1951 F16

[kb426]

C.K., I'll be using the one that's similar to the flip flop pearl that if you don't have the correct viewing angle, it will be invisible.

[chimp koose]

There is enough roundness on that truck to have the pearl show itself a lot . I always thought a 53/54 chevy would be a great candidate for a pearl paint job for the same reason

[idrivejunk]

C.K., I'll be using the one that's similar to the flip flop pearl that if you don't have the correct viewing angle, it will be invisible.

So you're using the flake so big theres only one on each panel then correct? 

There is enough on that truck to have the pearl show a lot .

Did I fix that  ^^^ for ya?

I think if KB could lay hands on enough Vantablack, he might consider a dark color.

[kb426]

You did good, Matt.
I installed the new turn signal switch yesterday. That took care of the lighting problems. I found a method of bleeding the hydroboost systems on a Ford power stroke site last night. I think I'm gaining on the fluid escaping the reservoir but it's not good yet. I messed with the front end alignment this afternoon. I went to far with my corrections so I get to redo it.

[kb426]

O&S is reasonably confident that the problem with the p.s. fluid being forced from the reservoir is solved. After doing the bleeding procedure about 25 times yesterday, I did some more research last night to see if I missed something. The only thing that came up is air in the system. Then the light goes off: you're getting air in the system without a fluid leak. This morning I put the truck in the shop and look at the supply line to the pump. What I saw instantly confirmed where I thought the air was entering. As the hose goes into the pump, there's a pretty good angle. I used a spring clamp on the hose. It had enough tension to keep fluid in but not enough to keep air out. I removed the 2 clamps on the supply line and put worm clamps on it. It has run for a while with no fluid escaping. I think that was it. Ford has used those spring clamps for years. There are no Ford dealers close to me. I ordered a bunch from an ebay seller. The material wasn't as thick as the OEM's so they aren't quite as strong. I'm going to throw the rest away so I'm never tempted to use them again. LOL.

[123pugsy]

I will never reuse one of them after I get them off. Terrible things they are, especially the part when using the wrong tool and it slips off and squishes one's finger.

[idrivejunk]

Those things were standard fare when I fixed wrecks but I never bought the tool or got a finger under one, or used an aftermarket one, or used them on anything but radiator or heater, or liked the style. But OE ones seemed to work real well on radiator hoses. Can't loosen but like any, re-use on existing hose is best done with clamp in exact previous orientation. It sucks finding out that the aftermarket ones suck so hard that they allow sucking.   Gotta love freshly manufactured store bought scrap.

[chimp koose]

I have a plier made just for opening those clamps . Sure saves aggravation !

[Crosley.In.AZ]

I've used the flat metal spring clamps and the round wire clamps in recent years.  On olde cars that is.  My 2006 Silverado had a few spring clamps on the cooling system. Plastic quick connect hose ends on the heater hoses of that truck

[kb426]

O&S did a little work today. The new Ford power steering reservoir arrived yesterday, I installed it and it's dry around the cap. I installed a horn from the 88 F150. As soon as I get a horn button fabbed up, I'll have a horn. I have a bypass toggle switch to turn on the cooling fan anytime. I had the fan wire from the sniper connected to the switch. On the wrong terminal. I have corrected that and now the sniper controller works.

[kb426]

O&S is living up to his name. I wanted to get the Dynadeck in today. I pulled the trans cover and installed the back up switch on the trans and ran wiring up to the fuse panel. I loomed up the wiring running to the console from the firewall. I wasn't satisfied with the location of the throttle pedal. It didn't feel natural when you got in the truck. I removed 2 inches out of it. It's better but I think there's more drag on the cable than there should be. More tinkering ahead on that. I spent a substantial amount of time making a pattern for the Dynadeck. After putting the mat down and putting the seats back in, I went for a ride and the noise reduction is very good. For people that don't want carpet, it's a very good alternative. 

[kb426]

O&S received some parts today. I bought an inexpensive convex peep mirror. It works all right but it will probably be temporary. I want some better mirrors than what was on the white 51 so I'm looking. I ordered a set of oem style door panels for a deluxe cab. I cleaned up the metal trim parts and shot them with flat black. They are on the doors and look ok. I'm still fighting with the decision of how much original look I want in the interior. As of now the doors are the only place that hasn't been modded to some extent. The steering is not centered in relation to the travel on the rack. I made a tie rod extender that will solve that. I will have to thread and shorten the right side while lengthening the left side.  The adapter is 14mm x 1.5 mm thread. It has male and female threads. I ordered a tap and die to do that. The only 14mm tap I had was for spark plug threads. After that gets resolved, the steering shaft will have to be rotated for the turn signals to operate properly.

[kb426]

O&S spent the day making little progress. My tie rod extender didn't work. It was too long between male and female threads so I made a different part. I didn't get the rack quite centered but I need to think about what I'm doing some more. The area where the window anti-rattlers goes was bent on both doors. I made a tool and straightened that area. That allows the window regulator to stop where it needs to. The sniper coolant temp sender has gone nuts. It reads about 50 degrees warmer than ambient temp before you start the engine and around 100 degrees hotter after it warms up. This allows the elect. fan to run way sooner than it should. I don't expect there to be any difficulty getting that warranteed. It's not finished until it's finished.

[kb426]

O&S started off thinking that he had a good idea for the hood latch. Matt had mentioned making my own bear claw latch. I decided to give it a try. I ordered a latch that had a spring loaded handle on it. I set out to use as much of the Volkswagen latch as I could. I made a plate to bolt the latch to the truck and was going to use the Volks latch plate for the safety catch. The pin that goes in the bear claw is 11/16" in diameter. I made mine 10 thousandths smaller in case there was alignment problems. I used the top plate from the Volks and removed the metric stud and threaded it for 3/8". I machined a short piece of shaft and bent up a u shaped bracket and welded them together for the pin to go in the bear claw. I welded a 3/8" flange nut to the top of the apparatus to thread the stud into. It has jamb nuts on top and bottom. Things were going pretty good until I figured out that the length of the safety catch was a problem. I shortened the catch and then it was going to take a slender tool or something like that to disengage it. There wasn't enough room to put a finger between the hood and the upper radiator panel. That has doom written all over it so the safety catch idea went in the toilet and I'll start over on that. The bear claw works well. The threaded adjustment allows just a light tension on the rubber bumper on the front of the hood. 50% success is better than zero.

[idrivejunk]

Thats the beauty of using a door latch, it has a safety catch built in. Two clicks to close fully. A man like yourself could probably even utilize the lock function if'n he was of a mind to. The Altman version comes with a block off for the safety catch hole. And uses a nylon bushing on the striker pin, not just like but not unlike those found in a muscle or smog car door jamb. With the factory setup, wasn't all the adjustment on the hood side? I found I needed a bit of wiggle on the latch side too. Theres no rule that says you have to use a vertical pin. Another stout L bracket with a plain ole replacement striker through it might work too, but possibly require a less pretty hole on the latch side. There could be a good old fashioned hood pin used as a supplemental safety, mounted inverted in the original catch location. Just rambling out loud like a Middle Aged Tempestuous Troublemaker. The stock front inner panel of them hoods is a strange critter.

Truck is lookin good. Thanks for the adventure stream. You all must be having a warm snap like over here but I bet its windy just the same also.