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Looking good Scot! :thumbs: All that attention to detail that you seem to specialize in will no doubt result in a truly "well built" ride.

Keep those build photos and "how to" posts coming. We are all benefitting from your hard work!

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I'm hoping my buddy doesn't jump the gun on the SBW-to-BBW install to speed things up (make room in his shop). I re-arranged my work schedule to be out there every Friday from noon to 6pm to knock out as much as I can solo.

Thanks you again for your assistance. It's guys like you that make this place a better/safer community!

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I got the template finished up for the reinforcement plates & transferred to some .1875" steel plate tonight. Tomorrow I'll drill pilot holes in one plate (for the bolts) & use it as my 'guide' for drilling the bolt holes in the frame rails. I took a pic but my cell doesn't really focus on the smaller stuff so I deleted it.

I did get a pic from my buddy @ the body shop that I wasn't expecting . . ....

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Well, they were slow @ the shop. We planned to work on the truck on Fridays, but they're kind of diggin my project so the sheet-metal/body guy got started on the rear window conversion today.

In a very short time, he had the small window interior spot welds drilled out & removed the skin. It looks pretty decent under that inner panel (alot better than the donor big window cab was anyway).

We've had various discussions on how to positively attach the big window interior panel w/o burning the paint on the back of the cab. The solution was to cut the lowest portion of the small window panel where it makes the 90deg transition behind the gas tank. We'll bend this lip up slightly & use this portion of material as the 'flange' to attach the big window panel to near the bottom. The original spot welds (under the paint) remain untouched. We'll simply spot weld the panel where the cab wall recesses (every other recess, just like the factory did). By doing it this way, there is a .500" gap between the flange & the cab wall (because of the recesses in the rear cab wall). That gap will keep the heat away from the paint :) . The door opening pinch flange will get spot welded; the upper seam will get panel adhesive.

The big window skin fits very tight.... it had to be pried out when verifying possibilities. A bunch of clamps were used to make sure alignment was spot on . . .... Everything looks good so far!

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That was the day shift.... now comes the night shift.

I finished up the reinforcement plates for the Dropmember R&P notches. These are pretty basic.... just some .1875" plates that mimic the frame rail & notch area. There will be one on each side of the rail 'sandwiching' the vertical portion of the frame rail.

I loosely installed the pass side plates to give an idea of what I'm doing. I'll drill the holes out tomorrow & install them w/some GRADE-8 hardware. As mentioned previously, this did require reshaping some of the vertical portion of the pass side rail so that everything was as flat as possible.

While it's still not bullet-proof, it's stronger than w/no reinforcements (whether they're necessary or not). Also, if you look closely @ the 2nd pic, you'll notice there's no longer the 'curled' portion of frame where the pass side rail transitions from vertical to horizontal @ the top of the rail....

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Awesome progress. I really want to see this one.

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Looking Good, Scoti!!

I hope to get back to mine soon. Baseball season and school are done in 2 weeks so that means I can change my work schedule to go in earlier and get home earlier...YEAH...

I hope to get to see this one someday soon..

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You are making great progress Scott! I can't wait to see it done and cruising the highways!!

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Thanks guys. I appreciate the positive vibe!

A little more progress. My buddy questioned whether it was worth the effort to change a small window to a big window. I sent him today's pic & he said it was definitely worth the effort involved.

I picked up the hardware needed & finished up the reinforcement plate for the R&P notches....

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Scot I love the BBW conversion. It makes these trucks look sooo much better. (Sorry sbw lovers, just my opinion).

I gotta tell ya I'm not too keen on the bolt on version of the bracing. After all the effort put in details to the C section to clean it up, this doesn't follow suit.

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What's missing from the pic is the PB-DM bolt-on upper bag mounts (they help the plates not 'stand-out' so much).

The notches were already welded in. I didn't want to cut them out, weld extra plate inside/out on the rails, & re-weld the c-notches back in. This was effectively the same structurally w/o starting over. Hind-sight what it is, on the next one, I'll weld the notches in after gusseting the rails.

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I understand your reasoning for not wanting to remove the notch, but couldn't you just plug weld inside and out? It seems to me if you plug welded the holes, and ran a bead along the perimeter of the plate it might even be stronger.

I don't know why I question this, as I have little doubt that you have analyzed this in depth...;)

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The plug/perimeter welds were my original intent. I cut the same section of the 'extra' frame for the task & even planned to wrap it over the top vertical to horizontal bend. Once it was in place next to the upper bag mount, it just didn't 'look' right. I kept visualizing different approaches but didn't feel any were better.

Sooooo.... An executive decision was made to make a decision. The bolt-on plates allow me to move forward w/a reinforced frame section. If I don't care for the final appearance when the chassis has color & is assembled, I can make changes @ that time.

Thanks for the insight. As always, I do repsect your opinion & share the concerns.

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Ok, one last thought before I let it go. I'm sure you considered bringing the inside plate out to the edge and boxing that section? Would that have given the additional strength your looking for with out the need for the plate on the out side of the rails?

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I considered that before learning the boxed section doesn't have a significant impact in strength. Knowing that, I needed the exterior plate as well & once that was added to the mix, I didn't like the 'end product' I would get.

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just found your thread, truck is looking great. you will love the bbw, really brightens up the inside and eliminates alot of blind spots. really impressed by the metal work, great job.

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:agree:

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It's definitely brighter in the cab w/the big window vs. the small. Hopefully there will be some fresh color on the interior tin real soon.

I've been cleaning up the frame rails & re-working some previous welds that I wasn't 100% happy with. I kind of slacked when doing the clean-up grinding previously & was going to leave it as is because it was on the top edge of the framerail (not visible/under the cab). I decided to clean these areas up..... just because that's how I tick :lol: .

Tomorrow is more grinding and/or surface rust removal. I need to get the motor/trans up to the shop for a test fit to set the trans c.member in place.

The more I do, the more I seem to find to do.....

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get busy bro.... :lol:

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You going back with the original interior color, or making a change.

Yes, that is how you tic.....:)

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Subtle color change. It's kind of a 'taupe' (greyish-tan) color.

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Cool. I like the factory fawn, taupe or what ever it's called. Are you planning on painting the entire interior? A nice fresh restored look inside would look great.

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I agree the factory fawn color would be spot on and be really cool with the patina exterior...

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The 'fawn' color has more metallic to it vs. what I'm going with. If you've sat in a late model Dodge Ram since 02, it's their 'taupe' that I'm basing mine off of (tan that looks slightly grey depending upon the colors it's placed against).

I would like to go OE color, but I haven't cared the re-pop 'fawn' material for the seats as it appears to gold for my taste. I felt the taupe choice was close in 'spirit' of a 60's utility truck vibe....

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That is my same issue with the fawn color at this point. I will continue to look for a vinyl that is a good match before I change my direction...