What did you do to your Dent today

[Alvin in AZ]

...been raining a bunch lately and these tires spray filth onto the body instantly

It's ok, the filth can only build up just-so-thick before it falls off again.

It's a truck ain't it?

-------------------------

Knew two guys and heard about a bunch of others especially on the ramva
newsgroup rec.autos.makers.vw.aircooled that spent big bucks fixing their
old Bugs etc just to have 'em stolen right-about-the-time they put the
finishing touches to 'em. They were being watched, see? :/

Mine ran, rode and handled better than theirs (no kidding) but looked like
crap. LOL It never got stolen, it was always sitting there waiting for me
and with the windows rolled down most of the time too.

Mine was (by chance) a '67 Bug, the best year they made 'em.

Alvin in AZ

 

[Dirky]

It's ok, the filth can only build up just-so-thick before it falls off again.

It's a truck ain't it?


Alvin in AZ

Yeah I actually plan to use it for work so I'll have to get used to it being dirty!

 

[Alvin in AZ]

Yeah I actually plan to use it for work so I'll have to get used to it being dirty!

Cool!

Wanna do something?
Make it work better in some way.

I fiNgured out a way to make the tailgate not rattle.
No, I didn't just -buy- new rubber crap from Ford. :/
Used rubber stuff I had on hand and improved Ford's design.
It was easy, I first saw how Ford did it first and improved on it.

How's your tire wear?
Got cupping on the front tires?
Feathering to one side on the front tires?
You can fix either one of those.

How much play you got at the steering wheel?

How nice do the windows roll up?

My dirtyassed truck never broke down and left me stranded anywhere ever.

Alvin in AZ

 

[Turtle400]

I yelled at it, It stopped running, had to replace the fuel filter and free the vac advance on the Distributor it was stuck.

 

[Alvin in AZ]

I yelled at it, It stopped running, had to replace the fuel filter and free{-up}
the vac advance on the Distributor it was stuck.

Uhhh... Ok.

What difference is -that- going to make if your oil ain't being filtered tho? xD

Here I am shaking Fram's top-of-the-line oil filter with the Fram-guy on the line.
Yep, he can hear the rattling of the filter and guess what? He ain't surprised
by it one bit. He wanted me to mail him the filter on my dime. No. :/ He didn't
want to sent me a pre-paid shipping label.

There-was-nothing-new- about this filter being broken inside -and- the box not
being damaged, -both-.

Maybe I'm just really-really-st00pid but I "thought" I could tell over the phone
that this problem was -not- -new-.

I guess you know better than this dumb guy tho.
Heck, I didn't even know yelling at a vehicle could make a vehicle stop running. :/

That's how st00pid I am. xD

Dumb ditch digger in AZ

 

[Alvin in AZ]

Discovered the left-middle-cab-mount frame bracket had loose rivets!

I drove off into a hole-in-the-road in Mexico and "a gal with no brakes" ran
into me hitting that side. I'm thinking it was the hole in Mexico tho.

Anyway the -grease- on the "rivets-and-cab-bracket-and-frame" didn't look
"like one piece". It looked like they were two separate pieces. :/ I jacked up
the truck a little ways, using that cab mount bracket, and let it back down.

Sure enough, a crack formed in the old grease.

Rivets are loose.

So I re-blocked up the Old Clunker getting ready to remove the rivets and
replace 'em with grade-8 flywheel bolts...

Flywheel bolts = 7/6"-20 with a 3/4" head and I'll also use special 3/4" hex
nuts from McMaster-Carr, usually 7/16" bolts have a 5/8" head and 11/16"
nut.

I'll pull the nut off the radius arm at the very least.
(3/4" bolt threads and the nut needs a 1+1/8" wrench)

Just got done replacing the radius arm bracket bolts with 9/16" bolts...
[

...got one more to go there.

Why 9/16" bolts?
1/2" would work too, I guess?

The idea is to drill-out the frame-and-bracket so the bolt fills to whole-hole.

I see that as a -minimum- to call, it a "good job". YMMV on that?

Alvin in AZ
ps- Check out that rivet between the pinch-nuts it's tight as anything.

 

[Dirky]

Getting ready to put this thing on the road! Brought it in for inspection. Needed one front rotor and the LH tie rod end. I'll do both rotors and the entire drag link... If one side is worn, the other can't be far behind. Good time to refresh everything up front.

 

[DNFXDLI]

That has the Thompson ram assist steering Derek?

 

[Dirky]

That has the Thompson ram assist steering Derek?

I haven't heard of the Thompson.. All I know is that it uses the Bendix control valve. It's got to be one of the few in the world that doesn't leak!

 

[DNFXDLI]

I grew up knowing it as that...I could be out to lunch...wouldn't be the first time!

 

[Dirky]

I grew up knowing it as that...I could be out to lunch...wouldn't be the first time!

Who knows! I used to be afraid of them... Everybody said to stay away because they leak and make for sloppy steering. Mine works great, but finding parts could get tricky.

 

[DNFXDLI]

I had that setup on my 77...worked fine. Did a search on the name to make sure i wasn't cracking out....yep...that was the name.

 

[bucks77ford]

Who knows! I used to be afraid of them... Everybody said to stay away because they leak and make for sloppy steering. Mine works great, but finding parts could get tricky.

Hydraulic shops can rebuild them, it just costs a little bit compared to the integral steering boxes. One thing about the Power Assist steering is that you'd be able to turn pretty much any size tire you wanted without any trouble. If it works great than there is no reason to get rid of it. Mine didn't work worth a damn on my 77 so I had to swap to the integral steering box.

 

[fyzbo]

Finally got around to changing the oil for the first time, and it's a good thing. The oil looked old. Given the condition I feel like I better start changing the other fluids.

 

[Alvin in AZ]

Took those three 9/16" bolts out and pulled the cast iron radius arm bracket
loose with a big screwdriver.

Removed the remaining 5 rivets that held the left front cab mount to the frame.
2 were removed decades ago along with that U shaped crossmember that-was
riveted between the radius arm brackets. I always bolt the "U" crossmember
back into place when I'm done. Seen lots of Dent Sides without it tho. I never
liked that idea much. YMMV?

Alvin in AZ
ps- I really like this picture... ! xD

xD

 

[Alvin in AZ]

Changed my mind on the 9/16" fine thread grade-8 bolts and switched to
9/16" course thread flanged-head grade-5 bolts.

The "hardware store looking" fine threaded bolts pinched/dented the soft
cast iron also the nuts pinched/dented the soft frame steel.

And they looked-way-too "hardware store" for me too! LOL

^^Ford step-rear-bumper nuts with their Belleville-spring washers.

Ground off the bolt head and 1/6 of the flange so it fits the bracket ^^
and that also holds it from turning.

Old setup...

Alvin in AZ

 

[Turtle400]

dropped the fuel tank, Found my rust hole ( LOL its so so small ) Going to replace the tank any way, So now i have to get a locking gas cap that rust hole could never of let in 10 plus gallons of water.

Gonna put a camera on the truck to try to catch my vandal

 

[BuzzGun79]

Well...we removed all the necessary hardware today and removed the 460 block from the truck...see it all happen in the 429/460 forum...coming up shortly.....

 

[Alvin in AZ]

So now i have to get a locking gas cap that rust hole could never of let in
10 plus gallons of water.

Gonna put a camera on the truck to try to catch my vandal

Cool idea on the camera!

Heck, I got a locking gas cap for a Dentside right here with a key in it and
absolutely no use for it at all, just don't want to throw it away. :/

Had a neighbor kid stealing gas and it stopped while he was in the service
(put my non-locking caps back on) and when he got out of the service it
started up again. :/ But I got a dog and it stopped again. LOL

Funny, I know him and his brother and parents and they are some of the
most upright kinda people. Church people and all. They would never believe
it without a photograph (or video now days).

He started to make a bit of a trail through my desert he was making so many
trips back and forth! LOL

Alvin in AZ

 

[Alvin in AZ]

So I'm layin' under the truck taking a breather and it hit me what a cool view it was,
so took a picture for you guys. xD

I guess this goes with it... ?

Alvin in AZ