My 71 Custom Stepside

[SRDUMBYE]

hi everyone, this is the first upload of images, i'm working on the radiator bridge, so thes past two days i've been taking out all the front of the truck just to discover some nasty rusted places i've never seen before. Mision 1: have a nice and clean engine bay

[BobbyFord]

Looks like you're making some progress

[SRDUMBYE]

well this is day two, and after 3 broken bolts and lots of arm injuries, i manage to do it alone. Cause my old man is traveling at this moment i have to do all the hevy work by miself jajaja

i think tomorrow i'm gonig to take ot the rest...

[SRDUMBYE]

tanks man, but i guess it will be worst from here. The electric issue was pretty simple thanks to this site, lots of diagrams give a great help, and more if you get them printed in full scale.

[1971ford]

I'm diggin the roll bar, crooked lights and flammable sign Looks like a good start. To fix that whole in the frame I guess i would cut a square section out right there on top of the frame rail, weld a new piece in, drill/hole-saw a new hole in.

[SRDUMBYE]

ok, some advance in the truck. So far all i've done is take out the fender, radiator, bridge, grill, and everything related to de front. and by now the big holes in the main rail are repaired, next step is to drill the hole and get some new ruber suports. nothing too complicated as i belive. But also im in the trhouble of try to get a new bridge or repaire the old one, by now i am going to sand blast the old one and primer it. This is going to be a temporary solution while i find a better piece.

[SRDUMBYE]

Well good news! i have 2 reasons to be happier than ever. First one i FINALLY assamble my daugther's crib. Use to belong to my wife and was stored in her parent's house as a puzzle for more than 17 years; My father in law didn't remember how to assamble, and belive it or not, there was no useful pictures showing the crib. but in two more days will be completly polished again. Against all odds!

the second one is that i fond my tailgate! and it only cost me 10 bucks to recover it. it was stolen and sold last year and the idiot that buy it saw my flareside and asked me if i was interested in get one tailgate, asked $250 and when he brought it to my workshop i just laughed and show him a photo of the truk 4 years ago. when he recognized the tailgate i told him i was going to call the police, so he decided that $250 was way too much for a stolen article. I gave him $10 and my best luck nex time he try to sell stolen things LOL

[FreakysFords]

Congrats!!!!!!

[1982 flareside]

Where did you get your roll bar.

[SRDUMBYE]

it came with the truck when my dad bought it.
it's supposed that the previous owner made it. He used tu tow cars, and needed to strengthen the truck.

do you want to build one like this? i could send you pictures and measures if you want

[SRDUMBYE]

another day in the shop and some progress in my stepside.
Today my uncle arrrive with my radiator mountings and he have just isntalled. The front looks really good! and now i can have a better idea about how it will be look. just need a few more bucks and some ideas about how to install the battery.

So PLEASE leve your coments and ideas about the best place and how-to relocate my battery.

[FreakysFords]

I think I'm going to mount mine on the frame rail just behind the cab, under the front edge of the bed. I'm just going to weld up an angle iron battery tray, with a couple uprights on the back to mount to frame and a couple flat steel straps from the top of the uprights to the front of the tray for support. From there, I'm just gonna use a good hold down bolted to the battery tray.

[SRDUMBYE]

here are some more pics and one of the ultimate customized water Hose.
After we instaled the radiator, i was desperated to start the engine again...bad luck, the uper hose didn't reach the radiator, because it is 3 inches farther now.
So desperate as i was, i got 6 inches of aluminium tube and a couple of clamps and voila! Mexican wit

[SRDUMBYE]

yeah freakysfords! tha's how i want to do, but my old'man says that it's better to leave the bed with anything, and to mount the batery in the front...i still have my doubts about it but the place where is in the pics dont look too bad.

Here is one drawing about how i see my truk in a few months and many more bucks

[GSequoia]

Kinda a rat rod bumpside, that could turn out real nifty