51 Chev on a S10 frame, named Dale

[Tempest67]

Lorne,

Good Question. I contacted Reaper71 (Mark) about the vertical parts of the body, as he did this on his build 'Orange Peel', and he said if you spray water on the panel, the salt (table salt) will stick, you can then paint it when it dries, and then scrape the salt away later, but I have not tried that method yet. (check out his Orange Peel build...it is awesome)

The other option that I have considered, is turning the paint feed screw way down low on my paint gun, and 'misting' the paint over the existing blue paint only, while leaving the patina alone..... I think if I can spray out a "spatter' I can get the look.... I hope....stay tuned

[Tempest67]

OK, I have the cab on the frame, the drivetrain in place, and the front sheet metal mocked in place (I will cover the rad cradle in another post)

Time for the box, rear fenders and the running boards.

Here is my design for the running boards. I'm not sure why, but I wanted them to be removeable...maybe that is because I could move them if I put them in the wrong place, ... or so I could take them off and work under the truck more easily... ??

First, I removed the middle support from the underside of the running boards.

Then, I ripped a 3x2 rectagular steel tube length ways so I ended up with 2 'L' shaped pieces that ran the entire length of the running board - and welded it in place (I ran a 4 inch seam every foot or so, and the ends)

Then I made 4 braces out of square tubing, and added gussets to each brace, and drilled 2, 1/2 holes in the vertical part of each brace.

Then, with square tubing 1 size larger , (the square tube used on the running boards fits into this square tubing) I made 4 pieces, drilled 2 holes in each piece to match the holes in the running boards, and notched each brace to accept the gusset......make sense?

I then attached the rear of the running board to the front of the rear fender, placed a jack under the front of the running board, and raised it til the gap between the boards and the cab was parallel/even, and I tacked on the outer square tube to the frame.

Now, if I want to remove the running boards, it's 3 bolts at the rear fender, and 4 bolts through the brackets, and the running board drops down.


In the pics, the brackets are only tacked in place, I will seam weld them when the cab is removed.

[Tempest67]

and here they are tacked in place.

[Tempest67]

Well, I completed another little project, the front parking lights. First I planned to switch them over to 1157 (dual filament) bulbs, I purchased the sockets, and realized they are too big for the housings. So, I decided on using 3, 194 bulbs.

I cut off the back of the housing, drilled 3 holes in a piece of sheet metal, filed in the cutouts for the 194 sockets, formed the metal and welding it to the back of the housings, installed the amber bulbs, and attached the new glass lenses.

The plan is to have the middle one on for the 'running/parking' lights, and the outside 2 will flash for the signals.

Don't know if these pics show the difference in brightness, but I think it will be fine.

[Tempest67]

Here is the finished grill,