Rembrant

Jim, I don't have a belt sander, but would this B&D unit do the job OK? https://www.homedepot.ca/product/black-decker-7-amp-3-inch-x-21-inch-dragster-belt-sander/1000162379 I've been using a flap disk on my grinder...I think 60 grit, and it is pretty aggressive as it is, but not even, obviously.

Ya, local price last time I checked was $230+tax, and it was in-stock at the local warehouse. It was $104 on RockAuto, and shipping was $60, which included the shipping for the sending unit which was a separate package (Sending unit was half the cost as well). So I saved 80-100 bucks, plus the tax on that money (another 15%). This one was a bit odd, but I ordered the exact same tank and sending unit for the other truck a couple years ago, and at that time they were shipped out of Phoenix, AZ. However, it seems like 90% of my Rock Auto orders are shipped out of Upstate NY...usually Rochester area or there abouts, so there must be some big warehouses up in that area. Maybe things like fuel tanks are just dead stock in the southwest, and they sell them off cheap just to get rid of them??>..I dunno. Fuel tanks are a fairly common replacement item here, but I can't imagine they are in AZ and CA, are they?

Picked up a factory tach last night for $20 from a guy junking some trucks. I didn’t really need it but for $20 it’s worth having as a spare.

Courier just arrived with a 16 gallon side tank and sending unit. I’m getting stoked. Funny story....you know where I live, do you know where this order was shipped from??? Ontario, California...3600 miles away LOL (the other side of the continent, basically). What irks me is that this same tank, same brand, is in stock locally at the manufacturers warehouse, right here in the industrial park I work in, and I can save almost $100 buying it from a different country on the other side of the continent LOL. I do support the local auto parts shops when I can, but $100 is worth saving thank you very much. PS: the manufacturer is a Canadian company by the way, but I’m sure this stuff is made in China.

You can buy plugs for them just Google thermactor port plugs I know places like Jegs and Summit sell them. I believe they are 5/8” so some people just use bolts to plug them. Here's a plug kit fyi: https://www.jegs.com/shop/m20ProductDisplayView?catalogId=10001&langId=-1&productId=1681664&storeId=10001&pgGrp=catNav As mentioned though you can just use bolts, many have.

Thanks Jim. I’m pretty sure I’m going to have a shop do the body fill and paint so hopefully they can pretty it up for me.

You can buy plugs for them just Google thermactor port plugs I know places like Jegs and Summit sell them. I believe they are 5/8” so some people just use bolts to plug them.

Hey Bisquick, They are referring to the Thermactor ports on the back of the cylinder heads. See below picture of my 1984 5.0 as it was originally. There is a tube that runs across the back of the engine and attaches to each cylinder head just above the frost plugs. As far as I know, all small block Ford heads from about 1978-1996 should have these ports (somebody can correct me if I'm wrong). I have a set of late 90's GT40 heads on my 5.0 now, and they do NOT have these ports, but most heads will AFAIK.

Well, for good or for bad, I decided to weld the top "faux curl" tubes 100% of the length (80.75"?). While I'm not having any warping issues...the tube and flat sheet can take the heat no problem, grinding the welds down smooth is a problem. It's so hard to get it smooth...I'm getting some dips and valleys. Anyway, it's too late to change course now, and I really wanted there to be no gaps for water/moisture to get in behind the body fill. The only way to eliminate that was to weld it all the way. I'm hoping it can be skim coated with body fill and block sanded out to a fairly smooth finish. Thoughts, good or bad?

Mark, What transmission, rear end gears, and tire size? What RPM were you running? That speed seems about right to me. I know my little 2wd Flareside will do 90, but it has very long legs with a 5spd and 3.08 gears.

Wow is right...holy smokes are some of these trucks hitting the big bucks! I'm not a big Dentside guy, but I REALLY like this truck...absolutely gorgeous imho. I wouldn't change a thing on it.

Gary, I'm not much help on this topic, but figured I'd throw a couple other brands at you in case they haven't come up in your searches. I have a Tuxedo on my Tacoma...just one of the roll-up ones (not locking, obviously) and I quite like the thing. It is the first tonneau cover I have ever had in30+ years and probably a dozen trucks or more. It sure is nice for keeping my bed dry in the winter...seems I haul around a lot of old Ford truck parts...lol. https://truxedo.com/truxport/2015/toyota/tacoma For the old Flaresides however...I'd really like to have one of the Craftec Covers...they really look great to me. The downside, is that I don't want to drill any holes in the bed...certainly not on my 1984, but maybe I will consider it on the 1980 since it is not as nice. https://www.crafteccovers.com/1980-87-Ford-Flareside_p_125.html?fbclid=IwAR3j9ZIYJ8qTN_muxHb6IyLUmPqT_23CTDT2LLw1dBXbq9-O1TEORqUyTv4

Jim, Understood. You can see the cracks in the floor also...they've been there for 30 years and the concrete guys say that they all crack at some point. My wife wants me to do an epoxy coating or one of those, but in my own experience, its best done when the floor is brand new, not after 30 years of oil and brake fluid spills, cracks, etc. I totally get the coatings IF the garage is for parking only. My garage(s) have always been for working, so they see trolley jacks and axle stands, and dragging transmissions, etc across the floor. I'm thinking of building a detached garage...nothing huge (24x24). I have room for it on the property, but currently no access. A friend of mine in the area that has a few excavators is going to put a driveway in for me this year and get an area ready for a floor pad (which in all likelihood won't get poured until at least 2022). My current attached garage is small and a bit frustrating to work in sometimes (better than no garage, I know). When the house was built in 1990, they put the laundry room/bathroom stall IN the garage...so it is sort of an L-shape. It's fine, but the one side of my truck is almost always hard up against the wall. Of course there's always 500 other things piled out there (Bit of an ongoing issue between me and the Mrs...lol. The garage is the one room in the house I have even a tiny bit of control over, and it still ends up being filled with junk all the time). I'm losing the use of the big shop/warehouse where I work....which is fine, but myself and my coworkers have always had use of the space. We all keep our winter/summer tires stored at work (and some of us, things like truck parts, etc...lol). I'll soon be dragging all of this stuff home....and I think I have no room now.

Gary, That little Lincoln welder works so nicely anybody could lay a nice bead with it. It sure is a treat to work with. Jim, Yes I used 1.5” structural tubing (0.060” wall thickness). It worked great because the bed walls are 16ga (0.060”?) and together they make an excellent copy of the factory curl. I had made a test piece originally and up against the bed wall end to end they were perfect. Garage floor paint haha. Ya know, I painted it for several years in this Zodiac Grey floor enamel, but the motorcycles were hard on it between the hot tires and sliding kickstands. Not to mention the trolley jacks and axle stands, etc. I gave up after a while. If I build another garage I’d likely just leave the floor bare concrete. Dave, Not cutting the stake pockets square holes out, no. I don’t need them and they’re not easy to replicate so I just didn’t bother. I have a set of fender tubs for it, but I don’t think I’ll bother with them. Don’t really need them anyway, and they’re a lot of work to install. They’ll be for sale soon.

I worked on building the new bed for the old ‘80 all weekend. It’s starting to shape up! So many hours. 5am until 8pm yesterday, and another 8+ hrs today lol. I love it, but it’s still crazy.

THEY ARE... I've seen them routinely on Ebay with asking prices of $75,000 or more.

I for one appreciated the parts in the article about the dirty work and the hard work. Doing some rough math, I've spent an average of I'd say 25 hrs a week working on my 1980 since August 2020. Probably works out to about 750 hours so far, and of that 750 hrs, probably 400 of them were wearing ear plugs AND ear muffs, a dust mask or respirator, safety glasses, coveralls (sometimes), and/or a welding helmet. Aches and pains, ears ringing, and blowing black dust out of my nose on Sunday afternoons...lol. You have to really REALLY want to do this stuff...

I love original dealer badges like this! Very cool. My '84 still had the original selling dealer sticker on the tailgate when I bought it, and I had a new replacement sticker made up after I had the truck painted. It's a real conversation piece for some people, you'd be surprised how many people I see pointing at it and discussing when looking at my truck at shows, etc.

Excellent read here in case it doesn't pop up in your newsfeed elsewhere;). https://www.hagerty.com/media/opinion/leno-appreciation-for-hard-work-is-fading-and-old-cars-arent-easy/?fbclid=IwAR3T2Jx93galgmunHj8xRaUt8VCaTpJtUBqV8RVDMTfWplrej0V637-Cx58

As of a couple weeks ago, I am now in the last year of my forties;). No more gifts for me...lol. I want that wheel though! Thanks for sharing David!

OMG....I want one of these so bad...lol, but I just hit my parts ordering limit yesterday lol.

Right, and you can’t check it on the passenger side because the factory bracket usually gets removed I think.

Slide under the front end, I assume there are lift brackets under there? Measure the distance center to center of the two bolts circled in red below (Somebody might have to correct me on this...there's lots of 8 lug experts on here, and I'm not one of them).

Funny you should mention that...lol. On a whim I put an ad up on the other truck a couple days ago, looking to see if there were any interesting "bucket list" trades out there. The truck is not for sale...but if something interesting were to show up, I'd be interested. I don't really need two Flaresides...

Ahh, OK, gotcha. I borrowed the clamps from work, I'm going to need them for my stake pockets this weekend as I weld them on the box sides. They sometimes have to clamped in about 6 places to keep everything square.