Project: Bad Bagged '68.5

[jlaird]

I got my under dash pedal assembly in and almost finished. Thought I would post the progression.

Ok, here is the area I had to work with. I had a nice flat firewall to work with which made things easy.



Since the firewall is just a piece of sheetmetal, I had to make some reinforcement for the petal assembly to mount to. Some 1x1 square tubing and scrape .25 plate.





Here it is welded in. I made some tabs on the top to plug weld to under the cowl area. It is also plug welded to the firewall in addition to the ends of the brace. This thing is SOLID.







Here is the pedal assembly, booster and MC bolted in. I didn't want to weld this in so I could remove it for whatever reason. I also welded a mounting tab to the assembly which bolts to the bolt hole from the stock pedal assembly. And yes, I can't use the factory wiper motor so I will have to use a hot rod style wiper setup.

[scotts62]

Oh thats freaking awesome man!! Looks good!

[tiggamonsta]

It looks really good, and is really going to clean up the engine compartment. One question though. How are you going to check the brake fluid, once the dash is all together?

[jlaird]

Originally Posted by tiggamonsta

It looks really good, and is really going to clean up the engine compartment. One question though. How are you going to check the brake fluid, once the dash is all together?

I will probably do a remote reservoir.

[VA72C10]

Looks good. My firewall is also shaved similarly so I was needing a brace there anyways so I guess I'll be selling the frame mounted setup I bought from you.....man that thing's getting around

What about A/C/heat? I forgot if you were planning on running aftermarket....if so, any interference issues you forsee?

[scotts62]

I would do the same but i dont want to re figure the wiper motor.. but i like the way it cleans everything up on the outside.

[Ricks' 72C10]

Great work!

Thanks for the pics, you gave me more to think about!

[jlaird]

Originally Posted by VA72C10

Looks good. My firewall is also shaved similarly so I was needing a brace there anyways so I guess I'll be selling the frame mounted setup I bought from you.....man that thing's getting around

What about A/C/heat? I forgot if you were planning on running aftermarket....if so, any interference issues you forsee?

I'm not planning on runnng AC or heat. This will be stored in the winter. However if I ever changed my mind, there is plenty of room for an aftermarket setup. The only thing that I wish I had is some sort of blower for a foggy window. But for the amount that this truck is going to be driven, I'm not too worried. I've got a long commute to work, so this is going to be a summer weekend cruiser. Kinda sucks after all the work I'm putting into this thing!

[FRENCHBLUE72]

This truck is really comming along...

[jlaird]

Originally Posted by FRENCHBLUE72

This truck is really comming along...

It should be! Look at the date of the first post This is becoming ridiculous. I'll tell you, the combination of a young son and an attached garage(as I type right now, he is taking a nap so daddy can't make any noise) leave little time to get anything done. Oh well, that's life I guess.

[jlaird]

What do you guys think of this dash design??

[scotts62]

That would be pretty cool!

[BACKYARD88]

Looks nice!

[smashingchuck]

ca-lean. Those are the same gauges I want to use on my truck.

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Originally Posted by jlaird

It should be! Look at the date of the first post This is becoming ridiculous. I'll tell you, the combination of a young son and an attached garage(as I type right now, he is taking a nap so daddy can't make any noise) leave little time to get anything done. Oh well, that's life I guess.

Have you looked at mine I mean really these things really get dragged out...

[VA72C10]

looks cool!!!

[jlaird]

Originally Posted by smashingchuck

ca-lean. Those are the same gauges I want to use on my truck.

Were you planning on running new ones or used/NOS? I'm undecided. Either are $$$

[smashingchuck]

Originally Posted by jlaird

Were you planning on running new ones or used/NOS? I'm undecided. Either are $$$

I wasn't even aware that there were NOS available, I just saw them in Summit.

[jlaird]

Originally Posted by smashingchuck

I wasn't even aware that there were NOS available, I just saw them in Summit.

NOS on ebay... you think NOS is asking for trouble?

[jnesto]

what size square tubing did you use for the c notch?

[jlaird]

Did a couple revisions on my dash drawing. I'm leaning towards the top one (A). I think the black stripe on the bottom will create a nice transition to the floor if the carpet is black. It also makes the dash feel like it's got two zones; upper for the gauges or lower for switches.

I think I decided on a color for the truck. Its a blue...I will post pictures of the truck later that I found that I picked the particular blue from. So I'm going to do the blue with white roof, chrome bumpers and the aluminum/stainless(don't actually know what it is) factory exterior lower trim. Haven't decided on wheels yet...

[VA72C10]

I like the top one too. Going to look good and be something different!

[jlaird]

So here is my current dilemma that has been eating away at my brain. I really like those Stewart Warner Greenline gauges in the above renderings the best, however there are no air gauges to match, so I would probably get one Dakota Digital gauge and find a mounting spot for it. Problem is it obviously wont match the SW gauges which will bug the crap out of me.

The next best thing are these Classic Instrument G/Stock Series gauges which are actually just like our gauges in these trucks...black face with light green numbers and orange pointer. They also have air gauges to match. Here is a rendering. So while these are not my fav, I like the fact that they are "period correct" and that the air gauges will match.

So what do you think?

[scotts62]

Humm.. yeah i like the top one the best too but i see what you are saying and not sure either. The gauge people like auto meter etc should look into making air gauges to match their stuff just for stuff like your doing.

[jlaird]

Originally Posted by scotts62

Humm.. yeah i like the top one the best too but i see what you are saying and not sure either. The gauge people like auto meter etc should look into making air gauges to match their stuff just for stuff like your doing.

They do but there is a very limited selection.