MAIDEN Build. 46' IH Rat Truck

[bob w]

That sucker is perfect! The magic stool must be the key to your inspiration.

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

Thanks, it's nice to see a vision start to unfold. I had a few people stop by the last couple days telling me they had no idea it was such a good looking truck. My friend stopped by this evening, my welding buddy who has been helping me all along. He has never been able to see what I envisioned with this thing. Today he could finally see it and was in awe of the front end and how good the longbed looks. But, long ways to go!!!

I was able to lower the front of the bed another inch and I'm liking how it follows the lines of the hood and cab. The truck is raked more than it will normally be as the front air bags are not in yet, but it won't be too much higher in the front once the bags are in and the smaller Centerline wheels are on the truck.
I had baseball with my son today so only tinkered on it a bit.
Other than trimming the front bottom of the bed and cutting the crossbeams for the bed floor, didn't do much other than just sit back and smile as I put a Newcastle Brown down. The truck is really starting to look mean. I'm really excited about how the front clip is looking.

 

[yent0088]

This thing is tough! Keep up the good work!

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

Finally ground all the rust off the tailgate. It was some tough ****! I used a 24 grit flap disc and it was worthless after a few seconds!!! Yet I used it for most of the job, along with a couple 36 grit flaps. I need to clean up the corners and some tough spots with wire brushes but most of it is down to bare metal. The bottom roll/tube is pretty beat up. It looks like it was repaired at one point. It's in need of repair again. It is about 3/4" short on both sides to sit right on the gate hinges so I will either cut off the entire roll and replace it or just cut off and replace the ends. First thing is to find the same size tubing that will work with the hinges I have. No rush though, I'm ready to switch gears away from the bed and move to the rear suspension which is why I was fooling with the bed in the first place. I wanted the bed in place so I can get the rear axle centered in the fenders. One thing at a time I guess!

 

[Dirtyrat]

Thats a lot of rust removal!

Perhaps media blasting may be quicker, more complete?

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

Thats a lot of rust removal!

Perhaps media blasting may be quicker, more complete?

A little late for that!!!! i just couldn't afford to pay someone to do it. Or transport the truck to a place that does it. I just went the Harbor Freight route and picked up sanding/grinding goodies when I needed them. I may have spent $200 total to strip the whole truck over the last 2 years. Blasting it would have been costly. Better yes, but costly!!!

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

Decide to clean up the windshield frame being I only had a little bit of time before work. It ended up coming apart pretty easy. I'm going to need to get the little connectors out of the lower half and have a machine shop make me some new ones, and drill out and tap a couple other spots of the frame, but it's in good shape. I honestly had come close to buying another frame, I'm glad I didn't.

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

Sorry to keep posting worthless photos of minor progress. I know it's not what anyone wants to see. It's just a way for me to save the photos in order of the work I've been doing. That way if I ever lose the photos I know they will always be here.

 

[Snake Farm]

Sorry to keep posting worthless photos of minor progress.

No such thing as a "worthless photo" here at RRR , we love'm all man! However I would like to see a full side shot so I can admire that long bed.......it's really starting to grow on me I think.

Looking good man, stay on it! [P[P[P

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

I'm bagging the Jag frontend right now so I have the front clip off again. I'll post spme pics asap.

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

Another member here shared a little trick with me on his build thread. I'm kinda stealing his idea a little bit but not really. jmlcolorado used a brass bristle brush and heat to kinda brass plate parts on his build. I figured it would look nice against flat black so i started thinking my door handles and hinges, headlight rings and so on. So, went and bought a nice little gas torch and a couple of the small brushes. I cleaned up the two bottom hinges and went at them. I only covered what's gonna show and will paint the rest. Think I'm going to clear them as well. Gonna do a few test pieces and leave one bare, one with clear gloss, and the last with clear satin. I'll expose the untreated one to moisture and all that good stuff to see how some patina looks on it. I'll do the hinges and other parts in whichever one I end up liking best.

 

[Sam_Fear]

Very cool!

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

I was bored so I thought I would build a new column support. I have been wanting to start building a column drop and in looking at the factory support.... felt I would start there so that the column is better supported. The colum drop will bolt up to the support in the middle and at the dash lip. It's not pretty but it's stout!

 

[Dirtyrat]

you did a killer job, however, a little concerned with safety, as that piece could get driven back into you in a crash... it looks pretty stout...

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

you did a killer job, however, a little concerned with safety, as that piece could get driven back into you in a crash... it looks pretty stout...

As heavy and stout as this truck is? The entire front clip and engine will need to be pushed in to be able to start caving in the firewall. If I hit something that hard to do that much damage, with nothing but lap belts, odds are I'm screwed anyway. The steering column will be mounted to this and inline with this support as well so it will force the column into my lap so this will never reach me. Although the column might end up in my crotch!!! I'm not worried about it. Believe it or not, the thought crossed my mind before I made it. [S

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

Finally got around to fitting the bags in the frontend. I had modified the lower spring mount the way Orn did and had been looking at the top mount trying to figure out how I wanted to make it. The top and bottom plate are angled away from each other so when you compress it between the surfaces, it squeezes one side of the bag more than the other. I didn't like it so I made angled top cups/mounts to take away the angle up top. Now the bag sits straight up and down. Then I cut the bottoms out of the lower spring mounts and corrected the angle that was in them so that the top and bottom mounting surfaces are now perpendicular to each other. I still need to clean them up to match as best as possible and weld in the mounting studs in the upper cups. Drill the mounting and drain holes. I'll post a couple pics when I mount the bags back in. First pics are the upper mounts. The front end is upside down, obviously.

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

The lower mounts. First pic is how I first did it. Just flat plate welded to the bottom.

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

 

[IRON MAIDEN]

They both fit the same but look a little off. I didn't cut them back identical and when I patched them back together, I learned by mistake on the first one and did the second a bit different. They both fit perfect so who cares if they look at tad different when it faces the ground??? Once I drill the holes for the lower bag bolts, I'm going to weld some 3/8" plate trimmed to protect the bag bolts from scraping or being sheered off. They will make a circle pattern that will fit a floor jack pad so it will be a great place to jack either corner up. And yes, the seams on the inside are fully welded.