Re: Frankentruck
 

Since the last update, I got the metal for the top of the table. I glued it down and let it sit with a decent amount of weight on it until today.

Today, my friend came over to teach me how to weld. He took a couple welding classes at his college, so he was able to get me on the right track to start.

Going to be lots of practice in the near future :metal:

Re: Frankentruck
 

Looking good

Re: Frankentruck
 

Good job Christian...You are going to inspire me to get my rig going!

Re: Frankentruck
 

Thanks y'all! Sometimes you just gotta go for it even if you mess up the first couple of times :uhmk:

Re: Frankentruck
 

Great job on your welding. It brings back memories of when I learned to weld just to work on my truck. I've since done a lot of patching.

Re: Frankentruck
 

Thanks! Hopefully I get to the point where my patches are as good as yours!

Re: Frankentruck
 

Well, I've been fighting the Dakota (and my own stupidity) since I replaced the thermostat bypass hose back at the beginning of the month. I ended up missing a crucial ground wire that made everything screwy. Once that ground wire got hooked up, the truck started right up :umk: Good learning experience :lol:

Also, I got a coat hook from a 67-72 for Frankentruck. No more hanging my suit off the seat belt buckle!

Re: Frankentruck
 

Wow you have a lot of good work going on here, looking forward to more. :)

Re: Frankentruck
 

Thanks! I just got some good tips on doing some sheet metal welding and I have a panel I can practice on now, so more progress is coming soon. It looks like it's going to be a really nice day for welding :lol:

Re: Frankentruck
 

Did you really work on your c10 if you didn't get cut in a couple places?

Re: Frankentruck
 

You never really own a project until you've bled on it.

Re: Frankentruck
 

Very true! It's happened before, and it will happen again :lol:

Re: Frankentruck
 

The passenger side floor is definitely worse than the driver's side, but I don't think I need to buy a whole floor pan to fix the rust. I should be able to get the rest of the patch panels that I need on Friday. Going to start cutting on it soon :crazy:

Re: Frankentruck
 

I see a trip to Gainesville in your future .

Re: Frankentruck
 

Yup! I'm planning on going Friday

Re: Frankentruck
 

One nice thing about living in Georgia is that Auto Metal Direct is a little over an hour's drive from my house. Saved on shipping and got to have a nice drive in the Dakota. I got the last couple of patch panels I needed for the cab.

After I got home, I decided to just go for it and start cutting on the truck. I figured the best place to start was the inner fender, so that's what I did!

For my first patch panel, I'm happy with it. Still need to do some grinding on it and fix the rear part. I mocked up the fender as well and the two holes from the patch piece fit great with the fender.

More progress coming soon! :metal:

Re: Frankentruck
 

Another day, another patch! Also got the toasted core support off. I think I'm going to pull the inner fenders and clean them up some more

Re: Frankentruck
 

Went ahead and pulled the hood and inner fenders off so I could finish fixing all the rust on the passenger side inner fender. Of course, I ran out of wire right as the summer, afternoon rain shower rolled in. Had to stop for the day, but at least I made some good progress. I'll be going to get more wire tomorrow so I can finish the inner fender and get the front end back together

Re: Frankentruck
 

Nice patch work. you're really getting in to it now.

Re: Frankentruck
 

Looking good Christian👍👍

Re: Frankentruck
 

Thanks man, I'm still learning!

Thanks Jay! I'm happy so far with how it's turning out. Going to keep it patina'd for a while longer, just getting the cab back to being solid

Re: Frankentruck
 

Keep it up and I know who will be doing patches on Ma Bell .

Re: Frankentruck
 

Just as long as I can do it in your shop :lol: These afternoon showers are killing my progress :mad:

Re: Frankentruck
 

You can use my shop anytime you like , I dont need to be there .

Re: Frankentruck
 

Thanks John, I appreciate it. One day I'm going to have a shop, but for now, the shade tree gets it done :lol:

Re: Frankentruck
 

I got the engine bay side of both inner fenders painted today. Fought through the rain, but was able to get it done.
They are inside the garage drying

Re: Frankentruck
 

Will I get the truck back together for the Georgia C10 Club meet on Saturday? I sure hope so, but it's looking promising.

On another note, so far, the new TriPlus core support from AMD has lined up real nice and I have not had to whaller out a single bolt hole yet. All the other sheet metal that will be going on is original GM stuff :metal:

Re: Frankentruck
 

Looking like a truck again! Got everything pretty much buttoned up, just a couple bolts left for in the morning. Should be able to drive it to the Georgia C10 Club meet tomorrow!

I replaced the grille support panel that was busted and rusted with a decent, rust free one. I also got my fan shroud on, but I will need a shorter fan spacer

Re: Frankentruck
 

Looks great Christian

Re: Frankentruck
 

Thanks John. It drives much better too! Less rattles :lol:

Re: Frankentruck
 

Today was a good day.
Met up with MikeN to get a fan and fan clutch from his 65 Impala. It ended up fitting almost perfectly with my new shroud. The old fan was too far into the shroud once I moved the radiator to the correct, v8 location and installed the shroud. Thanks again Mike!

After getting the fan, I went and picked up a 60 hood. It's got the usual rust, but I think I can fix it eventually lol. It's one of those things that I just couldn't pass up.

Yesterday, I got a switch so that I could completely turn off power to the overdrive system whenever I want to drive it in lockout. I used on of the holes already in the bottom of the dash, so I didn't have to drill any extra holes. I plan to pull a few trailers, so I probably won't be using the overdrive when I do that.

Happy 4th! :metal::flag:

Re: Frankentruck
 

FrankenTruck is still one of my all time favorites simply because you are building and repairing it as you go yourself . Christian , that truck is like you , Awesome .

Re: Frankentruck
 

Thank you for the kind words John. I've still got a long ways to go, but I'll get there eventually. Your 70 stepper is going to be much nicer than my truck though!

Re: Frankentruck
 

Happy 4th y'all! :flag:

I like to celebrate by driving Frankentruck around and eating some good food with friends. Also, it's been 5 years now since I've had Frankentruck. Hopefully many more to come :metal:

Re: Frankentruck
 

My 70 will be a different style build than FrankenTruck but not necessarily nicer than FrankenTruck . You are making huge strides with your truck yet still get to drive it . I have never driven mine at all.:chevy:

Re: Frankentruck
 

You will be able to soon though! You'll probably be getting better gas mileage though :lol:

Re: Frankentruck
 

I expect it to be a year or more before I get to drive mine now , Im way behind schedule .

Re: Frankentruck
 

Mmmm, that cross pin lock bolt shouldn't be like that...
I don't think that gap should've been there on the pinion seal either.
New axle bearings and seals and a new pinion seal went in today. Just gotta find a new bolt now.

My good friend Levi helped out a ton today and I got to use his fancy mechanic tools lol

Re: Frankentruck
 

I called up some local dealerships this morning, but had to drive an hour to find the correct part. Bought three of them since it is a discontinued part now. It was still cheaper than buying the one from Summit Racing, and I got extras. Put everything back together and went for a test drive. I think I fixed all the leaks, but it was dark when I got back, and I was sad. Everything was going great until I heard a metallic smack. I pulled over and started looking underneath the rear of the truck. There's now a visible gap between the axle pads and trailing arms on both sides. Apparently my axle is trying to leave the truck... :no: Fix one thing and another breaks :banghead:

My test drive consisted of stopping by Flashed's place and messing with the Quadrajet on his 79 square. I'm thinking the carb needs a rebuild, but I'm not sure. Time to do some more research lol

Re: Frankentruck
 

At least that should be a simple fix of just tightening the ubolts