Re: What did you do to your truck today?
 

That grille is beautiful, and the pedal looks factory stock with a better finish. Nice work!

Re: What did you do to your truck today?
 

Retrieved the buffer from my son so I can get started on my windshield trim.

Re: What did you do to your truck today?
 

Thanks, Mark. I needed to finish something just to remind myself that it will all get done some day.

Re: What did you do to your truck today?
 

What do you use for a wheel and polishing compound on your stainless?

Re: What did you do to your truck today?
 

Hey Mister JB Weld!!! would JB Weld be a good way to fill all of the rivet holes that I will one day be dealing with? I have never used it before.

Re: What did you do to your truck today?
 

I finally seem to have solved my overheating issue. A custom install of a 78' Dodge radiator (brackets and hose inlets identical to my needs), CLR through the entire system, a new water pump and thermostat, antifreeze, and I got the temp guage working. It runs at 195 deg with no issues. Now I can move forward and make it driveable by the end of the weekend....Had nice weather and beer to go along with it...Good times!

Re: What did you do to your truck today?
 

Was the rad a horizontal tank unit? Any pics?

Re: What did you do to your truck today?
 

I will post pics when the engine bay is done. While I had most of the front side of the engine dismantled, I decided to paint the block and engine bay. I have some Mickey Thompson valve covers but I need to remove the block outs for the oil breather and PCV valve, so I have not put them on yet. The radiator is from a 78' Dodge motorhome, so it is a heavy duty unit, 4 core plus tranny cooler I got for $50 on Craigslist. I has the 90 deg angle brackets attached to the sides so all I had to do was drill holes in the front firewall to mount. It was wider than the space provided so I had to cut into the inner fender metal for space but it turned out fine. The unit is 32 inches wide. The 68-78 Dodge radiator was recommended by someone on this site. I originally had a 6 cyl and was upgraded to an 8 but had no original radiator mounts so this unit worked just fine.

Re: What did you do to your truck today?
 

I don’t have a magic formula, I just experiment each time until I find the right combination. My son and I have collected a pretty good assortment of buffs and compounds. We have tight sewn and loose flannel versions, and a bunch in between. Whoever has the buffer adds whatever buffs or compounds are needed at the time. Most of the compounds are so tired the labels are missing so I generally have to look up the different preferences on the internet each time I start polishing.

Since this is likely the last polished trim I’ll ever do, I may invest in a super fluffy buff and the best finish rouge I can get for the final pass as I’d really like this to turn out looking like show chrome.

The trim I have has a few D/A sander marks on one lower corner, and I think there are 3 little dings total over the whole set. Each is the size of a shallow pencil point, so they shouldn’t take too long to fix. After that I’ll probably go over the whole thing with 800 grit and work up to 2000 grit before the actual multi step buffing starts. As received there are no tweaks, scratches, or bends anywhere. If I don’t wreck anything with the buffer, I’ll invest in a gasket after the polishing is finished.

Once I get started (probably tomorrow) I’ll take detail photos of the before and after results.

Re: What did you do to your truck today?
 

Not just today... but over the past week:
1) Put new gauges in and painted speedo needle
2&3) Painted and cleaned up the new motor
4&5) Painted the firewall

Re: What did you do to your truck today?
 

1&2) Pressure washed the frame
3&4) Painted inner fenders and grille support
5) Mocking the motor with the cab

Re: What did you do to your truck today?
 

1&2) Mocking up how similar size tire/wheel will look
3) Did some sanding (no after... WTF? LOL)
4&5) Frame all nice and shiny

Re: What did you do to your truck today?
 

It’s all in the prep. If it’s done correctly it does indeed make a permanent repair. If you’ve read the “no warp” thread, you’re familiar with the preferred method of using a backing to increase strength, but I have seen engine blocks and cylinder heads repaired with JB Weld (unsupported) and it works fine.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...highlight=warp

The best comparison I can offer on my truck in a similar application to your rivet holes would be the “West Coast” style mirror mounting holes in my upper door. Both sides had nasty holes in the upper window frame and in the door surface itself. Here’s a shot of the original driver side mirror:

http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/1...rorholes01.jpg

The lower door holes were really pulled out because the mirrors had been loose for a long time. The upper holes were no where near as bad:

http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/4...orholes01a.jpg

And here’s a shot of the passenger side showing the upper holes with the mirror removed:

http://img543.imageshack.us/img543/1...rorholes02.jpg

The door kinks were recurved and the stretched holes flattened with hammer and dolly. The lower holes were filled using the coin method. Since the upper holes were visible from both sides, they were handled differently. Both sides of each hole were chamfered with a 45 degree bit.

Pardon the crude drawing, but this is what makes JB Weld repairs last in a straight sheet metal hole. Chamfering the metal from both sides (even a small amount) provides a tapered surface for the epoxy to grip. It can’t move in either direction because the taper on each side locks it in place.

http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/327/jbweldhole.jpg

And here’s what the JB Weld fixes looks like today. The original holes are undetectable. The repair was done 20 years ago, and there have been no corrections needed during two subsequent paint jobs. This stuff has a very heavy steel content so there are no depressions, rings, or cracks ever:

http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/5...rorholes03.jpg

A person with welding skills and abilities may find this method too tedious. But for those of us that don’t weld or have equipment, or don't want to risk warping a long unsupported piece of sheet metal, this is a very simple repair process.

Re: What did you do to your truck today?
 

Thanks Mark, I will play with some scraps of sheet metal to get a feel for how it works. I am not a welder either, so this is very helpful. Much appreciated.
Craiger

Re: What did you do to your truck today?
 

Spent a couple hours cleaning it up and driving around town a bit and enjoying the beautiful day. Looking for 0-90 ohm sender to fix gas gauge and next project will be to restore exhaust manifolds and replace exhaust.

Here's a few pics and welcome input on how to do the restoration of the exhaust manifolds and what muffler system would sound/work best.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/gallery/...&ppuser=111808

Re: What did you do to your truck today?
 

Finally got things completed on my intake change over. Made some other changes, adjustments, cleaned up some, and painted some bits and pieces in the process. Went for a drive (beautiful day for it), and discovered a new issue that needs immediate attention. Coolant leak somewhere in the vicinity of the rad:mad:, throwing up a few pics for Terry as well.

Re: What did you do to your truck today?
 

Couple more

Re: What did you do to your truck today?
 

I pulled the front crossmember and torsion bars out of my 62 C10.

Re: What did you do to your truck today?
 

I've been slacking and just noticed this. IMO, that is, hands down, the best looking grill I've ever seen for our years. Well done!

Re: What did you do to your truck today?
 

Did nothing to my truck this weekend but traded an engine build (400 Gm) and lowering (bags/c notch) and a few other things for this 2006 F7 Artic Cat Sno-Pro sled, winter is long up here in Northern Canada.
http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/...j/DSCF9060.jpg
http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/...j/DSCF9062.jpg
http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/...j/DSCF9063.jpg
Winter will be fun again, haven't had a sled since my Dad passed away 7 years ago and we went out together, good memories.;)

Re: What did you do to your truck today?
 

ME + That Machine = DEAD....:lol:

Re: What did you do to your truck today?
 

Kas66c10,

That's a sweet ride you've got there.

Re: What did you do to your truck today?
 

What did I do on my truck???
Actually for my truck was work... to make money... to feed the addiction.

Re: What did you do to your truck today?
 

I am hoping for not dead me on the sled, do have a speed need though, that is why I went back to trucks from Muscle cars, lots of big block fun with truck but less tickets and good all year round.

Re: What did you do to your truck today?
 

Thanks, MisterC, I appreciate that. I really like the way it turned out and it wasn't really that hard. Spent a little more than I wanted to but I got top quality chrome and it should last a long time. I had previously bought a repop chrome non-lettered grill and it was so bad I sent it back. I also attempted to use re-pop headlight buckets and they didn't come close to fitting either.
I got the idea from reading another thread on this forum.
Dean


http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=426256