58 TRUK intro

[_Ogre]

they go with this

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by andsonsvd

Take the Kudos as motivation to recreate the build thread I want to see/read it!!

Thanks Shane

Originally Posted by wwillmon

Hey ogre, know its been awhile since the thread has been posted in but im the one that had the questions.

an up date on fiberglassforums.com... it's alive and well for now
there is a lot more information on that site about the frame work, bucks and forms i used in building my fg parts.
glad to see it back up it's one of the many sites i refer people to
i've reinstated the interior build link in my signature if you want to view the site or my interior build.

[rawraw67]

Hey Ogre can you tell me the size rims and tires you have? and if you know what the backspacing is that would be great. Thanks

[_Ogre]

i'm a little old school when it comes to wheels and tires; lots of sidewall for trucks
wheels vintique steel wheels 7x15 up front, 8x15 out back, both have 4'' backspace and P235/70R15 rubber
i'd use 4.5 back space on the rear rims, it's a little tight to the fenders when pulling the tires off

[Rods57]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

i'm a little old school when it comes to wheels and tires; lots of sidewall for trucks
wheels vintique steel wheels 7x15 up front, 8x15 out back, both have 4'' backspace and P235/70R15 rubber
i'd use 4.5 back space on the rear rims, it's a little tight to the fenders when pulling the tires off

Do the fronts rub? That's a lot of meat up front. I have the same size and I am worried about it.

[_Ogre]

i hear something when i'm locked to the right backing out, but not to the left.
definitely not on sheet metal, frame or a-arm, i can't see what it's been hitting.
been that way for 20,000 miles and i can't tell where it rubs, it's very minor.
back off a smidge and the sound goes away, only happens backing locked to the right.

it's a custom

[garmar]

Awesome truck. Too bad FGF is down again. Would have loved to see more of your work as you were doing it.

[_Ogre]

thanks garmar, click on any of my pictures and it will take you to lots of photos on photobucket
i'm afraid fiberglassforums.com is down for good
i should have copied my thread into this one when it was up again...

[Baldeagle SR]

Ogre your fiberglass work is really nice. I have tried it before and there was a lot of sanding. I was doing something wrong. I looked and I couldn't find any pictures of your headliner. Did you insulate the roof before covering it ? do you have any pic of the work you done on the headliner? Thanks Rich

[_Ogre]

Fiberglass involves a lot of sanding like any body work
less sanding when wrapping in vinyl

My headliner is the same material as my seat covers
i did glue thin foam to the material first
no pictures of the headliner yet, need to take some

[Baldeagle SR]

Thanks Rich

[longbike]

Wow great looking build Ogre, that yellow will be easy to find in the parking lot, just look for the glow in the air, Nice!!

[bigtim44]

Great build thread and truck, how many hours are tied up with the project?

[_Ogre]

thanks for the kudos guys.
when i park in front of my local breakfeast joint, the cook puts his sunglasses on.
hours? years... roughly 8 years in my build, but life gets in the way sometimes.

[OKGMC4]

On page 4 (a long time ago) you posted about your powder coating setup. I now have a brand new oven ( for free) and am about to order the eastwood gun. Do the supplied 8 oz bottles really cover much or should a person buy the 1 lb containers? I guess it depends on thickness and part size but how much would it take to do a wheel, or a couple of small parts like brake calipers? Thanks for any info. I just started a 69' project (for free) and would like to add powder coating to the tool assortment.

[Groyd]

I'm curious where you came up with the idea for that brake setup? Looks like a good alternative to the $300 cpp option. I saw some pointers on pg.8 of your build. Could you give me some more specifics on what all it involves? Did you just have to fab up the bracket to hold it to the frame? You've got drums on the rear correct?

[_Ogre]

okgmc: i believe i bought 2 - 2lb containers of powder and have a lb left over after powder coating everything i did.
i had ordered the 8 oz containers of black, red and yellow for other stuff. nice thing is those 8oz screw right on the gun.
i had to mix 1/2 teaspoon of red into 8oz of bright yellow to get the finished color right

groyd: i saw the hydroboost on a mustang in the shop and said ''i'll use that''. that was my total thought process
the bracket cost me some steel i had laying around, i believe i gave $125 for the mc and hydroboost.
i cut off the stock mount and made a weld on plate for the frame with threaded holes to mount my bracket.
the bracket needs a mounting plate for the hydro and a hookup to the pedal, that's the way i think when i fabricate.

i do have 4 wheel disc brakes as did the mustang donor.
i believe the astro vans have hydroboost and front disc, rear drum.

[4DSEVEN]

What an awesome build. Just love the fiberglass work and attention to detail.

Very inspiring.

[puppyluppy]

Sir, you have a REALLY nice truck! Congratulations.

[Nev68]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

Amp gauge to volt gauge conversion
when i re-wire my truck with a EZ Wire harness and added all the accessories and a lot of loads,
i decided not to use the amp meter in the gauge cluster.

rather than leave it dead, i converted it to a volt gauge.

i didn't take any pics of the conversion, but this is how it turned out.
i used a $10 autozone off the shelf 2'' volt gauge.
i gutted the gauge down to the bare essentials, no case and no face plate.

i gutted the stock amp meter down to the bare essentials too.
no guts, just the back and face plate.
it was a close fit width wise, to screws held the face plate on the volt gauge,
2 screws held the face plate on the volt gauge.
hammered a couple of dimples out of the amp gauge face plate and drill 2 holes to match the volt gauge and screwed it on.

the needle didn't match the other gauges so i whacked it off and used a little epoxy to attach the old needle to the new gauge.
the studs on back of both gauges were the same.
i carefully reused the old and new insulators to make sure nothing would short out.

calibration: hooked it up to a fully charged battery and bent the needle to match the center dot on the old face.
installed it. usually it run positive of the center dot; charging at 14 volts.

ignition off it goes to the left


old temp gauge and new volt meter. new gauge sticks out 1/16'' past, but who cares...


gauge back with old and new insulators. new gauge has threaded studs.


new face plate ($9) and a little crinkle paint from a spray bomb and this is the finished product.


notice the new volt gauge position, just right of center tell me i'm approx at 14 volts.
i bought a new speedo to reset the odometer,
i figured everything on truk was new, the odometer should show new truk miles


it's an amazing transformation from old to new.
all new bulbs, a little washing and a little paint and it looks better than new.
i have my gauges out to replace the speedo, it was hanging at 30 and would work again after 45 (and a bump in the road)
classic parts has new speedos for $99, cheaper than i could get it worked on.

Thanks for posting this info.
It helps me sort out what I need to add a voltmeter

[_Ogre]

it was a fairly simple conversion once you have the 2 gauges apart, the rest is... easy peasy

as i remember the stock face plate is riveted on and the new gauge had screws, screws made it easy to attach the old to new.
glad you liked it.

[Nev68]

Do you remember if you used a 2 1/8" gauge as the donor and was the sweep 70 or 90 degrees?

[_Ogre]

i thought it was a 2'' 90* sweep gauge. i believe a 2 1/8'' 70* or 90* would work fine. much bigger, no.
i cut the stock needle off and used jbweld to stick it on the new gauge, that was actually the trickiest part of the mod

[Nev68]

Thanks for the info.
It might be a while until I get to it but now I know it can be done.

[_Ogre]

been meaning to post headliner pics up for a while.
i glued 1/4'' foam to grey ultra-suede fabric that matched my seats using contact cement
then sprayed contact cement on the roof and foam and with my wife stuck it to the roof





with the foam and previous work on my roof skin i ended up destroying a new headliner rubber trying to install it
i ended up using black door edging trim on the exposed edge.



note in the top pic i have my headrests...
first time i sat in my new seats i leaned back and cracked my head on the corner of the rear window frame
most people will never experience this problem, but at 6'4'' i did.
i smacked it hard, brought tears to my eyes

3/8'' hard foam wrapped in the same fabric and double sided taped to the window frame

spraying contact cement in a finished paint cab was interesting to say the least.
2 hrs of masking and 20 yards of paper for a 1 minute spray of the glue