85 GMC Sierra "Scarlett"

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by GAc10boy

Excellent work and progress.

Thank you sir.

Originally Posted by PEDROSKI

Door panels next?

I'm not quite ready to finish the door panels yet. I want to pull the dash pad and strip it first so I can spray them at the same time.
I'm still waiting on the drivers side inner mirror brace, so unless it shows up today I'm going to take a look at the vent windows tonight. I had to pull the window run trim off of the replacement vent windows so I need to make a decision on what to do about that.

[N2TRUX]

I shopped around for new wheel well molding and ended up ordering it from Summit. It seems everyone carries Corvex brand and its your typical Taiwanese thin tin.

I ordered a screw set from Summit not knowing that the trim comes with screws. I was glad that I did because the set I ordered had larger heads and was much better quality.

I started by installing the center screw loosely and working my way out to each end. Several of the holes in the fender didnt match the trim, so I marked them and moved on to the next hole.

Once I got them all marked, I pulled the trim and used a small burr bit on a dye grinder to open them up.Now that the holes lined up I had to gently finesse they shape by rolling it with the ball of my hand to get it to conform tightly to the fender. Again I tightened the screws down.

I marked the ends as they needed trimming too. I pulled them back off and trimmed the excess with utility scissors. A bit more tweaking of the kinks with my hand, and installed and adjusted as I went.

If your patient the Corvex brand work fine, just know going in they require some adjustment. They were as much as 50% less at Summit than coming from other vendors who may or may not have been selling the same brand since the name was not advertised.

[rustytruck50]

Keep it coming with updates....great job!

[Palf70Step]

Looking very good!

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by rustytruck50

Keep it coming with updates....great job!

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Looking very good!

Thank you gentlemen.

[N2TRUX]

Yesterday I got several boxes of goodies from LMC Trucks, and Summit Racing. I laid everything out to check for back orders and realized that the dash trim didnt come in from LMC. Beyond that everything I needed to keep me busy through the week was here.

[N2TRUX]

I worked late last night so I only had time for a small project. I decided to install the drivers side mirror. When I removed the old one I noted that there was a compression nut missing from one of the top holes.

The bottom mounting point is supposed to have a brace that supports the mirror and stops the door from flexing. That was missing as well. I located the parts on the LMC Trucks page and included them with my order. The mirrors were sourced from Summit racing.

I masked the area around the hole and used needle nose Vise Grips to hold the compression nut while I tightened and collapsed the body to hold it in place. Once it was snug I removed the tape and moved on to the bottom hole. I had to cut through the sound deadner to allow access to the new inner brace.

[N2TRUX]

With everything finger tight, I aligned the mirror and tightened the freshly painted bolts. I had to tweak the bracket cover a bit to get it to rest properly in the gasket, then added the stainless screw that holds the cover in place.

Time to close shop and get some rest.

[flashed]

Looks great .

[Qwk]

I just finished reading this thread and Im in awe of your "attention to details" and Im looking forward to more updates!

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by flashed

Looks great .

Originally Posted by Qwk

I just finished reading this thread and Im in awe of your "attention to details" and Im looking forward to more updates!

Thanks for following.

[N2TRUX]

My work day was long, so my shop time was limited last night. I still managed to get started on replacing the grill surround trim. The existing trim and too many small dings to repair, so I bought new trim from LMC Trucks.

I pulled the grill and headlamp bezels and found that they were new reproduction pieces. Unfortunately the park lights were not, and both have impact cracks so they will be replaced. The GMC letters have been repainted and the color is faded. They are very hard to buy new, so those will be restored.

The headlights, light buckets, and harness were next. They were removed for better access to the core support. With that out of my way, the clean up process was started. I hit the entire area with Scotch Brite then followed by wet sanding and a solvent wipe.
Time to clean up and go look for parts

[N2TRUX]

Last night was a great night in the shop. I had assistance from my beautiful wife. She dropped in with cold water and decided straightening the fins in my a/c condenser looked like a fun job. While I have found it to be therapeutic for my OCD I never thought it to be fun. Yeah I know straightening the fins is a bit much, but it helps air flow and it looks much better even if no one will see it.

I found a bit of rust along the front edge of the filler panel hiding under the grill surround trim. Fortunately it was only surface rust so I sanded it down to raw metal. I prepped the entire core support and wiped it with solvent.

Later I blasted the the headlight buckets and got a couple of coats of paint on them. While they were drying I cleaned up the headlight bulbs. As you can see there are two different brands of bulbs so I plan to change that. I have a pair of Wagner 4656 Halogen bulbs ordered to replace the Sylvania.

Tonight I will mask and prime the bare metal and paint everything satin black.

[05duramaxhd]

check with USA1 Industries for that dash piece.
http://www.usa1industries.com/

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by 05duramaxhd

check with USA1 Industries for that dash piece.
http://www.usa1industries.com/

Thanks, I will give them a look.

[N2TRUX]

Friday morning I got up early and put some time in the shop before work. I finished up wet sanding and put two full wet coats of primer on. I went triple coats on the raw spots so the rust issue is gone now.

[N2TRUX]

Friday evening the thrash was on to get the core support sanded and spotted in for a color coat. Since the filler panel is exposed I went over it a few times to level out old chips and scratches. I spotted in all my sand throughs and moved on to the face of the support.

[N2TRUX]

On the face of the support I had been able to lay the primer down smooth enough that light sanding and a pass with wet Scotch Brite was all that was necessary. This gave a smooth finish and enough bite for adhesion of the top coat. It was getting late but I had to mask and lay down some color.
With every removed I was able to get color under the top panel ask well. Unfortunately it had rained earlier and the humidity was thick. I grabbed my fans and forced air on the fresh paint to save it from blushing.

[N2TRUX]

In between sanding, priming, and painting I bead blasted all the small parts. I fought with humidity but managed to get the hood latch and hardware painted and hung to dry.

This morning I got up early hung the hard parts. I went with stainless button heads on the hood latch, and added a nylon clamps to clean up the release cable.

[N2TRUX]

For the first time in several months Scarlett is road worthy. Well, sort of road worthy. Not road legal, but close enough to get to the muffler shop. She is on the rack and we are mapping out some upgrades for better esthetics and flow.

[GAc10boy]

Really nice work on the core and filler panel. Can't wait to see how you run the exhaust. Would love to hear a clip too.
Posted via Mobile Device

[JohnKimble]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

I shopped around for new wheel well molding and ended up ordering it from Summit. It seems everyone carries Corvex brand and its your typical Taiwanese thin tin.

I ordered a screw set from Summit not knowing that the trim comes with screws. I was glad that I did because the set I ordered had larger heads and was much better quality.

I started by installing the center screw loosely and working my way out to each end. Several of the holes in the fender didnt match the trim, so I marked them and moved on to the next hole.

Once I got them all marked, I pulled the trim and used a small burr bit on a dye grinder to open them up.Now that the holes lined up I had to gently finesse they shape by rolling it with the ball of my hand to get it to conform tightly to the fender. Again I tightened the screws down.

I marked the ends as they needed trimming too. I pulled them back off and trimmed the excess with utility scissors. A bit more tweaking of the kinks with my hand, and installed and adjusted as I went.

If your patient the Corvex brand work fine, just know going in they require some adjustment. They were as much as 50% less at Summit than coming from other vendors who may or may not have been selling the same brand since the name was not advertised.

Do you have a summit part number for those wheel well moldings? I can't find them on the site. Truck looks great!

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by GAc10boy

Really nice work on the core and filler panel. Can't wait to see how you run the exhaust. Would love to hear a clip too.

Pics coming right away. I will have to get an audio clip.

Originally Posted by JohnKimble

Do you have a summit part number for those wheel well moldings? I can't find them on the site. Truck looks great!

I will look it up and post it later. Be sure to order a screw set too. The screws that come with it are too small.

[N2TRUX]

I went to New Star Muffler and had them build new mid pipes. Considering what he had to work with I feel he the results are fantastic. Here's what they started with. By the way, I have now replaced the bushing in the shift linkage, added a washer behind the cotter pin and painted everything.

[N2TRUX]

They extended the headers and added 2.5" collectors. From there he built mid pipes with slip joints. This means the headers can be removed now, and the transmission is serviceable with out removing the entire system

Besides the tranny linkage, the crossmember is an obstacle too. The factory crossmember is designed for single exhaust so it's not the same on both sides. Consequently the mid pipes can't be either. I am pleased with the results, now it needs a coat of ceramic paint.