Setting up for winter

I haven't got heat in my garage yet, so working late in the year is challenging and frankly chilling. I've been busy prepping the old girl for storage and carefully marking and packing away all the little parts for project. Soon I'll be heading to Arizona for a few weeks of snow-birding. I know, I know life is tough. One of the great thing about Arizona is the amazing array of vintage auto recycling businesses I'm hoping to find several items from this wonderful rust free zone. I'd like to acquire rear fenders, front fender skirts and both bumpers to finish off my body rebuild. In order to finish up the drive line and other major systems I also require a Dodge A833 manual transmission, fuel tank, front disc brake conversion, cam, custom intake, and exhaust manifolds. That's a big list but I'm confident I'll get most of it. Add to the mix of acquisitions the opportunity to attend the Good Guys car show in November and the Barrett Jackson auction in January and you have car lover heaven.

Turning the corner

Today marks an important day in my truck project. The work changed from disassembly to re-assembly mode. With the help of many friends including my welders Walter and Alicia the body of my truck has been ground, cut, welded, rebuilt, cleaned up and painted. With the help of my neighbors we were able to lift and remount the cab on new rubber mounts and bolt it back in position. This event marks a special achievement on my project schedule. Most importantly it means components can be put back on the truck.

I completed the installation of all the spring hanger components now the truck sits nice and square. The pins, shackles bushings all replaced and soon new front shocks too.

Blowing the doors off

You'd think a simple thing like removing the doors should go off without a hitch. Well with vintage vehicles nothing is ever easy. 16 bolts hold the doors on so of course 1 of them had to snap off and make the door removal a 2 day task.

As you can see the bolt broke off in the hinge so I could not slip the door off until the bolt was dealt with. Well I drilled and I drilled and I swore and I swore and then I bought cobalt drill bits and swore some more! I drilled several hours and only managed to put a tiny impression in the bolt. So I called on friends and the internet for help. My friend Richard suggested carbide rotary bits in a die grinder to shorten the bolt so I could slide the door out of the mounting pocket. Well I went to Richard's shop and borrowed some of his expensive carbide bits and 30 minutes later the door was off.

The tool did a little damage to the pocket but that was a small price to pay to get the damn door off at last! I then removed the kick panels from the cab and wire brushed the rust and crap off the door sill and coated the surfaces with Por15 rust paint. Now I have a fresh surface for new weatherstripping.

The road so far

It's far too easy during a long project to get bogged down in the massive list of things left to do. You tend to forget just how much you've completed and enjoy the little successes that keep moving the project ahead. So today I'm taking stock of my progress and smiling a little at what I've managed to do so far. With the help of Alicia I've conquered most of the cab rust in the floor and firewall areas. A recent road trip to Drumheller netted me new front fenders and doors that are in excellent condition and have saved me weeks of rust repairs. I've just received my king pins and spring repair parts so soon the rolling chassis will be back to factory specs.

In the next few days I hope to remove the cab to gain access to the frame for clean up and painting as well as the bottom of cab floor for cleanup and under coating. I've got new rubber cab mounts and hardware so once the cab is cross braced for support I'm going to pull her off. Once I've done all of that work I'll be in a better budget position to buy the front disc brake conversion kit and a few other key items. Like fuel tank, transmission and engine parts. Most of that stuff requires a trip to Phoenix to save shipping and import costs. But for now I'm just savoring some success.

Rust, rust and more rust...

Well the old girl is a little rusty, in fact the doors and front fenders are beyond repair in my mind. So I started working on the cab corners and other areas that people won't see. The pictures below show the rusted corners in the firewall area. I also have some small repairs in the floor of cab as well, not much really considering how old she is. I'm actually enjoying the metalwork and welding though my welding skills are still pretty awful. As my son-in-law Richard said "are you a good welder or a good grinder"? Right now I'm a good grinder!

Jeep differential

I found a 1990 Jeep Cherokee rear end in a small town near Edmonton so I drove out and bought the diff for my project. The rear gearing is now 3.73 and when I mate that diff with the A833 Dodge manual transmission I'm supposed to have the best possible package for my truck. My project really needed some items knocked off the checklist. Installing the the diff really makes a difference to the stance of the truck as well as my state of mind.

Distractions

Well it's easy enough to become overwhelmed by the scale of a project in it's early stages and that happened to me. Making things worse I made the mistake of going to a car auction and damn near bought a 1961 Buick Invicta. That purchase would have derailed the Fargo project for sure. I managed to fight off the urge, but for days I suffered remorse for not bidding. Then to make things even more confusing I found a 1952 Fargo body in better shape than mine. The price was right, but I just can't sacrifice a nice truck to complete mine. I'll keep looking for doors and front fenders off a truck someone else has scrapped. If I had the space I'd buy the damn thing and store it but I don't.

The front end

From the early stages of this build I've been thinking that the coil over "modern" front end was the only way to go with this truck, but I've had a change of heart and wallet. Feedback from truck owners and cold hard facts mean this modification is just not going to happen. In plain English too much cash, too much work for too little gain. I'm going to go with the Scarebird disc brake conversion on the stock front end. That keeps things simpler and cheaper for me. I'm still changing to a more modern differential with disc brakes and a 4 speed or 5 speed transmission. So now I just have to have Sieggy go through the front end and tell me what I should replace. There are some obvious things like spring hangers, king pins, tie rods ends and the drag link looks bent too. The original idea of this build was a "survivor build" and keeping the original front suspension is in keeping with that line of thinking. I have to keep myself in check because it's very easy to start down other paths that change the scope and impact the budget...

3 engines & some good luck

I've really been going after the flathead engine disassembly over the last few weeks. I'm in the midst of engine number 3 right now and if the damn crankshaft nut will let me remove it I'll be into the guts of that engine over this weekend. Hopefully with Sieggy's help once again. I've been getting advice from an experienced engine builder Tim Kingsbury who has helped me understand what I've got to work with for my build. And I must say, so far it looks pretty damn good. I should come out of this with a powerful little 265 engine. I'm going to the after-market for some upgrades such as cast headers, cam, dual intake and carbs.

I really like the look of the old engine with a little tweaking mine should be a unique power plant. I hope mine turns out as nice as this picture I stole from Pintrest.

Road trip: Lethbridge

I'd been advised by contributors on another website to look for a 251/265 engine as they make the best candidates for my project. I found an old add on Kijiji for a Dodge flathead 6 so I contacted the seller and got almost no information I could use to identify the motor. I decided to take a chance and drive the 5 hours each way for elimination purposes if nothing else. It also gave me chance to visit with my brother and Mom in Calgary on the way back. My Mom is staying in Calgary while things about the fire in Fort McMurray get worked out, her home was completely destroyed and all her belongings were burned. So by my calculations our family was due some good luck. The trip was uneventful and after navigating my way to a rather obscure location outside Lethbridge I found seller's business. Site investigation really didn't provide much more than I already knew. The engine is an odd duck and I decided to take a chance and buy it on speculation.

As you can see several things have been modified on this engine the oil filter, alternator, power steering are all mods. The dip stick integrated into the block instead of oil pan are also different from the 2 other engines I've worked on. The bore is 3 7/16" and the stroke is 4 3/4" so it is a 265 cubic inch engine.

The fire threat should be greatly reduced.

It has rained for 3 days straight in Edmonton and there is water laying around everywhere. We really needed this rain, but enough already the old Fargo is gonna float away soon. It is cold and miserable working on the truck outside through this monsoon. I need to get the truck inside as soon as the engine is out.

Pulling the 218

With the bad news on the 1950 block, engine removal work has commenced in earnest on the 1951 1/2 ton. I'm preparing to remove the front clip from my truck. I've taken some measurements from the firewall to the rad housing so when I refit the front end I have some references. I suspect it will be a bugger to get it back on right, because there is so much rust and body damage that needs to be fixed.

The firewall to rad support measurements are 30 1/16" on the passenger side and 30 5/8" on the drivers side.

Things don't always go your way.

I contacted Prostock Performance Parts & Machine for an update on my engine. The news was not good the block was badly cracked. I had not expected that, it seemed like such a solid old engine. I had not seen any signs of cracks or visual damage. The crank is good once it is reground and the rods and pistons are OK too. The head also checked out fine. Well I've started hastily removing my 1951 engine from the 1/2 ton. Sieggy is only around for a few more days before he is going back to Fort McMurray now that the fires are less of a threat. I'd like his help un-seizing the the frozen piston in the block of my 1951 218. If I get lucky maybe I can bore out the 218 to the 237 cubic inch and use the rotating assembly from the 1950 engine. I sure hope so.

Engine Rebuild Step 3: At the machine shop

I found an Edmonton area machine shop that has flat head experience Prostock Performance Automotive Parts and Machine Ltd. Their prices seem reasonable so I'm letting them hot tank, mag particle and measure my flat head 6. In addition because I couldn't find a flat head valve compressor tool locally (I had to order one) I've asked Prostock to remove the valve train as well. They are also going to remove the single broken stud we had during tear down. They've quoted 1 hour to do the work. I can't wait to see how good it looks all cleaned up. I'm really curious about the condition of the bottom end and it's suitability for rebuild. I'm hoping my luck holds out, this engine has been pretty encouraging during initial tear down and garage inspection.

Making running boards

I had the remains of the old running boards from the 3/4 ton truck and they were in a little better shape than my originals. The problem was that the 3/4 ton had an 8 foot box my truck has a 6 foot box. So a whole bunch of hammering, grinding and cutting later the running boards were trimmed to size. Alicia is my grandson's lady and she just happens to be a welder so lucky me.

She fixed up the mess I made of the welding and tomorrow I can grind and fit the thing properly. Its looks pretty good for home made fabrication.

Motor rebuild: Step 2 What we have for wear and tear

The engine tear down went well with Sieggy's over-sight. He had me tear most of it down myself and provided guidance where required. As we suspected the cylinders were pretty good, the pistons show some wear and the crank well it's not so good. The cam appears to have extensive damage as well, it almost looks like it was dropped on a floor at some point. I didn't have a valve spring tool so we had to stop at that point and evaluate what we have to work with in the bottom end. We will pull the top end out in a few days. After that is done a visit to a good machine shop for a caustic bath, mag particle test and complete measurement of key components will happen.

Garage therapy

The engine tear down started on the 1950 228 engine. The fire in Fort McMurray have caused tens of thousands of citizens to evacuate the city. Many of these folks are my friends and family. After things had settled down for a few days my buddy started to get bored with sitting around. So we did a little garage therapy, Even though his home was a complete loss he wanted something to do to take his mind of things for a while.

228 Rebuild: Step 1 Evaluation

Today we are going to do some basic measurements to see if the cylinders of my donor engine are out of round. It's nice having a millwright in the family to do the measuring, he has all the right tools and the know-how. My 228 engine does appear to have been rebuilt at some point the factory engine numbers have been ground off and re-stamped. The correct number should have started with the letter "T" and had seven digits following that. The second picture shows the factory stamping on my original, but seized 1951 218 engine.

I've been getting some feedback from other owner/builders about looking for a larger slightly newer version of the flat head 6 engine. The newer versions offer spin on oil filter, better crankshaft, more displacement and it still looks correct for my truck. I'm not sure I'd consider the change because I've already got 2 engines. But, if the price is right... I suppose I'd have to consider it because building a slightly newer engine is the same price as building mine with several performance advantages.

The old 228

Well with a ton of effort and help I have the donor engine in my garage. And basic tear down has begun.

The pistons are .040 over sized so I'm not sure if that was a rebuild or factory decision? I'm guessing a rebuild took place at some point in the engine's history.

Keeping focused and staying on budget.

Like any project you need to have clearly defined goals and I've come up with a few. I'm keeping the patina look as much as possible. The power will be a flat head 6 slightly up graded with electronic ignition, modern carb, split exhaust and after market intake. Interior is getting completely done retaining the original bench seat and gauges. Transmission is likely going to be the T5 swap and a modern differential from a Jeep or suitable donor will be added. The front end is going to be updated using the Fatman Mustang II kit complete with front disc brakes. On near horizon is glass and weather stripping for the whole truck. Lots more grinding, buffing and Por15 painting.

Some history uncovered

I was looking at the driver's door in the harsh daytime light and I could see faint indications of some sort of painted sign on my truck. In the picture below I can see the word "Vegreville". Which makes since because Mundare is very close to Vegreville and the farm where I purchased the truck was only 10 miles or so away from Vegreville.

Rusty Roads

I think I shall call my truck Rusty Roads after all Rusty can still be considered a women's name... I still believe ships and storms should have a woman's name. Call me old fashioned it just seems more apropos.

Wood panels completed for truck bed.

Today we managed to get the truck box out of my garage and back on the truck again with the help of my family. At that point I could start test fitting the deck. Much to my surprise it fit nicely without any adjustments.

Wood preparations

In keeping with the family story line of this rod build my wife applied the varnish to the floor boards. Once they dry we will attempt to put the refinished pieces back together.

The red oak really came alive with the first coat of varnish. I can't wait to see how the finished product will look.

Frame & box preparation

I've been working my grinder pretty hard the last few days and the truck is starting to look happier.

The picture don't illustrate that I've subsequently removed the ratty old exhaust. Now I start the hunt for a new fuel tank and when the rebuilt 228 is installed I'll put on the new exhaust system. I'm fairly convinced that I will use the stock fuel tank position, but many builders move the tank away from the cab area at place it near the end of the bed between cross members. That position would seem to be good safety and weight distribution.

Getting parts from the donor truck.

Today I pulled the front clip off the 1950 1 ton. It was surprisingly easy to do considering how old the truck is.

Planks are milled and finishing will begin in a few days.

Box wood replacement is a lot of work but, the cost savings are in the order of $1000.00. I got a great deal on the planks and I had Vance @ Fine Wood Working thickness plane the planks down to the required 3/4". As I said, my Dad is providing the expertise on the board preparation. Thanks to his efforts the boards are now cut straight and true at the desired widths. The remaining tasks are cutting the boards to length, routing some small rabbits for the slide strips that will remain rough 1/16" proud of the board surface to reduce wear. Once that is done I've got to punch all the holes, test mount the boards and then remove it all for finishing.

The wood floor is in fabrication.

I lucked out and found a surplus lot of red oak planks. The are beautiful old wood recovered by Windsor Plywood. Also they were on sale so everything was in my favor. Doesn't hurt to have a retired carpenter as your Dad either.

The box is off.

Today I managed to get the box off the truck with the help of my family, really my sister, brother in-law and two nephews. It's great to have free labor at your beck and call.

My dad and I are going to custom mill some rough red oak into the floor boards for truck. It's so great to have so much family help in the project.

Adding a parts truck to the mix

I found and purchased a 1950 Fargo just before the owner had it crushed for scrap. I hope a bunch of parts will be inter-changeable with my 1951. My research indicates they should be, I just hope the 60+ year old information is accurate.

The doors, some of the trim and hood seem to measure up correctly. In addition, now I have another engine (228) and the option of a 4 speed transmission. I really hope I can reuse a ton of stuff off the donor truck.

My engine won't turn but, no need to panic yet.

My friend Siegfried the super mechanic looked over my truck and discovered lots of positive points about my truck. He also wasn't shy about telling how work it will be. In prepartion of his visit he had me do a few things before he arrived. I removed the spark plugs and put a few ounces of Dexron III in each cylinder to aid freeing up any frozen pistons. I also did a major clean up of the cab that had been mouse central for many years it was gross! Dust mask, gloves and elbow grease solved the problem.

Once Sieggy arrived we did a general inspection and then we tried to turn the old girl over, she wasn't having any of it. The little flat head 6 was locked in position. In order to learn more about the engines prognosis I have to do a cylinder head removal and send pictures to Sieggy. Too bad I had hoped I might be able to do minimal service to get the 218 purring.

The plan

I love the look of my truck, the patina was earned the hard way and it is a thing of beauty. Unfortunately the rust has weakened both doors around the bottom and the fenders at the mounting points those repairs will have to be done. The required work will cause the patina to be destroyed by new patches and welding. I am searching for replacement doors and fenders but, they would alter the trucks patina as well. The overall plan is to preserve the patina as much as possible and get the old girl running in stock form. If the stock drive train is too far gone then the project really might change but, for now it's far cheaper to get the truck running under it's original systems.

In addition the wood in the box is completely rotted out. My father has signed on to repair the wooden box floor as a retired carpenter / cabinet maker he is well qualified for the task. So off comes the box today which will expose a few other trouble spots needing my attention.

The fuel tank looks like Swiss cheese, the exhaust looks as if you sneezed it would fall off and the brakes will require repairs.