ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is

[clay68c10]

I’ve had a 71 rear end sitting in the corner for a while. I did a quick look over when I first got it but I hadn’t really checked it out.
I brought it into work and pulled the axles. The bearing surfaces looked good so I put new bearings and seals in. The gear pattern and condition looked good. I also checked backlash and it was about .011”. Pretty good for what I assume are original gears. I’ll run it as-is with the open diff for now. I’ve got other things to eat up my $$ coming soon.

[clay68c10]

I’ve always wanted to try POR 15, so when my buddy offered me his leftover half can I gave it a shot. I’d have to say it’s an interesting product. It’s a little glossy for my liking, but now I know. I’m going to test out the semi gloss on some other parts soon. I have the frame to coat this summer so I’ll have to figure out what to use.

[clay68c10]

Another thing I wanted to try was Ni-copp tubing. I can say that it is my new go to. It’s so easy to bend and flare. I did these brake lines with my bare hands.
My fancy bender is sitting on the cart, but I didn’t even pick it up.

[72 tigger]

Looks good! I think I’ll use the copper on my next project

[hewittca]

I love your updates as I always learn something. That flaring tool does a nice job! On those brake lines, they look great, but are you worried at all about durability with how easy they were to bend? I know there's been a few times on my truck as I'm crawling around underneath where I accidentally bumped a brake line.

[clay68c10]

Originally Posted by hewittca

I love your updates as I always learn something. That flaring tool does a nice job! On those brake lines, they look great, but are you worried at all about durability with how easy they were to bend? I know there's been a few times on my truck as I'm crawling around underneath where I accidentally bumped a brake line.

It's not so malleable that I'm worried about it in normal usage. That said, if it was going on my Jeep where it may get drug thru some nastiness, I'd probably use regular steel.

[clay68c10]

It was time to figure out the seat and console mounts.
I welded on some adapters to the console so it will bolt down to the flat portion of the floor just outboard of the center hump. I used the same material thickness as the existing mount legs and gusseted them for rigidity.

[clay68c10]

I added my inboard front mount holes for the R&L seats, and drilled all the holes in the floor.
I have 1/8" steel plate pieces that I will add underneath with multiple rosette welds for reinforcement. Then I'll weld on the nuts for fastening. All my new holes are close to stock bracing locations and I think that will help.

[clay68c10]

It's time for the cab to come back off again so I can get the cab's underside floor reinforcement welding and POR-15 done. I'll also take care of the AC component mounting, extra hole filling and such as well, and then do my frame plumbing & coating and etc.
This should be the last time it comes off!

[cornerstone]

Originally Posted by clay68c10

This should be the last time it comes off!

If I had a dime for every time I said that I'd probably have a dollar.

Your seat mounts look really good. As one of my favorite you tubers says... "That aint goin' any where!"

[clay68c10]

Originally Posted by cornerstone

Your seat mounts look really good. As one of my favorite you tubers says... "That aint goin' any where!"

Thanks man!

[clay68c10]

If you want to add factory AC to one of these, get the assembly manual. There’s a fair amount of work involved. Most of it is just tedious fitting and adding fastener holes. The difficult part that visually matters is getting the dash vents located.
I started the ball housings by modifying a set of housings that had broken clips. I removed the rear part that sticks thru the dash so I had a template.

[clay68c10]

For the center vent I used the printable template from Vintage Air for their kit. It uses the stock looking vent in the center location. It’s a bit small, and that’s fine. I’d rather take metal away and creep up on the final size.
Yes, it’s taped on there off-center in the pic. I did correct that as part of the measure 6x and cut once technique.
I used the HF narrow belt sander to open up the hole to the final size. Very handy tool for this and for removing spot welds.

[clay68c10]

For the ball housings, I used a 3 3/8” hole saw to start. I put a solid rod in the centering bit so it wouldn’t walk and drilled it nice and slow. The surface isn’t flat and the saw really wants to move around so a firm hand and slow speed are key. Then I opened it up to the final size with the belt sander.
Time-wise, it probably took me a couple of hours to fit all 3 vents.

[clay68c10]

The main case mounting area on the firewall was next. The big opening towards the center line of the truck is the same for AC or heat only. It's the outboard side that's different. I used a beat up case for my mockups but I could have used my refinished one, it isn't harmed or disassembled beyond anything normal when you do this.
Some of the mounting holes line up already and some don't. I didn't take any pics of that part, I got the mounting holes done a couple of years ago.

[clay68c10]

Next is the recirculate function doors and actuators. For the most part there are dimples from the factory where you need to drill. The only place there aren't is for the cowl actuator mounting points, so that one takes a little bit of work. The assembly manual gives some dimensions for help.
I used a carb return spring for the cowl flap. I think the parts are being re-popped now. I found these parts used a while back before they were available.
I drilled that cowl inside pivot point from the interior side. The dimple is pressed from the cowl side but I wasn't even going to try that. Drilling from the interior was the obvious choice.

[clay68c10]

I'm a fan of thread inserts, I used them for most of the AC case mounting points. Most of these components were mounted with sheet metal screws. Not a fan of those.
I definitely wanted to use them for the high hump since the holes that someone added weren't really in the right place and I had to re-do them anyway.
I used a RotaBroach for the holes. It's a great tool for drilling into a spot where you may be overlapping an existing hole. Just use a very sharp center punch for the center pin locator.
These are all 1/4-20 inserts.

[clay68c10]

There was a single rust spot in the cowl that I noticed a while back. It was just a small rust bubble, but I figured there was more to it.
I hit it with a drill and of course it was mostly rotten. Good times.
I started cutting and here's what I ended up with.
I'll get back to that eventually.

[hewittca]

Good to see an update on your build, I always learn something. I too am a fan of threaded inserts, although I really dislike the manual tool I have for installing them. I will install inserts anywhere I think I may need to install/remove something that would require a helper or really long arms!

[clay68c10]

I have the Cornwell tool that you can use with a drill. There’s a couple of brands and they all look the same except for the color of the tool housing.
It works well, but you have to be careful with the small size insert adapters because they can break. It's best to use a manual driver with them.

[SCOTI]

I considered investing in one of the Rivnut tools but the couple I've used @ work left a little to be desired. The higher end tools look enticing, but I doubt worth the coin vs how often it would be used for my situation.

I was using all-thread, GRADE-8 nuts/washers, & wrenches for the ones I've installed on my dually but found the small 'installer' set-ups in one of the hardware assortment sections for each size I use. These have shorter lengths like a carb or exhaust manifold stud. They've worked well & were <$10ea. I did my trans tunnel/hump & driveshaft tunnel covers w/them on my '64.

Nice work on the updates. Your thoroughness is noted

[clay68c10]

Scoti; it feels thorough, like a really long welding session. I’m ready to be done with this cab. But the end is in sight!!

I tackled the cowl repair. It was time consuming because of where it is, I found that the belt sander and my dremel were the only tools that I could get in there to grind the weld. It’s not a visible area, but the recirc flap seats in there and I don’t want water to dam up either.

[clay68c10]

I did do some welding underneath, it wasn’t too bad. The leading edge wasn’t accessible from the top. It’s in the multiple seam area and will get seam sealed.

[clay68c10]

I had been looking at the cab for a couple of years now with most of the seam sealer removed. I scraped it out soon after I got it to determine the overall condition. The whole time, my eye was caught by the area around the windshield and how big those gaps are.
No time like the present, the welder is out and ready...

[clay68c10]

Now that the genie is out of the bottle, I may as well do something at the bottom of the windshield opening.
This took a bit more work since the gap is huge and the 2 sides across the gap aren’t level.
I pie cut the inside part and shaped it to lower it, then welded it closed.