Restoration: 1960 Single Cab

[cdennisg]

[davidmelton]

Spruced up the speedometer. We had the chrome beauty ring re-chromed. The needle broke and then disintegrated after we took it apart. Cleaned it all up and repainted it and then put it all back together only to find that a part in the back-end was broken. So we ended up sending to a speedometer repair person that advertised on The Samba. He fixed it, although we have not yet tested it back in the Single Cab.

We replaced all the bulbs, fixtures, and gels covers.

We opted to paint it with sage green instead of the stock tan-like color.

[davidmelton]

We started working on sheet metal repair this weekend. We hired Jonathan and his helper Matt to help us with the body work. Jonathan started with the cab floor panels and on Monday we hope to start welding.

Just a tad bit of rust!

We worked on the dog house fan cooling pieces along with installing the front engine tin. Also switched to a better engine stand and adapter. Purchased the adapter from Kevin Kraum a vendor on The Samba. We had purchased a cheap engine stand which fell over. Luckily no damage to the engine. We switched to a heavy duty stand (with two legs) and the new adapter. Much safer now.

[davidmelton]

An update from the last two weekends. The pushrod tubes were leaking. We didn't want to remove the heads at this point, so we used spring loaded push rod tubes. We had a tough time holding the two halves together with the EMPI set. We switched to the Scat set which has 3 internal o-rings and the spring is on the inside. We lubricated the o-rings and were careful not to get lubricant on the outside of the tube. We used gloves to hold the halves together.

We are continuing to remove and replace rusty sheet metal. Still working on the cab floor. Jonathan is helping us with the body work.

The side panel looked better after more clean-up and we hope there is enough of the rockers to weld in the new piece.

Replaced a rust spot on the front/right forehead of the Single Cab.

Some of the gate hinges have problems.

We are filling in the rear tail light holes so we can use the period correct tail lights.

Rear gate patch.

Engine lid patch.

[davidmelton]

Continuing with metal fabrication and welding in new pieces. Top portion of outside edge of bed was rusted out in some places. PO had used foam inside this space. Also welded in new cross-member or top hat.

Decided to replace the crankshaft and generator pulleys with chrome after market ones. I like being able to clearly see the degrees along with TDC & BDC.

Adjusted the valves. So much easier doing it on the engine stand.

Cleaned up and re-painted the valve covers.

Purchased original roof trim strips and painted them gray.

Removed the gate latches so I can clean them up and unstick two of them. This was harder than I expected because some of the screws were rusted. We had to re-drill one out and retap it. I should have been more patient with the penetrating oil and eventually switched to a larger sized Phillips-head with the impact wrench. What is the best way to show these latches some love?

[davidmelton]

The gate hinges were pretty frozen. We soaked them in diesel fuel for a week. We then used a rubber mallet and vice along with some PB Blaster and now they are all working great.

We finally decided to work on the steering box and removed it. We had to make another tool to remove the steering wheel. A few bolts later and we were able to drop the steering box out of the Single Cab.

We are going to take it apart the steering box to see if we can fix it.

[oakman]

Looking good! You guys are getting a lot of work done.
_________________
Brandon

[Pohleece]

Restoring my 55 SC, but missing dash handle. Six holes there where something was mounted. The holes are uniformly spaced and look original but I can't find any handle to match such a configuration. Any help would be appreciated.

[davidmelton]

[Redneckgearhead]

Subscribed!!!! Nice build.

[davidmelton]

We exchanged the steering box for a rebuilt one from Wolfgang International and installed it in the SC. I thought I lost the castle nut that holds the Pittman arm on to the steering box, but it was still inside the socket. Yikes. Steve Phillips from Wolfgang was kind enough to send me a replacement castle nut for free before I figured out I still had the old one.

Next removed and replaced the tie-rods, steering damper, and drag link.

It is amazing how stuck together the tie-rods and drag link were. Purchased a tie-rod puller and it was easy to separate all of the ends.

We still need to reinstall the steering wheel and adjust the driver's side tie-rod. Hopefully we are close on all of the adjustments.

[davidmelton]

[davidmelton]

[RUSS914]

Nice build thread. Thanks for sharing!!

Russell

[davidmelton]

[davidmelton]

Adjusted the driver's side tie rod (the only one which adjusts) using a tape measure. Hopefully we have the toe-in set correctly.

Next most of the grease zerk fittings along the front axle components were painted over. One of the holes a problem with the threads, but we successfully used a tap to carefully fix the threads.

[davidmelton]

Finished the rest of the zerk fittings and then greased all of them.

Replaced the front suspension bump stops. One was missing. The other was damaged. The one on the right is the new one.

Tested the new sunvisor to make sure it would fit.

Working on replacing the treasure chest floor. The sheetmetal replacement has been going slow as of late.

Working on the piece between the cab and the bed.

Old floor pieces.

[davidmelton]

Didn't have much time this weekend, but found an old wheel/tire to use as a spare tire. Unfortunately, the tire had a crack in the side wall. But the rim is usable.

The sand blaster from Harbor Freight worked better than I had hoped. I used soda as the media. The rim came out nice. I need to sand, primer and paint it next. And then get a new tire.

[davidmelton]

We hired Jeff and Ai (husband and wife body work team) to help get us moving forward again. We have made more progress in 2 weeks than the last 3 months.

[davidmelton]

Continuing bodywork. New floor down in treasure chest.

Installed gas tank pedestals.

Sandblasted and primered door window frames.