1941 project fenix

[joedoh]

thanks fellas! I have been driving it and trust it more and more. I dont like to sell them till they are mostly sorted (its that "sell your house in better shape than you ever lived in" thing). I had a scare yesterday, selling a bumper from the last project and driving about 15 minutes to deliver it, truck started running rough and had a BIG tick, like SNAP SNAP SNAP SNAP. I pulled over and poked around, one of the plug wires didnt get seated and was arcing on the exhaust WHEW. it sounded all the world like a dropped valve or broken spring.

gave the bed a coat of timber oil to help protect the cedar.
IMG_7051 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

I also noticed that I had an unintentional cup holder between the seats, which is great because I like getting a giant unsweeet tea every chance I get, in fact I should have a "wheres waldo" contest with the QT cups in the backgrounds of my pictures. but I never plan enough to install anything to hold them. this worked out (un)sweet!
IMG_7032 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

I have done other little stuff, inside handles, tying up wiring here and there, planning for bumpers.

[lower50's]

Very cool. Does the timber oil dry, or just soak in?

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by lower50's

Very cool. Does the timber oil dry, or just soak in?

just soaks in. the shininess will abate, and the color will remain, it keeps cedar from turning silver.

[Nut Case]

Joe

What a glutton? 2 builds at a time? Good on ya!!!!!! It's always fun when you know exactly how to do the next step..

Keep on keepin on


NC

[Cuttin up]

It turned out great! I can't get with the unsweet tea though, around here you get looked at a little funny if you ask for that. haha

[gokellurself]

yeah that wrapped up quick man love the truck

[paintman]

Now as a self employed painter for nearly 35 years, I have to jump in here and say something.............................That's one terrible job of cutting in the edges you did there on the bed wood.

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by paintman

Now as a self employed painter for nearly 35 years, I have to jump in here and say something.............................That's one terrible job of cutting in the edges you did there on the bed wood.

well its not paint, or varnish, or even any kind of sealant. its timber oil, and has already mostly evaporated from the metal

I had to get it into the edges so the wood would soak it up.

[joedoh]

the wood settled down on the shine, I like it
IMG_7136 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

attached the running boards to the rear fenders, needed a 2" slice from my spare long bed running boards for project hannah
IMG_7137 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_7138 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_7140 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_7141 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_7144 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_7147 by Joe Doh, on Flickr


It is deliriously quiet on the drive now.


decided to install the front bumper, and I have a spare front bumper I might put on the back. in process today, mounts made and drilled but beeps is in half day pre-k so I am assuredly done for the day haha.
IMG_7152 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

[OutlawDrifter]

Nice work!

[Palf70Step]

Love the front end of those years trucks. Great work!

[lower50's]

Very nice!! Is that some fall leaves in the bed already? The trees have just started to slightly turn up here in Igloo land.

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by lower50's

Very nice!! Is that some fall leaves in the bed already? The trees have just started to slightly turn up here in Igloo land.

yeah bit of an early fall going on here, the cottonwoods actually started turning a couple weeks ago. those leaves are from my sycamore, which just started dropping and the pear in the backyard is putting on a show now too.

cuttin up I used to drink sweet tea all day every day. then I just lost my taste for it, just bam. I used to like my unsweet tea just strong enough to debark a redwood, now I water it about half and half in the glass. I think I might be going soft.

[99 to Life]

stop making this truck better. and yah its been full fall effect over here in PA. last year and this year, mid august and summer just gave out. Got cold and leaves turned, its quite annoying. Then folks like put up halloween stuff in august. and kid you not tractor supply had xmas cards out weeks ago. I about tipped that display over!!! BED looks killer, nice "fall" shot.

[joedoh]

thanks man, might be up your way this fall!

the joedoh rule struck again. I think if something is a giant pain in the rear to install, I will get to experience that posterior pain over and over and over. like the shocks. the little captured nut thingys were rusted and broke when I took the shocks off. I got some more from the auto parts store but they were clearly more universal. when I tried to put them in it was a process of trying to get the bolt started without bending the captured nut part, took an hour for that side that was broken. then in great cosmic hilarity I thought I had the wrong shocks, so off they came again for some new shocks, that had the same problem, turned out the sway bar was upside down. so even though it took an hour to get the new shocks in, I still opted to put the original new shocks BACK in, another hour.

fast forward, wife drives it and says the front is banging more than she thinks it should, I pooh-pooh her obviously neophyte critique. when I jacked it up to put the bumper on, of course the lower bushing of both shocks is GONE. after apologizing (it was that really cold day in someplace hot) I replaced the new shocks AGAIN. an hour for the passenger side. sigh. rides better though.

here is the worms eye view of the bastardo clip.
IMG_7190 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

I didnt show my neighbors gargantuan a frame. he says he has pulled more iron on that thing than I will in a lifetime. I believe him!
IMG_7163 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

bumper mounts welded in and job complete. I dont want to talk about it. ever. sure looks nice with the bumper though.
IMG_7195 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

[99 to Life]

bumper really makes any truck look a million times better (front atleast) that would be awesome if you were up this way in the fall. should plan to meet up.

[OutlawDrifter]

Definitely looks right with the bumper in place.

[lower50's]

The bumper really seems to make it look finished.

[rusty76]

Truck looks killer.

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by joedoh

bumper mounts welded in and job complete. I dont want to talk about it. ever. sure looks nice with the bumper though.
IMG_7195 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

I can't believe you got this done in the time it took me to basically tear down two trucks haha. Very nice job. How is the drive? I'd be curious to know how cramped the cab feels compared to an AD. I always liked the earlier era, but it seems like the driver was the last thought on design.

[joedoh]

its great to ride in. lots of room with the way the seats are set up, if the stock seat was still in there it would be cramped as an understatement, but these seats fit perfect and honestly I am not a short or small guy. If I fit, almost anyone would.

I had to replace the brake switch a second time, the brake lights were sticking on and I had to keep my foot under it to get the TCC to engage. I fiddled with it a bit but honestly, a $15 dollar switch, there are bigger things to worry about.

I also noticed the front was a little crooked, looking at the headlights the drivers side was 3/8" higher, I measured on the frame and the frame and cab were straight, just the front clip was a little crooked even though the core support was cut exactly right and the front clip mounts are level. either the frame is slightly different side to side or more likely the front fenders have a different curve from years of bumping fences. I made some body shims and moved on with life.
IMG_7230 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

cleaned up all the wiring and hooked up the vacuum lines to the VA setup, boy is that a purchase I am going to make again soon, just a great piece of equipment.
IMG_7229 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_7227 by Joe Doh, on Flickr


made the trip I was planning to make, these guys sold me the truck superbowl weekend of 2016, it was their dads truck and they remember driving it in the 70s. they were really happy to see it again, the older brother had lots of stories.
IMG_7224.JPG by Joe Doh, on Flickr

you can see i finally got the blue schmutz off, I am going to wash it and hit golden hour again today, then aside from the kick panels and fixing the oil pressure gauge I am calling this one done. thanks for following along!

[gokellurself]

maybe it's the "Chevy lean"?

What's the VA?

Love the truck man looks great

[joedoh]

chevy lean is to the drivers side, so in this case it would HELP. I measured the frame to the ground at several points and its level, the cab is level, the bed is level. its just the right front fender was 3/8 low. it wasnt obvious until I put the bumper on, I adjusted it to be straight with the headlights and that made it more obvious.

VA is vintage air, I used one of their vacuum mini systems. it is NICE, really high quality and pretty quiet.

[paintman]

Truck looks killer with black wheels and white walls. I think you convinced me on what I am going to do with my heap.

[99 to Life]

awesome that you met up with the guys that sold you the truck and they got to see it back on the road. too bad you couldn't sell it back to them!