Cast iron or cast steel?

[tjb]

I looked pretty hard at putting the fill cap in the back of the fender, but had 2 issues...

First, I have a bed crossmember in the way... I would have to run the fill hose through it, or relocate the crossmember... either way, it is doable, but the other issue is that there is not a flat area on the fender anywhere, and I'm not sure I could trim out the fill neck on a curved surface and make it look anywhere near acceptable. A rubber grommet like the one used to seal the original neck in the cab corner may work... IDK. I'm going with what I have for now... if it doesn't work out, it will be fairly simple to patch and repaint over the hole in the bed and try something different.

The current filler neck setup is very similar to what was originally used on the panel trucks... it was fairly low, just over the top of the frame.

-Bear

Sounds like you're one step ahead of me again. About 4:00 this morning, I thought about making sure you were careful to look for a flat spot on the fender. Always safe to not cut until you're sure. Again, not being familiar with Ford, I can't say much about their rubber grommet, but that simply wouldn't work on either of my Chevy's. The curvature of the cab in the original position is way too acute to allow it to be used on the fender. What you've done looks good, and it works. Like Yogi says, "If it ain't broke, don't break it."

Regards,
Terry

 

[682bear]

You must be a night owl too if you were thinking about that at 4:00... I was at work all night, being on night shift gives me lots of time to brainstorm on such issues...

-Bear

 

[tjb]

You must be a night owl too if you were thinking about that at 4:00... I was at work all night, being on night shift gives me lots of time to brainstorm on such issues...

-Bear

Nah. Just couldn't sleep. When I wake up, that's a good time to brainstorm.

Regards,
Terry

 

[tjb]

You must be a night owl too if you were thinking about that at 4:00... I was at work all night, being on night shift gives me lots of time to brainstorm on such issues...

-Bear

Bear,

I had to run down to a small town outside of Charleston, SC yesterday and return this afternoon (Mt. Pleasant). While I was there, I drove by a small independent garage, and they had a truck that looked EXACTLY like yours, except it was a 1/2 ton. Same color. May have been a different year model, but from 100 feet away, it looked just the same, but clearly finished and in driving condition. Again - from the road - it looked like it was a nicely done daily driver. I was at a traffic light, so I got a good look, but sorry I couldn't get a picture.

Regards,
Terry

 

[682bear]

Sounds nice... the green is a very popular color on these old Ford trucks. I had my paint mixed using a faded inner door panel as a sample, so it is just a slight bit off the original color, but it is very close.

My grille was white when I bought the truck, but I'm going to paint it an off white or cream color... not exactly sure yet...

I bought a new set of steel rims that I painted the same color as the truck... I'm going to buy some small hubcaps for them... no plans for trim rings... but that may change... I'll decide that when I get to that point...

I am an amateur at paint and body work, so my truck is definately not perfect, but I really didn't intend it to be a show winner... I just wanted to build a decent driver.

-Bear

 

[tjb]

I really didn't intend it to be a show winner... I just wanted to build a decent driver.

Wise choice. I'm not into showing, so my vehicles are definitely over-kill in that regard. I think I would have enjoyed them more and been less paranoid about driving them if I had taken your approach. That's exactly the way I plan on building the '59 Apache.

Regards,
Terry