Donz '65 SWB Stepper Budget Build...

[TJ's Chevy]

Made installing that spring look Easy!
Motor sounds good!

[Blue666(2)]

Sir:

In post 1968, the tail gate looks like a patch panel was applied to the the top of the tail gate. Did you make the patch panel or do you have a vendor for this part?

Love your builds BTW.

[Ta2Don]

Originally Posted by TJ's Chevy

Made installing that spring look Easy!
Motor sounds good!

Thanx Brotha!!!

Originally Posted by Blue666(2)

Sir:

In post 1968, the tail gate looks like a patch panel was applied to the the top of the tail gate. Did you make the patch panel or do you have a vendor for this part?

Love your builds BTW.

Thanks for the kind words!!! the tailgate is all original, I just brought the bed liner paint up and over to the seam.

[Bomp]

Excellent progress. Motor sounds smooth.

[Ta2Don]

Thanx Bomp for attempting to help with the video link thingie...

You too TJ...

[Bomp]

Thought I'd give it a try.

-YouTube

Congrats Don. Excellent work.

[Palf70Step]

Excellent. Glad to see you back at it Don.

[TJ's Chevy]

How'd you do it Bomp? lol! It only works once in awhile for me.

[realvc]

Congrats. on the progress.
Looking and sounding real good.

[Ta2Don]

Going to try the Bomp trick to this video thing... If it works, I'll leave it here, If not, Poof It'll disappear...

-YouTube

If you see this post, it worked...

[Ta2Don]

Originally Posted by Bomp

Excellent progress. Motor sounds smooth.

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Excellent. Glad to see you back at it Don.

Originally Posted by TJ's Chevy

How'd you do it Bomp? lol! It only works once in awhile for me.

Originally Posted by realvc

Congrats. on the progress.
Looking and sounding real good.

Thanx Guyz!!!

Bomp is the King of Selfieez and this Video trick... Thanx Brother!!!

TJ, I am sending you a PM of the trick...

[bj383ss]

Engine looks good Don. Glad to see you get some truck time.

Bret

[Ta2Don]

Originally Posted by bj383ss

Engine looks good Don. Glad to see you get some truck time.

Bret

Thanx Bret... New house must be keeping you busy? New Job and life has had me sideways for awhile now, but the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter...

[Ta2Don]

Finally scored some serious truck time to help maintain sanity...

After string 10 days together without a day off, The new schedule came out with me having this Friday and Saturday off, then as icing on the cake, I also start off the new week with Sunday off as well... Yesterday started with tree trimming and weed whacking... Today was TRUCK TIME!!!

In the midst of truck time, I ran into town to fetch my beautiful bride's birthday gift... Gotta earn them thar points... I also dropped by the parts store to grab a new rag joint and Clutch Master and Slave cylinders...

After unloading the new sofa, aka bday gift, it was back to the truck...

earlier in the day I installed the pedal pads...
Untitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr
Untitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr

Pedals and sterring column were then installed...
Untitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr

With my son helping, we removed the hood, (bonnet, for my UK mates)
Untitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr

Then the front clip was removed to facilitate ease of working on the Clutch and Brake Hydraulics...
Untitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr

After installing the new rag joint, oops, no pic... I installed the Brake booster and master cylinder using Capt Fab's bracket that I purchased a couple of years back...
Untitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr

New Parts...
Untitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr

New Clutch master cylinder awaiting the pizza box template treatment...
Untitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr

Markings made, ready to be drilled, and the larger hole required some hand filing as I didn't have a bit large enough for the boss that goes through the firewall...
Untitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr

Mounted...
Untitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr

...and when I got to the interior side, I found this pre-punched hole in the firewall mat, that lined up perfectly with the master cylinder...
Untitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr

the master cylinder now resides behind that plug I removed, which is located betwixt me fingers... kinda hard to see in the photo...
Untitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr

After calling it a day before hopping on the riding mower, I shot this pic... the grille support never quite lined up right at the top with the fenders, so I will be readjusting that before the from clip goes back on...
Untitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr

Here's where I ask for any advice on making those adjustments... When I put the front clip on previously, I bolted up the radiator support first the started adding fenders then grille support... each fender sits up about a quarter of an inch above the grille support and thus the bolt holes for the latch catch aren't matching up...

Thanks for looking in...

[TJ's Chevy]

Great updates Brotha!!! Hey check my youtube channel real quick....posted a video of the 572. lol

[mjh1965]

Great progress Don glad you got some truck time in .

[Bomp]

Excellent progress. Know how valuable that truck time is but you really made points on the bday present.

[Grizz1963]

Impressive stuff Don.

Thanks for the preview.

Ohh, and the Birthday present for Mrs Boss, I love it, in fact, sitting on mine,as I type this.

The padding and in cab work looks great,mI hope to one day make it that far with my truck too.

[Ta2Don]

Originally Posted by mjh1965

Great progress Don glad you got some truck time in .

Thanx mate... looking forward to seeing your updates too...

Originally Posted by Bomp

Excellent progress. Know how valuable that truck time is but you really made points on the bday present.

Thanx Brother!!! The hiking looks like a blast, nothing better than spending time with family and friends and enjoying God's handiwork!!!

Originally Posted by TJ's Chevy

Great updates Brotha!!! Hey check my youtube channel real quick....posted a video of the 572. lol

Thanx Brotha!!! Going to check out video this morning...

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

Impressive stuff Don.

Thanks for the preview.

Ohh, and the Birthday present for Mrs Boss, I love it, in fact, sitting on mine,as I type this.

The padding and in cab work looks great,mI hope to one day make it that far with my truck too.

Thanx Mate!!! You will get there soon... Mrs. Boss is quite happy with the prize, which equals out to more truck time...


Horn button is getting a new coat of orange in the bowtie this morning...
Untitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr

[TJ's Chevy]

Looking good!

[realvc]

Way to go on the bday gift for your bride.

Truck is making progress, you will be driving soon.

[Ta2Don]

Originally Posted by TJ's Chevy

Looking good!

Originally Posted by realvc

Way to go on the bday gift for your bride.

Truck is making progress, you will be driving soon.

Thanks Guyz... Good talking with both of you recently...

[Ta2Don]

Small update...

Here's the Horn button, polished up and a new coat of orange for the bowtie...
Untitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr

As Rian, aka Grizz, put it, the old rag joint was ragged...
Untitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr
Untitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr

New one installed...
Untitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr

Checking out fitment of the Latch plate and covers... I also solved a bit of a mystery thanx to TJ... When I took ownership of this truck, the grille was only fitted with one bolt at each end... instead of the required 3... Seems whichever P.O. had the repairs done, following a front end collision, they used a GMC Grille support in place of a Chevy... The respective Grilles have different mounting points... so instead of drilling 2 holes per side, 1 bolt sufficed in their world...NOT MINE!!! Thanx again Brotha for taking the time to do some measuring for me... Didn't get pics of the mounting differences, but the Chevy grille requires about 2 more inches between the top and bottom outer holes... Weirdly, there were holes drilled in the proper location for the lower outer mounting points for the Chevy grille, but they were only about 1/8" in diameter, so, break out the step bit and enlarge them to 3/8' and those holes were read for bolts... the inner holes still need to be drilled...
Untitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr

Yesterday was my first day back to work after a very nice 3 day weekend...
...and a friend dropped by, per my request, to allow me to drool over his New Z28... Naturally Aspirated 427 / 505 Hp with a 6 speed stick...I seriously dig the old/new fangled theft deterrent called a Clutch pedal... ...and the size of the brake rotors... Very nice when stopping the beast that resides under the hood... on to the pics...
Untitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr
Untitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr
Untitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr
Untitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr
Untitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr

Yesterday I picked up new Wheel Cylinders for the rear brakes and hoses to feed those... New Calipers and Hoses are next up...
That's all for today folks...

[TJ's Chevy]

Got to read your update almost 1 minute after being posted!

Horn button looks good Brotha! And yer welcome! haha!

Dang that Z/28 is nice! Wish I have one!

[Ta2Don]

After my recent truck time, I decided my shed was more unorganized than usual... So, over the past handful of days, I've re-arranged and cleaned up and started organizing mores than I normally do... My system of organized chaos needed a bit of an upgrade...

As a bit of background, this shed was built in 2002 to house my bike and riding mower... After a divorce and meeting and marrying my lovely wife in '07/'08 the shed was deemed too small, so a 16x20 addition was in order... my original tool box, the tall craftsman setup, was purchased in 1982 and has travelled with me to Portugal and back... it was residing in the addition and the Blue Point box and a Cobalt box I acquired over the past few years were in the OG shed... During recent days of truck time I determined the Craftsman needed to join the other boxes for ease of access when jobbing on whatever needs attention...

I neglected to get pics of the clutter and the previous placement of the workbench, which was on the left, but here's the fruit of my labor thus far... still more to go in the addition...

Here's a shot looking in from the nose of the stepper...
Untitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr

Workbench used to be on the left, the Open sign is from the Tattoo Studio...
Untitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr

The workbench relocated...
Untitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr

Now for the truck stuff...
Earlier this week I purchased my brake hoses for the front, and one of the Calipers... the other caliper we had in stock appeared to have a crack around the bleeder screw, so another was ordered and will be here tomorrow morning. I also opted to purchase the Hydraulic line to go from the Clutch M/C to the Slave...
Untitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr

It is adjusted and hooked up, but awaiting the front clip re=install before mounting to the firewall...
Here's a before shot of the Caliper I carried home Saturday...
Untitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr

And here's the after shot...
Untitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr

A friend at work asked if I was painting the calipers, which I hadn't considered, but quickly decided on Chevy Orange, to match the engine...

As I prepared to install the clutch line, I called Rian, and spoke with him and Martin... Mentioning the fact that I was about to pull the trigger on a wiring harness, Martin hooked me up with his contact in Florida where he grabbed his harness from... I'll call him tomorrow to price their harness...
That's all for this weekend...
Cheers Mates, and Thanks for looking in Guyz and Galz!!!