Columbus..the 1957 IH 4x4..

[mongocanfly]

got the bed rolled back to right side up..still finding cracks and broke spot welds...still welding...boring boring boring....but your right 67redneck...the other bed would have been a nitemare....

obviously this truck was used as a truck back in the day...I'm guessing that using sideboards have pretty much destroyed the stake pockets so from the getgo I had decided to eliminate the stake pockets and do away with another rust spot..here's the before and after for the middle pocket on one side..im still working on the fit in the pic with the magnets holding the scab piece....I used pieces of the bed rail I had cut off from the bed shortening to replace the middle pockets...

[mongocanfly]

for the front and rear corners I cut vertical up the bed sides but saved the bed rails by stopping the cut 3/4" from the top of the rail and then cutting horizontal...then I cut off the end of the bed rail with the messed up pockets...I drew a line with a sharpie to show where I made the cut....that kept the smooth rail top intact and eliminated the destroyed stake pockets on each corner as well...here's a pic showing the result..I've still got to trim the ends and im gonna cap the bed rail ends..you can see in the pic the end of the rail is 1/4" to long...I left that so I could trim to fit later...

[mongocanfly]

got both rear bed rails capped off...2 fronts to go...that should have the bed finished and ready to blast.....it looks like a big hole at the bottom of the cap buts its just a illusion..

[7dee2]

Very impressive work, guessing your Dad is going to be over the moon!

[mongocanfly]

thanks Brett. ..I'm hoping he'll be tickled...
can't wait to see how your camaro turns out..

[mongocanfly]

got the front bed caps done today...I was wanting to radius them from bed front to bed side but gave up and just did a simple cap.....

[mongocanfly]

if you remember back I talked about the mess the po welded in the bed corners...I've been trying to come up with a idea of what to do...so I came up with this...I fabbed some new brackets from 16ga. and gotem welded up...I think the bed is done...some before and after pics.....its gonna have bed liner on it so it'll help hide those corner brackets...and my welding..

[Advanced Design]

Nice work Greg. Good idea on the brackets.

[mongocanfly]

thanks Doug. ..

[botoepfer]

Mongo / Greg ! great thread ! and thanks for posting and giving me your advise on the hood,, I will follow this tread!

[mongocanfly]

thanks boto....my body work experience is very limited and there are way more qualified people than me to offer advice...but I was thinking if you cut out the hood bracing and and the hood flexed while you were rewelding it that it would be real easy to get it twisted outta wack

[mongocanfly]

good ol rainy day today so I worked on tailgate hinges...when I took the gate off I found that I had one factory hinge and one homemade one...

[mongocanfly]

I knew I wanted to do something to eliminate all the rattles I could in this truck so I decided to just make a new set of hinges..i made new side pieces and machined some new shaft for the hinges..then I machined some uhmw [plastic] sleeves to go over the new shafts..that should give it a nice sqeak free feel...I also made them a little longer...when I get the side plate painted ill install the sleeve and weld the flat washer[retainer] on the shaft..heres a comparison pic and how its assembled..and then one with the shafts welded to the side plates ready for paint...

[Nut Case]

Mongo

Strong work!!!!!

You introduced me to uhmw, thanks.

Now I'm going show my lack of knowledge- What and how much of this stuff do you keep on hand? Can this be purchased with the specific OD & ID?

This build is fantastic and for you dad. Good on ya!!!

NC

[mongocanfly]

ive got a small selection of the uhmw...[its basically plastic]...ive got several sizes of round and some flat sheets...if I ever need any its just a click away at McMaster carr...order one day..get it the next...they've got a bunch to chose from..what i used is the antistatic uhmw rods ...mainly because its black...heres a link for anybody interested....
https://www.mcmaster.com/#uhmw-polyethylene/=1bgov2k

[sparkydog]

Better hinges looks familiar to me!
Very cool build. Keep posting!

[mongocanfly]

thanks sparky....I had found and read thru your halfbreed build once before..good stuff..

test fit my tailgate today with the new and improved hinges..works flawless...and no squeaks..still have to figure out the tailgate center support and get one fabbed up

[mongocanfly]

well....I got a center tailgate support bracket made..I'm ashamed to even say how much time I spent on it and how many (prototypes) I made to make something that looks so simple...i didnt have anything to go by to even know how a original looks...each tiny little bend has a very small tolerance to keep it from rubbing and still be able to get it to go thru the slots and fit and the tailgate still open without binding..
lets just say I've got a bracket and we'll leave it at that. ...haha...

[Advanced Design]

Nice work on the hinges and the center support. Those little pieces can take a lot of time...

[mongocanfly]

thanks Doug. ..the hinges were fairly easy to whittle out but that center support was a booger bear...

[mongocanfly]

with it raining every day now and forcasted rain for all next week its tuff to get anything done...I'm at the "waiting on sandblasting and epoxy primer stage" before I can get much done...mom likes dark red ..so...I stopped at tractor supply and grabbed a rattle can of rustoleum IH red and sprayed some on a rear fender just to get a idea of how that color would look...I'm gonna spray some on the door also but I'm pretty sure I want to go a couple shades darker...I tried to find some case/IH red which is darker but nobody local has any ....here's the result of IH red...this is with minimal prep...just a light sand with 180g chased with green scotchbrite and a rag wipe down..

[mongocanfly]

one other rainy day project I had on the list was shortening the running boards to match the shortened bed...pics of full length and then cut down and ready for welding and last pic is one all welded up....these will also be line-x to match paint color..

[mongocanfly]

so today after lunch I ran over to my buddies shop and quick sanded one of the doors and after a wipe down sprayed a couple a coats of the rattle can IH red on it and temporarily hung the door back on the truck so I could stand back and get a better idea of what it would look like....the color is starting to grow on me and I'm thinking this is what I'm going with....

[Advanced Design]

Nice work on the running boards, Greg. IH red looks good on the truck...good choice.

[mongocanfly]

Thanks Doug...the fender I painted on I didn't put a real heavy coat on and in my shop it didn't look very much like dark red...but the door I put multiple coats on and got good coverage...the door looks much darker than the fender...