Marvin (1953 3100)

[solidaxel]

As a reminder, ask your wiring guy how he is wiring up the Neural Safety Switch?
As I have always been in a big hurry to start the project!

[dug224]

Spectacular paint and attention to detail!!

[MIKESAD50]

Marvin is looking great, have anymore pictures of the under seat area wiring?

[iowaboynca]

Looking good!

[fisherman420]

This truck is just stunning!

[torchlight]

Thanks for the fine comments, everybody. It is definitely fun to share with others who also appreciate these trucks.

Originally Posted by solidaxel

As a reminder, ask your wiring guy how he is wiring up the Neural Safety Switch?
As I have always been in a big hurry to start the project!

Will do!

Originally Posted by MIKESAD50

Marvin is looking great, have anymore pictures of the under seat area wiring?

I wish I had a better photo of the current state of that area, but it was kind of a "work in progress" mess with tools and extra parts laying around and I didn't want to disturb the "organized chaos" for a better photo, haha. I will make sure to get a good picture once the wiring is all done, but before the bench seat goes in. Here are two photos, though. One more from yesterday - don't know if this shows you anything more than the other one, though. And one from early last year showing a clearer picture of the equipment layout under there, although a lot of the wiring/relays/fuse blocks aren't done yet.

[Flysocal]

What's the length of the steering column?
Is the power rack the one that comes with Scotts ifs?
Looking at your doors, did you modify the Altman system to allow locking from the inside?

[torchlight]

Originally Posted by Flysocal

What's the length of the steering column?
Is the power rack the one that comes with Scotts ifs?
Looking at your doors, did you modify the Altman system to allow locking from the inside?

You know, I don't know the exact length of the column. I got a truck-specific unit from Ididit, and it did fit just perfect: http://www.ididitinc.com/retrofit-st...ruckCS_Retr-47

Yep, that's the rack that comes with the Scott's unit. I don't actually know what vehicle they pull that off of. One of my background projects is working on a list of replacement part numbers for down the road - definitely need to contact Scott's and find out what that rack is, in case it ever needs to be replaced in the future.

I ended up not trying to retrofit the Altman latches to allow for locking from the inside. I'll be putting lock cylinders in both outer door handles, so I can lock it up that way when leaving the truck. The Altmans technically don't allow for inside locking, but I have seen it done. For example, skip99's excellent build: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...2&postcount=56

[solidaxel]

When you contact Scott's ask them if your rack has a extension on one side of inner tie rod, that must be removed and replaced on your new rack, if you have to replace the one you have, if it develops a leak

[Flysocal]

Cool thanks for the info. Choosing a column has been hard for me. I like so many different combinations. Key in dash, key in column, floor shift or column shift. Chrome or black I like them all! Ultimately these trucks have a unique flat floor so I went with a column very similar to yours but added a key. Just ordered it today. The dimensions will be the same as your tilt retrofit column. FWIW I called Ididit and they said its 33". I will keep checking your progress, it's inspirational.

[Flysocal]

Was at Scott's hotrods today. Justin said his racks are 88/89 tbird.

[84blaze]

What radiator and fan are you using?

[torchlight]

Originally Posted by solidaxel

When you contact Scott's ask them if your rack has a extension on one side of inner tie rod, that must be removed and replaced on your new rack, if you have to replace the one you have, if it develops a leak

Originally Posted by solidaxel

As a reminder, ask your wiring guy how he is wiring up the Neural Safety Switch?
As I have always been in a big hurry to start the project!

Here's a photo I took of the neutral safety switch - the black unit on the bottom side of the transmission in this photo. According to Bob, this switch is simply wired inline with the starter relay and ignition switch (floor starter button). Hope it makes sense!

[torchlight]

Originally Posted by 84blaze

What radiator and fan are you using?

Got the radiator and fan from US Radiator. They make direct replacement units that look stock, but have upgraded internals to handle V8 engines. The electric fan and shroud came from them as well, so the shroud is a perfect fit for the radiator.

The US Radiator parts are great quality and I have no issues with them at all, but if I had to do it all over again, I would probably consider getting a unit from Walker instead. They apparently make a direct replacement radiator for these trucks as well, but a couple nice improvements over the unit I got from US Radiator. First, they are set up specifically for the LS engine, so the radiator inlet and outlet are placed a bit more conveniently for those engines. Second, they include an integrated A/C condenser - US Radiator didn't offer that option. Using an external condenser isn't a big deal - just might have been nice for it all to be built in.

[torchlight]

Howdy all-

Exciting update here - just a ton of stuff happening fast. Hoping to be ready for a nice little car show in Minnesota next month. Pictures say it all, so here we go!


Might still look a little crazy, but there has been a ton of progress inside the cab since last time. Basically, all wiring, switches, relays, etc - that stuff is all complete and in place. I am so fortunate to have an incredibly talented "wiring wizard" to handle this phase of the build - all the harnesses have been built from scratch just for Marvin, so it all fits great, looks great, and hopefully functions just as nicely!


Here's the best shot I could get of the completed electronics area for under the bench seat. There's honestly more going on under here than I think I originally imagined. I've said it before, but I'm thrilled that all this can be hidden away, but still easily accessible.


Rebuilt and renovated gauges are in place and looking stellar. Seeing the gauges in place really confirmed the decision to get the original gauges reconditioned - I think they will go a long way towards keeping Marvin looking fairly stock rather than wildly modified.


A couple other things to see here. The middle dash panel is housing all sorts of goodies now - voltage gauge (because I changed the battery gauge in the gauge cluster over to a tach), radio controls, a/c & heater controls, and a couple other knobs and switches. This will be hidden behind a drop-down glovebox door. You can also clearly see the headlight switch, wiper switch, and radio volume knob that have been retrofitted with the original headlight, throttle cable, and choke cable knobs to keep with that mostly-stock look I'm going for.


The gauges look pretty good with the lights on, too. Originally had some "cool white" bulbs in there, but we switched them out for warm white - better look for an old truck, I think. I'm going to swap out the aluminum knobs on the ididit column levers for original-style painted knobs.


Might seem like a small change, but swapped out the silver radiator/heater hose clamps and the steam tube brass fittings for all black hardware. Really improves the look of the engine bay, I think. Wanted the engine itself to be the focal point, and all the stuff on the "front" of the motor to kinda disappear.


Fuel system in the back has been all plumbed up and is ready to use!


Over at the body shop, just a couple things. First, the doors are complete and ready to install, although the passenger door will need a new regulator installed. Have had such trouble with the aftermarket repop window regulators. They just keep crapping out. The vendor has been really good about shipping replacements, though. I really think deleting the vent windows was the right call for this build.


Rear bumper came back from Keystone. Unfortunately, the orignal rear bumper could not be re-used. They tried (and got as far as copper plating), but there were some small cracks from some old welds that just could not be addressed to the level of quality I'm looking for. Was really impressed that the guys at Keystone were able to guess that this really was a front bumper with the ends cut down instead of a rear bumper (as it was labeled "rear bumper"). They actually had another core that was in better shape, so they used that, cut it down to match, and put the correct mounting holes in it for my license plate mounts. The chrome finish on the new one looks fantastic!


And finally, yesterday was a "big" day for Marvin. I think the last time Marvin has had a running motor was when I parked him in the barn in the summer of 99. Fired the new engine up for the first time yesterday, and it was honestly a little bit emotional, as silly as that sounds. So happy that Marvin has his "heartbeat" back once again, although certainly a little bit different this time around! Was so much fun to hear the new drivetrain. I thought the camshaft I chose (thanks Geoff at EPS!) along with the headers, exhaust, and Porter mufflers gave exactly the low, mellow, rumbling sound I have been dreaming about all these years. Here's a short video. He's alive!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOo100I0bZ4


Marvin is back at the body shop today for install of doors and glass. As soon as that is complete shortly, he'll head to the interior shop for carpet and upholstery. After a long long time, Marvin is becoming whole again, and I'm so happy for my old truck buddy!

[Chevy-49]

Who did renovate your Gauges?

[torchlight]

Originally Posted by Chevy-49

Who did renovate your Gauges?

That was APT Speedometer in Bloomington, MN. Was fun to find someone local that could do that work! I've since moved to Iowa, but was in MN at the time.

[Chevy-49]

Originally Posted by torchlight

That was APT Speedometer in Bloomington, MN. Was fun to find someone local that could do that work! I've since moved to Iowa, but was in MN at the time.

Thanks

[solidaxel]

Originally Posted by torchlight

Here's a photo I took of the neutral safety switch - the black unit on the bottom side of the transmission in this photo. According to Bob, this switch is simply wired inline with the starter relay and ignition switch (floor starter button). Hope it makes sense!

Excellent spot, and just below that position in that same switch is one for a back up light !

[donandal]

Wow!

so very very nice!

It's raining today here in western New York, and I should be
working on my truck, but I reread your entire thread instead.

what a truck!!!

[oldman3]

Wiring job looks amazing. Engine sounds great, a beautiful truck...Jim

[MIKESAD50]

Your truck is turning out amazing. Very nice sound.
Cant wait to hear mine come to life the first time.

[Advanced Design]

Torchlight, looks really good. That was a nice change for the engine compartment. Just one of many nice details that work really well together.

[torchlight]

Well, here's an exciting update to make. This will be the last major "build" update. This upcoming weekend, Marvin gets to go to his first car show in a very long time. Progress this last month has been happening at incredible speed, and even still this week parts are flying on faster than I can keep track of. After more than three and a half long and impatient years, Marvin is becoming whole once again, and that really puts a smile on my face. He's a good old truck. Hope to have some really nice pictures to share next week, but for now, here's (hopefully!) the last set of build pics...


Back in the body shop from the mechanical shop, some of the final assembly begins. Doors go on and glass goes in.


Hood too! Ran into an issue with the windshield rubber we ordered, so had to send to the interior shop with the windshield half-installed while waiting for a replacement.


Dash really taking shape. Guys at the body shop came up with a really nice way to cut down and flip a standard glovebox door and get it to fit in the slightly narrower opening where the speaker grille used to be. Was really important to me that we kept the "CHEVROLET" stamped lettering from the speaker grille part, so they found a way to get that done, too. I'm considering re-doing the rectangular bezels around the A/C vents in the lower valance - maybe either polishing them or painting them the same color as the gauge faces.


At this point, technically, mechanically, Marvin could make the trip under his own power, but we'll let him experience the "good life" for a little while longer. Off to the interior shop!


I cannot begin to say enough good things about the shop that handled the interior. They are a small crew, but every one of those guys has amazing talent. And they got things done FAST! I was really blown away by how they were able to take some ideas from me and turn them into something really special. Got some foam mocked up on the bench seat:


Carpet and floor mats look so good. Kept it simple and went with a more heavier-duty style carpet rather than something more plush. Marvin is still a truck, after all.


Mid-range speakers (5.5 inch) and an 8-inch subwoofer will be quite nicely tucked away behind the seat. (The tweeters will be in the kick panel area as discussed a few pages back) Really hemmed and hawed over the mid-range speaker placement. This isn't stellar for top audio quality, but should still sound ok. I just couldn't handle cutting holes in the doors and putting bulky pods in the kick panel area wouldn't have matched the rest of the interior look, I think.



(continued...)

[torchlight]

Kept to a small door panel, rather than a fully upholstered door. I think the top-stiching and the stainless strips set it off nicely, and I can't get over the color combo against the red paint! The search for the window cranks continues - I know I bought some repops at one point, just have to find them! And need to get the door handle flipped around - seems to be upside down in this pic, per my recollection.


Not the greatest photo - difficult area to take a picture of all at once - but here's the headliner. Uses the same colors and stainless strips as the door panel. I will get some better photos of this over the weekend.


And now once again Marvin has a comfy spot for my butt. I thought the interior guys did a great job of creating something that looks super sharp, but without getting too flashy. Still has some classic style elements to it. The lap belts can fold away completely behind the seat for display time at shows, if desired.


Interior complete, back to the body shop for the last of the final assembly. Let's get the bed back on there and make Marvin a true truck again.


The bed strip bolts still need to be tightened down, but it is so awesome to see the bed wood finally installed. Dad and I have both been dreaming of seeing this since over three years ago when we cut down that hickory tree on the farm where he grew up. I like that the boards have some character and definitely some history too! Also thrilled about the look of the painted bed strips!


When the pinstriper guy comes calling, the light at the end of the tunnel is definitely shining bright. The lettering color is a match to the wheels and the gauges and also to the darker of the two interior leather colors. Due to rough condition, we couldn't re-use Marvin's original tailgate, so it is currently hanging up in a place of honor in the tool shed on the family farm.


Look at that happy face - I think he's smiling!



Might be obvious, but I'm super excited for this weekend and can hardly focus on anything else. After the show, there will be a little list of some odds and ends that will still need to get finished up, but Marvin is mostly coming to the end of this crazy multi-year adventure. I'll make sure to post some great pictures from the show early next week. If anyone reading this is in Minnesota, feel free to stop by the Gopher State show at the State Fairgrounds this weekend and say hi!