1948 Thriftmaster

[Old Iron]

Good job
I too am sorry to hear about your mom passing away.

 

[forbigpicture]

Sorry for your loss Bill.....

 

[Torchie]

My condolences as well. Bill.
Torchie

 

[Dr Crankenstein]

Sorry to hear that, Bill.

.

 

[BillM]

Made a little more progress on the AC plumbing today, and the tranny cooler lines. I'm looking for a good spot for the battery, my only decent option is behind the seat.

 

[05snopro440]

Made a little more progress on the AC plumbing today, and the tranny cooler lines. I'm looking for a good spot for the battery, my only decent option is behind the seat.

A guy I know put his behind the seat. It was fine for years, and one day he was working under the truck in the garage and looked up and saw smoke exiting the garage. The battery had shorted internally and was burning the interior of the truck. He was able to save it from being a total loss, but had to repaint the cab (and rest of the truck due to age of the paint job) and completely redo the interior and install all new glass.

I like accessible batteries for that reason, no matter if it doesn't look as good.

 

[BillM]

Thanks everyone. I've been making some progress, but haven't updated here in a little while. Cleaned up the PCM and relay wiring around the firewall, reinstalled the passenger inner fender. I'm still waiting on the steering column and u joints, as well as the gauges - but who knows how long those pieces will be now. Getting stuff across the border may take a while! I've had the box on and off a few times to get my head wrapped around where the floor will be, and just how much of a wheel tub to fab up on the inside.

 

[forbigpicture]

Lookin' great Bill, yeah I'm afraid a lot of things are coming to
a stand still... Great looking shop too...

[P[P

 

[Old Iron]

That sure is a clean job

 

[Burgerman]

A pleasure to follow along. Sorry about your loss.

 

[BillM]

I've been working away on things, trying to amuse myself while keeping everyone else in the house happy during these trying times. I've put my tractor partially back together again, and some other stuff around the shop but not a lot on the truck that's picture worthy. I did get the supports made up for the wood, and today I quickly fab'd up the mini-tubs for the inside of the box. I picked up a couple of trailer fenders at Princess Auto a while back (on a good sale ). They had a real nice radius so I cut off everything I didn't need and made up a filler panel. I layed out the cut radius on the box but haven't cut it yet.

 

[joedoh]

perfect! [cl[cl[cl

 

[Torchie]

perfect! [cl[cl[cl

^^^^^X's 2 ^^^^^
[P [P [P
Torchie

 

[DozerII]

Nice job on the tubs Bill, you can't beat the price on those fender when they are on sale.

 

[Bamamav]

It's been done before, but I like the idea of getting an old ice cooler and making a battery box out of it and mounting it in the bed. It will give you good access, be out of the way, and best of all, away from the flammable interior stuff! An added bonus is you won't have those hydrogen and sulfur fumes in the cab.

 

[Dr Crankenstein]

Gotta love PA.

How much tire are you stuffin' in there, Bill?

.

 

[05snopro440]

It's been done before, but I like the idea of getting an old ice cooler and making a battery box out of it and mounting it in the bed. It will give you good access, be out of the way, and best of all, away from the flammable interior stuff! An added bonus is you won't have those hydrogen and sulfur fumes in the cab.

Agreed. I'm kind of over the look of it, but the benefits are real and outweigh it in my opinion.

 

[BillM]

Thanks guys - I'll think about the cooler idea. As suggested, it has been overdone a bit, and I'm going to be rather shallow on the bed floor, so I'll see how it might look when I get the floor installed.

Sorry for the delay in answering your question Dr Crank - my computer decided to go south on me so it had to go the shop. Running fine now. Tire size? I'm hoping to run a 20" x 10" on the back. My math says it should fit - JUST - but whether it's centered well enough remains to be seen. Once I get the box back on and the fenders mounted permanently, I'll make the final decision.

 

[Dr Crankenstein]

Sorry for the delay in answering your question Dr Crank - my computer decided to go south on me so it had to go the shop. Running fine now. Tire size? I'm hoping to run a 20" x 10" on the back. My math says it should fit - JUST - but whether it's centered well enough remains to be seen. Once I get the box back on and the fenders mounted permanently, I'll make the final decision.

No problem. (Technology fails me more often than I'd like.) Have you made a wheel choice, or do you have something on hand already?

.

 

[BillM]

We are planning on a Ridler 695 (or reasonable facsimile) in grey. I haven't ordered anything yet - I'm waiting to see what size I can use, and getting stuff shipped right now seems to be a bit problematic - rightfully so I suppose! If I don't get the truck completed this year, so be it, it's not like there will be any shows or places to go anyway.