Has anyone dinked around with trying to put shoulder belts in? Is this a royal pain, or relatively pain free? Welding involved? Clear instructions on reinforcing the floorboard? I just gotta' have my belts. These old doors can pop open without any warning, and I'd really like to stay inside while the wheels are goin' round-and-round.
I just found a site that i looked at a while back that has an excellent how-to article on putting a 3 point restraint system in AD trucks (as well as an article by Nate on adjusting valves). www.speedprint.com/deves50/
Ah come on ZIG where's the fun in seat belts, they take all of the guess work out of driving these old trucks. Guess work as in is the door gonna stay closed or fly open. I'm putting bearclaw door latches in mine. I haven't heard of any complaints, only the best results from them. Not too expensive either, $45.00. Here's the link: http://www.suicidedoors.com/SuicideDoorBearJawLatches.php Also do you mean floor bracing as in under the sheetmetal floor for support. Check out my pics in the thread weekend progress and you can see how I did it. It is 1in square tubing ran across the rear and the same cut to fit towards the front of the door opening. This will increase stability of the floor as well as make the cab more rigid and should have much less body flex. Like I said before I designed it so it must be easy. Also if you have to put a new floor in it and you're making your own out of flat sheet metal then make sure you get a bead roller and roll some beads in it so the floor does not "POP" every time you get in it. The beads also take out much unwanted flex in the floor. Hey Ken I think you spend too much time on the web . You always have the best how to site links. That shoulder belt really looked like an easy install and should work very well. I definately am saving that link for when I'm ready for them.
Late for Work! Thank's Ken! Your site you posted made me 10 minutes late for work! I couldn't tear myself away! Great stuff!
Yes , seat belts are a MUST ! Some of you all may remember when my passenger side door popped open , scattering everything in the cab , into the street as I turned left @ speed . Shoulder belts , you must very carefully do test fittings & mock ups before cutting into the 'B' pillar as you must needs weld in gussets for additional strength . this will ruin your paint so do this before you re-paint your truck . Lap belts are my choice , unless your cab floor has rusted to paper thinness , all you needs do is add some really big washers or make up some gusset plates so the belts anchors won't rip out . Remember to measure THRICE before drilling so you don't drill through something important or too close to the frame rail to get the nut on the end of the bolt . DO NOT anchor the seat bellts to the frame ! . Deve's site is very good , he likes to work and his attention to detail is great .
Hey Zig, anything i can do to corrupt! Did you happen to click on the "Your Trucks" link? Couple of cool shots of Nate's PU there.
Stop That! Ken! Dag Nabit! I thought,"Why no, I haven't seen a picture of the infamous 'Nate's Truck'." So I thought, "Sure! I GOTTA' see this!" and I did... Then it was Cr--! I've slipped back into this site and I'll be stuck here for hours!!! Quit finding such cool sites, K?! They're killin' me! Actually, this is the kind of stuff that I love! What a TRUCK, Nate! Why izit on THAT site, and not under your name on THIS site? Instead you got some boxcar with a messed up peace sign. Those kids of the sixties anyway! You're right of course. If you're going stock, you gotta' use those big whites! Awesome! (And your truck isn't "resale red"!) Mine will be, but just 'cause of the KC connection, don'tchaknow. It'll have white and gold (yellow) as well! Big whites? Rats- another waffle coming up! I was all set on blackwalls, but now... Anyone reading this has GOT to treat themselves to a glimps of Nate's ride! Note the "stuff" (?) in the bed??? Why, he's using that thing as a TRUCK! Peat's Sake and Lord-a-mercy! BTW, the site is on Ken's post, this thread. It's not here for me to see which one, but does it matter? It's all good!
Chiro- see post #3, this thread. It's on the menu on the left side towards the bottom- if memory serves me...
Farm Truck??? Nate I thought you said you just had an old work/farm truck. Looks good enough for show to me. Good looking truck you got there.
Nate, Nice looking truck. We should set up a link here on the site for posting of all the beasts. Would be a nice way to put a truck (face) to all the members. Steve Owens
Out & About In My StoveBolt O.K. , that was when I went camping in Death Valley , the box car pic was taken in Rhyolite , Nev. , an abandoned ghost town in the middle of -nowhere- up the side of a mountain . the other pic was taken coming back from Beady , Nev. where I'd driven to have lunch . That was the trip where Tad's vintage moto broke down in Trona , Ca. in front of some tweakers (meth-heads) place so some how I got volunteered to backtrack from Wildrose to Trona where I had to fully unload the truck (125°) stuff in his moto then re-load the truck including not only his dead motcycle and a full load of camping gear but also a full load of firewood , then I zipped across the Panamint Valley up and over Immagrants Pass and down into Death Valley , way overloaded $ with three people squeezed into my cab ~ that was when I was clocked @ 75 MPH , on the flat part of Death Valley between Stovepipe Wells and Furnace Creek...... but no speeding ticket I've said it a thousand times : DRIVE your old truck ! that's what they're made for . To see the pix , scoll back up the the post with Deve's site link , it has ' speedprint ' in the hyperlink , there you'll find a ' your trucks ' link and some very good repair and tune up info including one about simple valve adjusting I wrote up @ Deve's request . The tire really make the truck look good . they're also heavy duty LT tires so they make it safer and ride way better too . It -IS- just a beat to shyte old work truck that's been apart more often than Madonna's knees . the fright front fender has 35 # of mud in it and I doubt there's a stitch of paint left anywhere on the entire frame . replete with mystery ' rebuilt ' 1957 235 engine and a Muncie SM420 tranny , Huck brakes to make descending those steep hills -interesting- and my custom painted ivory steering wheel so I don't burn my hand when working in hot Mojave summer sun . BTW : thge moderator has told me he's working on a photos section of this very site .
Ask and Ye shall recieve. Did someone say SEATBELTS? Blyme- another Britt! You know- with more and more Britts on here, we're gonna' start typing with an accent- Ah can just see it now, wright?
