Francis the Tow Pig - 1949 GMC 250 Dually

[OutlawDrifter]

Exhaust project completed on the '49. Having a lift really makes life easier! :thumbup:

Clamps in pictures were for testing purposes, to make sure the sound was approved before final permanent attachment to the ol' GMC.

The sound is finally where I wanted it, smooth, deep, and a little bit rowdy when you wood the pedal. :beer:

First snow of the year yesterday. Enough to cover the grass, ground temps are still warm enough it didn't stick too hard. More coming tonight and tomorrow.

[joedoh]

NICE!

I love simple glasspack exhaust sounds, best sounds hands down

[OutlawDrifter]

OK, back on Francis.

Been a busy Fall/early Winter.

Started in on the interior today, pulled out the door panels, side glass, window channels, and put in a large parts order. Going to try stuff from Classic Parts, hopefully it pans out ok. I also ordered bead rolled aluminum door panels from LS Fab.

Once I get the cab sealed up and carpet in, it will time for operation AC/Heat.

Happy New Year!

Stay tuned!

[joedoh]

heck yeah man, nothing changes your attitude about driving every day like climate control.
no more inside temp = outside temp+humidity from your breath.

[OutlawDrifter]

Russ, I used to be "tough" and drove different vehicles without AC....its just not worth it with the humidity. Where I grew up, you could get away with it MOST of the time if you were "tough." But in this moist part of the world...I just can't do it!

I'm also looking forward to minimal wind noise with the cab sealing up properly.

[OutlawDrifter]

All the weatherstripping (that I intend to remove) is removed and surfaces cleaned up. Going to pull the doors off to put on the new door seals.

I'm currently torn on some ideas I have for finishing out some of the interior, including colors and some extra painting. Trying to decide on Navy or Medium Blue for the carpet and seat...and should I paint the new door panels Champagne Mist to match the dash, or should they be painted to match the blue color of choice....or should the door panels be covered in the seat material? What about the dash, if i paint the door panels, should I match the glove box door and speaker area in the blue??? Wow...so many decisions. I do know, the seat will be covered in velour and have a diamond stitch pattern.

I'm planning to jam on it this weekend to get the seals done, I'll snag some pictures of the progress.

[OutlawDrifter]

I struggled with the first windlace I bought for the cab of the '49. It was the correct tan/grey color. I assume do to the color it is more of a vinyl as opposed to a rubber composition. It did not want to bend in the corners. I spent about 3 hours fighting the passenger side last weekend. Yesterday I ran to KC and bought the black stuff...turns out, Classic Parts carries the Precision brand in the black! Took less than 20min to put in both sides with the good flexible rubber. Both doors were pulled off and have new window channels and the weatherstripping that runs on the outside edge of the door to seal to the cab. Also installed new stainless bead seals that keep the window from rattling when it's down. The only thing I'm waiting on now is the correct outside window sweeps for the doors. Once those are here I can put the windows back in and button the doors up.

For the record, 3M weatherstrip adhesive is 10x better than the Loctite brand.

My aluminum door panels came in, I'm still up in the air about what to do with them. Leave them raw aluminum, paint them to match the champagne interior color, cover them with the material that will be used for the seat, or paint them blue to match the carpet/seat. Carpet should be here tomorrow, I ordered some Superflex material and some 40oz jute to go underneath.

Looking forward to having this part wrapped up so I can start on the HVAC setup.





I'd say the channels were completely worn out!

[joedoh]

woop woop!

you wont believe how quiet it makes your truck. I see guys double layering fatmat and spraying roadkill or lizard spray in crevices. I put door/window seals in and a thick layer of jute under the carpet. thats it, and you can have a quiet conversation.


looking great! glad you figured out your seals.

[OutlawDrifter]

Thanks Russ, it's coming along. Carpet and jute came in today, the color is medium blue and exactly what I was looking for.

Was off for MLK Jr. day, so I spent some must needed time in the shop cleaning/organizing. Always nice to work in a clean space.

Need to get the Z28 off the lift and the 49' on it, but its so icy out, I'd never get either back up the approach to get in to the shop! Hopefully sometime this week or next weekend.

[OutlawDrifter]

Had a great weekend. My nephew flew in from AZ and took me to see George Strait, then we spent the rest of the weekend in the shop jamming on the '49.

We were able to get all of the jute down, and got the carpet all trimmed and laid out in the front part of the cab. I still need to finish the back of the cab and the "tray" area behind the seat. I'm very pleased with how it turned out, and the color is spot on, for what I had in mind. It looks like a completely different pickup inside.

Carpet and jute came from Albright's Supply. Great prices and really fast getting it shipped out. I also received a postcard in the mail with a real signature on it a week later, impressive. I used their "ozite" Superflex carpet with no backing and 40oz jute. In its current completed stage, the pickup is definitely "quieter" inside. I'm anxious for our roads to dry up so I can take it for a spin.

Found a company in Holton, KS to recover the seat, I hope to drop it off on Saturday morning, now that I have a sample of the carpet to match the seat color.

[Tempest67]

looks really good.

I was thinking of a similar color on the dash but was worried about the glare?

These trucks have a small dash, is glare a problem at night?

[OutlawDrifter]

Originally Posted by Tempest67

looks really good.

I was thinking of a similar color on the dash but was worried about the glare?

These trucks have a small dash, is glare a problem at night?

Thank you!

I have never experienced any glare issues while driving at night. The color I used is called Champagne Mist.

[joedoh]

GORGEOUS! man nothhing like brand new carpet.

GET SOME FLOOR MATS haha

[Tempest67]

Thanks for the info about the dash, good to know.

looks great

[OutlawDrifter]

Originally Posted by joedoh

GORGEOUS! man nothhing like brand new carpet.

GET SOME FLOOR MATS haha

Thanks, I have a set inbound as we speak!

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by OutlawDrifter

Thanks, I have a set inbound as we speak!

I live on a dirt road, I still have nightmares about the truck I did with an interior color called "espresso creme", which was for all intents and purposes just a light white. you had to be in a jump suit or otherwise perfectly clean to get in. medium blue should fare better.

[oldman3]

Very nice, looks great...Jim

[OutlawDrifter]

Originally Posted by oldman3

Very nice, looks great...Jim

Thanks Jim!

[OutlawDrifter]

Seat has been delivered to the upholstery shop, I decided to have them do the door panels while they were at it. It should finish the interior off nicely and add some much needed sound deadening to the door. Seat will be two tone blue with diamond stitching in the driver and passenger seat area.

Cab carpet job is now complete. I added in a piece of hardboard to ribs on the back wall to keep things smooth.

Next job was to get some tunes in this rig. Now that I won't have constant wind noise (hopefully), it will be nice to enjoy some music on longer drives. This was pretty straight forward, and the Speedway wiring harness I installed when I built the truck had everything there needed. It comes on fast and immediately connects to my phone through bluetooth. Sound quality through bluetooth is actually better than being hardwired in with the dongle, this surprised me. Sound is clean, crisp, and it will go max volume with no distortion. I'll clean up the rats nest of wiring on top once I have the seat back. All that is left to route are the volume control knob and the aux cable.

Speaker placement is not 100% final, and I've considered putting some 5.25" or 6.5" speakers in the kick panels to supplement the 6x9s....but then that removes the "hidden" aspect of the system.

[joedoh]

those 'bynines probably rock the truck anyway, and will do even better with less competing noise.

nice attention to details!

[OutlawDrifter]

Originally Posted by joedoh

those 'bynines probably rock the truck anyway, and will do even better with less competing noise.

nice attention to details!

Thanks, and I didn't grab a picture buy my floor mats came in. Less than $14 for a set that will match the darker blue of the seat and the binding matches the carpet....win/win!

[Desert1957]

Originally Posted by OutlawDrifter

Exhaust project completed on the '49. Having a lift really makes life easier! :thumbup:

Clamps in pictures were for testing purposes, to make sure the sound was approved before final permanent attachment to the ol' GMC.

The sound is finally where I wanted it, smooth, deep, and a little bit rowdy when you wood the pedal. :beer:

First snow of the year yesterday. Enough to cover the grass, ground temps are still warm enough it didn't stick too hard. More coming tonight and tomorrow.

I know its a little of topic, what kind of lift is that pictured? Is this you garage? If so nice.

[OutlawDrifter]

Originally Posted by Desert1957

I know its a little of topic, what kind of lift is that pictured? Is this you garage? If so nice.

Advantage XLT9000, and yes that is my shop. Thank you

[OutlawDrifter]

Worked on the '49 some more this weekend. Doing this year's preventative maintenance, dropped the tranny pan for a filter and some fresh fluid, and dropped the oil out of the rearend for some new synthetic stuff. Waiting on a Lube-Locker gasket to seal it back up and pour the 75w90 Amsoil Severe Gear fluid. Yesterday I reworked the coil brackets to get them off of the firewall and behind/under the air cleaner. No pics yet, I'll post some when I get everything finalized. Need to make some new wires to make sure I'm happy with the fit. This will make it look even more like a Gen 1 SBC, faking a distributor.

Still no word on the seat, hopefully next weekend?

The guy doing the transmission service spilled fluid after he thought the pan was completely drained....and will remain unnamed.

I also ordered some Hellwig stuff to help with axle wrap, hope to have those installed by next weekend also.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2izwhED]

[OutlawDrifter]

Made some good progress tonight. Parts delivered in time for me to come home and install them! Got the rear diff cover back on with the LubeLocker gasket, if you're not using these for your differentials, I highly recommend them! Filled with Amsoil Severe Gear 75w90.

Moved on to the Hellwig anti-wrap springs. They come with good reviews from the S10 crowd in controlling wheel hop. I'll be putting them to the test for sure, been a day or two since I've treated the tires like a rented mule.

Some of the AC stuff will start rolling in this week, and my ICT Billet "cut to fit" plug wires should be in tomorrow or Thursday.