Ian's Tennessee Honey '64 Short Box Step-side - England

[ibrown50]

Originally Posted by MacQuigley

Nice repair to that door Ian, but why does everyone want to cut great big speaker holes in them!

Thanks Bill I assume they cut holes to keep us busy Oh and I hope you're enjoying you're trip to the states

Originally Posted by mjh1965

Great repair on the door . All I can say is there is more getting on up north than down south . You and bill are really starting to make headway.

It's still cold up here Martin so we've nowt better to do

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

Totally agree Bill, Martin.

I am closing the holes in my doors as well when I get to them.

That door repair really looks great Ian.

I think our excuse down South is that we have both had stuff happen and continue happening behind the scenes that needs tending, taking Focus away from hobbies.

I know what you mean Rian as John Lennon said "life is the thing that happens when you're busy making other plans"

Originally Posted by realvc

Great repair work on your door and the paint is looking very nice too.

The type of work you do inspires the rest of us.

Thanks Vince, I think we all try to do the best we can with the skills God gave us.

Originally Posted by Bears63

You are doing some fantastic metal work. Looking real good!

Thanks Mike, you're comments are really appreciated

Originally Posted by 65sub

Nice work on the door Ian. The repairs came out really smooth

Thanks Dale but for me your thread is still the benchmark to which I aspire !

[ibrown50]

Very quick update,

After finishing the inside of the passenger door I got it hung and painted this weekend





Got the fender finished too



The bad news is that I have to start the drivers side rust repairs now

[Grizz1963]

Your progress continues to make me smile.

Sitting here on a train to London its a good thing to read first thing in the morning.

Well done, again.

[65sub]

Nice progress Ian Paint is looking good.

[forestb]

Man that color is familiar.

[ibrown50]

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

Your progress continues to make me smile.

Sitting here on a train to London its a good thing to read first thing in the morning.

Well done, again.

Thanks Rian, for me the "virtual community" on he is really important, especially when you need a bit of motivation.

Originally Posted by 65sub

Nice progress Ian Paint is looking good.

Thank you Dale, at the rate you're going you'll be painting soon enough

Originally Posted by forestb

Man that color is familiar.

Thanks Forest, thats a fine looking truck you have there

[ibrown50]

Apologies for the non-truck related post, but I thought I would share a bit of a cautionary tale.

My Mum always says “never say never, you’ll live to regret it” and I must say I try hard to live by this but now and again I suffer a lapse or two. Previous lapses have included, "I’ll never go to see Dianna Ross", "I’ll never shave my head". "I’ll never wear a pink tie" (the list goes on)


Now, in the UK before you can ride a motorcycle on the road you must pass your Compulsory Basic Training test(CBT), this allows you to ride on the road but you are limited to the size and power of the motorcycle until you pass a full test. A couple of weeks ago my wife passed her CBT and has bought a motorcycle, “Hun” she said “you’ll have to get another bike too so you can ride with me”. She didn’t have to ask twice.


And so, to my most recent lapse, anyone who knows me will know I love motorcycles and especially the air cooled “big twin” variety. A year or two back I was out for dinner with friends and (and I do recall saying this) I said “I will never buy a liquid cooled Harley, Harley’s should be air cooled”.

Well what do you know, look what showed up at my house today. In my defence, I got a really good deal on it.








I don’t think I’ll regret this one.

[mjh1965]

Well done , you'll enjoy riding it this summer. But it'll make progress on the truck slow down and I am speaking from experience

[65sub]

Nice bike. Looks like fun

[Grizz1963]

Just Lovely Ian.


Congrats.

[ibrown50]

Originally Posted by mjh1965

Well done , you'll enjoy riding it this summer. But it'll make progress on the truck slow down and I am speaking from experience

Originally Posted by 65sub

Nice bike. Looks like fun

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

Just Lovely Ian.


Congrats.

Thank you gentlemen,

You know those 10 minute jobs, the ones that turn out to be not quite the 10 minute job you thought, well I've just finished one.

A while back I bought a pair of Jeep Cherokee check links to replace the ones that came with the truck (yes honestly this was the passenger side check link)



I got them on eBay with nuts and roll pins for about $15 including shipping, a bargain I thought,




Having my newly painted door with nothing stopping it opening to the point of destruction was not ideal, I had 10 minutes spare so I thought "I know I'll fit the check link".

I soon hit a bit of a problem was the original screws were seized solid, I could have taken them out before the door was painted or actually hung and adjusted (Like any sensible person might have done) but oh no.



I tried releasing oil, a long bar and even cutting a slot in one to see if a straight bit would grip better than a pozi all to no avail. There was no room to drill and I didn't want to take the door off so I broke out the die grinder and a ball end carbide burr ( a risky strategy with a freshly painted door) and ground the middles of the screws out.



Any way about an hour and a half later my 10 minute job was complete, It really is unbelievable how well these work, you would swear they were OE

[Grizz1963]

What a lovely piece in the passenger door.....


The Cherokee units seem to be the perfect replacement. And thy can be adjusted to suit.

[ibrown50]

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

What a lovely piece in the passenger door.....


The Cherokee units seem to be the perfect replacement. And thy can be adjusted to suit.

Thanks Rian, I agree they look factory


I have decided to clear off the un-finished jobs list before doing the driver’s side cab repairs. These jobs include rebuilding the rear brakes then finishing up the brake lines and bleeding the system, they also include getting a choke cable on the carb, running the engine up properly, doing the timing etc. and filling the trans after its rebuild.

Another job to do is the panhard bar. You may remember from a while back in this thread I discovered that my truck has a ’65 rear axle, I realised this only after I had ordered a 64 panhard bar from POL. Because of length and bracket position I couldn’t use either a 64 or 65 bar.



So when life gives you lemons and all that…..


If I have to shorten the bar I have a number of options, I could simply cut and weld, I could make it adjustable at both ends or by using a LH thread rod end and weld insert I could make it adjustable without removing it (it will work like a turnbuckle). This seemed the best option. I ordered a forged LH thread rod end from Speedway, and a LH thread weld bung from a local rally car supplier which even has flats milled onto it for easy adjustment.



These pictures show how much it had be shortened, one advantage of making it fully adjustable is that your measurements can be +/- about a ¼” and you’ll be fine.

[ibrown50]

This is a suspension piece so a good prep is important to get effective weld penetration,



A good trick when tacking things like this is to lay the job in a piece of angle bar while tacking up it helps keep things aligned and means you don't have to earth the job..



I got in real tight and used plenty of heat to get good penetration, I’ve no way of rotating the bar while welding so I ended up doing 4 separate runs doing opposite sides to reduce distortion, I got a good strong weld but boy was it ugly. I dressed it back carefully on a grinding wheel and then dipped it in some gold paint just to stop the bare metal rusting (yes, I know the match is awful but I’ll find something that matches better another time)





I ended the day by trying it “for a fit”. I will need to ensure I can set it level once the truck is built up so I‘ll probably drill another couple of pairs of holes in it so I can adjust the height if needed, I’m not sure whether to weld or bolt the chassis bracket in place (any suggestions?), but that’s a job for another day

[MacQuigley]

Having only read the first part of this on my phone while I was in the garage I was going to say hold from doing anything until I check out the spare Panhard Bar I have here, but looks like I'm too late.

If for any reason this doesn't work let me know and I'll look it out.

[ibrown50]

Well I've had a busy couple of weeks, I have changed jobs and now have a 2 hour commute to work (each way) so I am having to get used to that. I've also had a load of other stuff, including giving a friend mum her first ever pillion ride on a motorcycle, as part of her 80th birthday celebrations!!

Anyway I decided to bolt the panhard bracket to the frame rather than weld it, so made a simple plate to attach the upright brackets to,



I also drilled a couple of extra holes in the mounting bracket to give me some adjustment and allow me to compensate for any drop in ride height once the bed is back on.

At the point the bracket attaches the frame runs up a little creating a gap this means the 2 “legs” on the bracket have to be different lengths in order to remain vertical.



It's always tricky measuring gaps like this, I use one of these,



This one is metric but you can buy them in inches too. I bought a few of these when I was last in Japan, this is the last one, removed from its wrapper specially for the occasion. Although intended as a bore gauge they are great for gaps too. Each increment on this one is 1/10 of a millimetre which is 4 thou so they are incredibly accurate.

Before tacking you have to make sure the legs are vertical, square to each other and parallel. This really is one of those occasions where having 6 arms would be great

[MacQuigley]

Wish Id gone that rout and made a bracket for the chassis rather than modifying the one on the trailing arm!

[ibrown50]

A quick update on the panahrd rod. After getting everything tacked up the chassis bracket was welded and painted.





As mentioned in the last post I had decided to bolt the bracket to the frame, I found these great high tensile bolts and grade 8 nuts at my local suppliers, they have a nice low profile so don't hang down too far under the frame and have integral washers,



The bracket looks good bolted up (if I do say so myself )

[ibrown50]

And everything lined up great



Before



And after




I picked these flow masters up a week or two back, they've been used (but not much) at £60 ($76 ) for the pair I couldn't say no, so I guess I'll be thinking about the exhaust next

[Grizz1963]

Great job on the bracketing Ian.


And those Flowmasters....


I paid a lot more for mine.

You did well.

[mjh1965]

Looking good Ian . I have yet to do my exhaust so I will be watching what route you go . Great work as usual.

[MacQuigley]

Originally Posted by mjh1965

Looking good Ian . I have yet to do my exhaust so I will be watching what route you go . Great work as usual.

Snap! Ive still to come up with something for mine and I could use a couple of boxes like those for my C3!

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by MacQuigley

Snap! Ive still to come up with something for mine and I could use a couple of boxes like those for my C3!

I love these forums because we all learn from each other.

Trust me, mine is built in my head, but I will be watching you too Ian.

[C10Glenn]

Just read the whole thread, informative, witty and a good read, Perfect thread and very very impressive work

[ibrown50]

Gentlemen, thank you for your kind comments


A bit of an update (across 2 posts) .....Part A

I’ve been doing a lot of odd jobs recently, I finally got around to fitting the choke cable,



Put the belts on the engine, put fluid in the PS pump etc. etc.



So before I do my final round of rust repairs (I’m saving that for the dark nights ) I’ve decide to do the fuel tank and exhaust.

I need to know where the exhaust will exit the truck and I need to know how high above the frame the tank can sit so before starting on these jobs I’ve fitted the rear cross sill and new rear bumper which is a ’67. For anyone thinking of fitting a ’67 bumper to their 64-66 truck I’m here to tell you it’s an absolute doddle. I bought brand new rear brackets from Brothers along with the new rear bumper and it all bolted straight up, (no grinding out holes or anything like that), they even come with new nuts and bolts.





Next task was to assemble a decent selection of exhaust bends and connectors