Ian's Tennessee Honey '64 Short Box Step-side - England

[ibrown50]

The curve was also a mile out I had to use sheet metal clamps to pull it and push it a half inch at a time. I literally spent hours getting it to fit.



It’s now fitted and the door gap and general alignment are great (if I do say so myself).







I’ve finished all of the welding on the floor repair. The repair panel is seamed up and all of the welds to the floor supports and rocker are done and dressed too. Time for the fender repairs

[Grizz1963]

PROGRESS !!!!


Awesome work Ian, as always.

[Palf70Step]

Nice work.

[MacQuigley]

Nice Ian. I took the shortcut and just bought new fenders. They are a crap fit! Should have done what your doing.

[ibrown50]

I’ve not had much truck time recently but I have been busy.

If you follow Grizz’s build thread (or any of the UK threads) you may know we’ve been having a bit of a heatwave in the UK. Well a heatwave means only one thing, competition for space in the refrigerator, I need beer, the kids need soda’s and we all need food.

Being the selfless kind of bloke that I am I volunteered to buy one of these.




No, it’s not what you think, it’s a fridge




This is one of those slippery slope purchases.

Firstly I decided it was a little low, so I built another Marshall style speaker to stand it on






Then I decided the room needed a make-over, so exposed brick wall, walnut floor and general re-decoration and I’m finally finished.



Now back to the truck

[Grizz1963]

Impressive

That is all.

Love the thinking behind the fridge and result must make even you smile.

[Palf70Step]

Fridge is very neat and room looks great!

[ibrown50]

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

Impressive

That is all.

Love the thinking behind the fridge and result must make even you smile.

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Fridge is very neat and room looks great!

Thank you gentlemen for your kind comments


With the repair on the rear section of the fender done (for now) I needed to tackle the front, the first job was to deal with the front fender lip. The hole in the lip had been filled with "something". I wish I had taken the time to photograph before I’d thrown it in the trash, it wasn’t even bondo, it was like chewing gum only green ( it may have been a giant bogey ).



After cutting out the rotten section I used a piece of the fender I'd cut from the rear to make a repair piece.




It’s a little tricky getting the shape right but it worked out well in the end.

[ibrown50]

With that done and a couple of random holes welded there was only the front lower section of the fender to do,



I find the easiest way to tackle repairs like this one is to start by removing everything that’s rotten, but don’t throw it away until you’re finished, you never know when you’ll need it for a measurement or pattern.



Make your repair piece from cardboard first, then when you’re happy with the fit, make one out of metal





There still a couple of pin holes to do and the I have the flange to fabricate and re-attach, unfortunately that will be the end of my truck time for a couple of weeks, I'm off around Europe, Spain France and Italy (not forgetting Monaco) .....Did I really just say unfortunately

[MacQuigley]

Nice work Ian. You want my old fenders to repair next? Practice makes perfect!

Once found holes in the upper bulkhead of a Lightweight Land Rover that had been filled with Tinfoil and then painted over. I guess it was better than news paper!

[ibrown50]

Work on the truck had been a bit sporadic lately so I haven't been very good at documenting what I’ve done.


I finished the front end fender repair, came out ok




The return on the lower repair panel was actually too short where the repair panel joins the original fender so I had to put a small piece of steel in to even it up





The other thing I was missing were the brackets that hold the uppers seals at the rear of the fender. I'd used the rusted out parts as a pattern on the passenger side but on the drivers side I literally had nothing to work with and was completely stuck without them. Sometimes when you're working on US vehicles in the UK you can be stuck for the most simple of parts this was one of those situations. Luckily for me I'm a member of this forum which is full of great people. Rocknrod (thank you Sir!) put me onto Aspen Autos, if you've not used them I honsetly can't recommend them enough, and they suppleid me with an excellent used set at a very fair price.



I've got the inside of the fender coated in stone guard and the fender returns into body colour,, next job is to fit the seals and then re-fit the fender.

[mjh1965]

Looking good Ian , those things called holidays , do seem to get in the way . l have only just got back from mine a short while ago . I worked on my truck today though, Getting the cab back off and putting it in my garage . Ready to start on the drivers side inner and outer rocker . Enjoy your holiday and come back refreshed ready to start on the truck

[Palf70Step]

Looks good!

[Grizz1963]

Last two updates are just great Ian.

Looking so good.

Well done!

[ibrown50]

Today in County Durham it was one of those fabulous autumn (sorry fall) days, dry, sunny, cool but not too cool and you just know its going to be the last (or one of the last ones) until spring. Time to jump on the bike and grab those last few miles of the season. It was while I was riding I realised I hadn't given my latest bike a mention.

Those who follow my thread may remember that last year I did something I said I would never do.............no not that I bought a water cooled Harley. Now it wasn't a bad bike at all, but in fairness wasn't really me. I just love the noise, smell and feel of an air cooled twin, so earlier this year I traded the "kettle" for an air cooled 48 sportster.




I also found time today to finish the fender closing panels and fit them using nylon "fir tree" clips

[ibrown50]

I also managed to get the fender back on, I'm very happy with the fit,





The door gap needs a little tweak at the bottom which I can get to once the door comes off.



Tomorrow is the NSRA Northern Swap Meet, the last one of the season , so me and my mate Paul are off the Sheffield

[Grizz1963]

That’s a pretty Harley.


You missed a spot on the fender

[MacQuigley]

Looking good Ian.

If you and I can keep up the pace we should beat the two southern softies and get back on the road first :-):-):-)

[ibrown50]

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

That’s a pretty Harley.


You missed a spot on the fender

Thanks Rian, it's a shame you don't live closer you could have taken it for a run out, these modern Harleys ride really nice.

Originally Posted by MacQuigley

Looking good Ian.

If you and I can keep up the pace we should beat the two southern softies and get back on the road first :-):-):-)

Indeed, but neither of us will beat Rian with the pace he's going on his new blazer

I went to the Northern swap meet on Sunday in Sheffield, it may be Northern for Rian and Martin but for me and Bill there's nothing northern about it

There were a few rods but mainly 50's chrome and fins stuff. There were a couple of trucks there, most seemed to have motorcycles on the back

[ibrown50]

This 69 was probably my favourite



I didn't buy much but I did blag this old slot mag for £10 ($12-$13). It will make a great hose reel for my garage wall.



A quick truck up-date, I've pulled the drivers door to do the last of my cab rust repairs, I got the outer stripped ok, flipped it over and started on the inner.

I had a pair of inner repair panels that I got from Martin a while back so i was good to go (or so I thought). The rust extends into the hinge pocket so I thought it best to check how far up the repair section goes.

Hmmmm can you remember those spot the difference pictures that were in all of the comics when we were kids?



It turns out they were a pair alright (as in two) it's just they were both the same side, oh darn

New one is on order from Ecklers, luckily I've plenty to be getting on with

[MacQuigley]

Originally Posted by ibrown50

Indeed, but neither of us will beat Rian with the pace he's going on his new blazer

I went to the Northern swap meet on Sunday in Sheffield, it may be Northern for Rian and Martin but for me and Bill there's nothing northern about it

Ah but Blazers don't count Ian.

Shefield! May as well be another country to me, oh wait it is!

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by MacQuigley

Ah but Blazers don't count Ian.

Shefield! May as well be another country to me, oh wait it is!

Sadly have to admit defeat here.

Bill is right.

But the Blazer is making me feel better.

Ian and you have been quietly steaming ahead.

[ibrown50]

Sorry this is not really truck related but I thought some readers of this thread might find it interesting and there’s a transport link in here somewhere (honestly ).

While walking my dog at the weekend something occurred to me. It’s strange how we’ve all visited places hundreds, even thousands of miles from home but you never seem to visit places that are on your doorstep. One such place for me is the Causey Arch, the oldest single arch railway bridge in the world and it’s about a mile from my front door.



A bit of history

In the 17 and 1800’s coal was transported in wooden wagons from the mines of County Durham (at that time the largest coal field in the world) to the port of Newcastle for onward shipment. These wagons travelled along unpaved roads know as wagonways, being in unpaved they would become rutted and pot-holed and often impassable. To combat this in the early 1700’s the practice of laying rails for the wagons to run on began and thus wagonways became railways.



The mine owners even agreed a "standard" width for the rails so that everyone’s wagons could use the railways. This was 4 feet 8 1/2 inches which was considered to be the ideal width for the horse pulling the wagon and the man leading it. Today about 55% of the worlds trains still run on this "standard gauge".


So what about the Causey Arch? It was designed and built in 1725 by local Master Mason Ralph Wood, to span the Causey gorge. At the time it was built it was the longest single arch bridge in Britain at 102 feet.



The fate of Mr Wood

But the real irony to this tale is the fate of Mr Wood himself. Convinced his construction was flawed in some way and believing it would collapse, he threw himself from the bridge to his death in the gorge some 150 feet below.



They say that his ghost can be seen wandering the bridge at night and on a windy night you can hear his cries as he falls to his death. (this is Beamish….. we love a good ghost story). Anyway in 6 years it will be 300 years old... how wrong he was.

[The Rocknrod]

Interesting story on the rail width. Glad I could help with info on the fender seals. Your doing great Ian.

[ibrown50]

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

Sadly there have been many Ralph Woods’ in history.

Some for small reasons, some maybe by reason of “insanity”

However, we can never really predict or even change the way they see their world.

Thank you for sharing this.

Thanks Rian

Originally Posted by The Rocknrod

Interesting story on the rail width. Glad I could help with info on the fender seals. Your doing great Ian.

Thank you


It's been a while since I last did a truck up-date progress has been slow but steady.

I finished the fender, the repair panel was a really decent fit so took very little prep to be ready for paint, I did the cab corner floor and rocker at the same time.









I've also made a start on the drivers door, which, if things go as planned and I buy new bedsides will be my last rust repair It is pretty much the same as the passenger side just "truck rot" as Clem would say.