Hey, been a busy few days and haven't had time to check back in.
I did buy reprints of the FSM and FAM back when I first bought the truck. And I was lucky enough to find a good condition original 54 manual at the Jefferson Swap Meet last weekend! (Original manual has WAY better pics than the the reprint) The cab dimensions pages have taken me some time to grok... I think I understand how to read most of it anyway. What do people use as a 0 ref line on the vertical axis since the FAM seems to use some abstract point below the cab? My initial thought is to use the floor (decent condition and straight) on mine and adjust the numbers for the 0 ref-line-to-floor dimension. Thoughts?
The cab is completely stripped and detached from the frame as of this past weekend. Went and picked up an engine hoist from my buddy and am going to lift the cab off and take to a chemical dipper so I don't have to work through the layers of bondo and paint. I may not like what I find underneath, but c'est la vie. I'm determined to make this both an educational project, and a nice driver in the end. Perfection is the goal, but not the final expectation.
Question related to the attached photo: While disassembling the cab, I noticed the steering shaft is not centered in it's hole in the cab. ALSO when I detached the column bracket at the dashboard, it definitely moved a bit (as if the bracket was mildly forcing it into place. I know this truck has been in some sort of front-driver side collision (bumper is tweaked and there's evidence of massaging the driver side windshield pillar. Is there a common dimension that gets tweaked on these trucks? Again, I'll measure the chassis and cab as best I can to compare with the FAM, but I'm assuming there's a common weak link when these trucks got hit. OR... maybe not likely, but worth asking... is it common for the steering column to not be perfectly lined up with the cab?
