Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window

[G&R's57GMC]

Hope you had a merry Christmas ��

Now it’s 2021 have a great New Year !

How’s the project going ?

Looking forward to finished pic’s with Joey

[Dan in Pasadena]

Hi Glen,

The project - the patio? It's done except for a couple tiny punchiest items no one would notice but us. Contractor will be here this week to pick them up. The gates are apparently played til near the end of January - DOH! But once they're installed, that's a wrap.

Hope you had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year too. Joey is doing fine as he approaches his 12th birthday - we'd never have known it because we adopted him and his littermate sister, Sugar when they were around 5 - but they were microchipped and it told us their birthdates in February. She passed of a brain tumor about 2 years ago and he has truly become my shadow ever since.

[G&R's57GMC]

Oh Dan I'm so sorry about Sugar . They are like your kids .

Happy birthday Joey

The project is looking good can't wait to see the finished pic's with Joey .

BTW take another look at '57 farm truck survivor thread ...

[G&R's57GMC]

Hay Dan is it done ?

Inquiring minds want to know .

Where are the pic's of Joey with the finished project in the background ?

[bosco]

Turned out fantastic. Now go enjoy while we still are locked down...

[layinrocker65]

Thats a good looking setup. What size are those beams and supports?

[Dan in Pasadena]

Thanks for the kind words. We really like how it came out too.

All the wood is rough sawn. The posts are 6x6's. The horizontal beams are 6x12's and the rafters are 4x8's and the tails of those are cut to match the ones on the front porch. It is sheathed in 1x6 tongue & groove and that is covered in 4x8 OSB, a hot melt paper roof below lightweight concrete tile to match the house(which it ALMOST does!).

[oldman3]

For those of you who vote on truck of the month, Dan is in the running. He is doing go so far, so if you haven't voted do so for Dan #13 on vote sheet...Jim

[Dan in Pasadena]

Thanks so much, Jim! VERY nice of you to post this.

I've basically done nothing to my truck in over a year. I washed and waxed her a couple weeks ago, took her on her first real drive in the new neighborhood and got a few thumbs up, which is always nice to see.

I recently bought some 17x7 & 8 steelies via OfferUp that I will spray and try out with dog dish caps and beauty rings. Doubt I'll get to that before summer but it's on the list of things to do. We'll see how I like it and if I do the Boyds Smoothies may stick around as alternates.

[G&R's57GMC]

I voted for you

[bosco]

Got my vote. Beautiful truck.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Thanks you guys!

[oldman3]

Congrats Dan on Truck of the Month. Beautiful truck, well deserved win...Jim

[Dan in Pasadena]

Thanks Jim. I just went to the TOTM thread and thanked everyone. Some very generous comments. SO SO many nice trucks on this site.

[Dan in Pasadena]

As a follow up to all the patio project photos I posted above we FINALLY got the damn gates!

Pretty pleased with them. They match real good.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Back to our regularly scheduled program:

My nephew picked up some 17" steelies out of area for me. I haven't had time to test install them to see if the backspacing is going to work. But if they work I'm going to have them as alternates to my Boyd's Smoothies. I also have 3 ea. 1951-52 car caps from a full set I got years ago when my old '46 lost a cap. They're semi ok. I took 0000 steel wool to them and a couple polished up fairly well but inside they're rusty as hell. I've got one soaking in phosphoric acid overnight and will post how good it comes out. That stuff is miraculous but these ma be too far gone. Planning to paint them and use with 17" ribbed beaut rings.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Is this stuff freakin miraculous or what?! Overnight in phosphoric acid - Home Depot calls it Concrete and Paint Prep or something like that. It didn't get all the rust around the edge but only because I didn't have enough to submerge the hubcap. Stuff I used had been used many times before. I tossed it and went for a new gallon today. Putting another cap in it tonight and it'll likely come out even better. Certainly they're not like new but compared to the rusted-to-hell "Before" pictures I am very very happy. I'll just put Gibbs oil on the inside and call it good. No need for paint in there.

[G&R's57GMC]

Yea , gates looking goood , Joey looking Great !

What’s with the junk in the truck ?

[Dan in Pasadena]

Ha! Only you Glen would have noticed. It’s the cover for the truck back there. I had just taken it off to let old Betsy get some sun!

[G&R's57GMC]

So I'm observant .

I looked up hub caps like the one you are derusting , did you know that it's for a '54-'55 1st series 1/2 ton .
And that the FillingStation.com has them in Chrome or Stainless and according to my catalog the chrome ( L-91 $ 56.50 ea or
$ 219.00 set) costs more then the stainless (L-91SS $ 40.00 ea or $ 157.52 set) . If you need the clips ( SA-136 $ 2.00 ea ).
Hope this helps .

So how about a view of the back yard with Joey ?

[Dan in Pasadena]

Didn't take a "Before" picture This was a box my dad made when I was a kid so we'll over 50 years ago. He had masonry tool in it and if I'm not a carpenter he was waay worse than I am.

He never owned a power tool in his life. This box is 1x8 board w/plywood. His fitment was poor but rather than disassemble, recut and reassemble I just caulked the inside perimeter.

Painting our house one year he dropped a gallon of dark chocolate brown on the lawn. Rather than waste it he painted everything in sight with the spilled paint. 2 wood ladders, this box, other stuff. Yes, even with some grass clippings in it! Still, this was dad's so I wanted to use it.

I stripped w/belt sander, set the nail heads best I could, skimmed the splitting plywood, sanded, primed, and finish coated. It could use more finish work but it reminds me of him as he had it in the bed of his '59 Fleetside. I'll use it in my '55. It's more refined than he did it but I just made the best of what was there. I'll put a script "Chevrolet" emblem on it.





I was going to wet sand and give it another coat but I'll just leave it. Being rougher reminds me of him. I plan to spray rattle can bed liner inside and possibly put a black latch on it.

[G&R's57GMC]

Dan that came out nice. Are you going to keep it in the bed ?

I know the feeling of having something your dad built , I have kept a shelving unit my dad made out of 3 watermelon crates back in the 50’s , it’s out in the garage holding empty plastic boxes

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by G&R's57GMC

Dan that came out nice. Are you going to keep it in the bed ?

I know the feeling of having something your dad built , I have kept a shelving unit my dad made out of 3 watermelon crates back in the 50’s , it’s out in the garage holding empty plastic boxes

Hi Glen,

I only have a few things that were my Dad's anymore. He passed away in 1990 at the same age I am now! But I do have an old Cutty Sark wood crate. The wood has darkened but the painted-on words & logo are still clear. I remember seeing it in his garage as a kid. I don't use it for anything but can't bring myself to toss it or to modify it with a top because it was his.

I also have a kerosene lantern he got on a job. It's cool because "Los Angeles Sewer Company" is stamped into it and today you would NEVER take an active flame into the underground for fear of sewer gases igniting. I worked underground on Metro rail projects my whole career so I know the modern regulations well and that would never fly! Though I took it to one of our Safety meetings after I told our Safety Manager about it. He didn't believe it until I showed it to him. He wanted me to give it to him for future new employee orientation meetings, I said, "Nah"

[Dan in Pasadena]

Finishing up on my dad’s old box. The inside is/was rough as hell. I just sprayed it with bed liner. I’ve never used it before and expected it to be heavily textured - it wasn’t. But oh well. It still looks better than before. There latch and "Chevrolet" script emblem came today so I'll finish it tomorrow.

Before:





After:

[oldman3]

Dan, nice touch...Jim