Halfbreed - GMC Z71 + IH Extd Cab

[sparkydog]

Pulled a wrinkle out of my fender.

[sparkydog]

Smoothed out the bigger dents in the fender wells.

[sparkydog]

And 3 big dents in the top of the tailgate - probably from a forklift attack.

[sparkydog]

It's the official start of the Nose Job!

First I have to deal with some tricky situations up under my cowl. I have to figure out how to block off unwanted air flow into the cab and I have to also construct a new water runoff compartment for beneath the fresh air inlet on the cowl. I realized that the only way I was going to be able to work on all of this was to make a section of the GM firewall removable. So out came the cutoff disk and sawzall.

[Pop's C-10]

how did weilding tha threaded rod to tha dent enable you to put them out.

[sparkydog]

Originally Posted by Pop's C-10

how did weilding tha threaded rod to tha dent enable you to put them out.

The threaded rod connects to the end of my slide hammer using one of those longer coupling nuts.

[dlblzr]

I LIKE>

[Pop's C-10]

Originally Posted by sparkydog

The threaded rod connects to the end of my slide hammer using one of those longer coupling nuts.

ok..thanks..

[sparkydog]

I had come up with several strategies for doing the Nose Job but finally settled on this:

1) remove the hood, fenders, front grille and the GM radiator assy
2) shorten the hood
3) float the hood in air on the truck and then position the grille wherever the hood ends up.
4) mount/adapt the GM gear as necessary to fit inside the IH metal
5) extensive mods to the IH fenders to blend with wherever the hood and grille end up.

I chose this way because I knew the fenders were going to get the most changes anyway so I might as well make the hood and grille look like I want.

So to put the plan in motion I....

[sparkydog]

Marked up the hood for the cutting, drilled out a bunch of spot welds and got the braces out of the way.

[sparkydog]

Then I put her under the knife!

[sparkydog]

Tacked it up quickly and then checked out the basic look.

[sparkydog]

Shortened the braces and got them back in.

Then mocked up the hood, cleaned up and called it a day.

Next up is finishing the feathering of the hood, tacking it up and getting the GM radiator assy out of the way.

[Dieselwrencher]

Boy you work fast! Great job on the hood!

[Frizzle Fry]

Nice! How much did you take out?
Posted via Mobile Device

[77chris03]

i just went thru almost ur entire thread...awesome. i wish i had the time and energy u do...and im only 25!!!lol this is an awesome truck. never seen one like it. im building my 68 and working on three yrs and i dont even have the bed done...i feel like such a lazy ass....lol btw, subscribed!!!

[FrankieD]

This is defiantly thinking out of the box I am subscribing.

[sparkydog]

Worst case here's what I have to play with - about 3" before the radiator would hit the fan. But there are plenty of things to try before I get to the point of needing to worry about this.

So first up I removed the GM grille subframe and the various brackets, harnesses and other junk in the way. I was pleasantly surprised to realize that I might not have to disconnect the radiator. For now I am leaving it on.

I needed a way to support the IH grille while I study things. I had these brackets left over from my towing days and they came in handy for providing a ledge to work from.

[sparkydog]

The next thing up was to design and fabricate my new, patented "hood floating in air" support system.

[sparkydog]

Now that I have my basic tools setup for mockup I have to decide what I am going to do. One choice I have is to start hacking up the IH grille so that I can try to tuck all of the GM stuff inside. If I go this route I will have to enlarge the opening in the IH metal to about what you see here. This way I may have enough room to fit the GM AC heat exchanger and the GM radiator without much change in their fore/aft location.

The other choice is to try to continue to have both the IH grille metal and the GM radiator support as a sandwich. This is the way I have run for the past year but now I would have to move the GM assy aft and get into shorter hoses and altered airflow issues.

As of right now I am leaning toward chopping up the IH metal to clear the GM radiator and AC heat exchanger.

[sparkydog]

Originally Posted by Frizzle Fry

Nice! How much did you take out?
Posted via Mobile Device

2.5"

Originally Posted by 77chris03

i just went thru almost ur entire thread...awesome. i wish i had the time and energy u do...and im only 25!!!lol this is an awesome truck. never seen one like it. im building my 68 and working on three yrs and i dont even have the bed done...i feel like such a lazy ass....lol btw, subscribed!!!

Originally Posted by FrankieD

This is defiantly thinking out of the box I am subscribing.

Thanks very much for joining my build!

[sparkydog]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Boy you work fast! Great job on the hood!

Thanks DW!

[Palf70Step]

Great work on the hood. Can't wait to see how you get it all to merge together. I truly love your approach to solving all these issues with this build.

[71Sleeper]

All I can say is wow! I have just spent 4 hrs reading through the entire thread. I could not even think about taking on a build this creative. Unique builds like this is what fuels the imaginations of others to venture outside the box. I knew nothing of your build until I seen it referenced by others on their threads. Keep up the hard work, can't wait to see what you come up with the fenders. Subscribed!

[sparkydog]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Great work on the hood. Can't wait to see how you get it all to merge together. I truly love your approach to solving all these issues with this build.

Originally Posted by 71Sleeper

All I can say is wow! I have just spent 4 hrs reading through the entire thread. I could not even think about taking on a build this creative. Unique builds like this is what fuels the imaginations of others to venture outside the box. I knew nothing of your build until I seen it referenced by others on their threads. Keep up the hard work, can't wait to see what you come up with the fenders. Subscribed!

Thanks for the encouragement!