I would like to get something straight between us!
Page 12
Not sure sometimes whether I am wasting my time writing all this shit out,
documenting it all as I have.. am I doing my self any favours? am I helping
anyone? or just making an arse of myself?? Anyhow I think I maybe becoming
menopausal as I have been getting into some really bad moods lately.. Back to
the plot... where is it?? oh shit have I lost it again ;o)
I had 2 weeks working on my daily, a crap Escort Van that needed more welding
than any van is entitled to and would of been scrapped if I had the Truck
done... but I didn't so I had to just get it done, so it would last until I get
this project finished at least...
The Task I have been attacking the last few days, is the
lining up and getting square the cab and bed. The bed sides though on were so
flimsily mounted I had to come up with a plan to make em solid. Where the sides
bolted to the rear had so much play in the holes it was a joke and the u section
was so thin all it did was crush when I tried to compensate for the sloppy holes
by tightening the bolts up. so I cut some 3mm walled box section up and cut it so it
fit snug in the U section then welded up the old holes so the new holes would be
real tight and the U section strong enough to get some serious torque on them
bolts. I have sinece done this job agian welding cpative nuts in place so the walls would not crush and so look good once painted.
Here is my dilemma and has been the scourge of every freakkin job I have done on
this Truck... look at the photo on the right, the magnetic angle finder says
bang on 90degrees... yet the bubble gauge right says leaning to the right and by a big
lump?? so what would you trust??
Well after some jiggery pokery, I finally got the bed sides level and straight using cross reference from the two levels and also a Swedish one I was given that agrees with the bubble gauge...ish tape measure and eye ;o) Why cant jobs be simple eh, why cant I just simply put the magnetic gauge on the bed side and adjust the side until it says level... ahhh that would be to easy... Man are these tools making me a bad tempered git!! But its done now, the sides are absolutely solid and do not move not even 1mm they are done. I then tackled the cab/ bed mismatch... measuring every datum I could and decided to lift the bed slightly on one edge, voila the cab and bed sit level to each other now.
The
tailgate looks in good nick in this photo but believe me it will not straighten
up good enough for paint.. anyone need bent one for their hack? it will be cheap
and is full of character...
The bed done it was time to get them wrongly fitted rear wings sorted, when I
was at the swap meet I took the time to measure all the F100 I found, armed with
a piece of stiff card they all measured the same. When I got home mine where set
and fixed a lot higher, hence why my running boards always looked like they were
running up hill. I fitted the only repair panels I have bought in the bed sides
this gave me the height for the running boards, all that was left now was the
remounting of the wings. This was a job I was looking forward to and took me the
best part of a day to get right.. I found one bolt hole at the rear lined up
somewhere near so I stuck a bolt in there and pushed the truck outside
Miles better eh, the running boards look miles better but the rear wing still
needed lowering just a tad to be right.. Turns out the later F100's beds had the rear wings mounted higher da da.. I knew I was right!
Once I had them at the angle I was happy with I clamped them and sprayed some paint in the holes to get a mark to drill on the bed sides
. All bolted that was
another job jobbed. Yep I am going to redo this job to as I think to get the bed sides prepped for apint will be to big a task for me so I am getting some new sides made and new stake bed pockets see later pages.
Then I turned my attention to the inside,
i didnt think I had enough clutch pedal travel so I redid did that.
also I
repaired and started to smooth out the column.
Fitted my new wiper system and Heater... had to mix and match some old with new
on the wiper system as first time I tried it the bugger snarled up Grrrrr
Heater, wipers, pedals and trans tunnel oh and bulkead moved on a bit more.
Heater fits neat under the dash with just the controls showing, the tunnel is
finished, Gear stick is topped off with a cool skull Langy would be proud of me,
I may even extend the lever another foot or so yet combined with the intended
seat lowering should make it feel real Hot Roddy ;o)
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