Halfbreed - GMC Z71 + IH Extd Cab

[sparkydog]

I'm nearly there with the PS door and basically happy with the results. These last three posts took me ALLLLLLL day today from 9am to 5pm and I don't remember staring much. I expect the DS door to go much faster because I will have a template to measure off of.

I still have some more cutting of the exterior skin and some redo's to get the door straighter but I think I'm back with my game on now!

[67ChevyRedneck]

Awesome. Glad you got the door figured out.

[sparkydog]

I got the exterior skin on the PS door cut, fit and tacked. The door handle is back on and the latch works nice. Even though there are several boo-boos that I can spot I have to say I am pleased with my 1st attempt. I guess I'm about 20hrs into it now. I should be able to start on the DS rear door now and hopefully that will go much faster now that I have a role model.

[Effeckt]

Your truck has made amazing progress. I've been following this thread since the beginning and you have done some great work to this thing in a short amount of time. Looking forward to seeing the progress unveil!

[sparkydog]

Originally Posted by DorianGray

Nice work so far. I look forward to seeing more of the truck. And by the way you've got some skills with metal keep up the good work.

Originally Posted by *Dylan

Looks great! Those old IH's are cool!

Originally Posted by Frizzle Fry

Nice work man. Lookin good!

Originally Posted by nuke1

truck is coming along nicely, you have done some fine work my friend, be proud of what you have done in this truck, it just keeps gettin closer everyday!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by 63chevyll

wow, good build. you are doing a fine job

Originally Posted by ChiefRocka

Way cool man ... just read thru the entire build ... Awesome !

Originally Posted by Effeckt

Your truck has made amazing progress. I've been following this thread since the beginning and you have done some great work to this thing in a short amount of time. Looking forward to seeing the progress unveil!

Thanks everyone (and anybody I missed) for the words of encouragement. I always forget to acknowledge you guys because I get caught up with just posting my pics. But I want you all to know I read these and it is playing as much a role in helping my project as the MIG wire and the flapper disks! Thanks!

Edit: I forgot to thank:

Originally Posted by 89muscletruck

way to go!

who has also been here from the start of the thread!

[sparkydog]

Homie got 4 doors now!!!

[sparkydog]

...and a whole lotta details to still take care of!

[Palf70Step]

Very nice!!! Way beyond my skill and brain level.

[low'n slow]

a little bondo and she'll be done

[Effeckt]

Sweet!! I see the end result on the horizon!

[sparkydog]

I used a profile gage to get the contour of the cab roof radius and then used this to find the corresponding section of the TAll roof where I should cut. Then I began to wrap up the long-dormant task of finishing up the patch of the roof where I cut it too short.

[sparkydog]

Center section tacked in and some rough flapper work to spot any problems. I cut a few sections free and re-tacked and then started stitch welding.

After a grind down and some dolly work I am happy with my learning curve and the results I am getting.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Now that came out really great!

[Effeckt]

I would be happy with the results too.. Looks great!

[Palf70Step]

Very nice. Pop in some glass and your ready to cruise!

[sparkydog]

Got it titled, plated and tagged today!

[Effeckt]

Sweet Sparky! Now you can cruise in style.

[67ChevyRedneck]

I bet you're grinning from ear to ear!!!

Find a good trans shop and get her rolling!!!!!!! Just keep your mouth closed so you don't get bugs in your teeth

[sparkydog]

Sorry guys just a story tonight but no pictures.

Waaaay back at post #296 I had left my roof joints tack welded and covered up the seams with masking tape, then a quick layer of bondo and some primer. This was so I could get the truck as "normal" looking as possible for the DMV.

Well it was time to go back and get things right with the roof.

Last week I scrubbed the bondo and tape off the seams, prepped the metal, finished welded and did some hammer/dolly work. During this time I became an official member of the grind-your-welds-with-a-cutoff-disk-club. My $.02 is to weld, then flap disk the top crown down so it is uniform but high. Then hit it with the hammer and dolly to mash out the shrinkage. Then go in with the cutoff disk (on edge) and get the weld crown down to flush or maybe even below grade. Then back in with a light flapper session.

This weekend I started my poor-man's lowering kit. I want to get the back end down about 4" to get the rake almost level. But I don't want to fork out the $$$ for a kit. So this weekend I took out the bottom over-load leaf and replaced the coil-over shocks (load levelers) with regular shocks. (Well actually all I did was disassemble the coils off the coil-overs.) After getting everything back together snug but not tight and a couple of trips over some rough roads and a final snug up of the u-bolts, I was able to drop the rear 1-3/8th inch. Nobody else can notice the difference but I sure can!!! Next up will be to mod the forward spring shackles and get another 2 or 2.5". After that if I need more I will de-arch the leafs.

Yesterday evening I took her out on I5 for our first long distance high-speed cruise up to Orange County. It was a fantastic evening with almost no traffic on the road and a dead-calm ocean and nice sunset. Halfbreed did 75 with the cruise control on and just ate up the miles and purred away! I probably have 750 maybe 1000 miles on by now.

Tonight I cleaned up the rear window glass and will put it back in this Friday.

I continue to search for my next set of wheels and tires on CList. I am still wanting to try the OEM Jeep wheels off 02/03/04 Grand Cherokee but they are kind of hard to find. My other favorite is still the OEM Impala SS off 94-96. A little easier to find.

[tcb-1]

amazing fabrication skills. simply AMAZING!!

[sparkydog]

I thought I would digress a moment and talk about my first few experiences trying to explain my truck to bystanders. Basically - I haven't ever succeeded!

Obviously people who don't care about hot-rods and such don't get it - but I'm talking about otherwise qualified guys who know about these things. So far I am about 0 for 5 on getting it to sink in.

Last week I was in Castaic, CA at a McDonalds and when I came out there were two guys standing at the truck. Both guys knew rodding and sheet metal and one guy knew a lot about IH trucks. But even as they stared at the engine bay and listened to me go though it 2 times and nod their heads they were still asking me about which IH motor that was and was it hard to adapt the steering to the IH frame.

It's kind of funny - I should realize that this is what I get for doing the transplant onto the modern chassis. I guess it's a sign I'm doing something unusual.

[sparkydog]

A quick update. Yesterday I did some mods to the PS kick panel to clearance the GM HVAC unit better and now the HVAC unit is in for (what I hope is) good - along with the GM firewall sound/heat mat.

I also pulled the tranny pan and as you can see... the evidence is pretty strong that I have to rebuild/swap out the tranny. So today I did all of the prep work for pulling the tranny and am down to the 6 mount bolts on the bell housing.

Now I just have to figure out where to find the scratch to pay for the tranny repairs!

[sparkydog]

Cha Ching!!! I just realized I have two obscure (yes even more obscure than the truck) toys left that I can liquidate and round up some Benjamins.

[kyull67]

If I remember correctly, this was your first real welding project. You've come a long way. NICE WORK!

[Frizzle Fry]

Looking really good! What did you ever decide to do about the front wheel centering?