Re: Old 1950 "AIR FORCE" Truck (build)
 

Fun project. Love the "KEEP TANK FULL" tag on the dash.

Re: Old 1950 "AIR FORCE" Truck (build)
 

Thanks Dug! There's still a few bugs to work out.

Re: Old 1950 "AIR FORCE" Truck (build)
 

Corner piece repair plus some flooring replaced.

Re: Old 1950 "AIR FORCE" Truck (build)
 

I spent countless hours lightly sanding the rust and primer to locate old military signage. That took special lighting plus a magnifying glass to see all of it. Some was totally gone because the original paint had been scraped away. Thankfully I was able to fill in those missing blanks. After I was able to decipher things I used stencils to replicate the wording. After letting it sit and bake in the Arizona sun I lightly sanded the new paint away. It now seems to meld into the overall rustic theme.

People have mistakenly called this a Rat Rod. That's not correct. I call it a "Rustoration".

Re: Old 1950 "AIR FORCE" Truck (build)
 

HAHA oh man, I have something of a photographic memory and it was really useful when I was in the car stereo biz (remembering customers and their cars) and even more useful with eng school (remembering equations), I saw that first picture and said "wait I saw that truck on craigslist". I checked your location and it said AZ. I was really kicking myself because I KNEW I had seen that truck in that exact field on craigslist and then read you got it from kansas, the top of my head came off!


great work saving this one!

Re: Old 1950 "AIR FORCE" Truck (build)
 

That's cool! Great memory!!! Yes, my brother-in-law Calvin saw it on craigslist as well. I wasn't so sure when I purchased the thing that I'd have fun with it, but that quickly changed. There was a guy ahead of me having dibs, but the guy told owner Ken Kemp he'd have to think about it.

Re: Old 1950 "AIR FORCE" Truck (build)
 

Pretty cool truck!! I'm from Hays so the Ellis County plate caught my eye. Very neat piece of history

Re: Old 1950 "AIR FORCE" Truck (build)
 

The dash signage was covered in flat black paint. I could see just a tinge of yellow. Saying a prayer I took brake cleaner and carefully wiped away the Krylon. Lo and behold the old wording was still there. The military tags were a blessing. Numbers on them match up to the numbers on doors, hood, and rear tailgate area. I was fortunate previous owners didn't toss them.

Re: Old 1950 "AIR FORCE" Truck (build)
 

More of the "hard to see" words hiding under rust and primer. I spent hours lightly sanding and looking.

Re: Old 1950 "AIR FORCE" Truck (build)
 

It took some doing to "see" through the rust in some places where the old lettering was concerned. Thankfully my wife still has good eyes.

Re: Old 1950 "AIR FORCE" Truck (build)
 

Former serviceman at McConnell Air Force base said that propeller emblem on front and rear signified the B-29. They were manufactured in Wichita, Kansas where McConnell A.F.B. is located.

Re: Old 1950 "AIR FORCE" Truck (build)
 

Made my own frame boxing plates. The rear suspension is a trailing arm setup from "Weed-Etr" Street Rods out of Northern California.

Re: Old 1950 "AIR FORCE" Truck (build)
 

More photos.

Re: Old 1950 "AIR FORCE" Truck (build)
 

I'm a Dana 60 man. That differential was built by Western Differential in Tucson, Arizona. Nice folks!

Re: Old 1950 "AIR FORCE" Truck (build)
 

Rack and pinion setup on the original straight axle. Not many of us going that route.

Re: Old 1950 "AIR FORCE" Truck (build)
 

More photos.

Re: Old 1950 "AIR FORCE" Truck (build)
 

Engine is a 350 de-stroked with 302 crank. Dart heads. Block bored .060 making it 311 cubic inches. Mutha Thumpa cam sounds nice!

Re: Old 1950 "AIR FORCE" Truck (build)
 

I wanted it sitting as low as possible. Tight fit regarding headers and steering linkage! No clearance problems between Turbo 400 and cab.

Re: Old 1950 "AIR FORCE" Truck (build)
 

Almost finished. There is no way to lower front as I used the original straight axle. A dropped axle would have brought up fitment issues with rack & pinion. The Air Force has a motto "Aim High..."

That's basically what this truck is doing headlight wise.

The back end can be raised but to me it looks like it's ready to take off in this position :-)

Re: Old 1950 "AIR FORCE" Truck (build)
 

Really Like the Cool Suspension Up Grades ..

Lot of Work there .. very Good ..

Re: Old 1950 "AIR FORCE" Truck (build)
 

I appreciate that! Didn't seem like a lot of work until I started going back through these photos :-)

Re: Old 1950 "AIR FORCE" Truck (build)
 

Did my own upholstery. After sitting in the heat things tightened up with lines disappearing. Siren is a Federal Model 66 Junior Slow Roll. This model is the only one having a base that matches up perfectly with the old outline and bolt holes on left front fender. A siren expert here in Arizona helped me identify the model needed.

Re: Old 1950 "AIR FORCE" Truck (build)
 

Couple of stories I wrote. Documents left under the seat led me to one of the original owners after the Air Force auctioned it. William "Dub" Wharry lives in Scottsdale, Arizona. It took some real sleuthing to find him.

Re: Old 1950 "AIR FORCE" Truck (build)
 

Inside the Red Cross box resides the gauges, shifter, and control panel for all accessories. I keep the lid on when not driving. Original 3-on-the-tree shifter is still on column as well as foot starter on floor. It definitely confuses people. Exhaust is made up of small mufflers designed for circle track cars. You can hear this thing coming. Airmen driving it back in the day would have loved the improvement in power :-)

Re: Old 1950 "AIR FORCE" Truck (build)
 

"It's Definitely different!" That's what most everyone says when they see it :-)