Got the fuel system more or less "done", just missing a fitting and some clean up.
I bonded some rubber to the truck bed where ever the fuel cell would touch and bonded some rubber to the inside of the steel mounting straps. I really didn't want the aluminum cell rubbing against any steel.


I'll run a grounding wire to the tank just to be safe.
I'm running -8an PTFE fuel lines with a bulkhead fitting through the floor of the truck bed.
The fuel lines were closer to the exhaust than I would have liked, so i used DEI heat sleeving for majority of the length of the line under the truck

 

looks like youre getting it just fine, couple quesitons
youre changing quite a few things from when your pops had it, do you think he'd approve?
why the fuel cell? why not use the stock fuel tank? or a blazer mounted in between the rear rails?
any more info on his black car?

all seriousness, sorry you lost a loved one, it sucks, i lost my moms in april..

 

Oh yeah he would've loved this, he's built dozens of hot rods. Even his daily was a lowered 2010ish chev pickup 2wd with full bolt ons, gears and magniflow exhaust. The truck I got from him when I was 16 (the 96 obs) was just the truck he used as a winter beater and to tow his boat.

I will probably switch to a rear mounted OEM gas tank, I just haven't found one yet in the junk yard so that I can get the cross members out of. I can only find suburbans and Tahoe's the larger forward mounted gas tank for some reason. The stock gas tank was a pain cause I don't have any mounts or straps and most of the 4wd shorty mounting gear didn't fit my frame or gas tank for some reason. The 16gal RCI fuel cell I have went on sale for 80$ cdn in a fire sale on Amazon, couldn't say no lol

The "33 Ford model 44" is mostly pieced together from many different vehicles. Narrowed 80s s10 frame, I was told Dodge front fenders, model A light mounts. Box is hand made, grill bumpers, hoods etc... Here's a pick showing how the truck started and finished for context:



I also have his model A patty wagon project in storage for when I get some room to start working on finishing it. This one is completely scratch built, he only started with pictures

 

Ordered some proforged billet tie rod sleeves, pretty happy with the quality, hopefully they perform well.



So the nv3500 seems to have a common problem of wearing out the arm inside the trans that actuates the reverse light switch. Replacing the switch itself doesn't work and there doesn't really seem to be a good solution online as to how it fix it other than tossing a new trans in the vehicle.
I got fed up trying to mount a push pull toggle switch on the shifter to run the rev lights and then I realized "hey you own a lathe idiot". I machined the hex on the switch so that it threads about 0.025" farther into the trans and now it works great.

 

Nice project! The 88-98 platform is getting popular lately. What is the advantage of the billet aluminum tie rod sleeves? I have seen them more and more on peoples projects, but I don't see a clear advantage other than looks and weight (tiny difference?)

 

Love the progress on it man. The truck is definitely coming along well. I love building stuff with my hands as well. Makes me wanna dig into my Tahoe a little more now.

 

Found this steering wheel and hub in my forgotten spare parts pile. I'm kinda digging it. It kinda looks like a c4 corvette wheel but not really sure. Does anyone recognize it?

 

Yeah, that's an early GMC Sonoma steering wheel. Like the late 80's to early 90's body style.

 

really cool build and awesome play by play pictures. If you need help with radiators, let me know... I'd do an all aluminum 3 row on the radiator.

Love to help if need.. If not, still like to see pictures of what you used.

Thanks for sharing this build

Michael
Radiator Express

 

Thanks for the offer man but being in Canada means buying something big like a radiator extremely expensive to buy from the states ( shipping, duty, taxes, really weak dollar). I'll keep you in mind though if I run into temp issues.

I currently have a 2.5" thick radiator meant for a stock car in the biggest size I could get. The surface area is pretty much the size of the opening in the rad support.


I currently have Subaru Impreza fans. They moved the most air that I could find and could easily remove from the car. There wasn't any Thunderbirds in the junkyard and the Ford mini vans were impossible to get the fans out.
I also plan to have a second windshield washer jug with nozzles to spray the radiator. I'll have it on a push button as well as hooked up to my nitrous controller so that it'll keep the temps down while spraying.