Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

this weekend while tearing around town in the death rattle I noticed it was gushing coolant. I crawled under it and its from the lower hose. looks like the screw on the hose clip broke off. luckily I just bought a box of hose clamps because you never know when you need one. unluckily they are all to small. so hose clamp this week.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Idbeast tell your painter ill be right over with paint and will pay double, wow very nice

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

LOLOLOL, really, I was thinking the same thing! I can paint mine myself and I wouldn't think of it with a deal like that! Look at that truck, that sucker is BEAUTIFUL! DAMN I hope my truck looks half as good!

Brian

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Sooooo, what did I do today, not a friggin thing on the truck. I had a lazy day for sure. But I did get a few things on ebay to sell, and sold a few things on ebay and got them in the mail to help pay for the truck. All money I make selling this stuff goes into my truck account.

Now, getting back to the truck. My brother was over and just talking in the living room about life and childhood and my truck and his car (his 39 that he bought just a few years after I got my truck in the seventies) and he sparked me a little on the idea of keeping my bed instead of buying a new one. The whole truck has been stripped to bare metal and epoxy primed, was planning on buying a new bed because stripping this one and doing all the body work over would be MASSIVE. But simply sanding this lacquer paint and applying epoxy primer over it wouldn't be a big deal. I just hate to do it being the chain is only as strong as it's weakest link, lacquer primer that's like a friggin wire tie as the first chain link!

But I am giving it all another thought. I would love to have the original bed that I did 40 years ago and get-ur-done!

So I will be thinking.............................. The money for a new bed I could get my motor rebuilt for goodness sakes.

Brian

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

I'm with your brother. I'm keeping lots of ugly old parts on my truck just to retain the character, originality and provenance. Look up the "Ship of Theseus" Paradox: it basically asks how many parts of a '48 Chevy pickup can you replace before it is no longer even a '48 Chevy pickup at all?

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

I did this on my '55 sedan body in 1981 - which had had one lacquer repaint -- but I used lacquer primer (Ditzler DZL-72) instead of epoxy. The nose was stripped to bare metal and done "right". To this day I can't tell the difference.

I also painted over a single repaint on my '64 Vette in 1996. Still looks perfect today. Go for it and save the $$s!

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Thanks so much guys, I am thinking I am going to do this. It's a bummer I stripped the header panel, OMG that took me HOURS to ruin. It was straight and painted, could have been left alone, crap! That panel I will have to replace, I am not going to re-do that one.
But I am thinking you are right and I love hearing that Bob, thanks.

I just want to DRIVE IT!

Brian

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

so, you use the old bed and it's great for awhile and you get to drive the truck. a long time later (in dog years) the paint cracks or some other defect appears due to the laquer primer. well, now you have all the time in the world to get another bed all ready and painted while still driving around with the original bed on the truck.
just get'er done. drive the crap outta that old bed. lol.

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Here's my crappy paintover from 1981 (taken 2017):

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Still looks good from this distance.

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Sometimes you get lucky. I really wish I can find someone to paint my mistress out here in ABQ, NM. Of all the car events and guys i've talked to I keep rolling snake eyes. No lucky 7 yet.....

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Snow is finally off the roads so I took my panel truck for a brief spin around the block yesterday. Yeah, I know it's a dirty mess - I'm waiting to wash it until I get the windows and doors sealed.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Thanks, Mike. I was kidding about the "crappy" part. It won triple trophies at the CCC Northeast Regionals in 1982 and still looks about like it did then.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Sometimes you get lucky. I really wish I can find someone to paint my mistress out here in ABQ, NM. Of all the car events and guys i've talked to I keep rolling snake eyes. No lucky 7 yet.....

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

DeeJayNOLA, believe me I know! I literally had the truck in a different body shop to be painted and was told it would take a week and a half, and cost at least $5000, even though it was all ready paint! When I dropped off all the pieces, the production mgr told me he'd didn't think it would get done that soon as he wasn't even told about it. So I went a different route and 3 days later, had it home!

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

No truck work last night, had to shore up one of my fence posts. :(

Brian

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

So I fell asleep watching a basketball game tonight and didn't think I could make it out to the garage for my five minutes, but I did so and worked a half hour or so on making a measuring jig like tool for my rear axle housing so I can straighten it.

I also paid the bill for my dropped axle and all and it's on the way home! WHOOOOO HOOOO!

Brian

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That was FAST!

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

You know the real funky part of my dropped axle story? Back a number of years ago a co-worker bought an AD truck. A super nice driver and it had a dropped axle and five lugs. One day I asked him if I could drive it and it drove SOOOOOOOO nice, OMG it drove soooo nice. I came back to work convinced I didn't need my Camaro clipped frame that I had made years before (yeah this truck has been apart for 30 years) and I traded the camaro clipped frame for a stocker and I was going to do what I am doing now, done deal. Well a year or so later my co-worker fell into modding his truck and removed the dropped axle! He told me I could have it all for free. Front axle, tri-five rear end, the whole bit. Right on, one problem the MORON who had done his swap (it sucked by the way, he has had nothing but problems with it since) had a shop FULL of crap (hoarder, how he makes a dime is beyond me) and MY axles were buried at the back of the shop with cars a few inches part in front of them so I couldn't get to them!
I went to the shop for months over and over to get them and never could. Next thing you know about a year later another co-worker got an AD and the first guy gave HIM my frigging axles! WTH? He went and got them and brought them back to the shop. I ended up getting the rear axle (will be running it in my truck) and he took the dropped front one home.
This was a number years ago, 5-10 years. I have tried to get that dropped axle all this time, he has never used it. I offered him good money for it, no, his brother was going to use it. Well, he is out of work from an injury,has been a year or more and he comes by every once in a while and I ask him about it EVERY TIME. He needs to ask his brother he would say. I know he needs money bad and I have told him I would give him a bunch for it.
Last time I saw him I told him in a few days I would be sending mine, so find out if you can sell that one!

Well, a week after I sent my axle to SID's I get a text from him asking me if I want it! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR:devil:

Brian, sorry if I have posted this before.



.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Great story! Sucks that people often wait too long before letting stuff go to waste.

When I was in sales I would have stuff that would sit and not sale. I would mark it as SOLD online and people would come out of start calling wanting to know if it was still available. I have no clue how the human mind works, but its confusing.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

That co-worker who said I could have that axle, it was the 235 and tranny too, the whole drive train. He bought this SUPER nice driver, a really nice truck. After driving it a bit it had something happen, forget what, a blown head gasket or something like that. This all happened without him asking me a thing, his mechanic couldn't fix it, he was afraid to touch that old motor is the problem he was clueless about it. So he talked my co-worker into putting a v8 in it with the Mustang II front. Which isn't a bad thing, but he was CLUELESS about this stuff too, thinking he was some master hotrodder or something and my co-worker had nothing but trouble with it. It went back over and over with steering problems and over heating problems and brake problems, geeeez.

Brian

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

ROFL!

I once tried to buy a Model A pickup. The owner wouldn't sell. For two years I called him every couple of months - no sale. So finally I gave up and stopped calling him. After about six months HE calls ME sounding irritated and says, "Are you coming to get this Model A or not?"

I was there that afternoon.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Installed my visors today. I'm taking this 5-minute thing literally!

I had an epiphany yesterday: I kept wondering why I didn't like my wheels. Finally realized that it was actually the trim rings I didn't like. I removed the beauty rings, big improvement. Even my cat approves:

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Today has been a productive day. I changed oil, checked all the fluids and every inch of the undercarriage has been cleaned and detailed. I discovered a couple loose bolts so I grabbed my tools and checked every nut and bolt on the chassis. Tomorrow I’ll get it off the jack stands and continue detailing everything else.

#GSTAORBUST

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Right on Mark!

Brian

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

I felt like sending him a text back "F-YOU!" But instead it was simple "nope." Geeez, that ticks me off, I have always respected this guy and I will have a hard time with that now.

Brian

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Nice weather today, so I decided to take my panel for a drive. While warming up in the driveway it ran out of gas - gauge still showing 1/4 tank! Good thing I wasn't 10 miles down the road! My drive was canceled as I had to go to the next town (no gas stations in my town) for a can of non-ethanol premium. "Adjust sender float" added to my to-do list.

After that I cut a patch to fill the parking brake hole in my floor. I should have filled it when I was building the truck but I was too fixated on just getting it driving. It will be hidden under carpet so I'll just stick it on with some panel adhesive.

I'm really liking my truck's new murdered-out look, minus beauty rings. Looks more utilitarian like a panel truck should.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

It does look slick!

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MPC, looks great...Jim

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Yep, those panels are awesome!

Brian

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

MPC it does look better without the trim rings, "all business" if you know what I mean. Sometimes less is more...

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Thanks gentlemen.

Today I used my "5 minutes" to finish filling the old parking brake hole. I cut a metal patch, slathered the back in silicone, and mounted it over the floor opening using the original bolt holes. It has to be leak free since it's directly behind the front tire, but esthetics aren't that important because it will eventually be hidden under carpet.

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My five minutes were getting my frame out of the back yard ready to haul to the powder coaters tomorrow, WHOOOO HOOOO! I bolted the seat frame down and bolted and tied the inner fenders being there isn't enough room in the tow truck for them. Damn nice working for someone who would let me use the tow truck to do this. I have a pile of stuff, all the fender braces, rad support and on and on, hope it doesn't cost too much.

Brian

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Sure is nice having an employer that lets you take off in the middle of the day with the shop tow truck to bring your frame to the powder coater. :D

Got out to the garage tonight to round up the hubs and start on those. That's about all I need when the frame comes back to make a rolling chassis!

Brian

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Today I began perhaps the most universally dreaded task of AD truck restoration, installing new window channels. It's especially hard on my truck because it has '52 doors, requiring the removal of the vent window.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

My 1 minute: I got an email from my friend and upholsterer that my windlace that goes around the headliner is ready and that she's delivering it Friday! I'll now be able to put the headliner in.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Got out there for five minutes and worked more on cleaning up my front hubs. I have to get new studs today at the parts store and order the bearings.

Brian

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Stopped and got my front wheel studs and got out to the garage to trial fit one to be sure it was right, it was, done deal. I am rung out from today, going to crash on the couch with the sweetie.

Brian

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

My 5 minutes was just that today. I cleaned up the plastic surrounds that go around the bottoms of the bucket seats. 8 pieces. They're ready to upholster now.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Got my axle back from Sid's WHOOO HOOOOO!

Brian