My 71 Custom Stepside

[FreakysFords]

If you're going with a wood slat bed floor, it would be kinda cool to leave the outside plank on hidden hinges so you could "open" it to access your battery

[SRDUMBYE]

that sounds awsome!

[SRDUMBYE]

HERE I AM AGAIN! and now i'm glad to anounce that my bumpside is now on the road again.

Yes many here may think that it's really wrong what i'm doing, but i'm so happy to see finaly my bump as i started to imagin. By the moment, i had to take down the crooked lights and install them on the front, so i could drive after the sunset. And something really weird, my battery's provisional mounting. This weekend, my dad and I will make the battery tray from alluminium angle, he is starting to support the idea of put the battery in the back.
Tomorrow i will post some pics, because i didn't took my camera to the shop today.

Greetings and hope you coment on this.

[FreakysFords]

Congrats! Glad to hear it's back in running order

[SRDUMBYE]

here are the pictures. At this point begins the dirty hard-work; wash and clean everything, paint and detail all the engine. If any of you know about a pair of vintage headlights, let me know to see if i can afor them. (in this case bigger is better to me)

[SRDUMBYE]

bad new, i am starting to belive that i have been jinxed... i went to the shop after the work, and i found a flat tire and also the bump wont start, so i took out the starter and found out that the "bendix" was broken

[FreakysFords]

Ouch!

At least it's something simple. Now you have something else to throw in people's faces when they say your open front aint the way to go

[817MIKEC]

Its coming along, just be careful with traffic since you don't have a bumper. It would not be a pretty picture if you got in a wreck. Mucho cuidado.

[SRDUMBYE]

Ok guys, i've been disconected for a few days, since other projects were taking lots of my free time. but now i'm back with some pic's of my not-loved-by-people Ford Flareside 1971, Rat Rod converted. I've been driving my bump for the past 3 weeks as you saw in the past pictures, but since yesterday i parked the truck and began to make the "electric board" or however you may call this design.
I took out the starter relay, the rectifier and a fuse panel, that a friend donated to the beast. then i cleaned out and cut a aluminium rail that y dad thought may be useful, and it was in deed. then i start by drilling some holes to let all the wires to come in and come out, then some measures, and a couple of holes again, more measuring and more drilling....finally i used my tap and die set to fit some stainles steel screw with allen head to avoid thefts.

And by now, it looks like this is going to be a hard task thay may take me more tahn the 3 day i was expecting, but WTF, it's my proud. and i hope it results in something that have been never seen.

so by noy i present you the electric box, panel, rail, or however you want to call it

[BiggDogg]

Hey, glad to see you are getting back to the truck

[SRDUMBYE]

tanks man, hopefully tonight i'll post some pics of the "whatever", already mounted

[bb429power]

Don't leave the front apart man. I saw one like that and it doesn't look the best if you know what I mean. I'll see if I can find the picture of it.

[bb429power]

I know its chopped but you can get a feel of what it would look like.
http://www.fordification.com/forum/down ... p?id=15040

[robroy]

Good afternoon SrDumbye,

I admire the open-air look of your truck! I know from experience that oddball vehicles can be the most fun to drive. I enjoyed driving my truck without a hood installed very much, and remember that experience fondly 13 years later.

It looks like fun to me!

Robroy

[GSequoia]

If I were doing this I'd do a couple of things different.

First I'd mount the battery in the bed and the electronics board on the inside of the firewall, that would really clean up the "under hood area."

Second I'd get a set of fenders and cut them down to about 6" long or so, basically to the line of the cowl area (where the fenders go under to the door) that way keeping that line straight.

Third I'd make some think support bars that run from the cowl area edges to the radiator support top, sorta like the old 30s trucks had when you removed their hoods.


Just tossing some ideas out there.