Well its now into the summer months and I have been steady picking at items that need to be done. Copying and pasting the list from above and also adding a few other things (They are NEVER done!)
To do:
Seal fuel tank sending unit
Install rear bumper
Replace core support
Fix front running lights
New wing windows
Valve cover gaskets
Install radio
Sand and paint inside of cab
Replace sheet metal patches
Rockers
Fenders
Cab corners
Replace steps
Patch rear fenders
As for what I have been doing. Well Lets see..... I ran into an issue that scared me enough to force me into replacing the rear wheel cylinders (yes the only part of the brake system I never touched).
Long story short the right rear was locking up early and then began to hang up as well.
SO I replaced those a few weeks ago.
Some friends of mine own a Pinup photo business and asked if they could use my truck.... Then....my wife! Hahaha... So around August or so both my truck and my wife will be in the Twisted Ink tattoo magazine! Thatll be pretty rad! But that forced me to finish up getting rid of that damn yellow paint on the interior. I still had yet to paint the inside of the doors. While I had the doors apart I insulated the removable panel. Fortunately that is pretty well behind me though I have the roof and back wall of the cab to still paint.
On that note I actually may hold of painting the back section as I recently acquired a BIG BACK WINDOW cab and snatched the interior sheet metal, glass, and seal!
I may be swapping that in soon so......
I got the cab in a kind of trade really. The guy selling was eager to sell it and had it on CL for several months. It had not title and had a good amount of rust. My buddy needed the roof, and I wanted that BB Window badly! So a bit of trade in future fabrication work (namely the roof replacement) was struck and the cab was had for $150.00
More recently, I have been prepping for a show I have wanted to go to for quite some time. Now that I trust the truck to make the haul, Ill be heading to Winston Salem NC for the "Heavy Rebel Weekender" show over the 4th of July weekend with the family.
Somebodies vid from last year:
http://www.heavyrebel.net/
I have yet to get my radio installed, but have been slowly gathering parts for the entire system. I wanted a whole system as I like my music and play it loud pretty typically. I didnt however want to fill the truck with huge stuff and take away from the clean look I have going in the cab.
The components are as follows for the system: (nothing special actually)
Factory AM radio (heavily modified) However looking completely stock!
* AM/FM tuner
*Bluetooth
*4 ch output @ 50watts per channel
*Pre-amp outputs
4" Pioneer full range speakers
8" Pyle Subwoofer that is self-contained with amplifier. Its very low profile for "under seat installation"
I didnt want to be able to see the speakers very easily so I fabbed up a few brackets to screw to the bottom of the dash at either side. A few speaker baffles (foam housings) to help contain and direct the sound worked well in my bench tests.
I wanted to mount the sub under the cent of the seat, but the linkage for the seat latch was too low and would have interfered. As was the case under the passenger side. Needless to say it ended up under the drivers side and I am actually happy with it. I can reach both ends of the amp by just moving the seat forward or backward.
I didnt want the ugly bright red power wire showing under the hood, so I installed split loom over it and routed it along the inner fender. As for all the cables from the radio to the amp, I zip tied them together and installed some cloth loom over the entire bundle to keep them safe and kept together. This is of course under the carpet.
When the whole system is together it should sound pretty damn nice. (it sounded pretty good on my bench with being under powered and faulting out because it didnt get enough amperage from the 12v battery charger I had it hooked to! HAHAHA
Beyond that I did install an 1 1/4" front sway bar and LOVE that addition!
I wasnt happy with the installation instructions and how everyone was mounting them.
Inherent issues seemed to include the "hit or miss" problem with steering linkage interference. After a bit of looking I decided to create some gusseted mounting tabs for the end links on the lower control arms. With the truck on the ramps and sitting at "full squat" I clamped the sway bar to the frame and realized it would work much better with the tabs and stay well out of the steering. Here is what I came up with. (Yes I plan to flip the end link bolts over for a bit more clearance)
So thats the latest! Ill get back here for another entry after the show next weekend!!!!!! Pics galore from the show I hope!