Re: Frankentruck
 

Put lipstick on a pig today, just to make it look a little nicer. So far, it looks way better than the rust. Now to see how long it will last.

Also got both sets of hinges painted. The nicest set is going on the truck. The other set is going on the trailer. Going to give the paint some time to dry, so I won't install these until tomorrow. Thanks again, Phil!

Re: Frankentruck
 

It's more beautiful than I imagined :metal:

Did I probably spend too much money on this? Yeah
Is it really cool? Oh yeah
Was it worth it? Absolutely


Also, edited to add picture of old hinges that were on the truck when I bought it compared to the good, originals that's on now

Re: Frankentruck
 

Great Job:metal:

I know that will get lots of use:chevy:







.

Re: Frankentruck
 

I like this!! Nice work...

Re: Frankentruck
 

Thanks, guys. I plan to use it a bunch!

Re: Frankentruck
 

Oh yes, I love this set up

Re: Frankentruck
 

I've had the parts laying around for awhile, but finally started finishing the windshield washer install. Had to cut the screws on the cowl because the heads were so rusted out. I was glad to still see some original paint left on both the cowl and under it.

Got the hoses hooked up tonight and started on the wiring before it got dark. Hopefully the pump I'm using still works!

Oh yeah, I'm using 67-72 washer nozzles because that's what Flashed had on a parts cab at the truck farm. They fit good on the 60-66 trucks using the factory, 60-66 holes

Re: Frankentruck
 

I got the washer system finished up on Friday except for the knob. I rigged it to work with the old knob, but I have the correct knob on the way.

Saturday morning, I helped my parents fix the driveway a little bit. We finished it up on Sunday afternoon. Those two took 29 bags of concrete :lol:

I had also finished up the wiring on my under hood light that I pulled from a Dakota in a junkyard. It works really well and the wiring fits nice in the hood

Re: Frankentruck
 

That engine bay light is a nice addition!

Re: Frankentruck
 

^agreed.

Funny thing is it seems like a ton of vehicles came with underhood light but really I haven't seen that many, I have one of the reel out ones from a squarebody I plan to use on my truck.

Re: Frankentruck
 

Thanks guys! Most newer cars and truck have them, so one day when I was in the junkyard, I said "why not?" and grabbed one. I knew the Dakota light was a good one to get because the one on my 95 still works good as well. I have an 1156 bulb in the one on Frankentruck. The one in my Dakota has a smaller bulb in it

Re: Frankentruck
 

Finally fixed the bumper. It was too far to the passenger side, so I took two hammers to beat the plate steel brackets back straight - ish. Tightened it up close enough to center :lol: Also got the old hitch ball off the bumper since I have the tow hitch and didn't trust just a bumper pull.

Then, my dad and I went to downtown Acworth for a cruise in. It was a great cruise in with a wide variety of vehicles. The 4x4 truck is a conversion using a 2wd frame and then adding the 4x4 stuff from a 78 k10. He did a great job on it

Re: Frankentruck
 

I learn something new every day.

I did not do enough research before I started my quest to add windshield wipers to Frankentruck. I have now found out that there are two styles of knobs and switches.

One style has a much smaller button for the washers and goes all the way through the knob. This style uses a set screw to secure the knob on the switch.

The other style has a bigger washer button molded into the knob. On this style, the button on the switch does not go all the way through the knob. The knob mounts with the 3 metal fingers just like a standard wiper without washer knob.

I got the knob with the bigger button from member DPowers, and that knob fits the switch I had purchased over a year ago when I first got this idea.

The other knob and switch came from Aspen Auto Parts. It was too good of a price to pass on. It had a nicer mounting screw on it, so I swapped that out today. My quest is complete on the windshield washer front.


I also finished the install of the new cab mounts. I put the front ones on last summer, but thought I had to remove the gas tank to get to the rear ones, so I didn't decide to do it until today. I did not know that the rear bolts have cage nuts inside the cab, so I got those swapped out in an hour. That included cleaning up the original bolts and painting them since I didn't want to cut out the cage nuts to use the wrong bolts supplied in the kit

Re: Frankentruck
 

I took Frankentruck to a frame and body shop on Monday. The manager there had been doing bodywork and frame repairs since these trucks were new. He took a look at the truck before putting it up on the lift and could tell that there was an issue or two with the frame. Unfortunately, all his frame racks were full, so he won't be able to squeeze me in until some time next week hopefully.

Because of that, I don't want to cut into the cab yet, so the roof repair is on hold for now.

Still have time before I go back to grad school though, so now there's a much bigger hole in the door than there was before :lol:

Today's progress before a lunch break is going well so far

Re: Frankentruck
 

Was making good progress until the rain showed up. Got the inner piece cut out. Started welding up the outer skin. I'm trying to put as little heat as possible to decrease the amount of warpage. Hopefully it will turn out ok

Re: Frankentruck
 

Huge progress today. I now have 2 rust free doors on my truck. Still needs some finishing work, but I've got the outer and inner panels welded in and the flange hammered down. Still have more to do tomorrow though

Re: Frankentruck
 

Looks like you had better luck than I did with the door skins.

I'm glad your bottoms came with drains!

Re: Frankentruck
 

Honestly, not really. The new outer skin has a low area right in the middle of the door. After I wacked the flange over the inner panel, it looks like the low spot decreased some, but it's still noticeable. It is what it is at this point. When the day comes that I finally paint the truck, I'll be replacing the outer skin with the panel that goes from the bottom of the window frame to the bottom of the door. That will fix the lower section again and it will fix the damage near the door handle from when the truck was wrecked many, many years ago

The drains almost look factory, don't they? I did have to cut them, but it's good enough for government work.

My repairs are far from perfect, but at least I don't have a rusted out door anymore.

What's really going to be fun is attempting to patina match my repair with a couple rattle cans and some sand paper :eek:

Re: Frankentruck
 

Looking really good from here.

Re: Frankentruck
 

Thank you!
These repairs are good, ten-footer repairs

Re: Frankentruck
 

All the people I've met at car shows recently who have said to keep the truck as it is are now very disappointed in what I've done :lol:

The welding was a challenge, but in about 48 hours, I'll have something even more challenging to do in about 48 hours

Re: Frankentruck
 

I haven't met you yet.;)

But I forgive you:lol::lol::lol:




......

Re: Frankentruck
 

:lol: Thanks! :lol:

I've really ruined it now :devil:



In all seriousness, the repair has turned out ok, but there's some things not great about it that will have to be addressed when I go to actually paint the truck. Whether I paint it 5 years from now or 35 years from now is yet to be determined. I guess y'all will have to stay tuned in to see what happens!

Thank you all for checking in and following along on my driving restoration!

Re: Frankentruck
 

Ive been working my way through your thread, work looks good, I am not going to be too far behind you (hopefully) in the rust repair...

The Faux-tina paint job threads have some pretty good tips on blending the patina

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...446308&page=19

specifically...
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...&postcount=452

Re: Frankentruck
 

Thank you!

I have seen that post. Might have to try some of that if what I'm planning to do doesn't give me the exact look I'm going for

Re: Frankentruck
 

It's all in the details, right?

I acquired another ash tray in a group of parts I picked up a couple months ago. It has a knob with Ash Tray engraved into it. We had a small paint brush and some white paint at the house, so I used that. It was a water based paint, so I was able to wipe off the spots I got paint on that didn't need paint. Turned out great and looks great next to the heater control knobs

Re: Frankentruck
 

Didn't realise that the picture on the left was during... Quite disappointed that this was not the final iteration....

Nice detailing!

P. :D

Re: Frankentruck
 

I thought about leaving it like that for a second, but I like how it looks with all the letters painted. I only keep coins in there though, so maybe one day I'll have to make a custom knob that says coin tray :lol:

Re: Frankentruck
 

I spent a couple hours today on blending in the patina. I used Dark Hunter Green from Rustoleum. It's a pretty darn close match to the paint on the fender which I believe is original paint.

I think I could sand on it some more to bring out more of the maroon, but for now, I'm pretty pleased with it. After final sanding with 2000 grit, I used some rubbing compound to take out the sanding marks

Re: Frankentruck
 

I see your door bottom produced a bit of a crown like mine did too. Fun stuff, these aftermarket parts, eh?!

Re: Frankentruck
 

Loads of fun :lol:
It produced that crown in the middle, pulled the corners in too much, and left a dip in the center of the new section. I'll have to work on both doors some more at the bottom, but for now, I can leave it as is and still drive the truck. I'm headed back to school this week anyways, so there won't be much rust repair that I'll be able to work on for the next several months

Re: Frankentruck
 

Well I don't think I'll ever plan on doing this again. I think I'll be paying someone to install the windshield once I get to that point.

It was about a 5 hour battle for me, but I won and didn't break anything.

I really like the precision replacement parts seal. It fit perfectly without any trimming of the outer part. I did have to trim a bit off the lock strip, but that's ok.

I think the slider is what made it a little more difficult. The original window probably would have gone in real easy.

And yes, I did install the seal backwards so that the lock strip is on the inside. I think it's a cleaner look on the outside without the strip

Re: Frankentruck
 

Looks good to me too.

Re: Frankentruck
 

The passenger side axle seal started leaking on the trailer, so I got both swapped out this morning. Had to cone home for a job interview yesterday, so might as well fix it while I'm home. I did not realize that the Dana 44 was not a c-clip axle. That was a different experience for me.

Now time to take Frankentruck and the trailer to a car show!

Re: Frankentruck
 

Did you fix the front seal leak while you had the axles out?






,,.....///

Re: Frankentruck
 

Funny thing is that I fixed the front seal a couple months back. The axle seals weren't leaking at that moment, but the passenger side started leaking a week or so after that. The Dana 44 is not a c-clip axle and has a drain plug, so technically, I didn't need to pop the rear cover off again. Didn't realize it wasn't a c-clip until I got a closer look at it and saw the splines on the spider gears at the end of the axle. Re-used the cover gasket since I had replaced that back when I did the pinion seal and didn't tear it this morning.

Happy to report there's no leaks after getting back home today!

Re: Frankentruck
 

Drove up to Lake Lanier Olympic Park for a car show this afternoon after fixing the axle seals on the trailer. It was a good show, but it was HOT outside. Still had a good time with some of my C10 friends there though. Frankentruck and the trailer did great all afternoon even in the heat. The cooling system didn't get anywhere near the hot side of the gage even on the interstate.

My parents joined a little later in the afternoon, so we went to a good BBQ joint afterwards. They had a sweet stepside tailgate bench there. Makes me want to build one of my own

Re: Frankentruck
 

Thanks Cool:chevy:



,...///

Re: Frankentruck
 

Frankentruck is chilling at home, so I haven't been able to do any truck stuff this past week. I was browsing the ol Facebook Marketplace last night and found a 61 grille over in Macon. Quick trip this afternoon was made. I couldn't say no to it :lol:

Re: Frankentruck
 

I might be biased as a GMC guy but I really love the dual headlight front ends on these trucks.