Halfbreed - GMC Z71 + IH Extd Cab

[67ChevyRedneck]

I'm not going to even pretend that I wasn't wrong.

My wife doesn't even get to hear this often...

I... was... wrong...

I was a firm believer that your front end redo was going to look like complete ass and ruin all of the hard work you put into the truck.

This sums it up for me as well:

I looks like it was supposed to be that way. Good job!

The proportions look perfect. You nailed it. GREAT job!

[NONHOG]

Originally Posted by 67ChevyRedneck

The proportions look perfect. You nailed it. GREAT job!

Cool truck w/o the work you've done. Its cooler now!

[sparkydog]

Took both front fenders off and prepped all the back sides of the seams I will be welding over the next few weeks. Then I put the fenders back on the truck - I prefer to work on them there especially while doing hammer/dolly work so I can see all the curves in the right context.

Then I switched over to the forward tilt hinge project. This takes priority over the finish welding because I can't use the truck until the hood can stay on.

Pic 1 was my first mod - I wanted the cross bar to stay as wide and as high has possible in order to keep as much clearance in the engine bay as possible. Therefore I took 2" out of each side so that the kinked section was as wide as possible.

Pic 2 is prepping the center cut. I made the hinges 48" across in order to tuck up into the IH hood. This was about 8-9" overall that I took out of the stock Buick hinge assy.

Pic 3 I noticed that it looked like the crossbar was only tack welded in 2 spots on each side and I didn't want to take any chances with the IH hood weighing much more than the Buick Lesabre hood. So I fillet welded around as best I could. A warning to anyone else - I think under the paint the metal is zinc plated and I had to fight a lot of sputter before I could get the weld puddle to wick.

Pic 4 the other mod I made to the Buick system was to cut off the stops that limit the travel when the hood is fully open. This is because on the Buick these brackets are horizontal but on my truck I am going to mount them vertical and I will fab these stops back on later if I want/need them.

[sparkydog]

Here is how the hinge looks after all the initial mods. It will be tucking up in this approx location on the hood. In pic 2 you can see that crappy fillet weld I was mentioning in the previous post. In both pics I have the brackets pointed up (vertical) which is the way I will be using them on my truck instead of horiz like they were in the Lesabre.

Pic 3 & 4 is the approx way it will look in the engine bay. Pic 4 is showing how high it will go so that the crossbar will swing up and over the top of the radiator cap. (Even though I don't need access to the cap I still want to try and clear it.)

[sparkydog]

Originally Posted by 67ChevyRedneck

My wife doesn't even get to hear this often...

I... was... wrong...

Hah that's funny - my wife has almost never heard those words come out of my mouth either!

But seriously if you ever spot something else on my build that you don't like just chime in - I can always use the detached perspectives!

[low'n slow]

Originally Posted by sparkydog

The thing I like about the sock monkey is you can never tell when he is talking out of his a**.

Gives a new meaning to the term "red eye"

[ERASER5]

Originally Posted by sparkydog

The thing I like about the sock monkey is you can never tell when he is talking out of his a**.

That is due to the sock monkey having Ed Zackery syndrome.

[sparkydog]

Yesterday nothing for the truck but the man-cave and the house got some extra storage using old kitchen cabinets from a guy I work with. There are some base units that may get converted into an island in the kitchen.

OK enough distraction - on with the build!

[sparkydog]

1st pic - OFF came those hood ribs that I had so nicely shortened back when I sectioned the hood.

Pic 2 - I reinforced the ribs so they could take the new loading from the front tilt hood.

Pic 3 they are tacked back in and also the flanges for the hinge attach points are in.

Pic 4 I went overboard and made up my own hinge attach bolts. The one on the right is the Buick stock bolt but was metric. The two on the left are my DIY replicas only in US size.

Pic 5 everything assembled and ready to trial fit!

[sparkydog]

I decided to ditch part of the Buick hinge and go with bigger, longer bolts to help handle the extra weight of my IH hood. So I chopped off the Buick factory hinge pins and integrated some 3/8 bushings into the hinge area.

Then I fabbed up the stationary portion of the hinges and tacked them into place with the hood shut. I had pilot drilled some mounting holes and will undo the welding and slot these brackets so that they can give me some up/down adjustment with the hood. But for today..... I just wanted to get the freakin' hood on and working!

[sparkydog]

Ta Da!!!! (sounds of angels singing)



Time out to sit, sip and study.

[jb1016]

^ Great pic!!

[sparkydog]

Next up is figuring out how to get the cowl-side latch brackets from the Buick to integrate (attractively) into the IH/GM cowl area. Then it will be time to finish weld a bunch of stuff on the hood and after that... I... cough... gasp... might be ready to paint the interior of the hood with some POR 15 and actually get something ready for primer!!

[67ChevyRedneck]

It almost looks like you know what you're doing!

[Pop's C-10]

very trick

[sparkydog]

Originally Posted by jb1016

^ Great pic!!

Originally Posted by 67ChevyRedneck

It almost looks like you know what you're doing!

Originally Posted by Pop's C-10

very trick

Thanks !

[sparkydog]

Can't figure out how to edit an older post so I am hybrid posting this pic again - just want to show the two pics side-by-side.

[sparkydog]

Getting the rest of the latch mechanism ready.

[sparkydog]

Well I got the cowl-side latches mocked up and tacked in so that the hood is fully functional now. But boy do I have a lot of fab work ahead to clean up the cowl and deal with all the loose ends I have created.

[sparkydog]

I have been on the lookout for some Chevy 60/40 front bench seats and this week I finally found a set and picked them up Fri evening from a nice guy in El Cajon. These will eventually go into Halfbreed and I am hoping I can adapt the power seat base for the driver that I saved off the 96 GM truck.

[1985-GMC]

Beautiful work, as always!

[sparkydog]

it lives again!!!!!

[tecky11]

sweet got a video?

[sparkydog]

Over the last couple of evenings I hacked up the GM upper radiator brackets and got them chopped down so they worked on the IH grille. Then I added some tabs onto them so that I could attach the GM fan shroud (after slicing off some of the shroud.) The final pic is showing a lower bracket that I added so that the "new", skinny trans cooler could not flex backward into the AC unit at highway speeds. This little bracket has a stiffening rib because I sliced it out of a section of the now unused GM radiator support.

[sparkydog]

I spared you guys the drama of how many times I moved the Buick crossbar. 4th time was a charm. Now I clear everything!