No so Low buck 52 / 53 farm truck

[Gregski]

Great build, funny narration, I will follow for sure, this is a grand daddy of my '74, keep it going and "Cant wait [till you] get it rolling again"

[mikec4193]

Not a bad weekend...not nearly enough time with working 2 jobs and all...but I am going to be forever in debt to My Jim Carter trucks...

Took the top two off and put the one on the bottom in its place...I like the shiny new one better...



even got the one under the hood from the started motor to the frame rail swapped out too....



more time under the dash board too...cuttin and grindin again...



I also got the heater pulled out (and vacuumed too) and I blew the dirt and stuff out of it...swapped out the 6 volt motor for a brandy new 12 volt one (thanks you Jim Carter again)...new heater hoses as well...

MikeC

P.S. I hope you guys dont mind but this is gonna stay a smelly old farm truck...low buck...down and dirty...and no shine at all.....

[Sim6]

Looking good! Keep it up Mike.
Jeff

[Advanced Design]

Nice, I like old farm trucks!

[mikec4193]

Had to take a little break from Howard Knapp due to some eye surgery but we are back at it again...


this is from under the cab floor...

this is how it mounts to the stock Chevy master cylinder

this is the best shot of the goods from CPP...I am not too keen on it but as long as it doesn't fail on me....that is all I care about...
the stock 1962/64 15" Chevy truck wheels keep hitting on the caliper shown here...


So what are you guys running for stockish steel wheels 15 wheels with disc brakes???

I have an email into vintiques wheels in hopes they can help me out...I wrote to summit and they told me to write directly to the wheel manufacturer...which is vintiques...

Should I grind this caliper to clear the stockish steel wheel???

As always...cant wait to get it rolling again...this thing is taking way too long to get out of the garage...

MikeC

[Sim6]

I wanted to run 6" steel wheel smoothies on my lowered 96' chevy I had before. I had to grind the caliper maybe a 1/16 to 1/8 to clear the wheels. I never had any issues. I think as long as it's just a little grinding you'll still be safe. IMO.

[mikec4193]

I got my bubba going on this post...



here is the hole I had to cut to access all the new CPP brake parts....



here is the access door I cobbed up on it...still not sure if I wanna hinge it or screw it down tight to the floor board...



finally got a pair of vintiques 15" steel wheels...had the new old rubber swapped out to these wheels...

I even left the bullet holes sorta still there....I filled them with my trusty MIG welder...if you folks cant tell yet....I want this thing to stay looking like a smelly old farm truck...no shine on this truck...

MikeC

[mikec4193]

Hi Everyone

Been toiling away almost every night...



Jim Carter parts provided this 12 volt alternator with a bracket too...



Got my bubba skills out again....some one before me cut almost 12" off the original frame rails....I had already taken the tilt bed off last fall...I am rebuilding this truck into a 9' long step side bed as it would have come from the factory if someone had ordered it that way....

Still ordering parts...last night the big brown truck dropped off an EZ wiring harness...I didnt open the box yet but I thinking tonight after work I will start to lay thing out...

Oh yeah...took the stock carb off for a snail mail ride to Florida to get rebuilt...ordered more stuff from Jim Cater trucks too...oil lines and a carb spacer...

Cant wait to get this thing running and outside again...

MikeC

[mikec4193]

Been busy busy busy on yea ole farm truck...I don't do carburetors but I found a fellow in Florida so we shipped this original one down to him...this is the before shot..



this is the after shot here...



then I bought and EZ wire 12 circuit harness....gosh I dont enjoy electrical at at all...wish my dad or my son were around still they both loved all that "ohms law" stuff...me it makes me cringe trying to figure it all out...I was on the phone at least once a week while I stumbled my way thru it...ended up with 5 left over circuits...so I saved them like this...



then we went to the tail end of this truck...I found the original tail light brackets that came with it....



I had a pair of CJ7 tail light from my last Jeep project...this is them getting ready to mount them here...



Now I am waiting for fuel lines from Jim Carter truck parts as we speak...oh yeah...I bought a new fuel pump and installed that too..

hoping and praying to have this thing at least yard driving sometime this summer...

As always...cant wait to get this thing done...

MikeC

[Sim6]

Looking good Mike! How close to a start up are you?

[mikec4193]

Originally Posted by Sim6

Looking good Mike! How close to a start up are you?

Hi Sim6

Kinda funny you would ask that...I keep thinking we are getting closer and then I find more junk I gotta buy for it..right now waiting on gas lines from Jim Carter truck parts...

then I am thinking I gotta get the old gas tank boiled out...I dont even know if it runs or not...the fellow I bought it from told me it was a yard driving truck...So I am hoping it should run with all new wiring and good brakes on it too...

Oh shoot...still have the drivers side floor and inner cowl panel to weld in...box is still waiting for someone with a brake big enough to bed up the sides with..

Thanks for asking

MikeC

P.S. might be selling it once I get it done...still thinking do I really want this truck or not...it is way bigger than I thought it was gonna be...seems really antiquated too as I work away on it....

[Advanced Design]

Good progress Mike. Seems there is always something more to do. Hopefully you will be driving it soon!

[mikec4193]

So I bought this truck because it was cheap and from the South West...the bad is it a a dreaded 1 ton truck...I have learned that the rear frame on this truck is 36" wide and the normal 1/2 ton is 46" wide...so I have been buying bed parts for this truck and guess what...nothing fits....so I thought and thought about this....much chin scratching...



1 ton frame width



1/2 ton rear panel width....



So off to the steel pile and I find some 3x3 steel tube I cut in half for a willys project I sold...



So some cuttin and fittin and now the 1 ton frame rails will fit a 1/2 box parts...



This weekend I am getting the new 9' bed sides bent to fit the 6 new stake pockets I have gotten from Jim Carter truck parts....

After that I gotta order all the misc bed brackets...blocks...rubber pieces....cross sills...angle brackets too....tons of misc hardware also.....

then comes the $300.00 for the 9' long yellow pine boards to finsih everything up on the back end...

As always...cant wait to get it done...

MikeC

[Advanced Design]

That was a good solution Mike. Looking forward to the next steps.

[SCHRUMGMC]

Subscribed. Enjoying the before and after photos, awesome truck man

[mikec4193]

Lots of misc ramblings here...

I found one of my racing buddies had a 9 foot long sheet metal brake...I bought 2 sheets of 18 gauge and 6 stake pockets (thank you Jim Cater truck), I am building this 9 foot bed from pieces I have found all over the country. Front panel is from Sherman Texas as is the bottom sill panel also



These are the short end of things....I still have the other 5 foot sections I need to weld into place...





I am a lone wolf...I work on my junk alone 99.9% of the time...so I had to figure a way to assemble this box...so I cut a quantity of 6 ...7" long pieces of steel to set the box onto and also help with underbed cross sills which I have no idea how that will mount...this enables me to mount the homebuilt box in sections alone...





So basically I will be building this truck box on the truck as it sit in my garage...I know...but when you work alone...this way works for me...



Hoping this weekend to get the top rail and the back 5 foot of sheetmetal layed into place...

then we order more parts from JIm Carter truck parts...underbed cross sills (4), mounting blocks....mounting hardware...angle brackets for the wood to mount too also...

As always...cant wait to get this thing done...

MikeC

P.S. I am really missing running oval track stuff...this street truck stuff is very boring to me...it never ends...hoping this old pig will be able to tow a race car at least...

[Stepside Jim]

A friend with a 9 ft metal brake, a good to have.

Although the project takes time, you're at least at a stage where you can look at what you've accomplished so far.

I really like the bed work so far, keep on keeping on Mike, Jim

[mikec4193]

Hey Stepside Jim

Thanks for the encouragement .......been grinding and cuttin more...Jim Carter truck parts...to the rescue again...ordered up 4 cross sills and the mounting blocks and the hardware too...ran about $175.00 total...
Did a little welding too...got the front half attached to the rear half...







welded the top rail onto the new side panels too...



new cross sill members just laying in place for now...


I ordered all the wood from Jim Carter truck parts and the little strips of wood too....a hardware kit too....ran over $400.00 for that little purchase...



been a really expensive week for truck parts...

hoping it will be worth it when I am done...not sure what a 1 ton 1953 Chevy pickup truck is worth but hoping someone will want it once I am done with it.......

This week.....working on the rear fenders...hangin tail lights too...

As my wife say "enjoy the journey"....my ADHD says...."get it done so you can go do something else"....

MikeC

[mikec4193]

still fiddling with the ole truck....spent a couple weeks savings on bed wood and all the fixens....



over $800.00 in parts and shipping...thanks again to Jim Carter truck parts...hoping for a low buck rebuild....I am sadly mistaken for sure...

Before and after tail lights below....



Oh yeah got brakes to work....CPP brake kits have their weakness's for sure....dont waste your money on their calipers...they suck...go to NAPA or Advance Auto and buy a pair of 1978 Chevy C10 front brake calipers and get the 7/16's banjo bolt too...they wont leak...the CPP is machined wrong where the banjo bolt mounts...they wanted either $57 or $75 for a new one and then 5 to 7 business days before it would ship...

my 2 cents....

Cant wait to get it done....

MikeC

[Sim6]

Your getting there Mike! It's looking good. Keep up the good work. You'll be driving it in no time!.
Jeff

[mikec4193]

I have some before shots of my fixer upper rear fenders...I dont do bondo/body filler in upstate NY it always bubbles and cracks....So I butt weld and grind the top off the top of the weld bead...

Inner flange rebuilt with some scrap 14 gauge...



Lower part of rear fender before grinding



Top of fender where the fender brace bolts to the bedside...



this is my most favorite cobb of the week...or as the Jeep guys call it..."bubba" did this...



a more finished weld on the other fender






I was always told to that the driver-side was usually the worse side...not these fenders...they are a mixed pair...one is blue and one is primered over green...

I think this truck is as the Jeep guys call it...."salad"...I have at least 5 different states that I have bought parts from...nothing matches but with a little cutting and grinding everything seems to fit...

working through the inner cowl and driver-side floor pan...

cant wait to get it running on its own...

Been in the garage 10 monthes...

MikeC

[Advanced Design]

Getting more done...good progress Mike!

[mikec4193]

Been cuttin and fittin and welding again...floor below




cowl below



next is the bubba cobb with making a 9' long bed running board from a dump truck running and a short bed running board...



surgery just beginning



Cant wait to get it done....

MikeC

[DeanTX]

Nice job saving the old metal. I am all for just patching whats bad and keep as much original as possible.

[mikec4193]

Hi Eveybody

It was about 3AM in a dream I figured out how to cobb up a dump truck running board and a very used short bed running board to fit on my 9 foot long bed Chevy truck...






Oh yeah the dream....loosen up the dump truck running board and slide it around to match up with the used and abused cut up short bed running board...

And it works...waiting on some used brackets coming up from Florida...then we finish welding this mess up...

MikeC