What did you do to your truck today?

[Slow Build]

I reconnected my tail lights. PO had trailer lights mounted on the frame. There was no wiring on the bed so I bought a trailer light wiring kit so I would have properly color coded wires and I can unplug them when I need to take off the bed later. I did have to run separate ground wires from the frame to the tail light buckets to get them to work.

[lakeroadster]

Finally managed to work in some garage time.... nasty rainy day. Finished instal on the steering column, new steering wheel mounted and tossed the bed back on.

The new steering wheel has about 3 inches less dish than the previous one. I can now move the seat forward and recline the seat a bit. Much better. I have always liked wood grip wheels, this one turned out to be a good deal too. It's 15 inch in diameter, has finger grips on the back and the wood is large.. thus giving a good grip. Horn button is also much nicer than the standard Grant mushroom type.

I also relocated the front license plate and formed it to fit the bumper.

[fryer1979]

Not today, but over my weekend (thursday and Friday) I managed to get quite a bit accomplished. On my truck I got the cab almost entirely stripped down. The only things left are the windsheild and rear window, as well as the cab bolts. Once I figure out how I'm gonna get the glass out without making a mess, the cab will be ready to come out.

Friday I got my news parts truck (1980 Chevy 1/2 ton 2wd) hauled the hour and a half back to my house for disassembly. After the haul I helped a friend work on his 55 Ford pickup a bit. Then to cap it all off I got my first welding lesson! I know a lot of people have been doing this their whole life and are probably thinking "big deal", but to me it is. Growing up, no one in my family was into cars as anything more than a way to get from one place to another. Most of my family would make fun of me working on cars, and my dad was a reliable source for discouragement. I met some people that taught me a lot, and I have learned a lot on my own through trial and error, then a 12 year run as a mechanic. Through all of this I really wanting to learn welding, but never had the opportunity. The friends that would teach me didn't have the equipment, and I could never afford the community college classes. So finally last night in a junkyard in Reno Nv., I got to run my first bead. Did some practice beads on a scrap piece of 1/4" sheet metal, then got to weld together one of the brackets for my bubby's transmission cross member. I was so excited about the welding i forgot to take any pictures, but I think my buddy may have gotten 1 or 2. I'll have to check with him when I get off work. The rest of the pictures I will get uploaded from my cell phone once I get home tonight. Good weekend though.

[markeb01]

Originally Posted by lakeroadster

It's 15 inch in diameter, has finger grips on the back and the wood is large.. thus giving a good grip.

As much as I enjoy a Covico steering wheel, lack of finger grooves is disappointing. I like the improved grip of a wheel with notches. When your truck is finished will it remain white, or do you have another color in mind?

[lakeroadster]

It's a bit ironic Mark that you would ask what color I plan to paint my truck. Of all the trucks on this website, your semi-gloss black GMC has been my favorite.

My truck came from the factory dark blue, that doesn't do much for me. I must say that I like the two tone look, with the white cab roof and the chrome side trim openings painted white.

I also am a huge fan of a tan/gold colored factory stock colored truck. Re-sale red is also high on my list.

Bottom line.... I don't know. At this point I am just focused on getting my fabrication items finalized.

But seeing how the place I work at is going out of business by the end of the year, and my truck has always been planned as a "long term project" I am wondering if it will ever really get paint. At this point the truck is a therapy tool. When work and life get to be too much, the truck provides a place to get back to the basics, a place for a fella to "get his mind right".

I have even thought about stripping it to bare metal and letting it "become one with nature". Since I live in the high plains, an arid almost desert climate, and my truck is nearly always parked inside out of the elements, this is a workable plan.

I bought this truck to be a work in progress, a project where I would do everything myself. I am trying to stay the course. So far, so good.

Thanks for asking, Mark. Not sure I answered your question.

[protrash64]

Originally Posted by fryer1979

Not today, but over my weekend (thursday and Friday) I managed to get quite a bit accomplished. On my truck I got the cab almost entirely stripped down. The only things left are the windsheild and rear window, as well as the cab bolts. Once I figure out how I'm gonna get the glass out without making a mess, the cab will be ready to come out.

Friday I got my news parts truck (1980 Chevy 1/2 ton 2wd) hauled the hour and a half back to my house for disassembly. After the haul I helped a friend work on his 55 Ford pickup a bit. Then to cap it all off I got my first welding lesson! I know a lot of people have been doing this their whole life and are probably thinking "big deal", but to me it is. Growing up, no one in my family was into cars as anything more than a way to get from one place to another. Most of my family would make fun of me working on cars, and my dad was a reliable source for discouragement. I met some people that taught me a lot, and I have learned a lot on my own through trial and error, then a 12 year run as a mechanic. Through all of this I really wanting to learn welding, but never had the opportunity. The friends that would teach me didn't have the equipment, and I could never afford the community college classes. So finally last night in a junkyard in Reno Nv., I got to run my first bead. Did some practice beads on a scrap piece of 1/4" sheet metal, then got to weld together one of the brackets for my bubby's transmission cross member. I was so excited about the welding i forgot to take any pictures, but I think my buddy may have gotten 1 or 2. I'll have to check with him when I get off work. The rest of the pictures I will get uploaded from my cell phone once I get home tonight. Good weekend though.

Thats a cool story, fryer!!! I am a self taught welder and do not attempt any thing dangerously structural, however it is nice to be able to fix sheetmetal and build things I need. Welding can be frustrating at times, but it gets easier as your experience grows.......keep at it.

[markeb01]

Originally Posted by lakeroadster

At this point the truck is a therapy tool. When work and life get to be too much, the truck provides a place to get back to the basics, a place for a fella to "get his mind right".

I’ve been following your build and with the Camaro content, I just “assumed” it was going to end up Camaro white. Then for no reason I can think of it dawned on me you might have completely different plans, so I was curious. Thanks for the response. I’m glad to see yours is a therapy tool as well.

After I painted mine black lacquer I began to lose focus and spent too much time trying to make it perfect. The truck ended up spending a lot of time in the garage so it would stay clean, and eventually provided more stress than fun. A sudden end to my career caused an immediate need for a therapeutic diversion, and there was the truck just waiting for some attention. A crappy paint job and a few inexpensive trinkets have provided an absorbing hobby again that has proven very helpful. Now I take my squeeze to work and back most every day, rain or shine, providing justification to spend more time with my truck!

[Malibob]

Bought plugs and wires. It is cool as hell how they ran the plug wires through the motor mounts. Now what does dwell do? Who still sells a dwell meter? I am told I need about 30 degrees.

[markeb01]

Drove it over to a car show this morning which had a nice turn out with over 150 cars and trucks. There was only one other 60-66. Unfortunately we needed to leave early and didn’t get to meet the owners.

[Sillyoldman]

Originally Posted by markeb01

Drove it over to a car show this morning which had a nice turn out with over 150 cars and trucks. There was only one other 60-66. Unfortunately we needed to leave early and didn’t get to meet the owners.

Have you had that truck at te XXX in Isaquah?

[markeb01]

Negative, I have back problems that keep me from traveling farther than an hour from home. Just curious, has there been one in attendance that looks similar?

[63sbssbbw]

Got more done on my '63 GMC chassis
put disc brake spindles in,drivers side went smooth but pass side took two attempts,the spring seating just didn't want to co-operate.
Man, it's alot of monkeyin' around when it's only a bare chassis as it doesn't weigh much,thank god for ratchet straps!
motor mounts are next so I can mock up a bare block and trans to see what I need to do for a trans xm.
T

[neto]

Put the cab back on to check for engine clearance. Looks good so far.

[Malibob]

Bought a seat. 88 with maroon vinyl. It sits a little high but I will cut the frame and shorten it.

[erock805]

mached up my bumper..but didnt bolt in tho....


fnn slacker.

[Sick5]

sanded down some paint

[jonzcustomshop]

here is what I did:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=407262
if anyone has some ideas, that would help

[65Gregg]

I started on lowering and rebuilding the frontend of my truck Sunday, All I did was remove the swaybar, pull all of the cotter pins and sprayed the nuts and bolts with PB Blaster so that everything would be loose when I break out the tools. Can't wait to get started!!

[Sillyoldman]

Originally Posted by markeb01

Negative, I have back problems that keep me from traveling farther than an hour from home. Just curious, has there been one in attendance that looks similar?

Yes there has been. It looked familiar to me. I took pics but lost them due to pc problems.

To keep it on topic here's what I got done.

[fryer1979]

Nice bed!

What did I get done today? NOTHING

Maybe tomorrow.

[TwiggyTheDrummer]

Well I'm on vacation but the guys painted my truck...

[willyp]

sweet color twiggy

[sams60gmc]

Today I worked on front tire cut outs. After the frame is Z'd it will fill it out.

[jonzcustomshop]

got this one pretty much buttoned up for now, lots more to do, but this is about as far as I can get before I have to get some big ticket stuff for the floor and rockers...

[1Bad62Pro/Street]

Me and my Dad done alot to my truck over the weekend!
Even made some Custom Exhaust work.
All the pictures are on my Build Thread.

Project: "Full Metal Yellow Jacket" Build Thread
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=321173