Rembrant Posted June 29, 2019 Author Share Posted June 29, 2019 Well, here's goes nothing...first test-fit with the new wood floor (Marine plywood). I know a lot of people will not approve...lol (I know, it should be oak), but it rolled off the assembly line with a plywood floor it will be rolling out of my garage with a plywood floor. Now, get it all fitted, drilled, and installed...and then turn around and remove it all to varnish it next week. So much to do, and so little time. I put three coats of Spar Marine varnish on a test piece of wood just to check the color and finish, etc. It darkens it up nicely, but not too dark. I'm going to start drilling holes in the wood tomorrow, and I still have to cut out the fender areas with a jigsaw, so hopefully by tomorrow afternoon sometime I'll have the wood back out and ready to varnish. The truck is starting to feel somewhat complete again. I was doing easy jobs tonight, like pulling the new rubber sleeves on the tailgate chains...lol, and cleaning up the garage. I'm off on vacation all week, so I'm hoping to get a whole bunch of stuff done to the truck. Still have to install all new rear brakes. The rear drums are currently empty. Have to fill and bleed the brake system, and put some gas in the new tank/lines. I've decided to retire the black wheels. I still love them, but I think with the truck having new paint and being all shiny, I'd like a set of new shiny wheels to compliment it. Not sure what wheels I want yet...I'm still kind of a sucker for chrome, and it would keep with the 1980's theme here. Maybe a set of old school Blades like on the truck below. We'll see. I'm still shopping;). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted June 29, 2019 Share Posted June 29, 2019 I put three coats of Spar Marine varnish on a test piece of wood just to check the color and finish, etc. It darkens it up nicely, but not too dark. I'm going to start drilling holes in the wood tomorrow, and I still have to cut out the fender areas with a jigsaw, so hopefully by tomorrow afternoon sometime I'll have the wood back out and ready to varnish. The truck is starting to feel somewhat complete again. I was doing easy jobs tonight, like pulling the new rubber sleeves on the tailgate chains...lol, and cleaning up the garage. I'm off on vacation all week, so I'm hoping to get a whole bunch of stuff done to the truck. Still have to install all new rear brakes. The rear drums are currently empty. Have to fill and bleed the brake system, and put some gas in the new tank/lines. I've decided to retire the black wheels. I still love them, but I think with the truck having new paint and being all shiny, I'd like a set of new shiny wheels to compliment it. Not sure what wheels I want yet...I'm still kind of a sucker for chrome, and it would keep with the 1980's theme here. Maybe a set of old school Blades like on the truck below. We'll see. I'm still shopping;). Ray - The terminology is "Before 7/82" and "From 7/82". So, translating that says "before July" and "From July". But, it doesn't say July 1st, or even 31st. And, to complicate things, it doesn't say in what plant. As we've found with the slider door locks and clear turn signal lenses, while the catalog says those changed in March of '81 they didn't actually change then. In fact, we've found trucks that were built in June and July that still got the slide locks. But it looks like what they did with the locks and turn signal lenses was to consolidate the old items to a couple of plants. In other words, Ford threw nothing away. And I'd bet the same was the case for the bed floors. Cory - That's going to look really good in the bed. How many coats do you think you'll apply? And, at the end of this week you may have the truck back on the road!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve83 Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 ..."before July" and "From July". But, it doesn't say July 1st, or even 31st."From July" would semantically mean the whole month - IOW, beginning July 1st. But it's probably just shorthand because they didn't feel like the exact day was important enough to document.In other words, Ford threw nothing away.Ford never had anything TO throw away. Parts were never warehoused - they arrived each day and went onto the assembly line. That was what Ford invented that made him so successful; the system of having parts delivered as-needed, rather than stocking things that had to be inventoried, sorted, handled, stored, searched, handled, & moved before they arrived on the assembly line. So if trucks were built with old parts, it only means the documentation about when the running change occurred is wrong - not that the old-design parts were still trickling in, or being used up from a pile somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Cecil Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 ..."before July" and "From July". But, it doesn't say July 1st, or even 31st."From July" would semantically mean the whole month - IOW, beginning July 1st. But it's probably just shorthand because they didn't feel like the exact day was important enough to document.In other words, Ford threw nothing away.Ford never had anything TO throw away. Parts were never warehoused - they arrived each day and went onto the assembly line. That was what Ford invented that made him so successful; the system of having parts delivered as-needed, rather than stocking things that had to be inventoried, sorted, handled, stored, searched, handled, & moved before they arrived on the assembly line. So if trucks were built with old parts, it only means the documentation about when the running change occurred is wrong - not that the old-design parts were still trickling in, or being used up from a pile somewhere. How do you explain NOS parts still in the packaging? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve83 Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 How do you explain NOS parts still in the packaging? Service parts (in packages) are an entirely different issue from production (OE) parts that went to the assembly line. We're talking about how trucks got built - not about what might have been put on them later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted July 3, 2019 Author Share Posted July 3, 2019 Ray - The terminology is "Before 7/82" and "From 7/82". So, translating that says "before July" and "From July". But, it doesn't say July 1st, or even 31st. And, to complicate things, it doesn't say in what plant. As we've found with the slider door locks and clear turn signal lenses, while the catalog says those changed in March of '81 they didn't actually change then. In fact, we've found trucks that were built in June and July that still got the slide locks. But it looks like what they did with the locks and turn signal lenses was to consolidate the old items to a couple of plants. In other words, Ford threw nothing away. And I'd bet the same was the case for the bed floors. Cory - That's going to look really good in the bed. How many coats do you think you'll apply? And, at the end of this week you may have the truck back on the road!!! I meant to ask about this the other day.... My truck has been sitting since last fall...must be 8 months now, and I haven't started the engine in that time. I will be starting it again soon. At what point would one pull the distributor to spin the oil pump and prime the system? Or will winding it over with the starter get it primed enough anyway...it's not like it's going to start on the first crank. I'd rather not pull the distributor, but if I need to I will. (I don't have a shaft specifically for priming either, but I can order one quick enough). I suppose I'm worrying about nothing....since these trucks sit in fields for years...decades even, and people still fire them up...lol. I think if it was a roller cam engine I wouldn't even care (psychologically speaking...lol). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted July 3, 2019 Author Share Posted July 3, 2019 I meant to ask about this the other day.... My truck has been sitting since last fall...must be 8 months now, and I haven't started the engine in that time. I will be starting it again soon. At what point would one pull the distributor to spin the oil pump and prime the system? Or will winding it over with the starter get it primed enough anyway...it's not like it's going to start on the first crank. I'd rather not pull the distributor, but if I need to I will. (I don't have a shaft specifically for priming either, but I can order one quick enough). I suppose I'm worrying about nothing....since these trucks sit in fields for years...decades even, and people still fire them up...lol. I think if it was a roller cam engine I wouldn't even care (psychologically speaking...lol). It's SO nice to be on vacation... It's SO nice to be on vacation and not have to go anywhere...lol. Having a few days to myself for "garage therapy" does a lot to charge one's batteries I'd say. So I test fitted the wood floor, and that ended up being more work than I expected. There are 59 carriage bolts in that floor, and there were only a small handful that fit into place without drilling holes. In any case, I have it all removed again and as of last night I had two coats of Spar Urethane on the bottom sides now, with a 3rd coat going on this morning. By this afternoon I'll have the boards flipped over so I can get the first topside coat on. I don't have any pictures yet, but locating and drilling the 8 mounting holes was a bit of a pain. I had to get under the truck and mark each hole with a pencil...up through the frame and the wooden mounting blocks. I didn't realize until after they were all done and drilled that they weren't all in a straight line. There's one hole on each side that is slightly out of step with the others due to the frame hole locations. It's not a problem...it's just something I hadn't noticed before. The other thing I had to do was drill center holes in all 5 sills/crossmembers. All 5 are new pieces from Mar-K in Oklahoma...but they only manufacture them for the 1982 and older 7 board 6 strip installation (That is also the only configuration they sell the bed wood in). If one wants to do the 5 strip install same as the factory did, you're on your own to drill the center holes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Cecil Posted July 3, 2019 Share Posted July 3, 2019 It's SO nice to be on vacation... It's SO nice to be on vacation and not have to go anywhere...lol. Having a few days to myself for "garage therapy" does a lot to charge one's batteries I'd say. So I test fitted the wood floor, and that ended up being more work than I expected. There are 59 carriage bolts in that floor, and there were only a small handful that fit into place without drilling holes. In any case, I have it all removed again and as of last night I had two coats of Spar Urethane on the bottom sides now, with a 3rd coat going on this morning. By this afternoon I'll have the boards flipped over so I can get the first topside coat on. I don't have any pictures yet, but locating and drilling the 8 mounting holes was a bit of a pain. I had to get under the truck and mark each hole with a pencil...up through the frame and the wooden mounting blocks. I didn't realize until after they were all done and drilled that they weren't all in a straight line. There's one hole on each side that is slightly out of step with the others due to the frame hole locations. It's not a problem...it's just something I hadn't noticed before. The other thing I had to do was drill center holes in all 5 sills/crossmembers. All 5 are new pieces from Mar-K in Oklahoma...but they only manufacture them for the 1982 and older 7 board 6 strip installation (That is also the only configuration they sell the bed wood in). If one wants to do the 5 strip install same as the factory did, you're on your own to drill the center holes. Cory, looking good!!! Ive got mine on the road again. Trying to get some saddle time to get to know her. Yesterday at lunch I shut the door and heard something hit the exhaust manifold "ting". Drove to lunch and had a hard time keeping it idling. Got home later and inspected thing. Idle set screw had fallen out and hit the exhaust. Lol. Dug through the screw bin and found another one. Put one layer of pipe tape on it this time to help it stay. Maybe there is supposed to be a spring on it too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuzzFace2 Posted July 3, 2019 Share Posted July 3, 2019 It's SO nice to be on vacation... It's SO nice to be on vacation and not have to go anywhere...lol. Having a few days to myself for "garage therapy" does a lot to charge one's batteries I'd say. So I test fitted the wood floor, and that ended up being more work than I expected. There are 59 carriage bolts in that floor, and there were only a small handful that fit into place without drilling holes. In any case, I have it all removed again and as of last night I had two coats of Spar Urethane on the bottom sides now, with a 3rd coat going on this morning. By this afternoon I'll have the boards flipped over so I can get the first topside coat on. I don't have any pictures yet, but locating and drilling the 8 mounting holes was a bit of a pain. I had to get under the truck and mark each hole with a pencil...up through the frame and the wooden mounting blocks. I didn't realize until after they were all done and drilled that they weren't all in a straight line. There's one hole on each side that is slightly out of step with the others due to the frame hole locations. It's not a problem...it's just something I hadn't noticed before. The other thing I had to do was drill center holes in all 5 sills/crossmembers. All 5 are new pieces from Mar-K in Oklahoma...but they only manufacture them for the 1982 and older 7 board 6 strip installation (That is also the only configuration they sell the bed wood in). If one wants to do the 5 strip install same as the factory did, you're on your own to drill the center holes. That will look sweet when done and with the metal strips who could tell it is only 3 pieces of ply wood? Question? On the carriage bolts are you going to paint the heads or leave them as they are zinc plated? I have been thinking of painting mine but would need to sand, prim, sand & paint and I am getting lazy now. I only have them down the bed sides and the front panel, no metal strips with the ribbed metal floor. Thanks Dave ---- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuzzFace2 Posted July 3, 2019 Share Posted July 3, 2019 Cory, looking good!!! Ive got mine on the road again. Trying to get some saddle time to get to know her. Yesterday at lunch I shut the door and heard something hit the exhaust manifold "ting". Drove to lunch and had a hard time keeping it idling. Got home later and inspected thing. Idle set screw had fallen out and hit the exhaust. Lol. Dug through the screw bin and found another one. Put one layer of pipe tape on it this time to help it stay. Maybe there is supposed to be a spring on it too? Yes there is a spring on it to keep it tight. Good to hear you are getting "seat time". Only seat time I get in mine is moving it in / out of the garage Dave ---- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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