My Luxurious late model truck (not so much)

[TheBlueBomber]

Molded for the win!!! The edges are curled so all the dirt and debris doesn't slid off of the mat into the carpet. They're dirty right now. Just washed the truck and headed to the beach so I'll clean them when I get back

[Tx Firefighter]

Austin, I'm really considering going with the big flat Husky liners rather than the molded ones. I have the flat ones in my Honda and really like them. Mainly, I've heard the edges of the molded ones will tend to roll up over time. I think that would bug me.

Today's update is minor since its yard work day here at the house. I can't sneak in too much work due to time constraints.

The truck is getting near roadworthy so I've been trying to address anything that might cause me to fail inspection. One of those things is the air cleaner housing. This truck falls into a crappy window in the Texas inspection laws where it has to be smogged and pass a visual inspection. I say crappy window because vehicles 25 years old and older just get a safety inspection. And vehicles with OBD2 (95 and newer) get a safety inspection and code check. But, this being 2014, any vehicle between 1990 and 1995 year models has to be smogged. Come December 31st, the truck will turn 25 years old and never need smogged again, but nevertheless I need to get it done this year.

So, part of the visual inspection is for the inspector to verify that all emission equipment is in place and connected. The problem here lies with my exhaust manifold. Remember I had bought new exhaust manifolds since my originals were cracked. The new repro manifold was so poorly built that the heat stove wouldn't even allow me to screw a spark plug into number 2 cylinder. So I had to remove the entire heat shield.



That leaves me with an air filter housing with a big hose connection on the bottom of it, but no hose to connect to it. That's a sure failure point.



So.....



Cut



Make filler piece and weld in place



Sand carefully and powdercoat so the patch is invisible.



Final product. I went with semi gloss powder on the air cleaner base and 80% gloss on the lid for contrast.



Now, will this legally pass inspection according to the letter of the law ? No. But, it's been my experience that inspectors work on so many different cars that when they lift a hood, anything that is completely missing isn't noticed. Things like disconnected hoses or equipment partially installed tends to catch their attention, not something that is gone and shows no reasonable sign of ever being there. It's all bullsh1t anyway. The truck still has to pass the sniffer. Who cares if I have a team of mules hitched up under the hood as long as the tailpipe is clean. Pure bullsh1t. I hold it all in contempt because when I got my last GMT400 truck the previous guy had removed the smog pump and stuck bolts in the A.I.R. hoses. I would up removing the hoses and all signs of the smog pump completely and the truck still passed sniffer test with almost no measurable emissions at all. That shows me this stuff wasn't terribly well designed to start with.

[rgunlock]

Nice job on the cleaner! Wish I could weld a patch that well that it didn't need filler to look that smooth.

[Tx Firefighter]

That patch wasn't a slam dunk by any means. I have a thick filler primer powdercoat that I apply and cure then sand with a DA sander and 80 grit to smooth out the imperfections. Then the black powder on top of that.

[rgunlock]

Ok, maybe I'm only 98% as impressed. Still a great looking end product.

[Zane M]

Thanks for sharing the air cleaner mod.
I have a project today!

[TheBlueBomber]

And I thought I was the only one out smarting the state inspections.... Between that and the straight through cat on the other truck I got a good chuckle this morning haha.

[Tx Firefighter]

Originally Posted by TheBlueBomber

And I thought I was the only one out smarting the state inspections.... Between that and the perfectly legal but ultra high flow cat on the other truck I got a good chuckle this morning haha.

I fixt that for you

[TheBlueBomber]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

I fixt that for you

Hahaha that's right.

[Tx Firefighter]

I took today off from truck work to tidy up some stuff around the shop.

I had restored my bench vise awhile back



So today I dug around my scrap pile and came up with enough stuff to build a stand for it. An old GM flywheel, some 3/8 plate and a length of 2 3/8" oil field drill pipe.



And of course AnnieDog had to wander through just as I snapped that picture.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

And of course AnnieDog had to wander through just as I snapped that picture.

Canine Photobomb....

[legendman]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

I took today off from truck work to tidy up some stuff around the shop.

I had restored my bench vise awhile back

Nice vise!!!

[Tx Firefighter]

Thank you. Its a Wilton manufactured in 1947. All my buddies were laughing when I bought it at a swap meet. I gave 20 bucks for it and had to schlep that heavy thing all the way across to my space from the other side. They cracked many a joke at my expense for buying something heavy.

[legendman]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

Thank you. Its a Wilton manufactured in 1947. All my buddies were laughing when I bought it at a swap meet. I gave 20 bucks for it and had to schlep that heavy thing all the way across to my space from the other side. They cracked many a joke at my expense for buying something heavy.

A friend paid $850 for a Wilton, I'd say lugging it at $20 was well worth it.

[68Timber]

Yeah, that was a steal. Apparently the word is out on Wilton's, they seem to fetch big numbers on CL and ebay. I gave up finding one at a decent price.

[TheBlueBomber]

Originally Posted by BRUISER

Yeah, that was a steal. Apparently the word is out on Wilton's, they seem to fetch big numbers on CL and ebay. I gave up finding one at a decent price.

What makes them so much? Style/time period produced?

I have to give it to you lugging that thing across a car meet/show deserves a medal.

[68Timber]

Originally Posted by TheBlueBomber

What makes them so much? Style/time period produced?

I have to give it to you lugging that thing across a car meet/show deserves a medal.

This hasn't happened to me, but apparently some of the Chinese junk will break if you start beating on them, and unfortunately most of it is mfg'd there now anyway. Something USA made from back when it was built to last a lifetime fetches top dollar now.

[Tx Firefighter]

I didn't even realize what I was buying at the time. I just saw a solid quality USA made vise. The guy was asking 25, I offered 20 and he bit. Then I had to lug the thing a long way back to my swap meet space. I only later found out what a Wilton was and how to find the manufacture date on it. It probably a legit 80-100 dollar vise. I did have to put new jaws in it though, which were 50 dollars for them alone.

[Woogeroo]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

I didn't even realize what I was buying at the time. I just saw a solid quality USA made vise. The guy was asking 25, I offered 20 and he bit. Then I had to lug the thing a long way back to my swap meet space. I only later found out what a Wilton was and how to find the manufacture date on it. It probably a legit 80-100 dollar vise. I did have to put new jaws in it though, which were 50 dollars for them alone.

Score on the vise.

That's a nice solution on the door panels, that wood strip. Good thinkin' and execution.

Too funny at the OCD comments... I get stuck on so many things cuz some little thing just 'has to be fixed even tho' it's gonna take me 2 more hours and won't really matter'. Tho' I'll know it and it'll bug me.

Thanks as always for the information sharing.

-W

[Tx Firefighter]

Woog, I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one that suffers from the OCD deal. It's got to be right or I just can't tolerate it anymore.

I finished the vise stand so turn the page on that project.



I guess I'll go over to my insurance office today and put insurance on the 4x4. I'm kind of running out of excuses to not drive the thing.

[Tx Firefighter]

Well it's now 100% road legal.



Drives good. No problems. No issues so far.

[TheBlueBomber]

Sweet!

[flashed]

Congrats .

[Tx Firefighter]

And the joke of the whole ordeal is that they charged me 14.50 for a safety inspection and did not do emissions. The law clearly says vehicles newer than 25 years old require emissions testing. My truck is 24 years old. I was just standing there with my mouth open and a confused look on my face. After all of the fussing I did with making everything just perfect for the visual part of the emission test, he didn't even open the hood. He just honked the horn, checked the lights and stuck a sticker on it.

So the total bill for the day was 62 dollars for registration and 14.50 for inspection. I'm sure there are cheaper states than Texas, but there's damn sure more expensive states too. I can't bich about 76 dollars per year for the legal end of it.

As a side note, when I insured it this morning, I switched it in place of my stepside on my policy. So now I can't drive the stepper anymore. That's cool though, I'm fixing to get elbows deep up in that thing doing a full build. And I do mean full build. Sheetmetal off, drivetrain out, reinvent the wheel stuff.

[TheBlueBomber]

Hahaha!! That inspector not doing his job correctly is like a slap in the face to the work you did lol! Oh well looks good and can't wait for the build on the stepside.