What Did You Do With Your Truck Today ?

[spreader]

Ordered a heater hose control valve and a fuel tank sending unit. Re-positioned the aftermarket heater from passenger side footwell to the center of firewall. Now I have 5 new holes to fill/plug, darn! Now I will be able to open & close heat/defrost vents from the drivers seat. Installed an old school fan on the dash @ center windshield support area. Coming back off for glass installation tho. Gutted OEM gauges to mount new quad 5" gauges & speedo in the housings. I'll post up pics when that is done. Should look reasonably close to OEM.

[Daze57]

TNB
Great job on rebuilding the heater - paint came out real nice
i always like takin things like that apart and makin em all look like new or newer again .
best part is the fact that it still works - and prolly very well also
great job once again !

[GMCGoat]

I finally got around to repairing the floor where the body mounts were. all welded in, seam sealed, and painted....just letting it dry, then I'll put the bushings an dbolts in.

Also decided to sand and paint rear cab wall and floor before putting in a new gas tank.

[arturo7]

Dropped my hood into the electrolysis tank. POR'd the final batch of chassis bits.

[nvrdone]

Went to one show yesterday and one today. Put on about 170 miles and the truck ran great!
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[Russell Ashley]

"Tinkered with the front. Got some white letters for the tailgate..............any tips on how to put them on straight......square......?"

I recently put the chrome letters on my tailgate and followed advice I got from Dan. I took a straight edge and made a pencil line across the top of the stamped letters on the tailgate. Then you match the tops of the stick on letters to the line. The letters are decals and you spray the tailgate with water, so you can move them slightly to perfectly align them. Instructions come with the letters.

[hsdropout]

Thanks Russell........I got mine from Classic parts; they didn't come with instructions........
I assume they are the same kind you all used.....vinyl sticky back.....light blue backing paper...says ARLON on back. I thought they were peel and stick.

So just soak them in water and slide them off paper into place? Thanks again.

[Highsider]

Draw the line as suggested above.
Spray the tailgate area you are starting, with windex.
Peel a middle letter and stick in on the windex area. It will allow you a short time to adjust/line up the letter.
Smooth out the bubbles, too.
Then go to the next letter, spray and stick.

[hsdropout]

white letters..........bang.........there you go.........get 'er done. thx.

[Russell Ashley]

Originally Posted by hsdropout

white letters..........bang.........there you go.........get 'er done. thx.

Looks like you got it figured out. Looks great.

[Denee007]

Love the letters!!! great job!
dne'

[Denee007]

We drove the 59 around, 98 degrees here, the AC was working ok, but the shell of the truck and Sun coming through the glass still makes for a warm ride. Maybe some tint would be in order? or just drive it in the evening for a while. I'm thinking of one of those little fans that go on the dash, or from the mirror? otherwise, this Apache is awesome!

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by Denee007

We drove the 59 around, 98 degrees here, the AC was working ok, but the shell of the truck and Sun coming through the glass still makes for a warm ride. Maybe some tint would be in order? or just drive it in the evening for a while. I'm thinking of one of those little fans that go on the dash, or from the mirror? otherwise, this Apache is awesome!

Hi Denee!

Nice to hear you're driving her around. Yes, these trucks do get hot despite our best efforts. Without going back to review your thread in depth, I can't remember if you installed Dynamat, Peel 'n Seal, or some other kind of sound deadner?

Do you know about Lizardskin? It is a THERMAL barrier like a paint that you can apply under the cab floor with a roller or a spray gun to help. You could also apply it inside the truck (obviously) behind the headliner, etc. if you didn't already apply on of the stick on products.

I THINK there is also a stick-on type thermal barrier material you might still be able to install, though I don't know if its recommended OVER the sound barrier or under it but you might want to look into it to make your truck more user friendly in the summer months.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Excellent job on the letters!

I got no instructions from The Truck Shop either, so being an old draftsman - remember those? Kinda like a blacksmith or a buggy whip maker nowadays, that career doesn't truly exist anymore.

Anyway, I came up with the very light pencil line because I couldn't think of any better way. I just "eyeballed" the side-to-side distances. But I DIDN'T use water - I never thought of it! You guys are more clever than I am. Once mine were on they were staying unless I stretched & ruined them.

[msaintg]

I too did not get directions, I too never thought about wetting it down first. I didn't even have a raised letter surface to work from. I used tape to square up my letters (instead of a pencil line). I had to use an Exacto knive in order to get the paper backing off of the letters, so I also used that to hold a corner of the letters and set them in place.

[msaintg]

Today I took the chevy over to my brothers house for a play date with his Camaro. I think they got along just fine.

[dubie]

I added some much needed strength the my C notch. The yellow marks are where we drilled holes so the plate could be plug welded to the frame. Then it was onto re-installing the shocks, the bed, the tail lights and then do a couple small adjustments on the brakes. Took it for a test drive and everything was working perfect. The ride was noticeably better, the braking was responsive and the engine temperature was staying below 200. And then the rad decided to blow a core on me. Fortunately it happened 50' from my house so I avoided a potential mess.

[Denee007]

Hi Dan, so nice to hear from you! on the floor of the cab and all the way up to the top of the firewall, I used the peel and stick tarry looking stuff with aluminum looking covering (it's a brand name, just can't think of it), then on top of that I put radiant barrier, then the carpet of course.

When I first take off while the truck has been in the garage, the ac will get to 38degrees on medium speed, then up to about 42 when running at 210degrees on the radiator, but if I let it sit in the sun for about the time it takes Gary and I to shoot our guns at the range mid-day(98 degrees), then the AC has a very difficult time cooling the cab off, and then it's only putting out 48-50degrees like it can't catch up, so then recirculating air is still warm I'd say.

I was thinking maybe I'm not getting enough air from the electric fan for the condenser, and considered a mechanical fan and shroud, but I only have 3.5" between the radiator and water pump flange.

But when the evening rolls in and the cab cools, say in the upper 80's with no direct sun, the ac will be very cold again (38-40).

As pretty as my paint is, it's gets hotter than hell! You can't touch my paint while it's been sitting in the direct sunlight! Maybe that one layer of radiant barrier between the headliner isn't really helping much, but there's not much room up there for a whole lot of insulation. I'm willing to pull the headliner back down and do something different.
dne'

[Dan in Pasadena]

Yeah, it sounds like that stuff you put up top isn't doing anything for you. I'd definitely try some kind of stick-on barrier that is specifically made as a heat barrier more than a noise barrier. Good luck with that! Let us know if anything makes a substantive difference - we need all the real world results we can get!

[Coupeguy2001]

I hauled a tree for my 90 year old mother in my 56 year old truck

[mechanixman]

I got a new third member with 4.11 gears, and swapped it into my truck.
Also 2 more hubcaps, and a bed side pocket.
oh and I got the cam and crank back in.
Things should be picking up soon

[mechanixman]

I got a new third member with 4.11 gears, and swapped it into my truck.
Also 2 more hubcaps, and a bed side pocket.
oh and I got the cam and crank back in.
Things should be picking up soon

[la hi]

I installed my Dakota Digital gauge kit (VHX) today in my 57 and it works!

[Nev68]

Removed rear springs so I can get them reset (lowered)

before


after

[Dan in Pasadena]

"Reset"? You mean re-arched for a lower stance or flip them on top of the axle housing?