ACME Beer Truck

Old forklift (propane converted Hyster I got in a trade for a clean 1969 Dart two door) is very usefull for lifting things and pulling things around.
It has pneumatic tires. Good for my dirt driveways.

I'm ready to slide things back. I've loosened everything from it's weld. I've modified the main front crossmember to allow the oil pan sump a place to go. My target is two inches backwards.
A LOT of work for two inches is what you're saying. I agree!

After all that work I was only able to get a pathetic 1.25" set back without sump crashing into crossmember.
I will leave it all "floating" for now while I test-fit the front sheetmetal back on without the cab.
I'm hoping I've moved engine far enough back to allow a/c compressor to turn.
I may elect to notch or otherwise modify rad support (or move rad forward) if there continues to be interference. Something to ponder on the next 1995 and up Tacoma frame swap.

Getting closer, most likely will have to reconfigure IHC rad to match Tacoma hose sizes and locations.
Suddenly, I think the IHC front sheetmetal might fit and center on front tires!
It's been well over 100F here for a week or two. Waiting for a small break in weather to really make some progress. Perhaps this weekend?

Well, I was going to hint at getting some sympathy from you about our 29C today, but I have a feeling that isn't going to happen. LOL. I admire your build ability. You are genius and a treasure and a great mechanic. I would have given up and gone shopping for tools, long ago.

Nikki, as my dad used to ask. Is that 29c in Barnheights or Centipedes? I'm thinkin' Centipedes.

Good news and bad news on the "patina". Harrumph! Looks like the pretty ACME BEVERAGE CO letters are on top of the later greenish paint. I'm guessing an old lacquer job. This paint is just floating on top of the blue beneath it, no adhesion left. It is coming off so easily a scratchy pad removes all of it with one swipe.
Good news is that the blue underneath is in better shape.
So...command decision...I LIKE the blue paint and I LIKE the letters. I'm going to photograph the letters and have a skilled artist (not me) recreate them on top of the blue paint. Also proves that the letters were indeed there.

The butchery continues. Many folks call us rat rodders butchers. We cut up perfectly good old vehicles in order to hot rod them.
Keep in mind nothing "nice" was ruined or cut-up here. The cab is a rusty, bullet-hole ridden 1938 or so D-35 cab. The junkers wanted over a thousand dollars for the rest of the not-nice beer truck. No bed included. I couldn't do that.
My compromise was to save the sheetmetal for another day. The original D-35 front sheetmetal is miserably bad. Never mind wrong front fenders for a half-ton. So I'm using just so-so D-2 front sheetmetal from a BEAT D-2. Hood, too. The D-35 hood would be wrong here. It's too long.
Anyway, the pile of "butchered" parts continues to grow.
Here it is. Most of the slaughter is due to the interference between 1995 Toyota Tacoma frame, engine and IHC D-2 front sheetmetal.

Smog

Know a real good sign writer only problem he is scared of travelling in a Kero Kite and I think the thought of 15+ hours might scare him off.

Here is some of his work on the old Fargo. The sign writing on the door is only 3 days old. The pictures don't show it to well but there is the original signwriting in underneath what he just did.

Trevor

I haven't mentioned it yet, but the Tacoma frame has SOME simularities to a D-2 frame. The D-2 inner fenders want to lay flat on the frame. It reminds me of stock.
Of course the Tacoma has IFS which means the D-2 inner fenders have to be modified to go over the upper control arms. I did this mod in two steps. First step in dreaming mode and second step real life.
I didn't cut out enough at first to get the inner fenders all the way down flat on the frame.
Tacoma has brake lines, power steering lines, fuel vapor, pressure and return lines on top of the front frame rails. I'm slowly using the plasma cutter to make room for these things.