Projects The LeGrange Produce Tribute Truck build

Sounds like a good deadline challenge to me, although I suspect I couldn't make it if it were me.

 

Really? I hadn't thought much about the title........interesting.

 

Hope you didn't take offence. I wasn't saying there was anything wrong with the title. Only thing wrong was my almost passing it up. The title represented what you are doing perfectly and it is very cool.

 

None taken. I was just curious about the title.

 

Thanks Roothawg, this thread is like a whole tech week all in one thread, since it's so full of good detail ideas.

 

This is my type of build thread! I appreciate the time you take to show the small details and tricks and your thoughts behind them. Thanks for sharing your project with us.

 

Cool build, love the story and the progress so far. And thanks for the tip on the Limeworks oilite bushings; just ordered a set.

 

Don't know how I missed this one. Really digging it!!

 

I'm down with the flu this week, but hopefully I'll be up and in the shop next week.

 

So, I was moving right along until i came down with the old flu bug. Put me on my back for a week, so to keep things moving along I'll post some super boring pics of mundane tasks until I get back out in the garage this weekend.

Let's go back to the bed. If you look up at the beginning of this thread, you will see that this thing is made of armor plated steel that would make General Patton proud. This poses a small problem......bodywork. You can't get to the backside to dolly it and it is too far away to use as a backing board to hammer against.
So what to do? Get it as close as possible and move on. The original idea was just to cut off the big crusties and grind it smooth and spray it.

That's easier said than done for me. I am not rat rod type of guy in the least. I don't actually like patina. Unless, it's a real historical piece. Sorry, it just makes me want to paint it. It's in my nature. This one will force me to draw a line in the sand. The line of how much is enough? This bed has seen better days, but I plan on using it like a rented mule, so I don't need a super nice fit and finish. The upper rails are not exactly square to the world, but a tonneau cover should take care of that.
I welded up all the holes in the upper rails and spent about 3 days trying to undo some of the previous sins.

At one point I just gave up and decided to spray some high build primer on it to get a new perspective. It usually brings to light all of you lacking skill sets.

I ordered the 8 liter version of the epoxy bed liner from TCP Global. I have been told by my super secret sources that this is the house brand made by Raptor sold under the Custom Coat line.

I sprayed the Raptor on the wagon and I loved it. I am hoping that this will be the same. I plan on spraying the inside of the bed, tailgate, cab interior, and running boards with it. Not traditional, but usable.

I wasn't gonna use the tailgate, because I have a couple of really good originals. That was right up til I remembered that this bed is about 3/8" narrower due to the plate on the inside of the bed. So, I decided to brake the tailgate down and weld up some holes and clean up the straps etc. Someone built this tai;gate using factory pieces. It's definitely heavy duty as well.
I am glad I decided to remove the straps. They had quite a bit if corrosion going on under there. I welded up the top rail solid as well. They had spot welded it, but it looked weird.
I'll get it blasted this weekend and hopefully get it in primer. Maybe I will get lucky and my bed liner stuff will show up before Tuesday.....It's supposed to stay up in the 60's !!

 

Shooting the box with liner will be so practical and easy to care for. Looking forward to see the progress.

 

I can't wait to see what you have planned for a tonneau cover. I have a 35 and been trying to figure out a solution. My bed has diamond plate in it as well and a rear bumper that could be used by General Patton as a ram against a Tiger Tank.


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So, I decided to make use of the sunny weekend weather and try and make some progress. I don't have too many opportunities in January for 75 degree days, so I had to make use of it wisely. I decided to paint the firewall, the dash, the door jambs, the windshield opening and the header panel. Nothing earth shattering here, just a few pics.


I decided instead of trying to make the gauges fit and look unbalanced, I decided to move them up above in the header panel. I will run the fuel gauge and the voltmeter in the header. I centered them up above the rear view mirror or at least where I plan on mounting one. If you are wondering about the 1" hole on the right, there was something mounted there previously. I plan on drilling a matching hole on the opposite side and I will mount some small tweeters in them.


Hopefully my bed liner spray will come in tomorrow so I can spray the inside of the cab and get that out of the way.

 

Very cool.

So is this the turnip truck you fell off of?

 

The very same one........

 

Now that's funny right there!


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Looking good !

 

A very nice build!

 

Any updates ?

 

Just the one from yesterday Jack.

 

You need to slow down and let the rest of us catch up! Really looks good, keep it coming.

 

Great build! I love 35/36 Ford PUs.

 

Fantastic work you're doing there. It's looking GREAT!

 

So, I have been sort of preoccupied trying to upgrade the cooling system on my Nova wagon, so progress is minimal on the Tribute Truck.
I did get my bed liner spray in and make quite a bit of progress on the things I was wanting to coat.
The pics don't show the material very well, so just use your imagination.

After much deliberation, I decided to coat the running boards. I really struggled with this, because once you commit, there's no turning back. But since this is a purpose built vehicle, I decided to go ahed and coat them. Just for future reference, it takes 2 liters to coat both sides of the running boards and the inside of a tailgate.

I bought 8 cans of Custom Shop Bed liner. ) This covered the inside of the cab and firewall, the inside of the tank-seat riser, the outside and the bottom of the tank-seat riser, the running boards and the inside of the tailgate. The cost was about $220 including the gun. I may spray another coat on the bed. I don't like the finish I got. I have since figured out that you need 75% overlap to get the sheen more uniform.


I pulled the tray out to prevent getting the bed liner in the drawer slides. This picture shows it mounted back in place after everything was coated.

This coating dampens the harmonics quite a bit. I still plan on putting down the Fat Mat Extreme to really quieten things down.

 

Kudos on the quality of the build and the quality of the thread. I am following closely for many similar aspects of my '36 1.5 ton Model 51.

My fuel tank is located in the cab, under the seat. You appear to be using (carefully re-using...nice work!) a factory tank but not mounting it under the seat. Have you settled on a location? Did I miss this in the thread?

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Yeah, I used the factory pickup location. The big trucks were under the seat and that is what this cab was. The possibilities are endless on a big truck. I have a big truck hot rod in the wings.....that's for another day.
Here's one we restored. Sold it last year. This one is now residing in Montana.

 

Any updates? We had some good weather.

 

Not much lately. Working on mama's wagon. Should be back on it this weekend.

 

The suspense is killing me.
It hurts so good.

 

You and me both. I'm on a trip for work and haven't been home for 2 weeks. I should be home soon. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and I can get the cab sprayed.