Pieces

[Palf70Step]

Well it looks like we might have a break from hurricanes for a little while, so I started unpacking the shop so I can do something with the old girl. I didn't get much done on the truck itself, but my plans was to get on with the sanding some more tomorrow after church. Now it looks like I have a couple computer jobs to do, but hopefully I'll still get some time tomorrow or Monday.

[67ChevyRedneck]

It's been a month!

[Palf70Step]

I know!






I have not had much time to touch it.

Still doing the final (I hope) touches to the body work before I start shooting some paint.

[thirdstreettito]

What color is it gonna be?

[Palf70Step]

Cayman Green Kinda of a Blue/Green depending on how the light shines on it. This is a sample spraying I did a while back. It's a color I had on a couple older F**ds I had. (mid 90s color)

[Palf70Step]

Got a few little things worked on this morning.

Finished sanding and priming the modified heater area (hold the stereo) and cleaned and primed my radio delete which I'll be using to hold the Vintage Air controls.

I still have some more finish sanding to do on the driver's front fender, but I should be close to primer, boarding, and some color!!

[smbrouss70]

Looking good Bill! Keep it up and you're going to end up with a nice looking truck.

[Palf70Step]

Well I decided I could not stand the way my new tailgate was lining up, so I decided to do the proper thing and adjust everything. Some have said I am nuts, as it is the gates fault and to ditch it and get an original. Well my original didn't fit that well, so I decided I am going to correct the gap issue. I guess I am anal about some things.

[Palf70Step]

Well to do the adjustments, the bedsides have to be movable, which means My welded in fuel cover has to come out. Crap...Guess I should have thought my design out further. But, I don't want sloppy fitting panels, so off it comes.

I also had to cutoff and get out all the original side to bed floor bolts so the thing will move. Lots of grinding.

There is also two welds that have to be cut.one area is the stake pocket to floor. The other are is right behind where the hinge mounts. I have shown where the two are in the first two pictures.

In addition there are two bolts and a nut/bolt combo holding the cross rail in place. So those came out from bolt sides.

[Palf70Step]

Once everything was loose and the bedsides would move, I took some straps and slowly pulled the bedsides in at the bottom and top.

As you can see the gaps are more what they are supposed to be like. I'll let it sit like this a few days till I can get back to it. Kind of get it use to the new position. I'll redo the welds and bolts to keep the sides in their new position.

[Palf70Step]

I have also been working on the replacement cover for my rear fuel tank. I've been thinking on this a while and With this idea I should be able to remove it (easier anyways in the future if need be.

I picked up an old wheel tub and working up a way where it will bolt to the floor like the regular tubs. I am also planning on having it seal to the side with seam sealer and a few bolts that will not be seen. As of now, my plan is to weld it to the top of the wheel tub and they will come out as a unit, but that part is still in the air.

I have a lot of details I want to think through first (this time) before I finally hook it all back together.

I'll have more on this as I work things through, hopefully a lot of it will get done over Thanksgiving weekend.

It felt good to finally get my hands back on the truck again.

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Looks good keep up the great work..

[67ChevyRedneck]

It's coming together!

The tailgate gaps look way better!

[hotrod 80]

Filler neck cover idea is great . Bet it looks factory when you finish .

[Palf70Step]

Well, at long last I was able to get some quality time with the old girl again. I started a conversion of getting rid of the fleetside tailgate arms and using much quieter tailgate cables. I'll begin by finetuning (I guess) my thread where I showed how I did this. I did some measurements and at first was going to use the tailgate cables from a newer GM (my 2002 Silverado) I thought I had it worked out, but I guess I miss measured somewhere and ended up with the gate not sitting level enough for me when it was opened, so I went at it with some others.

I found the the cables for a 2003 Dodge Dakota have the right length, and if you didn't already modify things for another it will be a quick change out. I picked mine up at Advanced Auto Parts, Part number 38521 - Dorman made. The cables were $11 each.

You'll need to cut the rivets that hold on the factory arms. I just used my cutoff wheel and slowly ground down the rivet while it was still bolted to the bed. I popped the rivet loose with a punch, then unbolted them to get the back half of the rivet out and get the rest ready.

You will also have to trim your tailgate to clear the cable. I didn't take a before picture of the tailgate to show the cuts, but basically I trimmed the inside gate cover edge even to the frame layer it's welded too. Hopefully the picture makes sense more than my description.

Now to the cable hookups.

[Palf70Step]

I am using the cables backwards as it came be done with less work, and it's not like the gate will come off that quick anyhow. If you did remove the gate, it means the cable stays attached to the truck and not the gate. Again, I was doing it to get ride of the clatter.

To mount the cable to the tailgate bracket latch, I used a 3/8" x1 " carriage bolt. As you can see, the square neck of the bolt is just thick enough to not wedge the cable to the bracket and the cable rotates freely around the head. I experimented with one bolt where I filed the edges a hair so the cable did not rub against sharp edges. It did not make a difference in the end, so I would not worry about it. You can get by with a shorter bolt, but I had the 1" length ones on hand, and ground the edge down flush to the nut. You can't have much hanging out or the bracket will not bolt back onto the truck flush.

[Palf70Step]

Now if you didn't already hack your gate (like me) then you don't have to do anything. The slip end of the cable goes around the stock squared end, and slides and stays in place without any issues.

As you can see from my old beat-up tailgate, it fits fine. I could not make it fall off either so it works out OK.

To fix mine, there are two options.

The first is to cut/grind off the square end from the gate, then I welded some washers (that just fit into the big circle end of the cable 3/8" washers I believe) onto the ends. As it turned out, I goofed on the driver's side and I had ground down too much of the nub, so that with the washer welded on it didn't leave enough of a gap to allow the cable to move freely, thus the second method.


I cut the nub down to the fat area, then drilled and tapped it for a 3/8" screw. You cannot use a bolt unless it is a very thin head. I am not sure, I may end up making both side screws heads, but for now one will be one, and the other the other.

I like the looks and I should not have any of the rattles for the stock unit.

I made a few nicks when doing this, so I did a little weld filling sanding to smooth out my tailgate from the work. I'll do the final filler later.

[Palf70Step]

I also worked some on my new cover for the fuel filler neck. As was mentioned earlier in the thread, I am cutting up a fleetside wheel tub to cover the neck.

I tacked/filled in the joining piece to the wheel tub. Since it may get some splash up from the tires, I decided to weld it from both sides to make sure it is solid, and there is no crevice to gather moisture to promote rust. Weld, hammer, weld hammer to try and shape it so that it would blend in level with the top of the regular wheel tub.

I am sitting a hair to high to mate up (arrow area)on the top of the tub. Because of the ribs on the bed floor, it causes my add-on-tub to sit higher (about 1/4"). So I think I will notch/split it on the side. Then bend it down a hair so it will mate up. Once I get all the form worked out, then I'll make the side piece to mate it up.

I originally though it would be a quicker setup than what I originally had, but even though I have to tweak more than I planned, I think that it will work out pretty good in the end..

[krue]

Looking good Bill.

[smashingchuck]

very cool project.

[STOCKISH]

Lookin' great man, keep up the good work.

[Palf70Step]

Well, first shot is where I left off a few weeks ago. I need to modify it to sit a bit lower so it will line up with the factor wheel tub better. The red areas are what I need to look at to get the tub ready for mounting. I will first slice the tub and bend it some. Then reshape the area where it mates to the trucks wheel tub. I also plan on patching the lip to get rid of the rusted out areas. The areas circled in yellow are some dents I will also need to hammer out..

[Palf70Step]

First thing I tackled Saturday (after thw orld of soccer....lordie does the soccer season ever end?!?) is the slice Pic 1). I played around till with the form until I liked it. I tacked the slit to hold it while I reformed the shape to the wheel tub (got carried away, no shots during this time). Once I was satisfied with the fit I welded in the seams, inside and out. I cleaned up the inside welds and worked on the dents in the tub (pic 2). I took some of the lip from the unused part of my donor well tub and repaired the lip of the tub (pic 3). I then went to grinding/cleaning the outside of the tub where I welded my sslit. I guess I was getting tire, excited or just lazy, but I got a few burn marks from the grinder, so I decided to more welding work for the day. (pic 4)

[Hart_Rod]

Looking good Bill. I can't wait to see you driving it when I move back to PCola this fall...........

[Palf70Step]

Now to make I hope the last piece of this puzzle. Set everything in place and trimmed a piece of cardboard to fit against the bed wheel tub. I taped it to my filler tub, then turned it over to mark the cardboard. I then cut out a piece from the side of the donor tub and clamped it into place.

No more done after that. The boss wanted me inside and my son wanted to show me his stash of catches from Saturday's Mardi Gras parade. It is getting closer. It felt good to play again.