What I've been working on....
 

Well, Haven't posted here in a long time.

Here's what I've been up to :
Making a whole new truck out of mine!

Starting with a One-off One-piece tilt-forward front end for the truck.
Here's a few pics of the process so far:(pics gone for now)
pouring foam to get shape
figuring what to do with the grill......
filling the holes with clay and body filler
working the body filler to get shape
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...l/MVC-138F.jpg
starting to get somewhere.......... about time..........


http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...spotputty1.jpg
smoothing it out with spot putty and block sanding


see next post....

Ok, now I'm here
 

this is where I'm at now, all block sanded, and painted. It's been blocked again since these pics were taken, so it looks alot smoother now. Now it will get waxed, then I will make a mold of it, so I can cast a one-piece front end.

anyways, just a few shots


http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...ntedatlast.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...tedatlast5.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...edatlast15.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...edatlast25.jpg


Lemme know what you think.

|M|


weird it *****'s out CHEVY for chevy addict. Hmmm??

Looks like a lot of work. I'm not sure where you are heading though. The front is is different, but might be alright when you get it done. The hood thing has me scratching my head. :confused:

Honestly.......I think you wasted a bunch of time. But....if that's your thing then hey.....I hope everything turns out they way you want.

Looks like you spent alot of time in this project. What are your plans for the rear? Anything? The front is so big now that it makes the rear and sides look really funny...Any thoughts?

Just curious, how many gallons of bondo have you used?

A hood shouldn't look like a roof. The rest, well.............., I'm not real sure just yet, but it could be OK with the right grill, etc. But that hood kills it all IMO. You asked.

Myself, I like the traditional look of that bodystyle. BUT... I have to give you a s4itload of credit for all of the time & work you have invested in it so far. I dont really care for hte hood but the front turned out clean. If I were you Id at least finish all the hard work you started & sell it if you decide not to use it. It would be better than giving up now. Better yet, Id do what YOU want to do, not what we want. Good work for sure...corn

have you made anymore progress on it?

Yeah, I have been away for a while. But I tell ya, vacations are never long enough!!
well, I've made a bit of progress, I got the front end all sealed, and waxed and waxed and waxed. The type of mold I'm making requires a wax release, and not any kind of car wax! You have to use a special parting wax, that will allow the FGR/gelcoat to pop right off. Once It was sealed, I waxed and waxed and waxed some more! IT's gotten it's coat of PVA, now just ready to put the shims on and make the mold. It will be the first time I will use a Gelcoat gun( although I have used a chopper gun), but I have laid up glass many times.
Once the mold is made, I am going to hand fab at least 2 different grilles for the truck. The more I look at it the more Ideas I get for the grill. I'll rough a few of them, and the one that looks right will be cleaned up real nice, and chromed. It will be one of very very few visible chrome pieces on the finished truck.
I am anticapating unseen problems of course, but will overcome them all!

HAHAHA!

Um, as for the rear, I have a few wild thoughts up my sleeves. First I am going to fab up some wheel wells out of Stainless Steel, and then I will put all new bed wood in the bed. Then at least I can use the truck again, getting materials, etc. then the fun starts.

Once I'm done with that, I will get into my radical rear stretch. I'm going to cut the bedsides, heat and stretch/shrink them in what I think are the right spots, then cut some sheet to fill in the areas. It will be a challenge with the TIG welder, to get it right without warping, but hey, I need the practice! Even if I have to do it a few times, I'll do it till it's right.Basically I will be widening it in two ways, one I will make the factory bed 'flare' much more pronounced, and two, I will make the whole bedside about 2" wider on each side. I anticipate running 20"s, as it sits now, with 12" wide wheel wells, I'll be able to get 14"s under there without even coming close to rubbing. Not sure exactly what rubber I'll be running, but ya know it'll be meaty!

I already have my Gas tank moved under the bed, and set up the filler in a reminscent way of the old bel-airs. I fill it through the rear brake lens. I tell ya, welding that damn filler neck into the tight shape to bend through the bed corner sure seemed to take forever! I also had to cut and modify the rear bed corner support, and weld in a few new gussets to make it strong as new. But I got it right, and was well worth the time.

After that, I still have a few more ideas, but I'm keeping them a secret!!!! and oddly enough it does not include a radially chopped top(maybe just a few inches!) but it will have a more than a few things done to the cab. It'll all be in the tiny little details.

OH, There is a reason why the hood is so tall, that's for one of the secrets!
|M|

Re: What I've been working on....
 

well everyone, I've had the mold done for some time, and got the front end back about a month or two ago.

I had to make some supports for the radiator support, and also had to cut the front of the frame horns so I could mount the front end.

I made the hinges out of 1/2 i.d. pipe and 2"x2" angle(1/4" thick).
cut weld grind weld cut weld cut grind weld, etc. hahahaha

I cut the front 3" off my frame, so I can mount my forward tilt front-end.

I welded 2"x2" 1/4" thick angle in the frame, and radiused the top so the hinge will sit nicely.
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...s/IMG_8339.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...s/IMG_8342.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...s/IMG_8345.jpg



OK for driveway work....
.. I suppose.


|M|






Here's a pic of the mold off the truck, with the original model still on it.
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...l/MVC-009F.jpg

and here's a pic of the front actually mounted.
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...l/IMG_4504.jpg

I still have to clean up my grill and get it chromed, and also still have to install some type of latching mech. (right now it's got 2 hidden pins, just under the raised cowl)






after that, it's paint, and then I'll get started on making the bed just as wild....

|M|

Re: What I've been working on....
 

To Hell with stock!! Anybody can restore a truck, it takes a real man to cut one up!

Don't listen to the guys that are too scared to do anything that hasn't been done a hundred times. That grill and the whole front end is amazing. I can't even wrap my mind around all that you've done. Keep going! I would advise against the loan but keep it up. At any show you go to, so many people are going to walk past all the other guys trucks to stare at yours!

I had an idea a while ago to 'glass in wheel arches off a new Colorado because they have that old '60's abstract look to them and I got nothing but panned on here. Your skill and determination are an inspiration to me! I am going to do something wild to the front and rear end of mine.

Thanks!

Re: What I've been working on....
 

Can't wait to see how it turns out. Imagination & determination at work. Keep on truckin Bro:metal:

Re: What I've been working on....
 

Is the end result whats in your avatar

Re: What I've been working on....
 

Wow... this one came back from the dead. :D

Re: What I've been working on....
 

and still has my interest...............

Re: What I've been working on....
 

Tell you what ,,I have owned some not so pretty cars and trucks in my time and one thing that really helps show off what you got is wheels and tires and lowered down in your case with this remodel . I for one think that it will look pretty good when you get it finsihed painted and good set of wheels and tires on it.. In fact I bet it will make it to a truck magazine.. Hows that for insperation building ?
As for what you should do about your truck project ,,if you have to put it on hold until you can spend more time and money on it and save the house then do it as this economy is not the time to take on anything over your head right now..
How about a 20 foot away picture of the truck to compare with when you get it done for all of us to see ?

Re: What I've been working on....
 

No kidding, this is a three year old thread.

Re: What I've been working on....
 

wow, 3 years since last post, 4 year old post though!!! Hard luck, you must have gone through pages and pages of old GD posts.
I don't even know why it's in GD, I think I started it in 67-72 trucks section, but too long ago to know for sure!
I'm guessing this is what happens when the 'today's new post' search feature is disabled :haha:

Thanks for the comments though. I didn't and wouldn't take a loan, just joking around.
Let see, I got it mounted, and dd drove it for about a while and then started a full rebuild. Right now, it's still stripped to the frame. I had some fun with it, got alot of wild looks with some crazy chalk drawings... haha

I am going to re-do a few things on the front when it goes back together, I'll graft in my radiused wheel arches, and address the curves around the cowl, I don't like the fit at all. I also want to redo the area around the headlights, and make it a solid bumper. When I made it I'd never seen a split bumper on a truck, thought it was cool. after seeing it from all kinds of angles, I want to go to a smoother straight bumper/roll pan look.

here's build thread I started a long time back... but anyways, there's some pics of the front mounted up, and some chalk on it. link

but thanks for the comments etc. oh yeah my avatar is the front fresh out of the mold.

go papa, here's a few 20'ers
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...h_IMG_4928.jpghttp://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...h_IMG_3833.jpg (click for bigger pic)
























































Love or Hate the front is the usual reaction, no-where in between really.
But I promise the back won't look like this one though:
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...h_IMG_7518.jpghttp://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...h_IMG_7519.jpg

Re: What I've been working on....
 

so what was the "surprise" under the hood? LOL..

Re: What I've been working on....
 

oh, the surprise/secret was a marine BB with roots type blower pulled from a buddies boat(he smashed the boat into a pier and wasn't worth fixin to him) I had the set-up sitting on a pallet in my garage for years, unfortunately ended up selling it in 2007 to take some college classes, so right now it's back to the 307 that came out of it, or something else. I'll prolly B&B the block and run tunnel ram intake or something if I go with the 307, I'll figure all that out when the time comes. I got major body work to finish first though...:waah:

Re: What I've been working on....
 

wow....

Re: What I've been working on....
 

Looks like some wild movie truck. Pickup version of 'The Car!'

Re: What I've been working on....
 

Any more updates?