Just another old truck.

[Kim57]

That's going to be a real nice battery box when finished.
Kim

[Clarance J]

Hey Kim57. Thanks. Sometimes when you start these little projects you can see in your mind what you want but the fun starts when you have to figure out how to get there. I'm still working on it so its getting closer to being done.

August 2011

I'm going back a couple of years now on how I did my tail lights. I wanted to keep the original look and my lights were gone. I also did not like the wires hanging out the back so something had to be done with that.

I found a set of trailer lights at Schucks that were close enough to the stock look I wanted. Less than $7.00 each. I had to remove the mounting plates on the lights. Bolted the lights to the mounts I made. I drilled a hole between the stock mounting holes in the lower stake pockets for the wires.

They have to come apart one more time to be finished and painted.

[Clarance J]

Looks good from here. I want to some day figure out a third tail/brake light set-up.

Earl

[RockinKees]

Taillights look great!
Nice price also

I was thinking to make a third brake light in the cab above the backwindow.
I'm not sure yet, so I keep an eye on you!

[Advanced Design]

That was a great idea Earl and they look good on Clarence J. Sue beats the prices from some street rod company!

[Kim57]

Nice job on the tail lights.
Kim

[Clarance J]

Thanks guys. Anytime I can save myself some money and do a little bit of fab work I'm for it. These days I seem to have more time than money any way.

On the battery box I can't tell you how many hours I have in it but so far dollar wise I'm into it less than $8.00 not counting welding gas and wire. But that's coming up real soon. Plus my scrap pile is getting smaller so I'll be on the hunt for more soon also. Never can tell what other people are getting rid of.

So here is where I'm at up till today. Working on the cover.

[Clarance J]

Continue on the cover.

[Clarance J]

I didn't take any pictures of the cover with the holes drilled in it. But I did finish the welding. There was a small issue of clearance at the top between the cover and the floor but a little hammer work fixed that. Next was the bottom panels.

[Clarance J]

Cut more patches from the door. Just 4 more patches to weld on this weekend. Finish grinding, put on a little filler. Still need to locate and drill the hole for the positive cable to go through. I did get a grommet for it to go through. So my next big decision to make is what color do I want it to be.

Earl

[Advanced Design]

Very creative fabrication. I like the grid pattern idea. Nice work!

[Kim57]

Very nice fab work.
Kim

[Clarance J]

Well today I finally finished the battery box. Been waiting for the temps to go up enough to paint so today was the day. I got the cables to go the way I wanted them. A few weeks back I ordered from Summit the new positive cable and a set of battery terminal post covers. Works good. Been working on this little project for over a month now. Glad its almost over. Looking back over this a month is not bad. There were almost 50 individual parts and pieces that had to be fabbed and put together.

Drained the water out of my compressor, put some fresh air in it and sprayed on the primer. While that was drying I cleaned the gun and mixed up the yellow stuff. That got sprayed on. I need more practice at spraying so I guess that's what you would call today. Thursday I'll be out of town so Friday I'll put the new box in Clarance J.

Since I'm cleaning up the firewall I'm going to weld some more holes up. I have already rerouted some wires that came through and down the wall to the inside and out the bottom under the floor. This weekend I'll get back to the front clip sheet metal. Yippy.

[RockinKees]

Very nice!!

[Advanced Design]

I agree, the battery box came out very nicely!

[Kim57]

Real nice job.
Kim

[Baldeagle SR]

That is a lot of work for the battery box. looks good too. Rich

[Clarance J]

Thank you all gentlemen. It was an enjoyable project to do. I like making things that do not have any plans except whats in my head. I see that in all the builds on here. Thanks again. On to the next.

[Clarance J]

Yesterday I was looking at the remains of the door and decided that I had to use more of it. But for what? That big curved part was left and Clarance J needs a rear roll pan. Last summer I made a rear licence plate frame so that will be put in the middle somehow. So that's what's going to happen someday. But first I have to work on the front and get it back together so I can drive my truck again. At least thats the plan for now. We'll see how things work out.

Earl

[Clarance J]

Well I'm happy to say that the battery box is finally in and working just like I want it to. Right after I got it installed the starter decided to quit. Had to replace it. So that was kinda like a test run. Everything is back together and working great. This means that I can start back on the front end until something else side tracks me.

Earl

[Kim57]

That came out real nice.
Kim

[Advanced Design]

Really nice Earl!

[RockinKees]

Looks like a factory option!

[Stepside Jim]

Nice work. The battery and it's cables do take a fair amount of space, using an area that will serve no other purpose is a huge plus.
Jim

[Clarance J]

I"d like to say thank you all for the comments. Sure helps with the motivation.

Earl