Projects '60 F100 Daily Driver Project.

Ahh.. the power of Amazon. Got some amber **Looks over each shoulder then whispers**
"LED" lights, in one day. Nice and bright and look right.





Out in the sun and the ass doesn't look half bad. Well... the tailgate still looks like a big scab, but from 20 feet... **kisses fingers like and italian chef"



Gonna start a heavy detail later today because she's going out Friday and Saturday for some Rod Run events. Not actually gonna be in the Rod Run this year because I drug my feet and all the tickets sold out like in the first week.

She is also going to be in a small local show here in town on the 7th of May. Looking forward to that.

So that's it. just popped in to feed my inner attention whore and to say hi. So... HI!

 

I'll be driving through the area the week after that, so I'll miss it... damn. Post pics, or it didn't happen!

 

Regarding the tailgate and the rust in the bottom...
I will say that the majority of the sheet metal in the tailgate is 16ga. My first inclination was to find a steel tube with the same or similar (close enough) radius of the lower tailgate and graft it in. I was thinking a bit of DOM tubing with a thicker wall to add some strength to it. I still think this would have worked as long as it could have been fixtured to keep it flat and to limit the warpage.

 

My dad did this to fix the bottom of the tailgate on his ‘63 step side. We didn’t have the ability to roll a piece of sheet metal that long that tightly. He found a length of pipe the same radius and we welded it in. It worked very well and the thicker tube allowed I us to not worry about the heat distortion as much

 

Yeah, I'm honestly thing of having this tailgate media blasted and starting from scratch. Gonna take a LOT of beating to get it semi straight, but I think I'm going to go for it.

I'm lucky enough to have a decent metal shop in town. I'm confident they'll have what I need both pipe and sheet metal wise.

Writing this on the fly. OMFG!!! I HATE POSTING FROM MY PHONE!!! My sausage fingers DO NOT function correctly with tiny little keys but, I've got predictive text, so at least I've got that going for me.

Have been out most of the day just cruising around.

Worked up a powerful thirst.

Had to stop by my favorite watering hole.

And here's proof that I actually drive it and not just tinker with it.




Although... the drivers door latch is giving me shit again.

 

Okay, gang. Poll time.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my Fairlane steering wheel and think it looks killer, but...

The more I look at this truck the more I think my old black Superior 500 would suit the truck better. But why stop there?

I'm thinking, MAYBE a 15" metal flake wheel in either red to match the truck, or gold to tie in the scallops.

So what say you guys? Fairlane wheel, Black Superior, or either the 15" red or gold metal flake wheel?














As much as I hate to admit it, I'm REALLY diggin' the gold. Would play nicely with my makeshift console/drink holder. I worry the red will be too far off and maybe look a little purple or pink in relation to the interior color.

I dunno. Help me out.

 

I'm digging the gold metal flake steering wheel! I agree that it would bring the scallop color to the interior. My second choice is the black superior 500.

 

I also agree about going with the gold. I think that'd be real sharp.

 

I'd say it depends on if you want more of a Custom vibe or a Hot rod vibe.... The aftermarket wheels say Hot Rod to me. If it were me, I'd two-tone the Fairlane wheel with gold paint to tie it in better.

Don't get me wrong, I love metalflake wheels (have one on my avatar), but they just don't have the elegance needed for a custom IMO.

 

I might agree with Steve. The Fairlane wheel leans more custom which is what I view your pickup as. How about metal flake part of it?

 

Either that, or try to find a gold rimmed stock-ish wheel of similar design. I agree, I don't think the fat chrome spokes match the overall look.

 

Be a good excuse to add some matching scallop highlights on the interior sheetmetal along with the two-tone wheel...

 

OOOOH!!! YEAH!

Oh, man... you guys have got me thinkin'.

I never thought of customizing the wheel I have and painting part of it the gold. Maybe not heavy flake the but same color as my scallops.

Yeah... that could work. I have some ideas on how to divide out the two colors as far as making a border goes. I need to go make some drawings.

This has the potential to be .

 

Might need a tech article on customizing your steering wheel...just sayin'.

 

Yes it does... You did a great job on the exterior, I have faith you can do the same inside!

 

I vote for the Fairlane wheel. I'm not creative enough to offer two tone opinions.
I'm sure you will make it look great!

 

Tough choices, all of them good!

I like all of them, but I'd go with the Fairlane wheel due to your choice in road wheels. From my understanding, chrome steelies were the "thing" in the early 60's, before mags started to appear around 1965. That, to me, dates the truck from approx 61-64. With that in mind, it's too early for the flake wheels, which I believe started to appear late 60's, and definitely the Superior %00 that my mind puts squarely into the 1970's.

I may be wrong, but that's my take.

Devin

 

Hey, gang.

Yeah... the more thought that goes into it, the more I have to agree. It's the Fairlane wheel.
Having said that, since my current wheel is in such good original shape, I'm not going to be cutting on it. However, I do have a lead on another Fairlane wheel that needs some TLC that will fit the bill.

So, stay tuned for that.

This evening the wife and I ended up at a really small local cruise-in that had some really killer rides.
The place sponsoring it is called "Dog-n-Suds" which I originally thought was a dog grooming place. Turns out they sell a killer chili dog and the wife says their chicken sandwich was... okay.

Anyway, enough talk, here's some pics:

























Man... can't go anywhere without the fuzz crampin' your style. This little piggy was packin' a 440.



And I saved this one for last because I am absolutely in LOVE with this Mercury! I must have lusted over this thing for an hour. Spotless. Cherries wish they were as cherry as this thing.






Anyway, the event was pretty nice. Laid back, good food, decent music... that sort of thing. They've only been doing these for a few months and it's always the first Wednesday of the month. Had a pretty good time.

Later, gators.

 

I mentioned earlier that I am apprehensive about cutting on my current wheel because it's just so nice for being an untouched, unpainted, original wheel. Well, here's the wheel I WILL be fucking up.



The price was right, and it should be here in a few days. So... that's .

Have done some photoshops and trying to land on a design I like.
One this is certain... going to have to add the accent color to the dash as well. Otherwise it's going to stick out like a huge dog dick. So, I'm making more work for myself... yay.

Been trying to pull some ideas from the internet. I really like the designs of the mid to late 50's Dodge and Chrysler wheels, as well as, the early 60's Impala wheels. I dunno.





These next pics are just for design reference, I hate modern takes on vintage steering wheels and only a handful of companies out there can pull it off.

Besides, the old truck doesn't have power steering, so I need all the leverage I can get, and that means a large radius steering wheel.






So, this is kinda the direction we're going right now.

That's all, this morning. Smell ya later.

 

Okay... So THIS happened.











I dig it. Might go back and file the bullet around the spokes of the horn ring to get it fill that little gap. I dunno. Looks pretty good how it is.

In other news:

Local show tomorrow. Kinda feel inadequate based on the quality of some of the cars I saw at that Wednesday night cruise-in. Not hoping for any trophies or anything. Just wanna have a good time and hang out with other gearheads.


Later, y'all.

 

Oh... and also. Just finished this up and wanna try it out on the natives to see if it sticks.

I've been messing around with 1/8" gold metal flake acrylic. Cut some 3/4" pucks on our Glowforge and replaced the red inserts for the dash knobs I made a couple years ago.

I dunno. I can always make new ones. I glue them in with E6000. Holds like crazy yet easy to remove without damaging anything.





Toodles.

 

The truck looked great in person and it was great to meet you as well!

 

Custom steering wheel! How easy was that! And not too expensive. Good job.

 

It was great to meet you too. It's always nice to be able to add a face to the person you're talking to.
Sorry I acted kinda weird!

Okay so, for the rest of you who don't know. let me explain what happened. Yesterday, I took the truck to Temecula Local Car Fest '22 at the Mount San Jacinto University campus here in town. Nice venue.





This is here very first car show I've entered my truck into since I've had it. It's also the first car show, I've attended as a participant since... i dunno... the 1990's? I parked like a wallflower and backed in a nice quiet corner (there wasn't any assigned parking, they were just like "anywhere to the left.").

So, anyway, I had made up a QR code card and stuck it in the windshield so that if anyone was interested, they could scan the code and it would take them to the first page of this build thread.



So, naturally when this shady looking character showed up and referenced the HAMB, I assumed he had scanned my QR code and wanted to engage me in conversation about my truck.

It was the very end of the show, right after the awards, (historically, I've always stay for the closing credits because it's great to see car folks recognized for their hard work) I was sun and wind burnt, tired, not really paying attention, and a little grumpy... not to mention dehydrated. (I even got a cramp whilst trying to have a conversation which was embarrassing) So, I wasn't really myself. I cut the convo short, thanked that hoodlum, and drug my beat down ass home.

I get home, rest up a little then open the thread to post about the days event. I found a post saying the truck looked good and it was nice to meet me. That's when I realized that I had indeed been talking to @fauj in person. Man I felt like a shit heal.

So, Jeff... again, I'm sorry. . Although, it's kinda funny when you think about it.

@fauj , I very much look forward to seeing you again in person. I'll make it right the next time.

Anyway... there was a TON of early and late model Japanese stuff at this show but there were also a few notable HAMB friendly cars and trucks there.

Here's some pics:



















This wagon had me biting my hand like Lenny and Squiggy.







I wanna build one of these:





There was another Fridge there that was SUPER CLEAN. Turns out this guy lives about 2 miles from me.





Holy cow, this next ride... well, lets just say I finally found a ride capable of taking the mother-in-law on trips.




When's the last time you saw a Rockne?



And THIS!!! Holy shit THIS Olds made me feel a tad underdressed.













Betcha can't tell what my favorite car of the show was.

So, yeah... that was yesterday's adventure. Still a bit tired. Checked my pedometer app and it said that I had walked 7.4 miles around that campus in 7 hours.

That's all I've got for you today, really. I will say, after popping her car show cherry, and seeing some of this stuff in person, I am now driven to really buckle down and work on this truck.

I've got a LONG and arduous road to go down before I can even begin to compete with some of the stuff I saw at THIS event let alone anywhere else. But, I'm having a blast.

Gotta run! Later, gators!


EDIT: I dunno what the hell is going on with imgur. It does this sometimes. Red X's as far as the eye can see. The pics all show up when I go to edit the post, so... I went ahead and reattached all the pics once and it's still doing it. I ain't doin' it again. It usually fixes itself, so I'm not too worried. Check back later if the pics are just red X's.

 

I can see the pics. Thanks for the photo coverage.

 

Thanks Chris, it was great to meet you regardless of how odd it may have seemed! We were down in SD for an early Mother's day lunch with our daughter so on the way back, I was checking my phone to get directions to the car show. Asked permission from the misses of course. Got lucky enough to see you and your truck and have a brief conversation. I'll be down in Oceanside all week, and headed back up on Friday. We'll have to find a time that works to hang out and chat more about the trucks! Would love to have seen the Silver Fridge, but we got there pretty late.

 

Great pictures! Thanks

 

Going to take a while to read through this thread - great looking truck. Coming up for air from working on my '65. These projects are all consuming.

 

Carrying over from a previous post...

I trimmed that bullet over the horn ring spokes and it looks WAY cleaner.



But, now...

On today's episode of Rocky and Bullwinkle...

"I'd never steer you wrong" -OR- "How to unfuck a crusty old wheel on a budget."

I've been up to no good. You guys inspired me to come up with a steering wheel idea. Was going to maybe get an aftermarket wheel. The new idea meant altering my really nice old original wheel and I just couldn't abide.

So, I did a quick eBay search turned up this $30 crusty old wheel.









Got busy with the dremel and ground around every crack then filled em up with JB Weld.



Then, sand... and sand... and sand.









The plan... a two tone custom wheel as opposed to an aftermarket custom wheel.
So, a tape line on a steering wheel between colors wasn't going to cut it.

I wracked my brain trying to figure out how to make a factory looking division between the colors. I settled on making bands out of aluminum sheet.







JB Welded them inplace...



Sand and polish...



First color is on.



Color #2.



And there you have it.







I like it. breaks up all of that red and classes up the interior a bit. And, I have about... what? Like $46 tied up in the whole thing.

As for the gold metal flake...

I'm experimenting with accents and got myself a sheet of gold metal flake acrylic.
First I cut dash knob inserts, then I cut inserts for the horn button (shown on my extra, not as nice, horn ring).



I love having a Glowforge at my disposal. it makes cutting stuff like this easy and clean.
I had to build the SVG in my graphic program, then after that, just push a button and cool shit pops out.

HOWEVER. I'm not totally sold on the gold metal flake. I mean it's... almost starting to feel a little "Vegas" -OR- "atomic age kitchen" in there, I can't decide which.

But nah, it's kinda growin' on me but it might change.


SIDE NOTE: My wife says that since I added that bullet, my horn ring now looks like a juicer and I can't unsee it. . My disdain for her grows...

That's it for now.

 

LOVE IT!!!