We are into November now. Craig put the starter pedal bellows on, began the
wiring , organized the
gauges and seals for the dash and other small items. All small but very important tasks that are required. None of which are easy or fun to do. This is still grunt work but Craig trudges on.
Bob Adler (who I got the gauges from) found a used red lens for the high beam indicator. Craig picked up the
refurbished generator . The guy painted it to make it nice but we
removed the paint to get the patina correct and then installed it.
Craig received the used rear view mirror but I had to order a new mirror bracket.
Dan Price, Craig's neighbor, has been very supportive, helped with some of the issues, and has kept an eye on the truck when it sat in the driveway for months.
Craig installed the wiper motor ... it just needed the grommets to finish it.
Craig has spent a lot of time working on the
wiring . Very tedious, boring work to get this right the first time and route the
wiring so it looks and is professional.
By mid-November Craig installed the horn under the hood and did a dry run by installing the
refurbished gas gauge to see how it looked for fit and finish.
The
replacement speedometer has about 1 mile on the odometer and the
original speedometer has about 86,000. Craig could tear it apart and spin the numbers to be right but that really would involve a lot of work.
We decided to leave it alone and save the old one for me as I want legal possession of the
original one for the right reasons.
Craig thinks he will be done with his part of this truck by the end of March 2014. Then I will do my end of the deal once it arrives here.
Craig re-routed the
brake line at the cross member to fit correctly. He installed and wired the ignition switch.
Craig continues working on
more wiring issues as he plows along on the tedious task of
rewiring .
I ordered both front windshield rubber seals soon so when the truck arrives here the windshields can be ordered and installed.
At this point, if the
rear cab window that is cracked does not leak I will leave it alone to keep the patina going as planned.
After so much searching, I finally found used outer tie rod ends at CTC auto ranch near Dallas, Texas. They also had brake drums. My
drums have been refinished but they are nearly impossible to find.
I ordered two headlight ring clips.
I now have over 500 pictures of the truck in my collection with nearly 400 5x7 prints. The idea is to catalog this entire process and leave nothing to chance. We made some arrangements in our estate to ensure the truck survives me.
