Building The Truck!
(Click on pics for larger image)
Above: Dicky cutting metal, truck in C.J.'s driveway.
C.J. got a good deal on a 1969 Ford F350 four wheel drive that had been converted to an off road fire truck. It was in good condition, with a heavy duty suspension and a 360 engine.
At the time we were both welders and we could get welding supplies, metal stock and other items at good prices and sometimes we just improvised with materials readily at hand.
The truck was parked in C.J.'s driveway at his place, just out of the north side of town.We stripped it down to the frame and built a new bed, 7'x10', out of angle iron and 2x6 boards with the side boards coming from C.J.'s fence.We also built a 56 gallon fuel tank. It was tucked up beneath the front of the frame ahead of the wheels. A new tool box was put on the other side where we carried a complete set of tools, jacks. spare parts, a first aid kit, fibre glass materials for possible board repairs and other necessary items.The frame was beefed up and reinforced with tubing, angle iron and flat stock. Just about everything was replaced with all heavy duty, new stuff, shocks, tires, radiator, all lines and hoses. We installed two heavy duty batteries with a switch to go from one to the other if needed. We had a valve on the tanks so we could switch back and forth there too. The stock tank was 18 gallons, giving us a 74 gallon capacity. We installed an electric fuel pump.
The engine, 360 cubic inches, was blue printed by local engine guru Bruce Sanders. Dual exhaust with headers was added. The ignition was provided by a high performance distributor with heat resistant spark plug wires. A large four barrell Holley was mounted on top of a free flow manifold. The truck ran like a race car!
We built a cow catcher frame bumper on the front.
Over the bed we placed hoops made from rebar and stretched a custom made canvas cover. It was something like a covered wagon, we could roll the canvas back to open it up if we wanted or cover the back fully. We had tie down cleats placed along each side so we could tie it down solidly and in the position we wanted. It was very waterproof also.
We had a box inside for clothes, wet suits, snorkel gear, swim fins, a spear gun and a Hawaiian sling, a boogie board and a twenty gallon water jug with distilled water. We had a small, pipe BBQ pit, a Coleman stove and a lantern.
Of course we had sleeping bags and blankets. A mosquito net was also in our kit. And we had a small two person pup tent. We could sleep inside the truck if we needed or wanted to. Once we were inside and all buttoned up there was nothing visible to show we were there or what we were carrying. I am probably forgetting some things but we tried to be well prepared.
We installed a tape deck and speakers and made some custom cassette tapes for traveling. We had a lot of blues, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Muddy Waters, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee and others. We had a lot of Bob Marley and Toots Maytall. Dave Edmunds and Rockpile, rockabilly, turned out to be one we listened to often. Others included Hendrix, Miles Davis, Beach Boys, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and more. We had hours of music. We needed it some times!
We wanted this to look as much like a Mexican "vegetable hauler" as we could, figuring we would attract much less attention than would, say, a Blazer full of Gringos with new surfboards on top of it!
It took a year of planning to accumulate all our materials, build the truck and gather together all our supplies, maps and everything we felt we needed.
(To be continued)
(Click on pics for larger image)
Above: Dicky cutting metal, truck in C.J.'s driveway.
C.J. got a good deal on a 1969 Ford F350 four wheel drive that had been converted to an off road fire truck. It was in good condition, with a heavy duty suspension and a 360 engine.
At the time we were both welders and we could get welding supplies, metal stock and other items at good prices and sometimes we just improvised with materials readily at hand.
The truck was parked in C.J.'s driveway at his place, just out of the north side of town.We stripped it down to the frame and built a new bed, 7'x10', out of angle iron and 2x6 boards with the side boards coming from C.J.'s fence.We also built a 56 gallon fuel tank. It was tucked up beneath the front of the frame ahead of the wheels. A new tool box was put on the other side where we carried a complete set of tools, jacks. spare parts, a first aid kit, fibre glass materials for possible board repairs and other necessary items.The frame was beefed up and reinforced with tubing, angle iron and flat stock. Just about everything was replaced with all heavy duty, new stuff, shocks, tires, radiator, all lines and hoses. We installed two heavy duty batteries with a switch to go from one to the other if needed. We had a valve on the tanks so we could switch back and forth there too. The stock tank was 18 gallons, giving us a 74 gallon capacity. We installed an electric fuel pump.
The engine, 360 cubic inches, was blue printed by local engine guru Bruce Sanders. Dual exhaust with headers was added. The ignition was provided by a high performance distributor with heat resistant spark plug wires. A large four barrell Holley was mounted on top of a free flow manifold. The truck ran like a race car!
We built a cow catcher frame bumper on the front.
Over the bed we placed hoops made from rebar and stretched a custom made canvas cover. It was something like a covered wagon, we could roll the canvas back to open it up if we wanted or cover the back fully. We had tie down cleats placed along each side so we could tie it down solidly and in the position we wanted. It was very waterproof also.
We had a box inside for clothes, wet suits, snorkel gear, swim fins, a spear gun and a Hawaiian sling, a boogie board and a twenty gallon water jug with distilled water. We had a small, pipe BBQ pit, a Coleman stove and a lantern.
Of course we had sleeping bags and blankets. A mosquito net was also in our kit. And we had a small two person pup tent. We could sleep inside the truck if we needed or wanted to. Once we were inside and all buttoned up there was nothing visible to show we were there or what we were carrying. I am probably forgetting some things but we tried to be well prepared.
We installed a tape deck and speakers and made some custom cassette tapes for traveling. We had a lot of blues, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Muddy Waters, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee and others. We had a lot of Bob Marley and Toots Maytall. Dave Edmunds and Rockpile, rockabilly, turned out to be one we listened to often. Others included Hendrix, Miles Davis, Beach Boys, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and more. We had hours of music. We needed it some times!
We wanted this to look as much like a Mexican "vegetable hauler" as we could, figuring we would attract much less attention than would, say, a Blazer full of Gringos with new surfboards on top of it!
It took a year of planning to accumulate all our materials, build the truck and gather together all our supplies, maps and everything we felt we needed.
(To be continued)
posted by Unknown at 9:21 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home