Nice ideas for interior work

This is one of the nicer interiors I've seen around town... saw this vehicle at a car show on 59th and Bell Road a couple weeks ago.

This car has the metal strip added beneath the original dash, which we've talked about doing for our truck. It blends in perfectly with the dash, and gives a little more space to add the A/C vents and controls. Without that extra room, you can see how cluttered the dash would be if he had the A/C vents and the A/C control panel on there.

I don't think we'll be doing a center console like this car has... just the strip beneath, painted to match.

Updates 6/19/10

Updates from 6/19/10...

Here's another look at the bed and gas tank (thanks to Chet Wood for the custom gas tank mounting):

Here's a look at the new axles, just returned from machining (new bolt pattern, etc), as well as the brake rotors (from Baer Brakes). Still having some problems with the axles, hopefully that will get corrected soon. We've had some challenges with the rear end, getting everything to fit and be compatible... hopefully we're nearing the end now!

Transmission pan cover ("Ford C6"). I wonder if anyone will ever look far enough under the truck to see this? : )

Lokar oil dipstick. Also, check out the allen head bolts on the oil pan. Very nice! Again, we hope someone will look under there and take notice!

Christmas in July! More packages from Sacramento Vintage Ford... these boxes contain the running boards and rear bumper, as well as the front driver's side quarter-panel replacement (the original is rusted out). That's the original front grille hanging above the boxes.

Mike & Chris installed the original rear fenders on the new bed, so we could take measurements for the wheels and tires (which should be coming soon... probably going with the Billet Specialties "Qualifier," see wheel posts from earlier to see what they look like!).

Chris finished installing the Lokar shifter and connecting the linkage. Shifts smooth as butter, and looks great too!

That's all for now, but there's going to have to be a LOT of work done in the next month to get the truck ready for body and paint... Troy at Hot Rod Alley is supposed to take the truck on August 1st, so we'll be scrambling between now and then to get as much done as possible. Stay tuned for more!

Thanks to all of you who are following the project... we're having a blast!

More problems... and Chet Wood to the rescue!

These are the little (or not-so-little!) problems that come up during the build phase of a project like this!

We decided to put the brake booster assembley between the frame rails, so it wouldn't clutter up the firewall. We ordered the kit, and were excited to start mounting it after it came in. We found out quickly, though, that there was going to be a problem!

As you can see below, the brake assembly needed to be mounted exactly where the transmission crossmember was! You can see the disconnected brake pedal on the right side of the crossmember, and the silver mounting bracket for the rest of the assembly on the left side. The linkage needed to pass directly through the black crossmember.


So, Mike called Chet Wood, the one who's done all of the custom metal fabrication on this truck (he's done the engine mounts, the rear suspension/leaf springs, the custom-mounted gas tank and frame, etc). Chet worked a little of his magic and came up with this solution (note: this is a mock-up--the revised transmission crossmember will be powdercoated to match the frame):

Problem solved! Thanks so much Chet, you saved us once again!