Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

Thanks for the compliments! I've been working on my truck almost everyday since right after christmas, I will try to post pics of what I've done. One thing that may interest some of you is what I did with my wipers. I'll try to explain it so it makes sense. I'm not too good at writing! I used the steering column out of an older Astro van, which has the wiper switch on the column. I took the electric wiper motor out of the same van. As you know, the old vacuum wipers moved in opposite directions and the motor goes back and forth. The electric motor only goes around in one direction. What I did to solve the problem is I moved the passenger wiper mount closer to the center of the windshield so that both wipers move together in the same direction. I made the wiper linkage out of some of the old parts and some of the astro van parts. If anybody is interested i can give more details. Hope this makes sense! I have done this same wiper system on at least three other trucks I've built and it works well. Doing it this way gives me a reliable electric system with intermitent wipers for almost free. I'll post some pics that hopefully will help see what i did

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

Attachment 1867673 Here you can see the original hole the wiper arm was mounted in. The new hole closer to the centre of the windshield is where I mounted it

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

Attachment 1867674 A little hard to see but this is the electric motor and linkage set up I made

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

Impressive work on the dash install. This is a great idea!

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

Is that a 5 cubic foot firewall?

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

99 to life, I'm keeping my original dash just in case i need it down the road. It is in rough shape, part of the reason i cut it out and replaced it, but you never know when you may need a piece of it! Whitedog, are you asking if the firewall started life as a wheelbarrow? It did not, I made the firewall out of a sheet of 18 ga. steel

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

Attachment 1868958
I fixed the rust on my driver side door today. This is what i started with.
Attachment 1868963
Here i have the rusted inner and outer skins cut
Attachment 1868965
I made the inner section and tacked it in

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

Attachment 1868973
I bought a patch panel for the outer skin and was pleased with how well it fit. Way easier and quicker than making this patch!
Attachment 1868975
All welded in, ready for filler
Attachment 1868976
By the end of the day the door was finished, ready for primer

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

Nice repair!....where'd you get your repair pieces?....

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

Nice work...Jim

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

Looking good. How did you strip the door down to bare metal?

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

Made some progress this weekend, finally looks like I'm getting somewhere! I got all the welding and bodywork done on the cab so I painted the inside of the cab with POR 15. I love this stuff!
Attachment 1869388
Looks a lot better with a coat of paint!
[ATTACH]1869391[/ATTACH
[ATTACH]1869390[/ATTACH

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

Attachment 1869395
There was a discussion on here recently about POR 15 lids welding themselves on after you had opened the can. I had last used mine a few months ago and the lid opened easily and the paint was still liquid. I put a piece of plastic over the opening, then put the lid on tight. Works for me!

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

I buy my panels from a local supplier, not sure where he gets his parts

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

I sandblasted the inside of the door and all the edges and window frame. The outer door skin I stripped using 80 grit on a orbital sander and a wire wheel. I find blasting the outer skin ALWAYS causes warpage, no matter how careful you are!

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

nice work. second that plastic on the lid trick.

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

definitely skills to pay the bills, I am following along hoping to see/learn how you mount the radiator support to the Camaro subframe, I recently bought a '54 and learned last night that the front clip is just resting on the subframe, yikes

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

I had mixed results with their products. Do you use their clean and prep products first as well?

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

Gregski, I will try to remember to post a pic of my rad cradle mount. As far as the por 15, I didnt use their prep products inside the cab. I gave the whole interior, except the roof skin, a light sandblast, then applied the por 15. The bottom of roof skin was wire wheeled. Everything painted with the por 15 will be covered by carpet or interior panels. I have been painting interiors like this for many years with good results. If you use por 15 on any surface that is exposed to sunlight, it will not last long before it starts fading and peeling, in my experience

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

I am building an AD firewall from scratch, a lot of work. Very nice job

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

Thanks! post some pics of your firewall

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

... the winter is coming ... and with it more updates???

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

I have actually been working on my truck lately! I have been block sanding and more block sanding!! I have not posted pics because it really doesnt look much different before and after. If my day goes as planned I should have the cab and doors in final primer today!

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

So I have been working on my truck a fair bit in the last few months. Nothing worth posting as I have been doing mostly bodywork and blocksanding and blocksanding some more! I do have most of my interior painted and the outside of the cab and doors are ready for paint. My frame is painted with all new front suspension parts installed, Motor and trans are in for the final time I hope! With all the things happening in the world right now the two trips I was planning on taking in the next month were cancelled so it looks like i can lock myself in my shop and work on my truck for the next few weeks!!! I dont have a box for my truck and my rear frame mods were such that a stock box wouldn't fit anyway so I'm building a box from scratch. I'm not very good at remembering to take pics as i go, but I will try to document my box build if anyone is interested. I had all my panels bent up at a local fab shop as per my crude drawings. Today i started putting the pieces together. This pic is of the cross members I had bent up being put in place

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

This is a close up pic of the crossmember

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

Both boxsides held in place to see how everything fits together. I got most of it figured out today, I'll start welding it together tomorrow. I had all the panels made out of cold rolled 14ga. material

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

Nice, can't wait to see it done. What they charge you to do the besides?

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

I am anxious to see your bed come together. I've worked on mine long enough that I'm considering building a new one. I would like to see your drawings for the bed, and any advice for someone considering the process. I commented on your firewall awhile back and will send you a picture of mine,as requested, when it's welded in. I have held off the install to finish other things before I add to the restriction. Your project pictures are a big help in a lot of ways. How difficult was the dash? I really like the TF dash.

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

I’ve been fitting and cutting my box panels to suit my liking. I usually start with a basic plan, then make changes on the fly. This is how my front bed panel ended up looking. I’ve built a few boxes over the years and I like if the panels follow the curvature of the cab

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

nice touch, very cool

Thanks for sharing

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

if I were doing it again I might grab a floor pan from a newer truck, so I have a steel corrugated floor, then build my own sides and cross rails like you have done. I would also use a tailgate from a newer truck or fab something with a new style latch and trunions. something easy to open/close and remove. the bent panels are a great idea and then simply weld on the round tubing at the top, with the mandrel bent end corners. if you wanted really fancy you could bead roll the flat upright parts for strength and looks, as long as it isn't too thick. 16 ga is usually the max for a bead roller. you would also need to find a bead roller with a deep throat. some steel trailer fenders work well for mini tubs and they are usually 16 ga.

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

Thanks. I honestly dont remember what I was charged for the cutting and bending of the box panels because it was almost a year ago since I had them made. Usually the shop I deal with doesn't charge much for the labour if I buy the steel from them

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

Today I welded a piece of pipe on the top edge of the boxsides. I decided to go with a flat top boxside like the 54-55 trucks had because I want to have a tonneau cover and this makes it much easier to seal out water than on the angled boxside. I ground a groove in the pipe so that the boxside material would sit flush for welding. Hope the pic will help with my explanation!!

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

This pic shows how the two pieces sit nice and flush for welding

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

I was concerned about weld shrinkage as I was only welding on one side of the pipe so I made many small welds, waiting for the part to cool off between welds. Its hard to not just weld the whole length at once but my patience paid off! There was next to no warpage when i was done

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

I hope you can see how straight the pipe is after welding and grinding the welds. I was happy with the results even though I spent most of the day just welding the pipes on both boxsides! Good thing I'm not charging myself much per hour!!

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

It is starting to look like a truck! Its been a long time since this truck was anything other than a pile of parts!

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

If you have basic fab skills and tools, building a box is not that hard. I'm lucky in that I live in a small town with several metal shops that will do my cutting and bending for me quickly, for a fair price. I dont really have any drawings and my box is not the same as a stock box so my measurements wont help you much. I hope you can get some ideas on how to build your own from my pics. The dash was not that difficult to install, just took a bit of time! I made it removable because I hate working upside down under a dashboard to install heater, wipers, wiring, etc. With the dash removed those tasks become easy. I plan to paint the lower section of the dash the same color as my wheels. My dakota digital guages should be here in a few days!

Re: Got it one piece at a time... 51 chev
 

Do you also plan to do mini tubes on the box sides?