My dad has been working on this truck for 5 years and it had its maiden voyage this past weekend at the Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival.
When he purchased it the Ford 289 and 4 speed swap was complete, the drive train, brakes, suspension, and frame were done, but the cab was in primer, firewall needed fabricated, new bed kit needed assembled, and a million little things from the throttle to the stereo needed done. We did the bed liner ourselves and a local guy did the paint. 11 coats gives the Ford Ruby Red a depth and shine you have to see in person.
It was down to the wire. Two weeks ago one of the windshields cracked during installation. Kaiser Willys sent a replacement quickly. Last week the carb was acting up and a local mechanic rebuilt it and saved the day. Three weeks ago, it was sitting on wide tires and polished aluminum AR wheels, but I convinced my dad with a photoshop that original wheels with NDT tires was the way to go. Boy is he happy with that last minute decision. Ironically I had been pushing for those since this project started, and even gave him a set of wheels and some rollers, hoping it would grow on him. It wasn't until the paint was dry and it was on the modern tires in the garage did he realize I was right (the spare was always going to be an NDT on a painted factory wheel). You can see he installed some small LED marker lights and he went with LED tail lights, otherwise the outside appearance is stock, just how I like it. Then you hear the V8 rev...
The hard work and hours upon hours payed off. The compliments, questions, and pictures were endless. Enough people said it was the best paint job there that I believe it without having walked around much myself.
The only thing I think is missing are some stakes and wood side boards for the bed. Maybe one full board and a half board on top of it.
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Originally Posted by Meeke
