Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

reaper, is the striker suppose to be tight in the claw? with mine they have play back and forth which seems odd to me. So I'd have to be extremely accurate in where the striker lands so its on the far end of the claw so it can't move back and forth. I don't it if moched up yet to shut it and see how it performs.

here is a deadbolt lock I made for my 51'. It mounts behind the door jam and sends the bolt through the door. It's powered by a remote.

I'm thinking about making a set for this truck, so I can just keep the bear claws to a minimal. I'll already have to fab up a bracket to either run an actuator inside and or make it so the turn down handles work with the mech, which seems like a lot of pissing around.

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

yeah I was gonna ask around seeing if people like to install the claws bf or after the door rubber is on. I know the rubber would settle a bit so I'm sure movement might become normal. Mine is not installed yet. Do you have any preference on that?

as for the lock. Its more for security. I don't want anyone opening the doors day or night that have no business doing so. I also usually turn off my kill switch and have little toggles inline with the ignition etc so its pretty darn hard to figure out how to start it.

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

I somewhat agree reaper71, but a bent door is better than a missing truck. I have had my 67 jeep for 20 years no door locks, no top sometimes but I do have 2 keys. You just have to make it harder.

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

4-17 Oh there is just no way I could go without locks. For one I hate thieves, the truck will be in the city quite a bit, and lastly its a selling point for the truck. Today was a good day, considering I didn't even work on the truck. I had to shovel about a ton of gravel up to the garage for my ramp. I drove it out the garage almost 17months to the day I started it.

Still plenty of things I need to iron out and do. I need to mount DS running board, get some wheel spacers for rear so tires don't rub bed and get a smaller PWS belt and or clearance the pump so I can tighten the belt. thats the only thing keeping me from tearing down the road. Then I need to finish interior and the door latches. also need to fix my hood spring and get my latch on.

I think I'm going to bring the front of the bed up and inch bc it looks like it rakes (in garage was showing level) also rear wheel placement isn't terrible but it can come forward a bit. I adjusted my lower link bars out since my driveshaft was a tad long. But I think I can go forward and still make the DS work. If worse case I'll have the DS cut shorter.

I may post up a vid of it but its really nothing too exciting.

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

99, looks great, nice pics, thanks for sharing....Jim

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

Awesome 99! Looking very good outside!

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr9MTvyJVOs
thanks guys, here is a little vid. nothing special. hood isn't latched, PWS belt squeeling cause its too loose and Efan is loud as hell. but you get the idea

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

Oh so cool 99. Looks great out in the wilderness. Congrats

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

Thanks for the video. Good feeling to have them moving under their own power. The loud efan is the sound of the modern hot rod I think. Way to go 99! Be glad when my Burb gets there.

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

99, Thanks for the video, nice to see it moving around...Jim

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

Man, they sure look good sittin' together!! Gotta feel real real,good to get it out of the shop and in some fresh air.

I hear ya on thieves. I grew up in a small town and we never locked the cars or our house. Moved to the city and have been hit five times over the years-every time because the vehicle was unlocked. Real PIA. I lock everything now.

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

4-18 thanks guys, yeah yesterday was a good and loooong awaited day. Lower50's we are def out in the wilderness, miles of dirt road, its where I grew up for alot of my life. My mom lives there, so I have a compound all fenced in that I store my stuff and work on them in some rinky dink garages.

Today kinda sucked, go figure. I have a good day and feel kinda weird "like when is something wrong gonna happen" cause I deal with alot of that. So I spent hours on this bear claw set up.

Lets just say it looks sooo ghetto right now, but its just temporary. I'll be making a custom plate for the bear claw that mounts to the door. The plate shown was the factory plate I hacked up and as is the plate with the striker in it. I had to widen that plate and relocate the striker alot, and then plug weld the old hole. It took forever trying to figure out where it was gonna land and was restricted by the fact that I wanted the striker plate to use the existing 4 bolts holes that are already there. Needless to say, it actually works as of now, like I said I'll be making a custom plate for the latch to bolt and bolt up to the door. I just don't wanna weld to the door and deal with all that. Plus how the hell do you get the latch in there? Remove the window track? I didn't like that, so it really kept me on the "bolt" on version. I'm gonna make a nice version when its all said and done. Prolly get some nice allen bolts for all of it too.

The pass side, I made a striker plate from scratch. Just copied the one I wasted so much time on and boom, took like 20 min to cut drill and test fit and weld a filler piece in behind. So the pass door should take way less time and hopefully come out really nice. Then onto the interior latch and figure out what I'm gonna do for the rest of the system.

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

Looks great. Great work.

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

Nice work on the latches 99. Hours...I've spent hours last two weekends getting Lokar shifter and brackets to work on the 56...so I feel it too.
We are in the sticks here, 10 miles from a small town, only lock house door if gone overnight, vehicles usually unlocked.

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

They both look great 99

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkWp9d6i3HY

4-20 Mon, I didn't get the claws all finished up. I spent some time on the pass door getting it set. Of course it isn't fitting so well and needs some tweaking. I'm thinking its the hinge. Spent some time mounting my DS running board. My dumbace forgot to drill the holes in that side (custom made brackets) so I had the brackets and nests all done just couldn't actually bolt it on. So that is done.

Got a vid for ya, some tach action with my one tach and then the tach conversion I made. also tossed in the bear claw in action.

gonna keep posting videos. hopefully get some better ones next weekend of it on the road. I got a smaller belt for my PWS so that is finally fixed. Gonna bounce around with metal work on rear fenders and interior soon. Just alot of little things to address still but its almost road worthy. Need to button up the exhaust asap.

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

Love the video, nice job on the latch...good solid thunk...and engine sounds great!

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

Great job on the tach!! I'm thinking of something similar. The motor revs nice and quick.

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

thanks guys, i'll get some clips of the tach installed should look pretty cool. Lower 50's hit me up if you need any help, its a cheap conversion. I'll be doing the speedo soon.

nice job. Everything is coming along great.
Posted via Mobile Device

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

4-25 thanks guys. Not much to report. Got tach in and lite for the most part. PIA doing the conversion, got to get the needle perfect while its idling. I had the unit a tad too far inward and the needle was touching the glass, so I had to tear it apart and reset the unit.

Got inner door panels done for the most part too. Just need to get door handles and windows in and get the handles on. Pics don't do it much justice. Got my seat being made with this material and another. I'll post pics when it is done.

another outside shot. spent a couple hours on the hood and as with everything, NOT exaggerating one bit, everything fights me on this truck. my 51' was a dream shutting and lining up good. this one I knew I'd have problems since through the years they had a bad hinge and forced the hood down so bad, it bent and broke it. So now lining it up and getting it to latch is a PIA. I got some tweaking to do still. I even jacked up the grille to make sure its not a height issue and it doesn't appear to be. Infact the hood is hitting on the pass side when I put pressure on it, yet it won't latch well.

list is still a bit stout, need some dang money to get the rest of the things I need. Heater, work on wipers, carpet, door crap, exhaust straps and turndowns.

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

99, work got done, that's the good part. Everything looks great...Jim

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

99 truck looks really good. It has fought you about every step and you just keep digging in and getting it done. Awesome! I looked up determination in the dictionary and they had a picture of you there....:)

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

I must have missed it. What material did you use for the inner door panels?

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

4-27 thanks guys, didn't get a notice that there were replies. anyway.... coach529 I never posted any info on the door panels. Its just vinyl. I made the backing out of luan board. I coated it with sealer just incase any moisture gets to the wood. I used 1/4 staples, had to double up the vinyl on the back so the staples wouldn't go through the back. I counter sunk the holes for the screws and somehow had countersunk washers laying around. I used some spray adhesive to keep the vinyl nice and tight to the wood.

today I got a little time in on the Pass side bear claw. Much better efficiency and overall outcome. its all bolt on. I'll be painting the outer piece when everything is done. I was and am a bit nervous the window would hit the latch. So I started putting it in. I never did a one piece window, so it took me a bit to get it in there (missed the 3rd track piece on the inside that rides on the door. So the window isn't really going up and down in its proper position.

I had some luck with it going down but I'll know for sure when I get it on its final track and see whats up. My window track is out of the door on that side, so I'm really cutting it close. If it don't clear, I'll have to move the latch
but I think I may have dodged a bullet.

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

Thanks for the info......they look great!

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

Coming together really nicely!! Tach conversion looks great in the dash. I def want the info on how to do it, both for the tach and speedo. Looks and sounds great!!

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

thanks guys. 49' I actually didn't really take any pics of the conversion oddly enough. But all you gotta do is tear apart both mechs. cut a 3.5" or bigger hole in the OG gauge. It will interfere with the bottom light (high beam indicator). IF..... you are using the speedo mech and not the gauge cluster mech.

So once your sunpro unit fits in your mechs new hole. you'll realize the sunpro unit needs cut down. SO as carefully cut about and inch or so off of its plastic housing. You are going to need a very very small screwdriver set BTW. The needles are hard to pull off, you just got to work them and be careful.

You'll need sand the numbers off your OG gauge plate (if your using the speedo one) then repaint it. I have the decal numbers you can hit me up for. I then centered that plate up to the sunpro mech (two tiny screws will bolt them together) they almost don't line up, so you have to bore the OG face plate hole a tiny bit. once your faceplate is centered on the sunpro tach. You'll take the sunpro faceplate and center it up ontop of your newly painted blank faceplate. Then with a light pencil, you'll make a reference for the 0 and 4 rpm positions. This will help you locate the decal to put on the faceplate.

Thats all it really is, I did the hardest work which is making the decal to size and line up with the sunpro numbers. You'll have to super glue a new needle ontop of the sunpro needle. before you mount in your unit, test it. Run the engine and it helps to have another tach hooked up so you know your at say 800rpm or whatever, then hook up your converted tach, keep taking the needle off and on until your in the ball park. You can't put the needle on too hard though.

Then once that is on, you fit it back into your OG housing, then you can make a tab to bolt them together or epoxy it or if your hole is nice and snug, the unit will stay put. (me, impatient as I am sometimes, didn't have a big enough hole saw, so my hole is oversized).

I'll def take a detailed photo stream of the speedo conversion, which... will be harder because I have to drill a hole in the glass for the trip reset ( I think it will be worth it)

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

Interesting - trying to do the same thing with a little different approach. Here's some vector art for the gauge faces to fit in the AD gauge. My plan is to find some plastic sign-making laminate that is a combination of black and translucent and have the numbers lasered in the black to reveal the translucent material behind so I can back-light the gauge. This image would be a negative of the actual gauge face.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/m...ow.529196/full
The window in the speedometer will line up with the Speedhut programmable speedo. I had them add a remote reset button for the trip odometer so I don't have to drill a hole through the glass. I called Speedhut and they told me I could remove the needles from their gauges and how to reset them to zero when I reinstalled them (after telling me it would totally void their warranty)

Happy to provide the vector file for anyone who want to experiment with gauges for their AD.

What is everybody else doing for fuel, oil temp and volts?

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

not sure why I'm not getting email notifications on my thread.
e015475- your idea sounds cool, I can envision it. but for my approach using the stock backlight lights is cool with me.

The biggest problem folks will have in doing these conversions, is lining up the new faceplate in accordance with the gauge. Easy to do for people with graphic skills. Unless what your saying with the speedhut is, no matter where the needle falls you can set that location to zero. I personally wasn't planning on using speedhut gauge, but that's pretty cool if theirs will do that.

as for the other gauges, not sure if you'v seen them on my thread or not. I just ran 2" aftermarket analog gauges in a custom console I made that is somewhat outta sight. So as your driving I'll have the tach and speedo in the two large clusters. as you look down to firewall/trans tunnel, I have my oil, temp, volt, vac, fuel. I have two bag gauges right on my cup holder, I then have tank pressure gauge by turnsignal, I'll also put air fuel ratio gauge there too. Its quite possible one might feel like a pilot with all the gauges!

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

5-4 nothing exciting, just moooore patch work. Been putting this off until last but I can't take it anymore. I just want all the metal bolted down and secure. i went to canfield swapmeet over the weekend to maybe score a little better fenders (I actually have better sets, but they are for other builds). came up with nada, so..... 3 hrs in on this fender already. The backside has quite a bit of holes and weak metal. and some other areas. I'll prolly have another 3-4hrs of work on this fender. Pass fender is in better shape.

worked on door a little bit more. Got inside door handle to work with the bearclaw. Unfortunately the claw is mounted just high enough to interfere with the outter handle. So, in a pickle with that. I'm thinking of getting AVS actuators and keyless entry. Didn't really wanna hit my wallet anymore than this build has, but its home stretch and I gotta get it done.

Still shooting for inspection by end of month, worse case early june.

lastly, I will be investing in some more tools soon. I was thinking of a cheap set of shrinker/stretcher. but I'm going to go with a top of line brand. I don't wanna risk getting something that isn't gonna do 18g. which is what I used on this patch. so its a bit of work getting it to do these curves.

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

Looks good....Jim

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

Nice work as usual

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

Nice patch. Ya spend the bucks on tools they will work better and last longer.

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

Nice work 99. 18 gauge is tougher to move around.

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

Looks like you're past that point, but FWIW my untouched original rear fenders were 20 gauge. Measured in several different places to confirm that it wasn't just thinned from the original forming.

I'm also pretty happy with my Harbor Freight stretcher/shrinker, no problems with 18 gauge. Research also told me I can replace the jaws with USA made jaws if it ever becomes a problem.

Re: 49' Patina bagged in PA
 

thanks guys. bluejeep, hahah yeah I almost went with 20g, but thought might as well just do beefier on that bottom portion. oh well. glad to hear about the shrinker, maybe I'll give em a try. I really wanna support some better brands out there but some of the prices are outta my budget cause I'm not using them everyday to make up the money. Im most likely selling this truck if all goes well. Was going to reinvest in another build and some tools.