RPU, bodywork underway.

[kenny c]

[cl[cl[P

 

[soltz]

Very Nice!!![cl

 

[Torchie]

[P [P [P
Torchie

 

[donsrods]

Thanks, guys. I took the last couple of days off from working on the car, it has been too darn hot to even think about going to the shop. But we are getting some rain today from the passing hurricane, and it kept the temps down somewhat, so I did go there today.

I started to make the aluminum door and side panels that will be upholstered when done. I bought a 4 x 8 sheet of 1/8 inch thick aluminum a while ago, and I cut the first door panel out of that. Nothing major, but I got it all cut and shaped and then used cleco fasteners to temporarily hold it in place. It came out ok, and now I can do the passenger side door and the rest of the interior panels. Once those are done I will get them to the upholstery guy and let him roll and pleat them in the same material he did my seats in.

I will tap number 10 threads into the doors to secure these panels when they are upholstered, and will probably use either trim washers or those little color coded covers that go over screws to hide them.

This weekend Dan and I will continue working on getting the bed done, and we should be able to get the louvered lid hinged and mounted by the end of the weekend. Here are some pictures of the panel I made up today.

 

[donsrods]

Last night I made up the aluminum door panel for the passenger side, so now that only leaves the two panels behind the doors and the two in the kick panel area to make up before I can give them to the upholstery guy.

Today Dan and I worked on the bed some more, and got a lot done. The top tonneau cover is now hinged and we also got the two rear latches installed, so now it latches and hinges up. Dan found these neat little latches on the internet, all you do is push down in the center and they release and pop up.

I picked up two stainless steel gas shocks and we will make the ball mounts to hold them tomorrow. I got two 20 pound shocks as a starting point and may have to return them to get stronger ones because this thing is gaining weight quickly.

I have decided to have the framework for the bed and the lid powder coated in maybe wrinkle finish black, but that is still up in the air. Anyway, here are some pictures from today.

 

[BillM]

That's looking great Don - and thanks for the info on the latches, I've never seen them before but they are nice.

 

[donsrods]

Bill, I hadn't heard of them either, but my son found them somehow on the net. He says they make them in a lot of different sizes and some even lock, and are used on race cars a lot to remove things like hoods and other panels.

The ones I got are the smallest they make because I didn't need a lot of strength just to keep this cover held down . Last night, after we got them installed, I just put a finger from each hand into the recess, pushed down slightly, and it popped right open.

I was thinking I was going to use hood pins or some other kind of twist latch, but these were easy to install and are very unnoticeable .

 

[Old Iron]

On your ball end shock choice, if you take an ordinary set of bathroom scale, raise the tonneau cover, set the scales in the lower pivot position (center in the bed side to side), put a rod from the upper mounting position to hold the lid up and let the tonneau cover rest on that with the other end on the scales, it'll tell you what poundage you need for the shocks.
I'd go 10 to 15 pounds heavier than what half the scales are reading.

 

[donsrods]

That's a good way to figure the strength of the ones you need to get, OI. I used the old method, I bought 20 pounders, and they were too weak, so I took them back and swapped them out for two 40 pounders, and those were exactly what I needed. They go up slow but hold in the upright position.

Today Dan and I wrapped up the work we started yesterday, and got the bed very far along. All that is left are making four stake pockets, some tubes running down the wings on the top of the sides, and a few other small details.

Tonight we put the bed back on, and it is gaining a lot of weight. So, here are a few pictures from when we left off tonight. There are a lot of cleco's holding the tonneau cover on, and I will replace them with rivets after the frame is powercoated and the other parts painted.

 

[ssimpala]

Beautiful! I'm about to start back on mine and have got a lot of good ideas following along on your build....mine won't be nearly as nice as yours though. LOL!

 

[Torchie]

Looks great Don.[cl [cl [cl
I love those Pie Crust cheater slicks.
[P [P
Torchie

 

[donsrods]

Thanks guys. It feels really like the finish line is in sight after all these years.

Torchie, the only miles on those slicks was when I pulled them off of this car and put them on my 27 to run at the nostalgia drags a few years ago. They didn't hook well, but I felt like Don Garlits for a little while anyway. lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwVJRrX2vj4

 

[kenny c]

Looks great.[cl You're almost there.

 

[Old Iron]

It's all about the feelins [cl

 

[donsrods]

The list of things to do are getting shorter, and the jobs are getting somewhat easier. Today Dan worked on modifying the bed stake pockets to fit the bed and I worked on making the rest of the aluminum interior panels.

We are using 1935 Ford pickup stake pockets that are reproductions of the originals. We are using these because we like their shape and the way they mount. But they are way too long and way too wide, so Dan has to slice and dice each one and also modify the angle of the top piece to fit our bed.

Each one is taking about a day to do and requires a lot of cutting, reshaping, and welding and grinding. So far he has all four cut and rewelded and now he just has to change the angle of the top piece to wrap them up. Another day or two should get that done.

While he was working on that, I worked on the aluminum interior panels for the doors, kick panels, and rear section of the body. There are 6 pieces in all, and also one more that goes between the trans tunnel hump and the passenger side kick panel. I have very little left to do on these, and early next week I can get them to the upholstery guy to have the rolled and pleated vinyl upholstery made.

Once the bed stake pockets are done and the holes drilled in the bed sides, I can get the framework to the powder coater and also start painting the bed sides, tailgate , front panel and the louvered top piece.

We won't be working on it tomorrow, Dan's band is playing out of town and he will not be around. But it will be nice to get a night off from working on this thing anyway.

Here are a couple of pictures from tonight.

 

[Old Iron]

You guys make a helluva team.

 

[donsrods]

You guys make a helluva team.

Thanks. Just having my sons to do this stuff with is the best part of my life, Old Iron. There have been some things in my life that I have really messed up, but having them was absolutely the best thing that ever happened in my life. I could not imagine what my life would have been like without them.

Today I worked on finishing the interior aluminum panels so that I can get them to the upholstery guy. There were a few things to wrap up, and I got those little jobs done, sanded down the panels, and then I drew the upholstery pattern I want him to do on the panels with a marking pen. I will contact him tomorrow and drop them off so he can get started on them.

That should take about 4 weeks, based on his last job for me, and in the meantime Dan and I can finish up the work on the bed and maybe get it into paint soon.

 

[Burgerman]

Very nice work.

 

[donsrods]

Very nice work.

Thank you.

Well, I have decided to try to get the bad running situation figured out because I am close to getting this thing on the road. It should run like a new car, the engine is a crate motor, almost every part on it is brand new, and it still stumbles when I try to accellerate.

It has to be one of two things, either the center carb is messed up, or something in the distributor is not working right. The distributor is an electronic one, and brand new, but I have not ruled that out. That leaves the middle carb.

The two end carbs are still blocked off and no fuel is going to them, so they are out of the picture entirely. With just a two barrel in the center this thing should run great, but it isn't. So, last night I ordered a new carburetor from Rock Auto and should have it here on Thursday. Supposedly, according to their ad, this carb was rebuilt and dialed in on a flow bench so it should be plug and play.

My plan is to unbolt the center carb, and put this new one on and hook it up so I can go for a test drive. If it runs good I will then put the correct base under it so that I can eventually hook up the two end carbs after some miles are put on the car and I know everything is fine.

I have almost considered pulling the tripower off and putting two fours on because I have had zero problems with those over the years, but my sons bought me this Edelbrock intake for a gift, and I would not want to hurt their feelings by not using it. Also, a two barrel Rochester is about the most simple carb on the planet, and if I can't make this thing run right with one of these I need to take up a different hobby.

So, after Thursday I should know how the new carb does on here.

 

[MercuryMac]

Don, I'm in the same boat as you. My newly rebuilt flathead with three deuces is not running properly and I can't find the problem. Tomorrow morning it's going into town to a professional tune-up guy, so I'll know whether it's a spark or carb problem in the next few days.