Making slow progress with the truck these days, but I've found a guy who says he can do some welding jobs for me and he's coming over tomorrow. Failing that, I'll probably go out and buy a bloody welder and have a crack at it myself. Thanks for following my progress guys and gals. I do appreciate the feedback.
Just to recap.
About a year ago I bought a 1956 Ford F100 truck from a guy on Ebay in Australia. She was a pretty rough old girl but there were quite a lot of good parts that went with the deal, and there was some junky stuff as well. I still converse with Garry over the truck and I have never regretted buying it.
Things went pear shaped when I took it to a fake low grade dog masquerading as a fabrication shop for custom cars. That turned out to be a surreal experience of the worst kind. He essentially f@#$#d up the truck during his six months in his fake workshop. The con artist began welding weird brackets on the chassis and it was then I realised he had no idea what he was doing. I tried to get my vehicle out but had given the prick a huge deposit.
I took him to NCAT, the national court of arbitration, but they proved to be nothing more than a kangaroo court full of wannabee lawyers : low grade people with too much power. NCAT is such a disgrace to the legal system that a Royal commission should be conducted into their behaviour. They blatantly disregarded my entire case and chose to side with a criminal rogue scamming dog instead. They are a blight on the legal system in this country.
With nothing left in the kitty I considered selling the whole project, but the amount I needed to break even was now quite high. I have seen worse trucks than mine for sale for more money, but its current state doesn't make it much of an inviting purchase. So, I decided the only way ahead was forward.
Out of the mess I made some really good contacts and made a few friends along the way who were as digusted as I was that I got conned and their willingness to offer their help for a song (and since I can't sing, that makes their offer to help even more generous) has really inspired me to keep going.
So, with a new sense of positivity, I soldier on...
This is where we're at:
Hit the bonnet with paint stripper. Wondering whether this was actually a good idea as there are many small dints and flaws in the metal that I have now got to cover over again. Think I made a lot more work than I needed to. But anyway, what's done is done and no going back now. Paint stripper is shit stuff to work with and I made myself sick with it last night inhaling too much of it at the one time.
The place where I was planning to order a tub for the 56 has shut its doors and the guy has retired, so without much choice I will be ordering a Mar-K kit from Autoware. Works out about a grand cheaper, so no real complaints. I do have to order a separate tailgate though. The truck came with this one, but she's a bit shitty and I think someone has taken a big chop out of the tailgate top section. Anyway, Rob, a good friend who has come to my assistance is having a go at resurrecting it. He took it away to work some magic on it. Hopefully he can make something of it.
Work going ahead on the cab corner. Looks like I will have to remove the piece holding the hinge bracket as there is just too much damage beneath it.
This whole section is going to have to come out. The rust under the cab mount is significant. A lot worse than I first imagined. It's starting to look like a big job just like the other side.
This is the driver's side RHS and very much cactus erectus. Looking like the LHS is gonna be much the same.
The engine mounts are sitting too high. This is the first time I was able to see exactly where the engine sits, and boy, does it sit high! I think we can easily drop an inch off the mounts and if I rotate them I might get another half an inch. I figure I have about an inch and a half to play with. The question is, is that gonna be enough to clear the Jag power steering rack? I really only need to drop the engine an inch and I think I can get away with it, but then I haven't even set up the tailshaft yet. I'm thinking the lower I can get the motor the better. Ideally I want to get it past the rack and then I have another inch to play with and we all need an extra inches we can get.
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