1956 International Restoration 120 Series: the beautification process begins

The large body panels and shell were not sandblasted - due to the damage that can happen, so I carefully stripped the original paint form the areas needing repairs to start.

The top of the cab had a large dent that was never properly repaired, just filled.

Of course it's double-walled on the inside, which explains the lack of effort in the original  repair

Passenger lower door will have new metal spliced in - 

Let the SPARKS fly!

Under the cab the transfer case was still packed with a cement-like mud substance - which took nearly an hour to remove :(  Below you can see the area the sand- blaster couldn't penetrate.

Ford Runabout Rod Build: Front-end and cross member

Sourced a decent 221 Flatty and crank for the E-rod and brought it home:

Being a one-man show is hard on the back!

Working hard to get the front end situated... here I'm going to cut off the existing 

front cross member - with the downward bow in it, and replace it with a straight 

piece I fabbed from a F150 tyranny cross member.

With a temporary hold made of some old angle iron to hold the frame rails in place,

 I ground out the factory rivets then drove them out with the air-hammer.

The cut-down F150 cross member fit like a glove - 

And the leaf spring set-up slid right in - 

The angle finder helps keep the frame rake in check.

However, the rear-end as mocked up with drums on the axle-ends, 

so I'll have to make allowances for that once its on tires and wheels.