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

Congrats...Jim

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

You probably got nothing done at work, just spent the whole day staring out at your cool truck!

In case it's not obvious, my truck is an econo-rod. I like my trucks to be trucks - unadorned and utilitarian, just as they were originally intended. Well that, and I'm a cheapskate too ;-) In that vein, I made some interior door pulls today out of an old leather belt. They work great and they match the rest of the interior. I'll probably replace the bolts with something more decorative eventually.

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

Thanks Oldman3 and MiraclePieCo. I did go out 1/2 dozen times just to look at it!!!

MiraclePieCo, I envy how your Panel is coming out without spending the large dollars! I look at how much mine has cost and then remind myself that mine is the last thing on my bucket list and that I built it for me with every modern convenience that I could stuff in it, there are not very many people that have the funds to do what I did, and now I don't either!!!!

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

Thanks man. I understand it's your dream truck. Enjoy it to the fullest!

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

That had to make for a long day, just waiting for the day to end so you could drive it home.

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

I got another part bolted on the bed, got the body work done on one of the rear fenders and the other side much closer. Then came home and primed the tail gate hinges.

Brian

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

I drove it. After 2.5 years of working on it, it is street legal and I drove it on public streets with other cars. Sat for 28 years in my garage, worked on it for the next 2.5 years with a frame off, and now I can drive it. Still needs the interior done and new rims, but I drove it. Tomorrow off to the alignment shop, and I will drive it there as well. Dang, its my truck again!:metal:

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

Whoo-Hoo! Looks awesome! great to see it on the road again! Happy driving

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

Love the ice blue and the Cragars...and everything else! What size wheels/tires do you have on there?

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

Right on John! I read a story in a Rod Action magazine back in the seventies about driving the car you built for the first time and how all the busted knuckles and work is forgotten, isn't that the truth! What a day, how cool is that!

Brian

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

Big congrats on a job well done, looks great...Jim

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

Mdpaulson1, Thanks.

Dansportgarage, Thanks. I borrowed the color from Toyota, I think I wear it better. Those aren’t Cragars they are Cal Crome as a kid I had to buy knock offs. The rear are 15x10 the front are 15x6. I narrowed the rear to 56” because when I dropped the truck everything rubbed, also I put on some 4” tubs.

Martinsr, yep this was my High School truck I had a 425 Olds/turbo 400 in it. After busting up a couple of rear ends, blowing the transmissions, and of course the engine I decided the SBC was a better choice since the truck was my daily driver and I need to get to work, daily. So now that it is back on the road it’s way cool.:metal:

Oldman3, Thanks.

There are a lot of REALLY nice trucks on this site, great information, lots of inspiration.

John

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

I really like the straps and the armrests are useless anyway. I might have to add some straps to mine.

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

Got five minutes in on my rear fender, that's it, done, I am beat.

Brian

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

Hey that's 5 minutes closer to the end :)

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

That's an awesome idea!

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

Got the tailgate on the bed, it's ready to put on the truck, if I can get that rear fender done tomorrow so I can get it in primer! Cross your fingers for me guys, I have GOT to get this bed on the truck next week at the latest!

Brian

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

Fingers crossed...Jim

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

Thanks Jim

Brian

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

got back on my vintage air. its completely installed and wired. I have two issue. issue 1) I didn't have enough of the ducting to hook up all of the vents. I left the far side vent (right by passenger door) unhooked. I figured I want all the air on my side. I will get another small section of the ducting and hook that up later. its really a non issue. issue 2) I was planning to run the compressor off its own belt. I have a two row pulley so why not? i measured and went to the parts store got my belt and installed it. it was a little short. it would work but i would prefer it be longer. the real issue though was that a bolt on the alternator bracket is in the way. its a small button head bolt. i decided to avoid this belt shredding bolt i would just run all of my stuff off the one belt. well a 59 inch belt isn't common. i can special order it. the other option is to remove the alternator bracket and counter sink the bolt. i have a drill press. im leaning more toward this for two reasons. if the 59 inch belt is hard to find what happens when it breaks and im not close to home? i leave the truck on the side of the road for two days while they order it unless its a weekend then its longer. the shorter belt can be had anywhere. reason two is that im afraid im going to have a lot of belt slip with a belt that long and no belt tensioner. so i guess its going to have to be counter sunk. really isn't that much work i just didn't want to do extra work. i can start the evacuation while i work on the bracket i guess. vintage air says you have to evacuate the system for 45 minutes and you are really supposed to let the system sit under vacuum for an hour before you charge it. so i can have all of that happening while i modify the bracket. sounds like a plan.

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

What a cool day to finally drive that nice truck. Sure looks great as is. what wheels/tires are you changing to? Like those cragars

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

My56chevytruck,Thank you.
Those rims are a Cragar knock offs by Cal Chrome, back in 1976 I didn’t have the money for the real deal.
I want to keep to the 15” wheel size. When I started the build I was thinking chrome reverse and moon caps, old school. Then I was thinking getting the existing re-chromed but I can buy Cragars for that cost so I put Cragars on my list of choices. Then I started looking a US mag with dark centers. It’s all still up in the air. I tubed the truck and narrowed the rear end so I can go wider. Those are 15x10, with 295/50/15 on them. Fits real well, but hey if you can wider, why not. May end up 15x11 and some of those M/T on it. Tires and wheel will be the last thing sense those are all new rubber. Getting my AC hoses in and the interior is top of the list. Maybe some pin stripping.
If I go burn the tires off, that would move them up... good thing I put a line lock in it.:metal::metal:
John

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

I have postponed my retirement for 2 years so far to be able to do my truck the way I have been dreaming about for 40 years.

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

Got the fenders in polyester primer WHOOO HOOOOO!

Brian

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

They may not look different from the last photo but I got them blocked and primed in epoxy today, WHOO HOOOO! Ready to bolt the bed and fenders on to tow it to Idaho.

Brian

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

Looking good Brian!


I took tomorrow off from work and decided to take the Beast to her first car show...

Yesterday she got her first full body wash in preparation!


Jim W

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

Beautiful looking ride...Jim

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

Thanks!

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

I LOVE that color!

Brian

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

Thanks Brian!

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

with no inner or outer passenger fender I decided to drive the deathrattle to cars and coffee this morning. It was the first time I powered up the a/c unit. I found a couple of issues. the a/c condenser fan is supposed to be wired to the a/c switch so it comes on when I turn on the a/c. I wired it to the main 12v power by mistake. so it comes on when the battery is hooked up. have to fix that. second issue is that one of the hardlines interferes with the hood latch panel. its really slight and will be a quick fix. other than that its okay. I turned on the blower and moved it to all the settings. so far so good.

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

Cleaning it up a little before the Olds Club show tomorrow...

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

Knock 'em dead!

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

I worked on wiring the a/c condenser fan to come on when I turn on the a/c. my first thought was to wire it to the on switch power wire. would have been simple but not a good idea. I ended up wiring the relay to the compressor so that the fan comes on when the compressor turns on. I have it wired but I wont know if it works until I get the compressor to kick on. fingers crossed on that. I put a vacuum on it for a few minutes to see of it was leaking and it was. of course. I tighten all the fittings and tried again. same thing, decided a little uv leak detector was the best option. I added a tiny bit of Freon to help move the uv dye through the system and was really disappointed when my compressor didn't kick on. I then realized there isn't a belt on it. I will put a belt on it tomorrow and go from there. im close here. one of my old hoses has an old r12 fitting on it. luckily the adapter fitting are affordable. amazon says I will have it Tuesday.

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

When I first hauled my truck home a couple of years ago it was just pieced together so I had to run straps across the hood and doors to secure them during transport. This left scuff marks in the paint, so today I started going over the whole truck with polishing compound and a buffer to remove the marks. Drivers side is done. The orange rags on the outside mirrors are because I kept running into them.

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

MPC, looks good...Jim

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

Best Non Olds, which was the largest class by far...

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

Mark, congrats ...Jim

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

Yes, congrats Mark!

Jim W

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

got the belt on. I had to do some more fab work to get it but its on there and my condenser fan is wired correctly.