Adventures in truck restoration

[Ernie D]

There is one on each side, that is reinforcement bars for the radiator support. I had to revise them for the modifications Ive done so far

[BK Vissers]

There is one on each side, that is reinforcement bars for the radiator support. I had to revise them for the modifications Ive done so far

I see. I guess the assembly at the radiator is a sort of vibration damper?

[Ernie D]

Correct, the radiator support has rubber isolators mounted between it and frame to insulate the radiator from the frame, and the support arms are insulated too

[Ernie D]

Sorry its been a while since I've posted, just been working a lot and hadn't had much time, and also Ive been waiting on parts to arrive, but now I have a little bit of progress. I received my clutch on a monday and received my transmission on thursday of the same week. The transmission combo I decided to go with it, for my main transmission, its a Eaton RTX14609P 9 speed, and the auxiliary Im running will be a spicer 7041 4 speed, which Ive shared a couple of photos of it earlier. This week I was off of work for my long off, I managed to get both installed, then, I managed to test fit the cab on the chassis for the changes Ive done so far. Hope yall enjoy

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[PBandJ]

Very impressive!

[Ernie D]

Got another update for yall , I believe I may of figured out why the truck was originally parked. I decided to open up the original steering gear to check it, Im glad I did, turns out the worm gear on the end of the steering shaft was damaged beyond repair, it would of had excessive slack and/or binding up while trying to turn the wheel.

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I did a little bit of research and managed to source a company that refurbishes vintage truck steering gears, and/or upgrades. Which my truck originally did not have power steering, and they offered a replacement gear that was power steering, I only had to do some fabrication to make things look factory and function as it should. Heres some photos of the progress. Hope yall enjoy

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[BK Vissers]

Lots of detailed goodness here!

There is no risk that notching the frame rail to fit the power steering unit I’ll weaken the frame?

[Ernie D]

@BK Vissers the frame was already notched there for the original steering box. Adding the iron like I did actually strengthen it a little more

[BK Vissers]

I wondered about that too, it seemed like reinforcement indeed. Thanks for the update!

[Ernie D]

Got another update for yall , I managed to get some more work on the ole project. Most of my planned work for the weekend became reality, with 3 very productive days . First thing on the agenda was to fab the hangers for the primary and secondary air tanks, while trying to maintain ground clearance and space, which its starting to become a little crowded, but its still manageable.
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Second project on the weekend agenda, fab the rear mount for the main transmission. This was a long awaited project. Id been researching different types of rubber mounting solutions, and I finally decided on what type I wanted to use, which is a "biscuit" type mount, which is a 2 piece design that sandwiches the frame mount. Here's some pics of that progress
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Third project on the agenda this weekend was, reinstall the fuel tank mounts and fab a mounting bracket for the air dryer, here's a few pictures of the progress
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Hope you like the progress so far, hopefully as much as I like making progress and sharing it with yall