Scott's '51 Build

[lower50's]

It's so fun having the first drive!!!!! Congrats

[joedoh]

sounds good even for open headers!

[jocww]

That's awesome !! Hopefully I'm there soon too

[MIKESAD50]

Congrats on the first drive looks and sounds good.
Its a great feeling, and gets better!

[8man]

Scott, I'm following your lead on changing out some 48 doors to 54 outside door handles and Altman latches. Do you have pics of the finished product? I was wondering how you treated the jamb plates.

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?

[Scott2]

Originally Posted by 8man

Scott, I'm following your lead on changing out some 48 doors to 54 outside door handles and Altman latches. Do you have pics of the finished product? I was wondering how you treated the jamb plates.

Thanks.

8man - sorry for the slow response. Here are a few pics - for the jamb plates they're just bolt ins from Altman with no mods. I am having some challenges getting the door adjusted right (nothing to do with the latch) and unfortunately I bunged up my door frame paint. I still need to paint the inside of the doors so will fix it then.

What else would be helpful?

[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!

[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!

[mongocanfly]

floor looks really good!...

[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.

[Scott2]

Here’s a side shot of the cover, although looking at the photo I need to straighten out the latch panel side a little.

Pic also shows where I stashed my overflow tank. I cut a hole in the fender and built a little mount inside the inner fender. Not sure where else it actually fits ok.

[Scott2]

I have a tire clearance challenge. I set my truck up with a static drop using drop spindles and low settings on the coil overs. Tires and wheels are 20x8.5 and 20x10 Foose Legends with Nitto 245/35R20 and 305/30R20 tires. Backspace is 5” front, 5.5” rear.

The front tires rub pretty good in a turn if there is more than one person in the cab and/or I turn pretty sharp.

Thinking about options such as 18” wheels up front, maybe an 18x7 wheel with narrower tire - maybe a 235 or 225?

Anyone run into this problem and how did you fix it - other than raising the truck? Other thoughts?

[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.

[mongocanfly]

Truck looks good Scott..!!