Markeb01 Build Thread

[markeb01]

Originally Posted by McMurphy

.
Surprised you didnt get some with some of the old buildings in town, or the main drag.

Even been out to Tekoa? It is out in the Palouse about half way to Pullman and spring time is fantastic as the rolling hills are turning green with the fresh wheat growing and you can see thunder storms a hundred miles away....
Just a tiny little farming town, but lots of photogenic spots there.

Not too many pictures this time because it was a real short trip for us. My wife works graveyard, just got off work and had to work again Saturday night so I needed to get her home to sleep. We were both having a great time and would have enjoyed staying longer, and I could have possibly come home with a “major award”! With only 8 cars in the show, 3 trophies to present and a plaque for every car, it was the best chance I was ever going to have at winning something! But we were long gone by the time those were handed out.

Haven’t been to Tekoa – yet. Thanks for the suggestion that may well be our next destination. I haven’t traveled more than an hour from home in over 10 years because of degenerative back problems, but now that we’re on the recovery side of the heart attack we’re planning some 1-2 hour day trips to see how much can be tolerated. We both really love and miss traveling and seeing new things, and I'm not finding the photo opportunities I'm looking for locally.

[McMurphy]

Probably high on the list of why I think Spokane is just the best place in the world to live.
No matter what you like, you can find or get it in Spokane. Nowhere I have ever been in this world had the diversity in geography, outdoor activities, all the creature comforts of a major city but still have a small town feel to it....

Not to wax Norman Rockwellian on you all, but you truely have to see this city, and the diversity in an hours drive in any direction, to truely appreciate it.

I grew up out at the end of Long Lake, so Reardan was in my "neighborhood" so to speak....

[markeb01]

Wow, that really is a beauty, thanks for sharing. Ironically that’s actually what I was looking for when we found our truck. I wanted a 1963, either GMC or Chevy. I specifically didn’t want the any 60-62 because of the torsion bar suspension, and preferred the wrap around windshield.

Had my truck started life with an inline six, it would still be in there. I always wanted to build one with a 4 barrel and headers, but mine came with the 850 pound 305 which I was not crazy about at all.

[markeb01]

The last couple of weeks haven’t been very productive trying to cope with increasingly limiting pinched nerves in my back and neck. Chiropractic adjustments, massage therapy, pain pills, and anti-inflammatories failed to produce any noticeable improvement.

So I decided this morning it was time for some alternate therapy. With my new floor mat burning a hole in my pocket, I decided a few hours disassembling the interior would provide some vigorous physical activity which would either make things better (or worse) and improve my crappy attitude at the same time.

2 days in a closed bedroom with a space heater set on 80 degrees eliminated virtually all of the packaging wrinkles on the new mat. This is how it looks today without anything underneath to support the shape:



The vinyl material is certainly unlike anything I’ve ever had on the floor of a truck. At 80 degrees it’s as flexible as very fresh piece of licorice. At 72 degrees it’s more like a very stale piece of licorice. At 55 degrees it’s more like a 3/16” sheet of ABS plastic, except it can be bent without breaking.

Out in the truck, the first thing to go was the shifter handle because it was easy to remove sitting in the driver’s seat. My neck won’t bend too well so I wasn’t enthusiastic about getting under the truck to hold on to any fasteners. As it turned out I didn’t have to and everything was removed from above. I just used a pry bar to apply upward pressure on the seat mounting brackets and outer seat belt bolts.

These show the front floor mat, and the older floor mat that was chopped up to fill in between the seats.





And here it is about 3 hours later. The seat brackets, and belts have been removed, but the old eye bolts for the racing belts still remain, because they have to be removed from underneath. The firewall and rear panel upholstery has also been removed. I’m going to try leaving the upholstered kick panels in place and tuck the mat underneath, but they may also have to be removed:





If everything goes well in the morning, I’ll have my wife help pull the eye bolts along with the gas pedal. . A good vacuuming and wipe down should finalize the prep. The mat was delivered with a jute pad, but I haven’t stretched it out yet to see how much it covers.

If my patience holds out, I’d like to lay out the new mat in the cab, set the space heater in place at 80 degrees and leave it for a couple of days until it is perfectly molded to the floor before doing any trimming. We’ll see. I’ve wanted one of these full floor mats for a long time, so I’m enthusiastic to see how it turns out.

[markeb01]

This morning we removed the racing belt eye bolts, throttle linkage/gas pedal and upholstered kick panels. After lunch everything was vacuumed up and ready for the new floor covering:



ACC generously provided a front floor piece of jute padding. Unfortunately it was punched for the small hump floor, even though they sold me a high hump mat. Gotta love quality in America. I sliced out the middle and used the two side pieces. The chunk in the middle in the photo is just a scrap I couldn’t reach without bumping the tripod:



Here are the first photos of the mat in the cab.





ACC advertises it is cut oversize for custom trimming, and they aren’t kidding. The back and sides probably have an extra 4” included and the nose has 6-8” extra beyond the standard mat shape. No complaints about that. I was hoping to retain some of this excess material and shove the mat well up on the firewall providing a nice finished edge that was so far up it couldn’t be seen from the seats. But there’s just too much material in the way. The drop in the floor just ahead of the seats needs to move forward another 4 inches and can’t. Some of the material at the top of the firewall will have to be trimmed before the mat will fit. I’ll probably remove it from the truck and use the original mat as a template for some rough trimming. I also learned that coming out of a 78 degree room wasn’t enough to make this stuff workable. So right now I’ve got a space heater set in the cab to bring the temperature up to at least 80-85 degrees to see how much that helps.

More to follow.

[markeb01]

Well I pulled the mat back out and matched it up with the original. Still leaving a generous amount of surplus I trimmed 3” off the leading edge, and 7” out of the center over the firewall hump. The fit is now within a hand grenades range, but still needs a lot of trimming to fit correctly. At least it's starting to look like I have the correct mat for the truck now.



I’m not sure if it’s a good or bad thing but I lost my white crayon which is critical for anymore trimming, so that will be it for tonight. I feel like I’ve been wrestling a gorilla. Carpet certainly would have been a lot easier!

[LostMy65]

Originally Posted by markeb01

Well I pulled the mat back out and matched it up with the original. Still leaving a generous amount of surplus I trimmed 3” off the leading edge, and 7” out of the center over the firewall hump. The fit is now within a hand grenades range, but still needs a lot of trimming to fit correctly. At least it's starting to look like I have the correct mat for the truck now.



I’m not sure if it’s a good or bad thing but I lost my white crayon which is critical for anymore trimming, so that will be it for tonight. I feel like I’ve been wrestling a gorilla. Carpet certainly would have been a lot easier!

If you were to do it again, would you had done carpet instead?
I've been tempted to get the same mat as you, but cut it the same as the original - where it only covers the front portion of the cab, not under the seat.
Posted via Mobile Device

[markeb01]

Originally Posted by LostMy65

If you were to do it again, would you had done carpet instead?
Posted via Mobile Device

I am completely satisfied with the mat, it is everything I had hoped for. It covers the entire floor, cleans up easily, and looks very attractive. It shows no wear of any kind. I'm not sure I can honestly answer your question however, because now I do know how much work it requires. It's brutally difficult to install and I'm too old and worn out to tackle the amount of effort it takes ever again.

I can truthfully say if it ever has to be replaced I'll never install another one. I'll either go with carpet, or leave the portion under the seats and install another stock replacement mat instead. I don't care for carpet in the truck because it retains too much dirt. I preferred the convenience of the original rubber mat so I could remove the floor pan for transmission work, but the MIP is so good looking I'm hopeful it will outlast me so I'll never have to make the choice.

[markeb01]

Another 4 hours of effort completed the driver’s side of the floor mat installation. The outboard drop area just in front of the seat is clearly molded into the mat so I used this as the primary reference point to know when everything was in the correct position. With this corner of the mat aligned with the floor, the fit at the transmission tunnel/gas pedal area was optimized, and the back wall of the cab squared up with the back edge. The position was fixed by locating the threaded nutserts in the floor, poking through with an awl, and then cutting a hole with a stepdrill, which came out clean after passing the bit through from both sides. A temporary bolt in the forward location held things in position.



A bulge at the gas pedal mount was pushed in/reversed at which point it fit perfectly into the firewall depression. The top left of the mat was marked with white crayon, pulled back and trimmed to the shape shown. The pedal mount was removed and relocated on top of the mat. All of this firewall coverage is well above the top of where a standard rubber mat ends. I’m very thankful they designed this product with so much extra material in the front (even if it is a pain to work with). The gas pedal mount now has mat behind it, instead of leaving the old pivot area bare. Here’s an after and before comparison:





After the top left of the mat was trimmed and the gas pedal reinstalled, I cut the smallest hole possible allowing the shifter to poke through, so the mat could still move around if needed. The rest of the driver side seat attachment holes were cut and the mat was bolted to the floor in two places. With no chance of it moving around, the area under the door sill was trimmed away and fitted around the back edge.

Obtaining the best possible fit along the left kick panel and around the dimmer switch took a bit of extra effort. I’ve seen too many mats with a big oval hole near the dimmer switch because it’s not always easy to predict exactly where the hole should be, and I didn’t want to mess this up.

On 1960 models the dimmer switch is mounted to a removable panel with half of the switch held in a cavity formed into the floor. When I created the diamond tufted kick panels the factory switch was too close to the side. So I fabricated a flat steel plate to cover the cavity and installed the newer style switch that bolts directly to the floor.

To trim the mat I removed the steel plate and the dimmer switch. This allowed for a perfect cut right along the edge. I then removed the dimmer from the plate, drilled a 1/8” hole directly under the center of the dimmer switch, and ran a long screw through from the bottom (pointing up). With the plate reinstalled on the floor, it was simply a matter of pressing the mat over the screw to have the exact center of the switch punched into the mat. The plate was removed, the switch reattached and reinstalled on the floor. The mat was drilled out with a stepdrill, this time using the biggest bit I have which is ¾ inch. The hole in the mat is a stretch fit over the cap, but the exact size of the switch body so it fits perfectly.

For anyone that’s wondered how much of the floor this mat actually covers, ACC promises “full floor” coverage and they aren’t kidding. It rises 2-5” higher than a standard rubber mat in the front, and goes all the way to the back wall of the cab. For those that have eliminated the in-cab gas tank this is a very nice feature:



One issue on my 1960 is the cavity near the rear of the driver’s door. My truck has wiring in this area and a steel plate over the top that matches the contours of the floor. The mat has a cavity molded in, so I’m assuming later trucks didn’t have this cover. My first thought was to cut out the mat inside the cavity and reinstall the plate on top. But looking at it, I’m not sure I won’t just leave it alone and eliminate the cover. It’s not like anyone is going to be stepping there to climb into the back seat. For now I’m going to leave the cavity looking like this. If I change my mind later I can always reinstall the cover plate on top of the mat:



Right now the truck is cooking back up to 90 degrees so I can finish the passenger side. The only remaining tasks are to pull any remaining surplus out of the transmission tunnel, add the seat mounting bolts to hold it in position, and trim the door/kick panel area. Once that is complete the shifter stick and boot can go back in. The final chore will be filling unused holes and repainting the seat mounting brackets. They looked just fine on the old crappy floor, but need some attention before going back in now.

If there aren’t any surprises the truck will hopefully be back together tomorrow.

[pdxhall]

That is looking real nice Mark. It's making me have second thoughts about installing carpet.

[CRGRS 66]

Looks great, looks like it grew there. Once you are done, could you take some pics outside with natural light (no flash, no incandescent lighting)?

[markeb01]

Thanks for the comments guys. I’m losing my enthusiasm for taking pictures of each micro step so the next interior photos will be after its back together which should be tomorrow.

Finished the passenger side floor last night and reinstalled the door sill, passenger kick panel, tufted firewall pad to the right of the heater, and tufted panels behind the seats.

Today was focused on cleaning up the seat brackets. They’ve been drilled numerous times for multiple locations and adjustments, two different types of seats, and both 2 and 3 across seating. Since I’m about the only person that sees them I made a half hearted effort to make them look better.

The old wrinkle paint was stripped down to the bare aluminum and numerous surplus holes were filled with JB Kwik, followed by a skin coat of Rage body filler. Everything was smoothed up with 320 on a D/A, and shot with JD Blitz Black from a spray can. The extra holes were eliminated partly for cosmetics, but mainly to make it easier to reinstall the seats. The only holes remaining are the correct ones for each position. Here are a couple of before and after photos:





The brackets won’t be winning any awards, but look a lot better than they did before. They’re currently cooking under the lamps, and when they stop stinking I’ll mount them in the truck. All that’s left to do is reinstall the shifter handle & boot, inboard seat belts, and the seats. If tomorrow provides the kind of weather we got today, I’ll pull it outside for those no-flash photos.

[markeb01]

One last picture for the night. The only thing left to accomplish is tightening all the bolts after the seats are set in place tomorrow morning:

[LostMy65]

Looking good.

[McMurphy]

I made adapter "feet" for my bench seat too couple weekends ago, next is to get the seat back in the cab, mark them and get them set.
Then it will be setting up the seat belts with shoulder straps.
Once all that is done, off the the upholster for the seat.

Your mat does look good though!!

[markeb01]

The floor mat install is finally complete. The wife helped set the seats, attached all the mounting bolts, and managed all the fasteners under the truck. I pulled it outside for a few photos, and got the camera back inside just in time for another rain shower! So much for June in the Northwest.

There are still a few bumps in the mat that I’m presuming will flatten out with time and heat. It hasn’t been over 70 degrees in the garage since I started on this. 100 degrees ambient would have made everything a lot easier. Right now it doesn’t fit as tight as custom carpet or an original floor mat, but I think it will come very close once it has a chance to heat up and fully relax. Of all the MIP mat photos I’ve seen on the web, this 60-66 high hump example has the most accurate molding I’ve seen.

It’s not at all slippery, but it is very smooth and easy to sweep off unlike the stained/dirty grooves in the factory mat. Cleaning out any debris on the floor is as simple as blowing it off with an air hose, which is certainly easier than vacuuming carpet. What I like most is how much of the floor it covers. I made the previously installed tufted firewall pad over the transmission tunnel mainly because so much of the metal firewall showed above the factory mat. I never liked the design because it had such a big drooping bulge on the passenger side. The new mat covers the entire area eliminating the need for the tufted panel.

In photographs, the mat looks gray in bright sunlight. In real life it looks gloss black even in the sun, compared to the rubber mat that was more of a brownish gray color. Here are a few snapshots. The two odd looking black dots on the floor under the pedals are the shadows of my ball style dash knobs, and the strange grid marking to the right to the tunnel in the 2nd photo is light shining through the speaker opening in the dash.





This photo just shows the generous coverage all along the front line:

[64shortbox]

Looks absolutely Fantastic!!!!!!!

[CRGRS 66]

I second that motion, could not agree more, lovely install Mark

[CRGRS 66]

Originally Posted by markeb01

There are still a few bumps in the mat that I’m presuming will flatten out with time and heat. It hasn’t been over 70 degrees in the garage since I started on this. 100 degrees ambient would have made everything a lot easier. Right now it doesn’t fit as tight as custom carpet or an original floor mat, but I think it will come very close once it has a chance to heat up and fully relax. Of all the MIP mat photos I’ve seen on the web, this 60-66 high hump example has the most accurate molding I’ve seen.

Mark, do you think a blow dryer, or something like a blow dryer would do the trick?

[likaroc13]

x3...looks really nice! great job once again

[markeb01]

A hair dryer might do some good, but I'm not sure it would put out enough heat to really make a difference. I actually have a regular heat gun in the garage. The output is high enough to burn things so I was a little reluctant to try it until I tested it on some scrap pieces. Now that the project is done I'm more inclined to let nature do the work, but I still intend to test the heat gun on some scrap pieces to learn how much it can take before damage occurs, or if it can get so hot gloves are required to touch it without causing problems. I’d like to know those answers.

For those that don't visit my build thread, I’m thinking about posting a separate summary thread offering my experiences working with the vinyl mat. There have been quite a few inquiries over the last couple of years with very limited response. With a specific topic thread it might make it easier for members to find input during a search, and knowing how much direct heat it can tolerate would probably be helpful to include.

[markeb01]

Okay so wanting to know how well this stuff did with heat got the better of me. I dropped everything and went out and tested the heat gun on some scrap pieces. On the low setting, passing the heat gun back and forth at about 3-4 inches for 20-30 seconds makes the material nice and flexible. It was very hot to the touch, but not enough to burn fingers.

Here’s a piece of flat stock I heated up and rolled into a U. This is about 5 minutes after the heating cycle and it held its shape pretty well:



These are the best pictures I can get today. We’re having thunderstorms and cloud bursts all day and its dark in the garage even with all the lights on and the doors open. It’s so dark in the cab the autofocus is having trouble even when using the flash. The 1st picture is without the flash, 2nd is with flash:



The diagnonal stripe near the shift boot is a reflection from the shifter stick. This stuff is really shiny!



This was after about 10 minutes of effort with the heat gun and a couple of magnets to hold the mat flat against the hump cover. The passenger side is almost flat now compared to before heating. The bumps that remain near the front are from embossments in the removable cover and the perimeter of the opening in the floor. I also extended the character line up over the front corner by pressing the heated mat down into the grove until it cooled. I’m inspired to finish working out the rest of lumps but I’ll need to pick up some additional magnets so I can get more done at one heating. Now I’m really happy with it!

[markeb01]

Although the wife loves the new floor covering, she admitted she just didn’t like it as much without the diamond tufted firewall cover. So it went back in today. I have to admit I like it better with the upholstery too. If I can ever find a safe and attractive way to attach a heavy headliner I’ll upholster that as well.



Edit - I just switched pictures because I realized the firewall pad was crooked. I corrected the misalignment but the sun moved so I couldn't duplicate the previous shot.

Also got the garage cleaned up today and sliced up the old mat so it would fit in the trash. It’s nice not having all the extra holes in the floor mat where the old gas pedal use to mount. I’m looking forward to getting back on polishing the windshield trim in the next couple of days.

[CRGRS 66]

Originally Posted by markeb01

Although the wife loves the new floor covering, she admitted she just didn’t like it as much without the diamond tufted firewall cover. So it went back in today. I have to admit I like it better with the upholstery too. If I can ever find a safe and attractive way to attach a heavy headliner I’ll upholster that as well.

I like it, glad you put it back in, alos had the same thought as the previous post about cutting down on noise, and heat. I have plenty of both in mine

[66-PMD-GMC]

So what transmission are you running?
I have a chance to trade off stuff I have for a Munci 4 speed and there is a Borg Warner WC T5.. Not sure the T5 would live behind a Pontiac motor.