Brad's 1954 R Series Build

Did you find the truck just outside of Norfolk, NE? If not, there has been one sitting in a driveway for years that looks exactly like if.

Yes sir, thats it. My mom's uncle Dale is from Norfolk and that is where the truck has been for the last 17 years. I believe it has been with in the last 3-4 years that it had to start sitting outside all the time. And that contributed a lot to the reason that i was able to get it back.....it wasn't doing the truck any good just sitting outside in Nebraska, and Dale was just getting too old to keep working on it.

Small World!

Under the SMALL WORLD SUBJECT :
I met a guy on this forum who I had worked with in about 1967. The job site was a natural gas plant west of Calgary, near Banff. He now lives in Texas and I am in British Columbia, Canada.

Well, i got a little done this last weekend. I was working on the ol rusted cab corner. I got some of the inside panel taken care of until i ran out of gas on the welder.....so, until i make it up to Tractor supply....i guess i am stuck. Since i am heading out of town for the holidays i suppose it will be January until i get to do some more. But here is what i got done so far:

54 IHC by isu_phi, on Flickr

Finally got a little work done this weekend. It would have been a shame to waste a 70 degree day. Pretty much spent my whole Sunday jacking with the driver cab corner.

I am definitely not Tim Strange, but i am overall happy with where i am with it at this point. Having to mess with the inner structure is almost as FUN as the visible part. I got to fab up some cool stuff that was just simply not there any more. I probably should have taken more pics of that, especially when i got it cleaned and prepped before closing it up with the outside pieces.

54 IHC by isu_phi, on Flickr

54 IHC by isu_phi, on Flickr

54 IHC by isu_phi, on Flickr

54 IHC by isu_phi, on Flickr

You do very nice metal work for a beginner!

I had leaky air ride on my '94 Town car, I bought a conversion kit from summit racing for $200 & it rides way better on steel. I find air ride gives a choppy ride and actually prefer springs myself.

I'm really enjoying your thread, great work.

I worked at a Lincoln dealer when they went to air ride...the Continental was first. After 7-8 years, we'd see Continentals being driven around town with the "tail" dragging because both of the rear air struts were bad, and they weren't cheap to replace.

Just one perspective.

thanks for the comments!

I worked a bit today, but i'll have to get pics posted tomorrow. I didnt get the chance to grind anything down yet.

And yes, for the money....the conversion to get rid of the air ride was the WAY more economical decision. And frankly, i notice very little in ride quality.

Today, i "finished" up the driver side cab corner. when the door shut, with my original fix, the body line didnt look quite right as it kind of slid away from the door as it went down. Something that i could live with, but while i wasnt looking, my buddy cut it out. Not being too thrilled about this, i guess i had to go back and fix it. The body line does look better, however, it of course added some new warping that i guess will be plastic'd over.

Then, i turned my attention to a random rust spot on the back of the cab. No idea why this spot rusted through where it did. So, i cut it out and burned a new piece in

54 IHC by isu_phi, on Flickr

54 IHC by isu_phi, on Flickr

Finally, to finish off the weekend i ripped of the bondo bandaid covering the passenger cab corner. I had no idea what i would find. I guess i was hoping it would not be this bad, but oh well....just another cab corner replacement. It appears that there was a nasty dent there, or a hole, or something. Bondo was just packed in the hole....i probably stripped out a good 1/4" to 1/2" thick. And i guess i will get the rest out when when i cut out the corner.

I am under no illusion that it wont take plenty of plastic to smooth out my rookie work, however, i promise not to make any "fixes" like this.

54 IHC by isu_phi, on Flickr

Hope yall had a great weekend

Even pro's miscalculate and have to redo or adjust their metal work at times, that is just part of the job so don't beat youself up over that. Nice work on the small patch too.

Some of those holes on that cab corner are probably from a screw in dent puller. Back in the 70's. & 80's it was a recommended practice to drill holes in the panel to help hold the filler on better. That is why a lot of old repairs will have small holes under the filler. The problem is body filler is largely comprised of talcum powder so it would wick moisture thru those holes and rust behind the filler. Best to just rough up the metal with course sand paper and not leave any holes in the metal.