Scott's '51 Build

[8man]

Scott, thanks. I am still running behind you, but I got the 48 doors done and they look pretty good. I still haven't got the cab rust cut out and replaced. When I do, I'll do the cab pins.

[Scott2]

After too long a hiatus working on the truck, I am finally trying to get the hood lined up. I read and am still reading threads on hood and front end adjustments but just hit my first hiccup.

I installed the hood on the original hinges, left off the support/springs, set a 2x4 under the front, and I am trying to get a decent gap (any at all) between the rear edge of the hood and the cowl. Hinges are loose and I cannot get the hood to have any gap. The hinges seem to be as far forward as the holes will allow, and there is no adjustment where the hinges attach to the hood. Am I missing something obvious?

I’m tempted to enlarge the hinge mounting holes on the cowl to get some gap. Right now the hood catches on the cowl when I raise it. Any words of wisdom?

Thanks!

[reaper71]

8Man, although these are not Altman latches I did however make my own push style lever based on his design.
The pics below are what I did to the door to make it blend in better.
Hope this helps in some way.

[Scott2]

Originally Posted by reaper71

8Man, although these are not Altman latches I did however make my own push style lever based on his design.
The pics below are what I did to the door to make it blend in better.
Hope this helps in some way.

Nice work! Last pic - what are you doing with the sheet metal panel over the inner door and the little channel at the top?

[Advanced Design]

Scott, this process should help. https://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/b...alignment.html

Hopefully it will display correctly as the first 5 steps are missing when viewed on my iPad.

[Scott2]

I am managing to stay very distracted while I get a little done on a bunch of projects. However, I did finally get the bed floor in. I found some great 1x6 and 1x8 white oak boards at my local hardwood supply and cut them to size and put the edge detail on them.

I also glued up some of the cutoffs and made new oak mounting blocks for the bed. Then I used a wood conditioner on the boards to turn it a weathered gray, then applied a clear oil and got a matte finish that’s just the look I wanted.

I had an interesting experience with the cross members. I still am not sure if I just didn’t understand how they work or if I messed up, or ? Mid-year ‘51 they apparently went from an eight board to a nine board floor. I ended up with a mix of crossmembers with each hole pattern so I took the time to redrill the nine board crossmembers for eight and went with the eight board floor.

However, when I started assembly NONE of my SS strips lined up with the holes in the two crossmembers in the middle so they are only attached at the edges? The rear floating crossmember is positioned at the stock mounting point, and the front I could move a little but wouldn’t line up. What did I miss or is this the way they are?

[Scott2]

More pics and one observation. Laying under the truck trying to put a fender washer, lock washer and a nut on in tight spaces with one hand means you drop everything on to your face over and over! I finally just put a box with all of the parts on my chest and kept going until I got each bolt done, and periodically picked up all the drops. I’m sure there is a better process than mine!

[oldman3]

Floor goes good with the truck, nice job...Jim

[paintman]

Scott, I am curious to know if you ever got your brake problems straightened out. It seems there are hundred of threads on the internet (mine being one), with people having the same problem as you described. Great pedal until you turn on the motor, then a soft pedal. I wish I could find a thread that has the answer to this problem.

[Scott2]

Originally Posted by paintman

Scott, I am curious to know if you ever got your brake problems straightened out. It seems there are hundred of threads on the internet (mine being one), with people having the same problem as you described. Great pedal until you turn on the motor, then a soft pedal. I wish I could find a thread that has the answer to this problem.

I had a local shop check it all out and they did not find any issues. It stops fine, just felt a little soft.

[youngrodder]

Nice color on the stain. it contrasts nicely against the bed/body colors...

Marc

[Scott2]

I had a big gap in front of the radiator along the hood latch panel. I think something is missing but couldn’t find a part to go in there. I bent up some sheet metal, trimmed off the space flat, and set this little cover in place.

[reaper71]

I had a similar issue, I ended up using a hammer and dolly.
Put the dolly on the outside of fender and use a (rubber faced hammer) and on the inside start massaging the lip in towards the outside of fender until it is fairly flat to the fender.
should give you about 3/4" of room. Go easy so you dont crack the paint.

This will also stiffen the fender as well.

Mark

[youngrodder]

I rolled my edges and removed the bulky fender brace in my 48.

If you have a lowered truck (bagged or static) with large diameter wheels, I think you will always have some rubbing. Mine rubbed but I also ran different inner fenders which didn't help. I think it's a trade off for having big wheels with a low stance. I learned to drive it with a narrower turning radius and It didn't rub too often. When the guy was test driving it to buy it he never owned an old truck let alone one that was bagged and I never heard it run soo bad.

Looks good
Marc

[jocww]

i like it man. looks good. surprised your running that wide. tci told me 9in max. so i ran 8.5 now that i have tubs in the rear i can go larger when i get more money.

[Scott2]

Originally Posted by jocww

i like it man. looks good. surprised your running that wide. tci told me 9in max. so i ran 8.5 now that i have tubs in the rear i can go larger when i get more money.

I guess I could have asked TCI but I just measured carefully and decided I couldn’t stuff anything fatter in there! I was close to requesting that TCI narrow the rear frame a bit so I could stuff something even wider in there, like 335’s at about 13” but Foose doesn’t have a 20 x 12 Legend wheel and I wanted to stick with the one-piece wheels. Going up to Foose two piece wheels would have gotten me in trouble with my wife!

[Scott2]

Originally Posted by jocww

i like it man. looks good. surprised your running that wide. tci told me 9in max. so i ran 8.5 now that i have tubs in the rear i can go larger when i get more money.

I guess I could have asked TCI but I just measured carefully and decided I couldn’t stuff anything fatter in there! I was close to requesting that TCI narrow the rear frame a bit so I could stuff something even wider in there, like 335’s at about 13” but Foose doesn’t have a 20 x 12 Legend wheel and I wanted to stick with the one-piece wheels. Going up to Foose two piece wheels would have gotten me in trouble with my wife!

[mongocanfly]

Truck looks good Scott..!!

[Scott2]

Thanks all! As long as I go straight there’s no rub! It’s the turns that get me. I’ll work on the fender lip and see if that helps.

[jocww]

Now that would have been cool!! Looking at steam rollers from the back.ooooooooooooo

[Scott2]

I finally gave up on adjusting my Sheetmetal myself. I took the truck to a guy who deals with these trucks almost exclusively in the Denver area - Jeff Flythe. The guy is a wizard!

He also showed me a good trick. Every time I thought I had the hood adjusted right, I'd put the springs back on and it would all blow up. Jeff took the springs off altogether and installed a support rod. Great idea!

[Scott2]

Drivers door never fit well and even with Altman latches wouldn't latch right. Far better now.

https://youtu.be/ZorpV0YmBsg

[mongocanfly]

Fit looks good Scott.,,,!

[Scott2]

Working on the pass side door. Somewhere this door opening got tweaked or it was built like this! I patched in a bit of the rocker and the lower part of the hinge pillar but it was all heavily braced so I doubt it moved then. I believe the door fit bad when I got the truck and I if I’d realized how this would go I would have cut it apart further and made a door fit right.

We’ve tried at least three different doors and they all fit kind of twisted and crappy. Finally got the door where it fits relatively ok for being really crappy, will latch and works fine. This is where we stop for now, although I may come back later and get this fixed because I hate the mis-alignment.

https://youtu.be/NOvYOC2MTK0

[Scott2]

Christmas pic with the ‘51