The truck is now in storage [Long w/large pics]

[FORDification]

Well, this weekend was the 'official' moving-out period. Since I'm losing my shop and can't find another suitable location, I'm being forced to put all my automotive projects into commercial storage units.

Mary and I both have a three-day weekend, so we worked all day yesterday and today getting things boxed up and shuttled to the storage units on the edge of town.



...and here's the last view I'll have of the truck for a while.



Ironically, I didn't even notice the number of the storage unit until I started editing these pics to post here this evening! 86??? How freakin' wierd is THAT?! (For those of you who aren't aware, '86' is a much-used number in urban slang...it means 'to get rid of', or 'throw away'.)

Don't worry, that ain't happening here! This is nothing more than a temporary pause in the action. As mentioned in a previous post, we've been looking hard for a small rural acreage that'll give Mary her big two-story farmhouse and me a big shop to play in. Hopefully before it gets cold out again we'll be back in business. We've still got at least one more full day's worth of moving before we're completely out of the shop, which is what we'll be doing all day tomorrow.

Well, at least I'll still be able to get my hands dirty a little bit. I've taken over our small one-car garage, and have moved my '67 442's frame into it, and will be getting all the new chassis parts installed onto it over the summer, so hopefully by the time we're ready to move again, the body will be back on the frame. I've got 98% of everything I need, it just needs to be installed.

There's not a lot of room to work, but I'll be installing some overhead storage and some shelves over the next few weeks to gain a little elbow room. Here's a shot taken just a little while ago of the garage. You can see that the frame takes up a majority of the space in there.



Man, it's definitely gonna take some getting used to, going from a 40 x 48 shop to working here! Here's another shot of the garage. I spent the past week cleaning out the garage for this, and almost everything you see in here was just brought in today. There are still a few items to move up into the rafters or out to the storage shed in the back yard....and of course I gotta get all the tools and equipment put away.



The first thing I'll have to '86' will be the '51 Studebaker pickup hood that's been hanging on the garage wall for the past 5 years.

I've got more pictures to post regarding the big move, I'll get those posted something over the next day or two. Right now I'm gonna hit the showers and then get some much-needed rest, before getting up and doing it all over again all day tomorrow.

[OldRedFord]

Ill take that hood off your hands. LOL

[willowbilly3]

What happened to the choptop?

[Pipes71]

please let keith find anew place and shop and let the chop top remain in his possesion..unless of course i wake up to see it in my driveway..

[fourtss]

Keith, it's to bad u lost your shop to work in, however, your a smart enough man to get things figured out, good luck on the hunting of a new place, I wish my garage were as big as the one at your home

[FORDification]

What happened to the choptop?

Well, I was planning on listing it on E-bay so that it would be gone by this weekend, but it was buried at the back of the shop, and I needed to get things cleaned out to get to it. We finally got it out late last night, and I'll be taking pictures of it today and will list it tonight when I get home.

As much as I'd LOVE to keep it, it's just going to be too big of a burden right now, since I simply have no place to put it. We're renting three storage spots to house everything....one for the truck, one for the 442 and one for all the spare parts and tools. I think Mary's been very patient with me (so far) and as much as I'd love to keep it, for the sake of her sanity, family finances, etc. etc., we've decided that maybe it's best to let this one go. It really sucks, since I spent more than a full year working on this one...so there's a year down the tubes that I'll never get back.

However, since it's appearing that nobody wants the '69 F100 SWB 4x4 chassis, I'm thinking about talking a friend of mine who lives out in the country into letting me store it at his place for a while. Then when I have the space, I can go back out and get it.

Now, I HAVE been kicking an idea around in my head....what if I were to just torch the 4x4 body off (it's unusable) and toss the choptop cab onto it, just good enough to get it out to my friends house. Then I could save the 4x4 chassis AND the choptop cab, which would open up a few other options for me when the time comes. It'll be stored outside, but since the entire cab is coated inside and out with POR-15, it ain't gonna rust. I don't know....I'll see how things pan out today and come up with a decision by the end of the day today.

[Pipes71]

could just take the 4x4 stuff off the frame and stick it i nthe chop top bed then store that there

[rjewkes]

i would say with all you did to the choptops bed i'd save the bed too. sounds like a plan. a choptop 4x4 kinda sounds cool. unless youmeant to swap the red one onto the 4x4 and then put ol' choppy on the 2wd.

either way sounds cool.

[Pipes71]

Keith, whats the storage unit go for big enough to put the chop top in? I know things are tight for alot of us.. but maybe if enough of us here can chip in and donate enough cash to help pay for an extra unit so you could keep the chop.. hate to see you have to sell it off after all that work and watching the progress has given me lots of ideas and a base know how for mine.. maybe if we can scratch enough for a few months rent on it youll be able to find a new shop and wont have to rid of all your toys Let us know!!

[flyboy2610]

I know how you feel, Keith.
I've been doing some moving myself the last two weekends.

The photo is from the realtor's listing.)

All the effort put into making my basement shop the way I wanted it must now be redone. (In a smaller space. )
I hope you get your farmhouse, and a nice big shop space real soon!!

[RedneckTexan]

I wuz fixin to say put the chop-top cab on the 4x4 runnin gear and just leave that at one of your buddies house, but you already thought of that.

[willowbilly3]

could just take the 4x4 stuff off the frame and stick it i nthe chop top bed then store that there

Why don't you just put all 3 trucks into one and have a chopped 67 shortbed 4x4? Now that would be different.

[OldRedFord]

I vote for the choptop cab on the 4x4 frame.


Man that would be sweet and unique.

[FORDification]

Yeah, that's what I've decided to do. After another VERY LONG day shuttling stuff from the shop to storage, I'm now about 99% out. The only things left in there are the 4x4 and the choptop, plus the torch, the air compressor and my toolbox....so I'll be getting busy next weekend ripping the bad sheetmetal off the 4x4 and putting the choptop's body on instead. Then I'll leave it at my friends house...providing he'll let me do that. (I was supposed to give him a call today, but in the rush of moving parts it slipped my mind.)

I have a mountain of scrap metal behind the shop now, I have to load that up on the trailer tomorrow night after work. There's also a mountain of garbage in the middle of the shop that'll need cleaned up over the next week. Then Friday night after work I'll head to the shop to get started switching bodies, and hopefully will be done by Saturday night. On Sunday I'll haul the 'new' choptop 4x4 to my friend's, then haul the 4x4's old sheetmetal and the 2WD chassis to the scrapyard. Then it's back to the shop to load up the last of the tools and the air compressor and lines....and I'll be out of there completely.

Anyway, I ended up doing a little switching on truck parts. The choptop bed that was painted is now on my '67. I did that because it's basically done, and of course has the rollpan. The bed that I had just gotten started fixing up for my '67 is now on the choptop. That way, if something happens where the choptop makes a sudden exit for whatever reason, I'll have the best box for my '67. The other one is stripped to bare metal, so I'll rattlecan some paint on it just to help keep it from rusting too badly until I can get back to it. I'm not worried about it too much though, since it'll have to be painted with POR-15 to match the cab and front sheetmetal, so some rust on the box will actually be beneficial, since the POR-15 sticks better to rusty steel than clean steel. However, I'll also be putting a tarp over it to minimize the corrosion to some extent. (I MIGHT be able to squeeze it into an old shed out there, but I'm not holding my breath on that one.)

Yeah, a 4x4 SWB choptop truck is definitely gonna be something that hasn't been done before AFAIK. I'll be sure to get a bunch of pictures before putting it away for the summer.

Keith, whats the storage unit go for big enough to put the chop top in? I know things are tight for alot of us.. but maybe if enough of us here can chip in and donate enough cash to help pay for an extra unit so you could keep the chop.. hate to see you have to sell it off after all that work and watching the progress has given me lots of ideas and a base know how for mine.. maybe if we can scratch enough for a few months rent on it youll be able to find a new shop and wont have to rid of all your toys Let us know!!

Hey, thanks....I definitely appreciate the thought, but this isn't something that I'd feel comfortable doing, to be honest with you. I mean, nobody else here is gettin' help like that, why should I be any different? No, I think things will be OK just storing it at my friend's farm in the short term. However, I WOULD appreciate everybody putting in a good word for me with the Man upstairs, in helping us find some rural digs with room to spread back out.

[mk]

Sure would like to have been able to help with the move, Keith. However if puttin' in a good word for you and the family might help, consider it being done...


mike