Project "Mater" build thread

[Blue'72]

Thanks!

The frame is painted with Rustoleum. This was going to be a quick and inexpensive rebuild so that's what I started with, but now I wish I'd POR'd it..

[Blue'72]

I've been busy.. Let's see, where did I leave off. I now have the hood, fenders, doors, and cowl painted. Wow, the pics do it a lot of justice! I hope nobody's disappointed when the see it in person.. I'm going to color sand everything before I put it back together. Still sooooo much left to do..... Also, I'll be having a blue box fan available for sale pretty soon. Open to the highest bidder.

[thelonerife]

That looks good man. i am going with that color on mine as well. I'm not painting mine right now though. I'm just trying to get it rollin. You've done a good job painting it. I also did my green and white truck in the basement. I like it when I see people do it rather than farm it out. But I know everybodys not able to do it though. good luck.

[72cheyennesuper20]

Wow, Looking way good. Keep up the good work.

[Blue'72]

Thanks Steve! Haven't seen you around for a while..

[Blue'72]

I'm working feverishly to finish up before the meet at Mark's next month! I wanted to be able to drive it to the Rod Run in Long Beach, but I knew I wouldn't make that. Now I have a new goal! So, I just wanted to update and let y'all know that I'm working toward having it roadworthy within a month. Desperate times call for desperate measures, so I called in some backup! Needless to say, my goat isn't any more help than my dog was... Shelby!! Where's Shelby?!! She'll be driving this truck to school in three years and she said she'd help me restore it.....

[Brad]

That's looking great Travis!

[steelhorse]

looking good!

[Blue'72]

After a pep talk from Brad today, I decided to put all other chores aside and get back to work on the truck. The pictures don't really tell you a whole lot, but believe it or not I did get some stuff accomplished.. What I did get done was some of the small tedious stuff including getting the motor buttoned up with the fittings it needed and getting the tranny hooked up to the radiator and cooler and Blah Blah Blah... Don't want to bore you, but I know you like pics, so here ya go!

[bad6772]

Looks great.......I think you have done an AWESOME JOB........

[jlaird]

great color choice!

[texanidiot25]

Awesome, and funny build so far!

[muddyblazer02]

nice color do you have a paint code?

[Blue'72]

Thanks all!

Originally Posted by muddyblazer02

nice color do you have a paint code?

The code I used from the SPID sticker on the inside of the glove box was 523 dk blue.

[1972CST]

YEAA!!!!!!!! Keep up the good work!!!

[Blue'72]

1972CST, I'm gunna take you're suggestion.. Ok all, check this out. I heard my engine run today! Yeah, it ran.. I had a play/work day and I decided to work all day on the truck. I'll say it again, this detail work and making everything look "nice", is TE D I OUS! But I got most everything buttoned up from the cab to the firewall, and I had to hear it fire, so I put some gas in the carb and turned 'er over. Actually a few times..

Here's what we're looking like now..

Oh what's with this "pics are too big cr@p"! I'm too tired right now to figure it out, so you'll have to imagine the other valve cover and plug wires on.........

[Alan's Classic]

I love your truck and admire your progress.

[dubdeuce80]

lookin good, almost 2 weeks with no updates though???

[Blue'72]

Finally some updates.. I figured I'd better get busy on the bed if I want to get paint on it before the weather turns too cold.

After stripping the fenders, I decided I wanted to find something better, which I did, but that's not in the budget right now. These aren't too bad, and the biggest thing I wanted was the side marker lights because I didn't shave them off the fenders and it would look kinda goofy. The metal was really stretched and warped (hence all the bondo I had to remove!), but by cutting the hole for the light and a few relief cuts I was able to put it back to shape. I then cut the lights out of my old bed sides to graft onto these fenders.

Coming together nicely I think.

[Brad]

Well, a sort of update- I went over to Travis' house on Sat and we installed my old windshield into his truck. It took 3 tries to get it in, but we finally got it! Another step toward completion.
Btw, his truck looks so much better in person and we all can't wait for him to finish it!

[Blue'72]

Thanks again Brad for the windshield! I'm to the point now where $$$ is the main thing holding me back..

I have the fenders for the bed about 90% finished now, so I took them off to start on the bed itself. I've had the idea for some time now about using my old steel bed floor and putting it in the stepside bed. I got a "That would be cool" from Brad when I mentioned it to him, so I went forward with the idea. My first big hurdle was to get the bed floor off the side of the hill that I dropped it down to get it out of the way. Of course I had built a fence since then and wasn't sure how I was going to get the floor out. Needless to say, I'm still really sore from flipping it over and over until I got it around and up to my back yard where I could cut it down. Once I had it cut down, I could carry it around front.. Barely...

I had bought used bed rails a while back to replace these on the bed, but didn't know when I'd ever be able to afford to do the wood like I wanted to. Now it's all steel and super solid. I'd like to get it rhino lined.

I'm also thinking that eventually I would like to make a wood floor with painted slats that I could set in there for shows and remove when I need to use the bed.. Just a harebrained idea at this point...

I sent all the pics here to work so I could resize them, but the before pics didn't make it due to the size of email..

Still lots of work to be done! Plus I have a hole in my knee where I was pushing on the outside of the bed side while welding the angle iron to the side. Knee was right where I was welding.. Hurts real bad...

[Blue'72]

Well I think it's time to update! Did anyone miss me?? Here's some recent progress.

This bed was a mess, but I had some sheets of thick steel to line the walls with.

[Blue'72]

While the weather was bad I turned my attention to another project that needed to be done sooner or later. I pulled the automatic column off the shelf thinking that it would just need some paint, and it was seized up. I ended up taking it completely apart and cleaning and lubing it up before puttine it back together with the best parts between this one and my old non-auto column. It turned out really well.. I need a good camera! These pics are crummy as usual...


I got both doors, inner fenders, and fenders on and everything lined up alright.



I finally caught a break in the weather this weekend and was able to shoot some paint on the bed. I still need to finish the inside and I think that'll be rhino-lined. The fenders, steps, and tailgate still need some work and then paint, but it feels good to be this far with it.

[NONHOG]

I was wondering when you were going to post more progress . Looks great !

[Blue'72]

Holy smokes, it's been over a month since I've updated this? Where does the time go?

Let's see here..

Here's my gauge cluster. I was trying different ideas and finally settled on this, although I think I'll change it again.

I've got the seats and side windows in with new felts and regulators in, but will need to take the seats back out to put the carpet in eventually. I braced the floor and made a heavy duty mount for the 60/40 seat. I want to eventually have it recovered. I still have the rear fenders, steps, and tailgate to finish and paint yet. I've been driving it around the driveway though!



I just put the weatherstripping in this morning. I think I'll do a how to thread on that..
Attachment 413832
This white stuff hase been around now for almost a week and has prompted me to put some heat in the garage.
Attachment 413833