front will look better once I mount the bumper. Sorry for the odd angle of the picture.
Ok, I finally got these pictures showing the correct orientation; actually I just took new pictures. So here's a close up of the bracket that will hold the AC/Heater unit. The mounting point will be where the hood supports bolt through the firewall. On the large square piece, the nuts on the right secure the bracket to the firewall and the studs/nuts on the left will hold the AC/Heater unit. The tab hanging down in the middle of the firewall will support the other end of the AC/Heater unit. Here's the left side of the bracket which also mounts using the bolts that hold the hood supports. The three studs you see on the square tubing will be used to mount a panel that will contain all of the wiring dodads (relays, fuse panel, ignition box, etc.) And here's the AC/Heater unit "mounted". It's just hanging in place for the picture. I also started working on installing some sound deadening material. I have one layer on the roof and back wall. I still need to install it on the firewall, floor and doors. If I have enough left I may put two layers on.
That's a good idea you had there! Looks nice mounted, and strengthens the hood supports. That unit will freeze you out riding in there!
btw Johnboy, the radiator filler panel arrived this weekend and wow it is in great condition! Just need to sand and paint it. Thanks again for the link!
I finished installing the insulation in the cab this past weekend and laid the carpet out to see how it would fit. I must say I'm a bit disappointed. The carpet set for a friend's '50 F1 fit the cab a lot better and was in two pieces. I bought the carpet from the same manufacturer but it is completely different and doesn't fit the firewall as well. Do you guys have any recommendations on getting the carpet to fit better?
I had an upholstery firm make a carpet for me and did not run the risk of buying something that would not fit.
Good point. I'm going to talk with the upholsterer who recovered the seat to see if he'd make a house call to fit the carpet. Taking the truck to him would be a major undertaking.
I made a little more progress and think I've figured out the carpet issue. 1st: I installed some carpet padding to hopefully add some sound insulation. 2nd: I added some carpetish type of material. The waves/wrinkles you see are because I don't have it fully glued to the padding on the driver's side. Notice I left it long on the bottom covering a portion of the toe board. 3rd: I laid the carpet back in. Here's what I think I'm going to do; the piece of carpet in the middle that is laid over on itself will be cut off. Then I'll carefully trim the portions of the carpet that run up the firewall; basically rounding the corners. Lastly I'll take it to an upholsterer and have the edges bound. I think that will look good. Thoughts?
I also started on another side project for the truck. Let's see if you guys can figure out what I'm going to do with this old oil filter canister. The Canister as purchased. Well, it was actually much greasier inside and out before I gave it a good cleaning. This is what I ended up with after a quick trip to the blasting cabinet at the Hurlburt Field Hobby Shop. I decided I didn't like the strap around it so I weld the mounting bracket to the canister and temporarily mounted it to the firewall. There's a little bit more work I need to do on the canister before I paint it. Any thoughts on what I'm going to do with it?
I think you will use it as a remote master brake cylinder reservoir, but I guess I'm cheating because you suggested I try that when I was stumped regarding the nearly inaccessible location of my own m/c. I scored an old oil filter and cleaned it up, too. Just haven't hooked it all up yet. Please share details on how you plumb and vent this.
Thank you bengel. You are The Man, Osage. Yeah, I'm going to make a remote MC reservoir out of the oil canister. I did this on a friend's '50 F1 and it is working well. I'll definitely show more details of how I modify the oil canister but it's pretty basic. The trick is going to be the MC lid. If you are using one of the 'industry standard' Chevy MC or a Ford MC you're pretty set. All you need to do is order one of the following: http://www.aplusrodandkustom.com/in..._id=2462/category_id=90/mode=prod/prd2462.htm I order the Chevy lid for my friend's F1 and also purchased a brake fluid resistant rubber hose from them. However, I'm going to have to make my own MC lid since the MC I'm using is not your standard MC. I have some ideas on how to make it and I'll post those pics along the way.
Winner, winner chicken dinner! Thanks for passing along information on that M/C lid. That's my next purchase. On your truck, are you installing a mechanically activated stop light switch, or will it be through the brake lines? I hear on the H.A.M.B. that the former is advised over the latter, so I'm not plumbing in a T fitting for the hydraulic switch. I guess the mechanical switches come on lots sooner, which is what I would prefer. I want the guy behind me to know what I'm doing immediately.
Osage, the brake light switch I'm using came with the proportioning valve. I've read various pros and cons to using the hydraulic switches versus mechanical switches. Here's are a couple of pictures of the setup I have now. As for using a mechanical switch, I installed one of those on my friend's '50 F1. Here's how I mounted it. There are probably better ways but this setup is working well. I made the bracket (not pretty but it works) and the switch is Chevy truck switch I believe. As you can see, the switch is positioned such that the brake rod depresses the switch when the pedal is not being depressed. I hope this helps. Thanks HOTFR8. Hopefully it will work out well. I think I'm going to glue the carpet down too, at least in the back portion of the cab. I know the seat will help hold it in position but the carpet slides a lot on top of the insulation/heat barrier.
Thanks, Hivolt. The mechanical switch is kinda the reverse of what I thought it would be, with pedal up depressing the switch and pressure on the pedal relaxing the switch and completing the circuit. Smart!
Got a few more update pictures. I found a local shop that would put binding on the carpet so I had that done. I also installed the interior panels and gas tank. Slowly but surely it's coming together!
Amen to that! When we lived in Bradenton (south of Tampa) the summer months were brutal! My '56 F100 didn't have even a fan so it was sweat box central.
The Jalopy Journal
