My 63 farm truck build thread

[Tx Firefighter]

I finished the rack today. One thing I can guarantee you is that it is plumb and square. I did struggle with some of the welds though. I did the project outside and there was a periodic breeze to give me issues while welding. Plus I ran out of .023 wire in my smaller welder so I had to pull out the Millermatic 250, which has .035 wire in it plus a big, cumbersome gun. I should have just went and bought another spool of .023 and continued to use the smaller Lincoln machine. But, never the less, it's finished.

I have taken some flak for the tool box, and rightfully so. It's too clean looking. To help with that I did the entire project without covering the box. All of the weld boogers and splatter landed on the box. Plus I stood on top of it in my big old boots while welding the top of the rack. I'd say the tool box is aging nicely after that. I did pull the Tractor Supply emblems off of it too. If the newness of the box continues to wear on me I will strip the powdercoat off of it and give it some artificial aging.

And, I have decided not to paint the rack. I want mother nature to add some character to it and make it match the truck better.

Awful pictures...



For the fellow who asked for pics of the angled posts. I just held the first one in place and tweaked it until it flowed with the cab when viewed from behind. That was 8 degrees canted in. So, I set the saw at 8 degrees and sliced each post to give it that cool gangster lean look.



Front, I built it as low to the cab as I dared and still allow for frame flex and cab movement.


Look, my truck has a telephone post growing out of the cab roof.


Sorry for the poor pictures. I must be pretty tired or something.

[LILRED66]

Congrats on TOTM.

Photos are great and the rack fits the theme.

Thanks for sharing and keep us posted on your next improvement.

[Primered_69]

If I find a good old vintage one in my junkyard therapy times I might just snag it for you...

[ERASER5]

The "smaller Lincoln machine," what size is it? I am considering the SP-140 or the SP-180. It sounds like you like the smaller unit better than the larger welder, so I would like to know why. Just collecting information.

[Tx Firefighter]

My Lincoln is about 15 years old. It's a 120 amp machine.

I also have a big Millermatic 250 amp machine.

For almost all jobs, the Lincoln does what I need. It has a small gun which is easy to get into tight areas. I keep it loaded with .023 wire. It's so easy to use on most anything automotive. I can sew just about anything together with it.

The big Miller can weld 1/2 inch plate in one pass. It's an absolute monster. It's ideal for heavy duty fab work like frame splices, building trailers, etc. I keep it loaded with .035 wire. It's not that great for thin stuff like this 14ga on this project. Plus the big gun is impossible to get into tight areas.

In my shop, I have a place for each of them, but for old trucks, the little Lincoln is tops.

[SCOTI]

Tx... I've got a Hobart (Miller) Airforce 625 plasma you can use if you're itchin' to start sooner.

[notsolo]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

My Lincoln is about 15 years old. It's a 120 amp machine.

I also have a big Millermatic 250 amp machine.

For almost all jobs, the Lincoln does what I need. It has a small gun which is easy to get into tight areas. I keep it loaded with .023 wire. It's so easy to use on most anything automotive. I can sew just about anything together with it.

The big Miller can weld 1/2 inch plate in one pass. It's an absolute monster. It's ideal for heavy duty fab work like frame splices, building trailers, etc. I keep it loaded with .035 wire. It's not that great for thin stuff like this 14ga on this project. Plus the big gun is impossible to get into tight areas.

In my shop, I have a place for each of them, but for old trucks, the little Lincoln is tops.

Great job with the truck Kevin, my 1st truck was a 66 1ton 9ft step side, metal workers truck it had the same overhead racks you just built. They welded 1/4" plate around the stack pockets which eventually cracked the sheet metal. just an FYI are you getting 15mpg or better with the 327....ED

[joe231]

the finished product looks very nice Kevin!

[LOW DOUGH]

Looks really good. Thanks for the pic from the back. Now we need to see it in action.

[ERASER5]

Kevin, so do you think the SP-140 will be fine for most of my truck needs? Body panels, and stuff like that.

[Bugeyev8]

Originally Posted by ERASER5

Kevin, so do you think the SP-140 will be fine for most of my truck needs? Body panels, and stuff like that.

I had a SP140 for ten years, great welder and works perfect on body panels with 0.23 wire and argon/co2 gas, welds the thicker stuff well with the flux core 0.35, I used the flux core to build a trailer with 1/8 and 1/4 tubing...works great

I sold it and bought a Hobart 170 220v machine and it too is an excellent unit, the gun on the Lincoln was better and smaller than the Hobart but I changed the gun to a tweeco gun

[ERASER5]

Looks like I will be scraping money together for an SP-140.

[tommyd241]

Rack looks great! Excellent work as usual.

[63sbssbbw]

That turned out awesome Kevin,it absolutely fits theme and period
Like Lake said,or even do your faux finish over the pc on your toolbox.
Are you considering any additional signage? like maybe a 1x6 plank just under the top main frame, that might look neat (tho' it dos look great just like it is).
T

[Tx Firefighter]

I've started to gather parts for some changes.

I got a different style of grille at the swap meet yesterday. It's different than you might think. I'm going to try age it a bit and swap it in to the truck. Different wheels coming soon too.

I'm also trying to pin down an ongoing engine issue. It's been giving me issues since day 1. I just ordered from Summit hoping that I have guessed right on the problem.

Pics of grille soon. Pics of wheels once installed.

[ruffrida2005]

Truck looks good as always Kevin. any hint on the grill?

[joe231]

bump for the anticipation of new parts

[Tx Firefighter]

I spent the afternoon fixing the truck. It's been fouling the spark plugs on all 8 cylinders and generally running awful.

When I removed the carburetor there was a lot of sludge inside the intake manifold on both sides of the divider. Since this is my only means of transportation now, I had to fix it no matter what. So, I ordered a new intake manifold from Summit and it arrived today. My old intake that I like so much is cracked internally and sucking exhaust from the crossover port up into the plenum to be burned in the engine. So, I put an Edelbrock Performer RPM on it. I didn't take pictures of any of it though. You've all seen new intake manifolds a million times without me adding another picture.

[Walts_restoration]

Dude, ive never seen a new intake before!

Wait, just got a sbc edelbrock preformer RPM air gap in the mail yesterday for the camaro...

Loving the truck man, the rack looks perfect. Then again, im a fan of "Work" trucks, i dont like anything that cant be used.

[Tx Firefighter]

Plugged away at a few more issues that have been plaguing the truck.

First, very excessive oil consumption and plug fouling. Compression is good and there in no blow by. This one took awhile for me to figure out, but it looks like my beloved Edelbrock C3Bx intake is warped. Since this is my only driver I had to fix it quick so I took the cheesy way out and called Summit for the parts. Edelbrock Performer RPM and new gaskets. I didn't have the down time to spare to powdercoat the new intake so it's box stock bare.



Wired for trailer lights and hitch ball installed. Need to be able to drag my little trailer to the swap meets !



Out with the old dirty, dingy instrument cluster...



Restored extra cluster...


Replaced some old bulbs...


The finished product, so much nicer. I lubed the speedo cable while everything was aprt too.


I picked up a grille at the swap last weekend I am toying with. It's a big truck grille. Since this picture I have already removed the "Chevrolet" from the top of the grille so it will fit a small truck like mine. I'm a bit on the fence about this as I really like 63 grilles like I have now. If I decide to not run it on my truck it will still be a cool conversation piece for the shop wall.

I'm open to suggestions about the grilles though !

[VA72C10]

Hope that solved your problems.

Gauges look great!

Man, the grille would look cool on the wall with the lights wired up. I would have liked it with the chevrolet still on it though. I really like the front of your truck as is.

[Tx Firefighter]

The Chevrolet part is just held on by 4 rivets. If I decide to wall mount it I will definitely put the emblem back onto the grille.

I already have one extra grille on the wall now.

[VA72C10]

Cool. I have two GMC grilles hanging from the I-beam in my garage and a wiper cowl , emblems, and some extra dash bezels on the pegboard

[ruffrida2005]

what if you put the chevrolet between the two rails. Wonder what it would look like.

[Primered_69]

I like the new (unique) grille. Kind of wonder what the metal mesh from a BBG type grill would look recessed in the bottom opening about an inch behind the bowtie.

I like it though...