46 Ford rusty cab, my first build

[Ratcrazy]

Started capping the windshield frame. The stepdown (joggle) in the end of the piece is there to pick up the next piece across the frame and to make a smoother transition.

Larry

 

[BigShem]

looks good larry i have to mine hope mine comes out that nice...lol[cl

 

[Ratcrazy]

looks good larry i have to mine hope mine comes out that nice...lol[cl

Thanks

Yours will too.

Take you time and study what you are doing.

Shoot; I'm surprising myself......

 

[Ratcrazy]

Finished up capping the windshield frame and started working on the brake pedal assembly today. [cl

Fabricated a mount out of some 1x1x1/8 wall tubing and got it welded in place and the pedal hung. I used a old Ranger pedal I had in the garage.

I stretched the pedal arm by 5 inches to start with but ended up cutting 2 inches back out of it after I got it mounted and found out that sucker was going to drag the floor. Oh well live and learn.

Oh, did I mention I also cut out the dash? It was rusted so bad where the column was suppose to mount that it would have never worked. So I am going to do a flat panel dash with a 5 gauge gluster.

Anyway here's a few pic's of my progress.

Larry

 

[Ratcrazy]

Here's a pic of the dash removed and the start of the new dash.

 

[Gregster]

this truck is different in a great way . Love it ! roadster trucks were hot in the mini truck crowd a few years back and they turned me off, but this is the way it should be done . I'm impressed with your grille shell fab work . I guess that this is another thing that will go on the list of " never thought of that " Nice job !

 

[Ratcrazy]

this truck is different in a great way . Love it ! roadster trucks were hot in the mini truck crowd a few years back and they turned me off, but this is the way it should be done . I'm impressed with your grille shell fab work . I guess that this is another thing that will go on the list of " never thought of that " Nice job !

Thanks Gregster but I cant take credit for any of these ideas. The roadster pickup idea came from Dougndog build. And the grille shell idea I seen somewhere on one of the rat sites but cant remember which. I just took my window frames and did my twist to them.

Larry

 

[Ratcrazy]

Up Date

I finally got around to building the steering column. DMW56 was gracious enough to donate an old piston rod for the drop bracket. [cl, thanks buddy.

The tube is 2"OD and 1-5/8"ID, 22" long. The bearings are R22 sealed bearings pressed on to a 3/4 rod and plug welded to the tube to keep them from slipping.

I used 2-2"OD and 1"ID flat washers ground to the OD of the tube to cap the ends of the tube and tacked them in place. I machined a couple of locking bushings from 1-1/2 round stock with a 1" dia. step shoulder .060 tall on it to fit the 1" washers and drilled/tapped for two 1/4-20x3/16 set screws 90 degrees apart in each so the shaft wouldn't slip in the bearings.

I used a 3" hole saw to cut out a disk to mount the steering wheel with a 3/4 hole in the the center and welded it to the shaft. Tapped the disk with 1" 5/16-24 allen-head screws and lock washer.

I cut the mounting flange off an old Ranger column. I will weld that in place on the column after I figure out the exact location on the firewall.

Also machined the permanent clamping brackets for the R&P over the weekend. Got them welded to the mounting plate tonight so it's ready to go back on the car.

I think thats all for now.[cl

Larry

 

[Ratcrazy]

More Pic's

R&P clamps.

 

[BigShem]

man i woulda never thoght to use a piston rod for a steering holder .....Larry u never sees to amaze me....... brilliant.... thats why i love you guys on here always thinking ,good job!!!!!!!!![cl[cl[cl[cl

 

[Ratcrazy]

man i woulda never thoght to use a piston rod for a steering holder .....Larry u never sees to amaze me....... brilliant.... thats why i love you guys on here always thinking ,good job!!!!!!!!!

I didnt think of it either.....I seen it used somewhere on here or one of the sites and said, yeah, that'll work!![cl

I love the look of the piston rod drop bracket and it stays within the oldskool build theme, you know, use what you have or find and best of all its free.[dr

Larry

 

[Ratcrazy]

The steering column is in...[cl[cl[cl

Got up this morning on a mission, I was going to mount the steering column or burst.

Removed one of the floor frame braces and relocated it and cut and welded in the firewall on the drivers side. Eyeballed the column and made a mark and drill a 2" hole int he firewall. After test fitting the column to see where the drop bracket wpol;d end up I cut the drop bracket to length and added a 1'x1/8x3-1/2 flat piece to the bracket and welded it in.

Being the wife is alot shorter than me I used her to locate the distant the steering wheel would be off the dash. She has to set right on the steering wheel to reach the pedals in her car and I wanted her to be able to drive this also.

Anyway heres a couple of pic's.

Larry

 

[Ratcrazy]

Got started on the tunnel section this week. Hopefully I can get it finished being I am on vacation till after the 1st. Here's what I have already.

Larry

 

[Ratcrazy]

The floor pan is finished.[cl

 

[DJ3100]

That floor pan looks great. Nice job.

 

[Ratcrazy]

Thanks DJ3100, finished up the firewall yesterday.

 

[Gregster]

the dash is looking good , I like the tunnel also , all the joints and parts came out great , very early stealth bomber look ! cool !!

 

[Ratcrazy]

Thanks Gregster, I didnt realize the look till you spotted it, yeah it doesnt it. Being it is being built on a military theme I guess it fits right in..

Got the trans rebuilt this passed week and a new t-converter too. Been working on the shift getting it mounted and finding the right length cable for it. Finally found one at Advance Auto yesterday.

I have a question here for some of you who have ran into this problem before. Notice in the picture that the cable end has a 1/4 round hole in it and the trans shift lever has what looks like a double-D shape to it. Here's the problem. I fabricated a 1/4 pin and threaded it 1/4-20 that will fit the cable but when trying to drill a hole in the shift lever I find its harden steel. I want to make a hole/slot about 1/2" long to allow some adjustment to the pin/shifter adjustment. Any suggestions?

Got the tank mounted and the straps finished.

Thanks for any help I can get here with the cable/shifter.
Larry

 

[bob w]

I've made transmission shift levers out of mild steel.

 

[Ratcrazy]

I need a diagram of the steps to remove the shift lever from the tranny so I can cut it and weld on a new piece I have made for the shift cable to attach to. Anyone got any photos on how to remove it or maybe a website online I can look at?

Got the tool box mounted today. Found this old field generator tool box at the Army/Navy store Friday for 12 bucks. I couldnt have made a better fit.

Larry