FuzzFace2

Gary, I use a weight disturbing hitch setup on my car trailer and the 02 Durango. With just the trailer on the truck it drops a little where the hitch will hit going in & out of the drives. I never tried with out the weight disturbing hitch with a car on the trailer but it could not be any better. When I had my 86 K5 Blazer pulling the same trailer & cars I did not need a weight disturbing setup as it had heaver duty springs and both trucks had towing packages. Dave ----

I also have one that came in the parts truck and will get pictures & measurements tomorrow. Dave ----

When I bought mine I was only looking to do sheet metal work so the cheap one is only for sheet metal HVAC duct work. It is 110v and has built in air. It may do 1/8" but if I do I also know its limits as I would be pushing its limits. Anything 1/8" or thicker would be straight cuts so a cutoff wheel on my grinder works. I used the plasma cutter to "trim" the parts truck style side bed sides off when getting to the metal floor. Cant help other than that. Dave ----

You too! Look what it got me into, cab off frame rebuild Dave ---- I've kinda started to realize this dilemma myself. I'd like to improve the appearance a bit, but I don't want a show truck that I'm reluctant to use as a truck. Mine is going to be a nice looking driver it just happened that it was a cab off frame rebuild LOL Dave ----

If you want as I am not the only one that has done it. Think on FTE a member took my lead and did the same. For me because I had the floor, no money and the time it was the way I went and could be an option for others. I think the hardest part was the rear floor to sill as the floor was a little longer and I did wanted to bend the lip of the floor over but turned out to be to hard so I trimmed it off and welded it. Also had to work the front step braces to the style side front cross member, that I had to move to line up with the frame holes, so they would support the steps. I do have to say the wood floors look a whole lot better than my metal floor LOL Dave ----

It better hold up pretty good as mine came in last Saturday, have not even opened the box. I went with that kit based on Cory's word of being good for the vent window seals and the rest not looking bad. It will be a week or 3 before I get to installing any of it as I have other stuff to work on. Dave ----

It's not hard to forget as at the time we lived 50 miles from NYC and my wife worked there. Not being able to reach my wife because the cell tower were down is also not hard to forget. Because we lived so close they would check the train stations for cars left for a long time to follow up to see if they were ones that lost their life that day. Dave ----

The info below is not my own but copied previously and filed. I believe I cut my outer panels a hair wider at 15 1/4" or 15 3/8". I wanted a smaller gap between them...personal choice, nothing more. "The middle piece is 22 1/2 inches wide by 78 1/2 inches long. The two outer pieces are 15 3/16 at their widest point. I then suggest you set the side panels and draw your lines to cut the wheel wells out with the jig saw or tool of your choice." I had saved the pic below from SCFlareside a year or two ago when he cut his own boards. They would be 78 1/2" long for sure, but the individual widths I cannot say. There was a member on here not too long ago that did the earlier wood style and cut their own boards...what was his name now?>..I saved pics, but can't remember the name... With all this wood you guys are giving me a complex I am the odd ball with a metal floor, covered in bed liner, flare side truck It's what you do when you don't have the money ($1000+) for ALL the cross members and sills then add the wood, metal strips & hardware and you have a good style side metal floor with bad sides. Like most of us flare side owners I had to repair the lip on the bed sides that bolt to the floor and the front panel to be fixed. For me that was the easy part. We are here to help as you see, we just ask for pictures in return LOL Dave ----

On the AC system as Gary said if you can find a complete system remove it as a whole. Now where this becomes an issue is if the motors are the same, v8 for a v8 or six for a six, then you have a switch of compressor types in the later years. My truck that had the AC system I did not have the motor (300 / six) brackets for the compressor, York for my 81. Also the motor in my project truck was using the van P/S pump so I needed motor brackets to fit that pump setup. Thing is that setup does not use the York compressor, it uses a Sanden compressor that is the better of the 2 types. That brings up other issues as the hoses are a little different for 1, dryer for 2. Once I get the compressor with the adaptors (manifolds) for the hoses I think I may make up my own hoses. I think with a v8 you will have better luck finding what you need in a JY. If you need hoses have you checked with Rock Auto I know they listed them for my 81 F100 think Auto Zone also but RA was cheaper. Dave ---- edit: truck is looking good. I had an issue with 1 of my pictures, it was on my site and never had issues before so I left it sideways LOL

I was thinking the same thing. Even if no stands throw the tires under the frame is better than nothing. Dave ----

I get that. I actually like the weathered, dented, rusty and patina look. I could have easily lived with that if I still had original paint, etc. My problem was with the lumpy body fill that had been stuffed into the front fenders and cab corners, bed, etc...it did not look good. My default is for everything to look "nice", and it's difficult to ignore that mindset... If I bought the truck below, I'd leave it just as it is. I quite like that weathered and original look. https://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/ctd/d/mcalester-1985-ford-f150-she-runs-as/6959271901.html I don't mine the weathered, surface rust & patina look if it is for real, not this fake crap, but all dented is just a well used truck. I do like the one below as it is what I would call real and not dented and would also leave it as is if I was to get it. My default is for everything to look "nice", and it's difficult to ignore that mindset... You too! Look what it got me into, cab off frame rebuild Dave ----

OT My grandson is named Logan and when I first heard his name I thought of Wolverine LOL I kind of got a little laugh from them so I guess he was named after him. BTW no one in mine or her family is named Wolverine or Logan LOL Dave ----

It looks in better shape than mine was when I got it. Wonder how much they would come down on price? What is with the right door wood panel? It looks like it had a crank but looks to have electric windows. Dave ----

There was some kind of adhesive foam strip behind the seal from the factory on my truck. I just peeled it off not too long ago. It's about 1/2" wide and looks like it was probably 1/8" thick when new? Thanks guys it's on the to do list at some point. Dave ----

:nabble_smiley_cry:Glue? I don't remember reading anything about glue? So no glue but I am not to worried there is nothing back there for water to hurt but I may but some black weather strip glue for the other weather seals and put a little on this hood seal. I will have to give another look for that peel and seal at Lowes maybe on the way home from work tomorrow, up at 3am so have to see how I feel. Dave ----

Yep getting there. I am on stand by for work so hope to get out and get a little more done. I don't know if my cheap door seal has them fancy washers you talk of. May hit the hardware store to see what they have but may also need longer screws with this seal. Dave ---- You know it is going to be a nasty day when you walk out the door at 6am and the humidity just hits you. I started the day by using spray on paint remover on the grille, head light doors and the chrome strips that came off my truck as they were painted black. It had to come off to see what shape they were in. Well the paint came off the chrome strips real nice, also came off the chrome parts of the doors but the painted part of the doors and grille it took paint and soften the plastic. Once I got the paint off the chrome part of the door I could see they were junk unless you paint them again as the chrome had been worn off in areas. Where the plastic got soft and the grille I think they can be sanded and sprayed painted to look good again. Then moved on to look into the radio ant. and why it was pointing off to the side? Well the plastic base has a pin that fits into a hole on the fender but what I did not see yesterday was the ant. base also has a slot that a fin on the plastic fits into. Once I got that all lined up the ant. now points up right. With that out of the way I started looking for the screws for the cowl and pull out the garage door seal to install. My seal did have the plastic washers so I pulled the nails out and put the screws in. I screwed the vent down to the fire wall by the glass, helps to not have the glass in yet, and the 2 end screws in the engine bay side. The other screws across the cowl / fire wall also hold the cowl seal in place and we now got that checked off the list. I then polished the best chrome strips for the grille and did the same to the 2 head light doors that all came off the parts truck. The doors should be replaced because they are showing their age but I just don't have the money for them at this time. I wanted to make sure everything for the grille & doors lined up and I had all the screws so I installed them. I will pull the grille & doors when my plastic repair kit refills comes in as the grille has some cracks & broken tab and 1 of the doors also has a broken tab. Once they are fixed I will paint the light area of the 2 doors and the grille a dark silver metal flake. Just about this time FedEx showed up with the rubber weather strip kit, did not think I would show up till the end of the week. Besides the plastic repair kit refills coming I have an LMC order on it's way. I also want to pick up something like Dynamat for the 2 doors. I looked in Lowes the other day for stiff guys call "peel & stick" think it is used as a sealer on roofs? I want to take out the drum noise of the doors and now is the time before I put the insides of the doors back together. 12pm this is what the truck looked like before I closed up shop Dave ----

I think you know my answer to that It is coming along and looking good. I need another long weekend so I can paint the bed for mine then I will be really really happy Dave ----

Don't know where you are at but if close to Raleigh NC I have that part of the cab sitting in the yard that that part is good on. In fact till I got a tail gate for my flare side I was looking to use that full back wall to make a gate from. Even the rear cab floor cross member is good if you need that too. The cab was a roll over so roof is toast and I cut the firewall for the AC. Rockers have some rust as do the cab corners where I did not feel worth it to use on my project. Only part I want to keep is the VIN tag in the front window & the part with the sticker on it on the door post. As for your rockers and areas that need patches don't cut it out till you have the patch panel in hand as you may cut off more than the patch covers. Dave ----

Funny you asked this as I just did this on mine today. I used the closed cell foam you get at the big stores, Lowes for me here. There was the outline of the old one on the vent so I followed it. I was thinking when I pulled it off the roll it had paper still stuck to it that is had glue on both sides of the foam. It does not the paper is so it will not stick to it's self when coiled on the roll. BTW that cowl vent to fire wall seal as I would call it is so heat from the engine bay and any fumes do not get into the cowl and in to the cab of the truck. The firewall to hood seal kind of does the same but also keeps water off the back of the motor when it rains or gets washed. This is where the garage door seal is used. Dave ----

The upper set is a helper spring that hits brackets on the frame when the truck is loaded. I don't get the 360 motor maybe a miss type of 460? Dave ----

Yep getting there. I am on stand by for work so hope to get out and get a little more done. I don't know if my cheap door seal has them fancy washers you talk of. May hit the hardware store to see what they have but may also need longer screws with this seal. Dave ----

Got a little something done on the truck today. Went thru my parts bins looking for parts and sorting them out. Parts I still need to install that I have 2 of go into a set of bins and parts I am not going to use at this time go in other bins. I was looking for wiper motors & linkages and was pretty sure I was going to use the setup from my parts truck. After a quick look of the 2 I did go with the parts truck setup then looked to see how it gets installed as I had the linkage still hooked to the motor. Once that was figured out I cleaned it and gave the linkage & motor a coat of dark silver paint and let it dry. I then taped up the stickers on the radiator support and prepped it for paint before a grille goes in. With the paint drying I moved on to the bumpers as I wanted to mount them to get them out of the way. 1 of the parts I was also looking for were the lights for the front bumper, best to install them with bumper on a stand than working from under the truck. Mounted the bumpers front & rear and cleaned up the plastic fillers that go on the front edge of the fenders by the head lights and installed them. Being the wiper paint was dry I started to install the linkage and motor. That little clip can be the death of me and then with out even trying it popped on! I checked it 3 time with a light to make sure and it was! I then went looking for the foam weather strip I picked up a long time ago for the cowl vent and for the life of me could not find it? Other parts I found were the shocks so I installed the rears, took all of 5 min. with out the bed in place and the old ones gone a long time ago. I have to pull the front tires to do the fronts and when I do I will strip the paint from them just did not feel up to it today. Started to close up shop because I could not find the foam strip and boom there it was on a stool! So I put that on the cowl, found and cleaned the radio ant and screwed that to the cowl and the fun began First I could not figure how the ant wire got run? I even took it out to the parts cab as that is what it came off of. Found where it went in on the parts cab and what you know my truck had a hole there also! Got the wire started and moving the cowl around to fit it and I cant get the right side to fit down? The ant base was holding it up and in doing so put the first nick in the paint but it is in place. I could not find the screws for the cowl and being 90* in the garage and soaked from sweat it was time to call it a day. Guess what I found when I went to close the garage door? On the table I used to hold the grilles & head light doors is a bag marked "cowl & wiper screws! I need to clean & paint the heads before I put them in but I have them. This brings up a question? When you install the cowl to hood seal do you use the same screws that hold the cowl to hold the seal? I have the garage door seal I picked up the other day and it looks like it does use the same screws. I also need to find some washers so maybe I will get little longer screws and large washers. Does not show the lights in the bumper to good Don't know what is up with that ant? Dave ----

Thanks guys on the truck paint job. Will someone take me in if the wife throws me out of the house I put a hurting on the credit card the other night as I cant really put anything back on till I got some things. The weather gasket set, door handle gaskets, lock set with gaskets as I don't think I have the keys for the ones I pulled, hood fender bumpers, gas door rubber bumpers to name a few things. I also picked up paint striper to use on the wheels and other odds & ends at the big box hard ware store the same day I ordered the parts and that was over $125, total think was close to $500. So who will take me in Dave ----

It was most likely me as I used them for a gasket kit for my 70 AMC Javelin heater box. If you go to their and don't see listed what you are looking for give them a call as they may have it but not listed. Also if they don't have that part and you have one to make a copy from they can. I also heard if you can send them the part(s) they can work with them to make the needed gaskets. This way they would then have that part and you may get a discount for helping. Dave ----

I have seen brass nuts but not studs. Dave ----