OldIHC

I bought this truck on sept.10th. I had just sent my 66 Mustang Fastback to North Carolina after owning it for 10 years and it was time for a new project. I liked the looks of this truck but not necessarily all the mods. It has been air bagged, has a fatman front end, stock 6 cylinder, bumpers and wipers removed, door handles shaved. I am going to make some subtle changes. Going to leave the bags in but modify the suspension so it rides a little above the weeds. Add back the wipers. Selling the current wheels and tires and adding some smoothies with white walls. Interior is partially finished in bright red which I am going to leave but the exterior will be either black or charcoal. First is to remove the stock rear end, add a ford 8 inch and lower the c notched frame rails so I can use a stock bed floor.

That right there is some nice fab work!
Looking good brother!

I like the plan. I am a big fan of air-springs and HOLLADN-NEWAY levelling valves. I get the valves at KENWORTH for $60 each.
The welding looks like it could use a little smoothing. I hope the penetration is good enough for strength. I am wondering what model of welding machine was used. Lots of luck.

My welder is a Lincoln Electric 140. I have built my previous 3 cars with this welder and never had a weld fail. I have shortened axle housings, installed 4 links with panhards and installed 8 point cages. The welds may look a little rough but once they are cleaned and painted they will hold fine.

The 8 inch is currently mocked in suspension wise. I just received a disc brake conversion I will be installing. I am also moving the air tank, compressors and control valve in behind the axle for the air ride. (they are currently mounted behind the passenger running board which is not convenient) will post some pictures soon. Front end is removed and getting ready to pull the engine so I can detail the chassis. Here are a couple more pictures.

Those front bags look a little too canted. I would play with that setup a bit before I settle on location because from that picture things do not look well thought out. I would be worried that bag might be stressed and possibly tear.

It's been awhile but when I built my '54 I think I may have angled the upper steel cup between the bag and the hat that it bolts into to get a more natural angle for the bag. The bags shown in this picture were just for mock up and I went with a narrower bag for better clearance.

I am not happy with the front bag install either. I am going to tear out the front end and redo the mounts. I have found many issues with the previous owners installation

Moving the air bag components. Using 1 inch square stock and some 16 gauge sheet, Got to use my nifty vise mounted sheet brake. I'm waiting on my battery and box before I do the final wiring.

Also did the rear disc conversion on the 8 inch ford. Pretty straight forward install. You need to cut off the stock bearing retaining plate and use the aftermarket plate to mount the caliper.

Few more things done this week, Removed the engine and got most of the engine compartment cleared out. Installed the Vintage Air heater and defrost. Also mounted the painless wiring fuse panel. Redoing the entire harness in the vehicle. I mounted all studs on the interior firewall for the heat and fuse panel so when I smooth the firewall there will be no hardware showing.

It looks like you are doing a good job. Changing another person's ideas to make the build into your own is more difficult than a fresh build.
It can be lonely out there and maybe feeling underappreciated if a person waits for someone to wrap their head around something "outside the box".