Kegan

Back at it again. Life and an accident put the brakes on for a bit. Trucks in a new shop now getting some much needed new fire! Step panels are at the fabrication shop, manifolds getting powder coated, and the top is almost done. Excited about the 90 days.

Hey all I haven’t gave up we just had to shut it down for a bit till this plague blows through. Should be back to work on it in a few weeks I hope

Next on deck. Brakes and getting the wheels put back together and new tires on so it can be rolled down to the other shop do a little body work and lots of clean up and sanding and a little paint. Those mechanical breaks are no joke. Lots more to them than you realize. The lining was garbage so bought new from Myers Early Dodge and new rivets. Gonna have to replace a couple springs which Myers carries as well. We decided to take one apart at a time just to use the other for reference. The emergency break and moving pets inside were quite froze up. Larry got the whole system apart and blasted and painted and the new lining put on. I’ve been underneath scraping grease as hard as stone and thick as can possibly be getting ready for some chassis saver for the axels and frame before the brakes and wheels go back on. This is gonna be a semi slow process cleaning the undercarriage as it is covered in funk....

I was really hoping to save the top but it just wasn’t possible. Both outer rails were badly rotted. Three of the ribs were broken. Most of the top strips were loose with several broken. So off she came, loaded into the truck and headed for the wood shop! The same friend that did the beautiful job on the back doors is also doing a whole new top! I’m excited to see it when done!

This truck sure turned out to be a much bigger project than I had anticipated! I would like to stop here and say THANK YOU to all my friends for the help and support I have gotten with this truck! It would never be where it is now without all of them! I’d also like to say to all of you. The next time somebody walks by and asks a question (no matter how stupid you think it is) or says nice job or wants to show you what they have, give them two seconds of your time. I all to often have been snubbed at tractor shows by some of the big boys thinking. The attitude of what a stupid question, or they don’t know anything why are they even here, or oh they just have a little piece of shit ________ fill in the blank, or that guy doesn’t know anything! Those are the new people in the hobby. Those are the people that in a few years after gaining some knowledge will be your next buyer, your friend, your driving partner. They just want to learn. Without the friends I have made through the whole process I never would have been able to accomplish this. These rare people took time out of their lives, space out of there garages and barns, room on there work bench, took time out of their own lives and have shown and taught me soooooo much! Those are the people that make this love of things old go round and round! Without the teachers this is a dying art! I know of several people that wouldn’t give me the time of day on this project but I also met several people that have dedicated their minds to this project and me. Be one of those and not the other!

This was a pleasant surprise. Took a DA sander and wore wheel to the body. There’s a lot of original blue paint under all that filth. I think it’s gonna get a good go over and clear. I like ol Norman’s patina. There’s something to be said about original. It only original once!

This is what I decided for the floors and bed. The floors and bed were both rotted badly. I couldn’t decide what wood I wanted to use. I had a few black walnut cut out of my front yard and had the pleasure of using a friends Minneapolis steam engine and saw mill to process the logs. The boards have been drying for two years. Gonna go through the stack this weekend and pick out the boards I want. Get them ready for the planer. I’m sure original was ash or white oak but I don’t have a stock pile of ash or white oak and not everybody gets to say those birds right there cane from my front yard and I got to saw them into lumber with a steam engine and be a part of every part of the process to being floor boards. Should be beautiful.

All put together restored, rebuilt and painted this was a big day for me! There are so many little things I’m skipping over in these posts but if something seems like it’s out of sequence it because I just found pictures or remembered something I forgot to share. Like I said before I’m just trying to get everyone up to date so I can do a weekly post instead of a daily post

The oil pump rebuild. Not quite sure how that oil pump was ever pumping anything. It was so plugged with sludge. The new gasket we made for it turned out quite well and then a pic of it installed!

A couple more pictures of the wheels I’m quite proud of them. I threw a tire and cap on just to see what it was gonna look like! They are not as dark as they look in the last two pics but I love the color!

The windows are out. Haven’t replaced the glass yet but yes I am. I kinda didn’t want to but everybody scared me into it. The window frames need some love anyway. They were froze right up but we got them moving. They are getting a complete rebuild. Also after talking to several people apparently the vacuum windshield wiper bodies that were that trash pot metal are all destroyed and finding a good usable one is next to impossible. And isn’t not something we can rebuild so it’s getting a hand operated wiper. Already purchased one.

Tail light was stuck, couldn’t get the cover off and it was filthy. Gave it a week long soak and bang she popped apart! Got it all cleaned up and reworked it. Got it working like a jewel now!

This steering wheel started as a mess and turned out beautifully another one I lost track of hours on polishing and sanding and sanding and sanding some more then coating with the same pecan stain and Spar. I couldn’t be happier!