The WC53 Carryall thread .

[dieseldude4bt]

Tank

Is that what you are using Bruce?

[Bruce in BC]

fuel tank

The tank I am using is out of a 79 Bronco . This tank is smaller than the van unit . My original intention was to run the exhaust out the back and I wanted room to tuck the exhaust up high between the tank and frame . Plans have since changed because the air bags and shocks are in the way of the exhaust pipe . If I had known this I would have used either the Ford van tank , had one made or looked at the Dodge and Chev van units as well . I had a Blazer tank that was a drop in but the tank was too rusty .
Personally I would build a tank from cardboard , mount it , bounce the vehicle up and down to check for clearance issues and then find a tank that was closest to that size , Better yet I would have one built , with a sump , a drain and baffles inside that would keep the pickup in fuel when climbing .

[Gary Weaklend]

Original gas tank

The entire top of my gas tank was rusted out and was told by a radiator shop that it was too far gone. I took it home and cut all the bad pieces out and then welded in all new metal. When I was finished doing all the welding, grinding and soldering my welds, I took it back to the radiator shop and they pressure tested and found one pin hole. They fixed it and put a sealer inside. I lucked out because the bottom half was in good shape.

[Bruce]

Nice Tank Welding

Gary, I'm impressed, i would have given up! I brased a dime on mine, I guess I was lucky?

[Gary Weaklend]

Carryall Headliner

My original plan was to have an upholstery shop do the headliner and all upholstery work. However, the more I talked to the person that was going to do the work....the less I liked him and I decided to go to plan B and do the work myself. I replaced all the wood strips around the windows with oak and to get the bend around the back window, I cut 3/4" oak into strips so it would bend and then glued and clamped them back together. They're painted black in the second picture. The third picture shows the jute glued in place, extra support in the center and a rear light cut out.

[Gary Weaklend]

Carryall Headliner

First I cut out a pattern of the exisitng bows and made five jigs out of wood that upholstery backing material could be screwed to. The last picture shows the material screwed to the jigs and starting to get shaped. The darker jig is the first one that I applied fiberglass to.

[Gary Weaklend]

Carryall Headliner

To get the back corners molded I kept cutting and shaping to match the jig. It took A LOT of patience and fitting. Once I felt it was close I fiberglassed the backside and removed it from the jig. In the third picture you can also see the new metal bows in place the headliner pieces and the metal that I used above the windows. Originally masonite was used above the windows.

[Gary Weaklend]

Carryall Headliner

After all the fitting and fiberglassing was done on the back side I then took polyester filler on the front when the pieces were installed to make sure the headliner would retain its shape and be smooth under the fabric. After all sanding was done I then painted the headliner black.

[Gary Weaklend]

Carryall Headliner

First picture is the final fitting before I painted the metal pieces and covered the headliner with fabric. Notice the extra layer of upholstery board on the back side for extra support. At this point I took the headliner to a neighbor that does upholstery on the side and he glued and stretched the fabric.

[Gary Weaklend]

Carryall Headliner

Headliner installed and metal painted to match. The back dome is from a 1930's Chrysler car (they match the original Carryall dome light).

[Gary Weaklend]

Carryall Headliner

Originally fabric was used around the front window. I cut out a piece of metal and painted it to match.

[Bruce in BC]

Very helpful ideas Gary

This is one of the pages that will get visited again and again . Very helpful .
How is your cab for noise ? Your carryall reminds me of a recording studio , considering all the different layers and padding in the roof .
Are you using one heater or more ?

Thanks

Bruce

[jawgroth]

That looks awesome

WOW. Nice job. How much to make me a set??

[Gary Weaklend]

Headliner

How is your cab for noise ?
Are you using one heater or more ?

Bruce

It's a little quieter but there's still a lot of drive gear noise from the transmission, differential and tires. I have one heater that was from a 48 Dodge pickup but I put a larger core and 12V motor in it. I haven't driven it enough in the winter to say how well the heater works. Thanks for the comments.

[Gary Weaklend]

Heater

Bruce, here's some pictures of my heater. I think it came from a 48 Dodge pickup with a 6V motor. I found a 12V motor, a larger heater core and a Dodge emblem at a swap meet and rebuilt it.