Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window

[Kim57]

Looks real nice.
Kim

[lowdownstar]

i had great luck with steel rubber Dan very nice people to deal with.



Ray

[Dan in Pasadena]

Thanks Ray

[Dan in Pasadena]

Thursday, April 27, 2017

Chassis to body shop has slipped again to Monday, 5/1. Oh well.

Front fenders were being color sanded and final polished today. He said compound gets thrown all over if he does it after the fenders are mounted to the cab. He rear of cab was already done. I'm pleased because no one will ever see it.




Picked up cab bolts, front sheet metal and door hinge bolts. Ordered Steel Rubber's "smaller" door seals. Spoke to their rep and he said, "...99% of guys are happier with the smaller seals so they don't have to slam their doors over and over." So I ordered those.

[dug224]

The paint is perfect! Thanks for the tip on the small door seals.

[Denee007]

I love the picture of your dash! Yes, I'm still lurking around watching! You're doing great!!
dne'

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Stopped by the bodyshop today to verify what date they can receive my chassis? Monday the 24th is the date. The marriage of cab, front clip and chassis will then happen and I'm hoping it'll be ready to go to the shop for wiring, start-up, etc by the end of the week or the 28th (fingers crossed).

Marcos; the painter, didn't know I was stopping by today but was still color sanding & polishing the cowl, dash top and back wall of the cab. I'm REALLY pleased he does the right thing even if no one will see.




Different subject entirely: Rims. I've been looking at every dark colored Task Force I can find online to narrow down which I want. I decided on 17's (though Mike was kinda pressing for 18's) I'd given up on 5 spoke Budniks or Boyds because they are just too expensive. It would be easy to spend $1500-$2000 just for rims, no tires- no way! I'd decided I'll be happy with Coy C5's or possibly Torq Thrust II's

BUT THEN..... my nephew found an ad on OfferUp for a set of Boyd's 17's that are filthy and neglected for $350 obo. Seller claimed they were on a parts car Camaro he bought, didn't know how wide or the backspace on them. Plus, they were 6 hours+ from me but only 1 hr away from him. Nephew bought them for $300 for me yesterday. Said he took his life in his hands because 3 bearded, heavily tattooed (even on their faces and necks) 20-something bikers living in the middle of nowhere greeted him. Says he nearly just scrammed outta there, but it went ok. He says they're not bent but one has some repairable damage on the inside bead - but they still hold air. At only this price I feel like I stole them and I can afford to have them professionally repaired and re-polished. I'm REALLY pleased about this.

"Before" condition:


What they'll look like "After":


...and if i decide i don't like/want them i can flip them without losing money

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by Denee007

I love the picture of your dash! Yes, I'm still lurking around watching! You're doing great!!
dne'

Hi Dne! It's nice to hear from you. We need an updat from you on your latest adventures -car/truck related or not.

Hope all is well. Anything new with your truck or contemplating any changes?

My truck is draining my checking account fast but I'm having a blast doing it exactly my own way. Take care, please don't be a stranger. Best, Dan

[Denee007]

Hi Dan!! I'll give you a sneak preview of what I've been doing for the past almost 3 years, then I'll post a thread on a short summary of the adventure later this evening.

Quickly, as for my 59 Apache, it's in storage; I get it out now and then for car shows. I'll be back on board not too far from now cause I have to do something to the firewall, but that's another story which I'll be back on here in the not so distant future!

"My truck is draining my checking account fast but I'm having a blast doing it exactly my own way. Take care, please don't be a stranger. Best, Dan[/QUOTE]"

I just put this one picture as I don't want to take away from you fabulous build! And believe me, I know what you mean about the cost of our toys!
So here is a little tease I've put 70 miles on it; I have more work to do ,but at least it's running!
dne'

[Dan in Pasadena]

Man, I love TR6's and I especially love British racing green. Can't wait to read/see more about it!

PS: Post as many pics as you want!

[gotmotors]

Looking good Dan. If you haven't found your bolts yet, check out Totally Stainless. http://shop.totallystainless.com They have packages for our trucks and you can get just their front fender kit. I bought their full kit and it's been really good.

Appreciate the info on the door seals.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Thanks for the link Jim. I DID buy the bolts from The Car and Truck Shop, but I'm not totally happy with them because they're mostly not stainless and I want them to be, at least where they'll be visible so I can polish them.

EDIT: Finally went and looked at the link more closely. Wow, $500 for some of those kits. Yikers.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Friday, April 28, 2017

My seat back frame needed minor repair - the nut for the pivot bolt had come off some time and the sheet metal was repaired and a replacement nut welded in. The frames are being sandblasted & powder coated gloss black this week. Gloss so the small amount of seat frame that shows will look better than if it were semi gloss.

I found a local upholstery shop that does very nice work and seems to be reasonably priced. I visited to get some idea of time it will take to complete, discuss some design and color ideas, etc. Here are the ideas I have come up with so far:

Below is the sculpted design I'm going with except it'll have fewer vertical stitch lines. Maybe 3 or 4 instead of 6. It's a little too busy in the picture.


I'll use a color more like this 2nd picture though. I like how the door panel lets the raised rib of body color show. I've considered chroming the door panel just show this rib would be chrome but not sure it's worth it. I don't care for the bottom having so many vertical stitch lines and I'm not sure how I'll revise it. Somehow I'll figure out a lower door panel design that "goes with" the sculpted seat stitch pattern, and echo it in the headliner panel too.


And finally, I'm considering some kind of door pockets to add storage space to the truck. The step area on Task Force trucks is wasted area anyway but I don't want these door pockets to be a catchall for crap. I'll figure out something; maybe a simple lid or flap?

[Denee007]

OMG, that first seat is FINE! but they're all fine! I would really like door covers like those, another thing on the To do list when I get back to the 59 Anyway, which ever you choose will be great!
dne'

[ChuckDriver]

Very nice options for sure!

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by Denee007

OMG, that first seat is FINE! but they're all fine! I would really like door covers like those, another thing on the To do list when I get back to the 59 Anyway, which ever you choose will be great!
dne'

Thanks guys! Yeah, I like them all. I searched here, Google Images and Pinterest for upholstery ideas for months. I tried to remember the little element in each photo that caught my attention.

JJ, My guy proposes removing the springs and using all foam like your seat in order to sculpt the contours like the first seat above. I don't think any of these colors is QUITE what I'm looking for but they're all around it. I'll find it eventually.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Thursday, May 4, 2017

Just an update to my "Log" - After three consecutive false starts it APPEARS my chassis will be flat bedded to the paint shop Saturday morning. But I won't be surprised if he calls last minute (like last Saturday) to delay again. I went to his shop today and he "confirmed" he has made space.

We reviewed the bolt kits I've taken and I need 30 polished stainless button head bolts to replace the factory black flange bolts. These are for the inner-outer fender connection & latch panel. But I counted only 22 when I looked at the other '55-'56 in Mike's shop. 6 each side, 8 on the latch panel and 2 to mount the latch itself. No idea what the other 8 are for?

My Boyd's Smoothies arrived from Northern Cal today. Whoever had them screwed them up just enough to ruin their resale value - and he didn't know the value of what he had anyway - but they'll repair and polish up perfect. Al Reed Polishing in Placentia, CA did my old 911 Fuchs wheels which were much worse and he made them look brand new. These should be easier.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Saturday, May 6, 2017
Heavy drizzle @ home, steady rain at the other end but my chassis was flat bedded to the paint shop this morning. I followed and wiped the entire chassis dry/clean.

Cab won't be mounted til probably Friday. He was final polishing an older 500SL metallic teal beauty to be delivered this week.

Found half the 5/16x18 Coarse buttonhead bolts I need for assembly in the engine compartment at my local OSH. They had chrome ones - which look fantastic - but man oh man they're pricey. $42 for them and that's only half what I need. -Dan

[dug224]

You are going for perfection...you gotta have the nice bolts. Me... I working out of my free metric bolts I got buckets of from the salvage yard.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by dug224

You are going for perfection...you gotta have the nice bolts. Me... I working out of my free metric bolts I got buckets of from the salvage yard.

Metric bolts? There's nothing on these trucks that are metric.

Yeah, I suppose I want my truck "perfect" - to me - it won't be perfect for anyone else's vision of these trucks. If you want to spend as little as possible, I get that. My budget made me do that my entire life. Now, I'm about to retire and this is my gift to me for working since I was 16, going to college, grad school while working full time, raising two kids, putting them through college, etc. When it's done and I look at it, I want to be very pleased with what I see - whether it pleases anyone else or not.

[oldman3]

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

Metric bolts? There's nothing on these trucks that are metric.

Yeah, I suppose I want my truck "perfect" - to me - it won't be perfect for anyone else's vision of these trucks. If you want to spend as little as possible, I get that. My budget made me do that my entire life. Now, I'm about to retire and this is my gift to me for working since I was 16, going to college, grad school while working full time, raising two kids, putting them through college, etc. When it's done and I look at it, I want to be very pleased with what I see - whether it pleases anyone else or not.

Well said Dan, I've always built my rides to suit me, may not be everyones cup of tea, but if I'm happy with my rides, that's all that counts...Jim

[Dan in Pasadena]

Thanks Jim,

I'm sure I'll get, "...it' too low, why'd you do that? You ruined it!"
"...why doesn't it lay frame, it's too high!"
Billet rims? LS engine? "It's not traditional!"
"Resale red? I'd have NEVER painted it that color"

If I'm nice that day I'll say, "It's what I like"
If I'm not feeling diplomatic that day I'll stick out my hand and say, "When you write the checks you get to decide what it looks like!"

[Dan in Pasadena]

Sunday, April 6, 2017
Ok, so a small update. Picked up my bench set frames after sandblast/gloss black powder coat. Mine had no broken springs only one dent (which I didn't notice til too late).


I had to have the seat back pivot nuts replaced. One was gone and some odd ball bolt & nut had been used in their place. That caused the sheet metal hole to get big and worn out of round - looked like hell. The metal was repaired and new nuts welded in. I just ordered thread chasers from Amazon so I can clean the threads.


It's kinda bothering me to think of removing all the springs but that's what I have to do to get the contoured seat upholstery shown in Pic #1 in post 1937 above. Like I said, there's not a single broken spring! But if it can be done without them coming out, I'll do that. I like sitting high anyway. But if I can remove them without breaking them. I'll list them for sale so someone else can use them.

[dug224]

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

Metric bolts? There's nothing on these trucks that are metric.

Yeah, I suppose I want my truck "perfect" - to me - it won't be perfect for anyone else's vision of these trucks. If you want to spend as little as possible, I get that. My budget made me do that my entire life. Now, I'm about to retire and this is my gift to me for working since I was 16, going to college, grad school while working full time, raising two kids, putting them through college, etc. When it's done and I look at it, I want to be very pleased with what I see - whether it pleases anyone else or not.

I get it and admire your work. I am and was in the same boat. On my truck, everything below the skin is metric so I keep adding more metric connectors here and there to maximize the confusion. Keep up the good work.

[Kim57]

Looks real nice.
Kim

[ChuckDriver]

Seat frame looks great!

Hope your upholstery guy is quicker than mine!