It’s Just A Pickup

[DesertCat]

Thanks for the update on the speedo cable! That helps a lot.

This is one of the great things about a good forum with quality threads and pictures... I can sort out what I need and plan how I'm going to do it while being 9000 miles away from home.

BTW... there's some dust on that hood hinge, might wanna take care of that :-)

[Bruce88]

Close but not an exact match
Matching colors is an art (smile) hears my attempt

I took the instrument panel down to the hobby store to find a color for the needles on my instrument panel. And the paint listed in the picture below seemed to be the best choice I had with the paints available to me.

There’s plenty of problems with evaluating color, the light that you are trying to compare it in, how old or new/faded from time, or is the color you’re trying to match an original factory color. I didn’t have a factory new needle to compare to and used a new fuel gauge needle from LMC (hopefully it’s a close match to the factory color).

I painted both needles to eliminate any minor color difference between the new and old refinished needle that might occur. The inserts in the first two pictures was just a way for me to evaluate the end results and represents the colors in a numerical value.



This paint manufacture might not be available everywhere and if you decide to refinish your needles the same color as mine don’t be disappointed. Head on down to your local hobby store and find a color that you like (it might be a close match or something different). I just tried to get as close to a factory color as I could with what was available to me.

Enjoy your build

[VA72C10]

looks much better! another detail done right

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Much better nice job on the color match..

[gcburdic]

Ahhhh Bruce, I knew you would cave to peer pressure.....Nice job!!!

[Bruce88]

It shouldn’t be that hard to install
Or maybe it’s just my low self motivation of late that I need to work thru

I’m installing a LMC 38-2936 MIP Floor Mat W/Column Shift (1/8 inch thick molded polyvinyl mat). The mat is not just a drop in and it fits, there’s plenty of trimming and fitting.

The mat came with jute padding and it didn’t require any trimming except where I cut out a square section on the hump around where my floor shifter will be. I had some ¼ inch thick bed mat left over and made the black square (seen in the picture below) to seal the area around the shifter hole from water/dirt and the floor mat will sit on this seal at the same height as the pad. I did use some 2 inch double backed outdoor carpet tape in a few areas under the padding to help hold it in place, some would use spray adhesive for this.



The mat came folded up in a box, I laid it out inside the house for two days to get out the fold lines/creases and any deformity from being folded and boxed. That didn’t work to well there where still plenty of unwanted deformities that would prevent it from laying flat. Possibly if you could lay the mat out in a temp of 80 deg plus it might work better, but at 70 deg or lower the mat is still relatively stiff to work with.

The mat is molded to fit over the hump and the raised center area left to right on the floor. The mat has extra material on all the edges that will need to be trimmed to fit. I decided to start by positioning the mat to line up with the hump molded lines for left to right position and the raised center area molded area for the forward and aft starting points. Then I secured the mat in this place with fender washers and bolts at the seat mount locations on the raised center area, didn’t want the mat moving around from this position as I work at making it fit in other areas.

I used a heat gun and blocks of wood with bricks for weights to work out all the deformities from packing, working from the center aft and outboard. Found that I could only heat up about one square foot area at a time, then use the block of wood and bricks to hold it down and get it to lay flat then letting it cool and move on to the next area. Didn’t want to over heat it, just enough to get it to lay right.

I’m not going to be using all the seat mounting holes or the fuel tank mounting holes and I prefer not to leave any open holes to the outside. I’m installing some stainless steel alien head bolts with fender washers in theses open holes with a little grease on the threads to prevent corrosion. This helps to hold the mat in place and if in the future I decided to mount something there, the holes and threaded nut plates are there to use.

Working forward from the center point was a little more complicated. I only wanted the mat to go over the fire wall insulation mat by about 1 to 2 inches and not wanting to over trim it and end up short. There’s defiantly extra material on the front edge of the mat, for example I needed to cut about a 9 inch x 9 inch area out of the front edge at the center hump area just to get it under the heater. Working from the center forward and outboard the same as I did in the aft section and getting everything to lay right before final trimming was the objective. One area that I didn’t like how the mat was sitting was around the gas pedal, it was interfering with the gas pedal from going all the way to the floor. I installed a bolt and washer just above the gas pedal to hold the mat down in that area, if you look close in the picture below you can see the bolt and washer.





This mat installation is not the simplest and easiest and not wanting to wait for a hot day to aid in fitting. Plus not wanting to wait for that hot day and hoping that all the deformities from packing would work there way out and it would lay right after installing it. I definitely spent a lot of time working it into position for final trimming.

The other day as I was sitting around trying to get motivated to go out and work on the mat installation, I was just roaming around this forum and found a question in the general area that I thought I could help with. The question was about seat mounting bolt spacing. With the seat not installed, it was easy just to step out to the garage and take the measurements and a quick picture. Hears a link to throes that might be interested in that information http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=459208 . I can’t say thank you enough to all that have shown interest in this build thread and to the rest of the forum. As with all builds there will be some high spots and some low spots where things need a little inspiration and this forum helps overcome the low spots for me. Thank you

Enjoy your build

[Newtz67]

An amazing build and a beautiful truck! Not sure how I missed this thread all this time! Subscribed now though!

[steppside69]

I a always impressed with your quality and attention to detail, keep up good work Eric
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[Hellfire420]

I recently re-did my gauge cluster as well, and testors model paint, 1231 gloss bright red was the closest match I found to the portion of a needle that never saw the sun. I found it at Michaels craft store for anyone who has a hard time finding it. Great job on the build and the amount of detail you put into this thread. I'm enjoying it

[chevytruckluver]

Looks great Bruce, better than it came from the factory I bet, glad you fought through the process

[bruceman1968]

Bruce, I have been subscribed to your thread for several months. Great thread, lot's of info. I really appreciate you taking the time for such detail, It helps so many of us.
I was just rereading the first few pages when I saw the last photo in post 29. with a question about the suffix code. I scanned a couple more pages and didn't see a answer. So I looked it up for you. The suffix code was TFD.

Code Year CID Vehicle HP RPO Trans Carb Comments
TFD 72 350 Truck 175 LS-9 TH 350 4-Brl C 10 & C 20, A.I.R.
TFD 82 350 Truck 165 LS-9 Manual 4-Brl
TFD 92 350 Truck 210 L-05 TBI

Here is a great website for casting numbers and such.
http://www.chevymania.com/
Hope this helps Bruce, signed Bruce

[Bruce88]

Originally Posted by bruceman1968

Bruce, I have been subscribed to your thread for several months. Great thread, lot's of info. I really appreciate you taking the time for such detail, It helps so many of us.
I was just rereading the first few pages when I saw the last photo in post 29. with a question about the suffix code. I scanned a couple more pages and didn't see a answer. So I looked it up for you. The suffix code was TFD.

Code Year CID Vehicle HP RPO Trans Carb Comments
TFD 72 350 Truck 175 LS-9 TH 350 4-Brl C 10 & C 20, A.I.R.
TFD 82 350 Truck 165 LS-9 Manual 4-Brl
TFD 92 350 Truck 210 L-05 TBI

Here is a great website for casting numbers and such.
http://www.chevymania.com/
Hope this helps Bruce, signed Bruce

Thanks for the information, looks like a good information site for decoding numbers.

I gave that engine to Livrat (a forum member) for him to rebuild or parts. I installed a 10067353 - GM Goodwrench 350 crate engine 260 HP and 350 ft/lbs of torque in this truck, reference ( post #7 ) http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=318544

Looks like that was the original engine to the truck and it looked to me like the A.I.R. (smog) pump and parts where striped from it. Not that uncommon to find the smog equipment striped by a previous owner. That was an interesting time regarding the requirements for A.I.R. equipment on trucks, in some states the equipment was not required (exempt) so it all depended on what state the truck was sold in. If I remember right are truck from 1970 – 1972 might or might not have A.I.R. equipment depending on what state it was sold in and by 1975 all the trucks had A.I.R. equipment on them.

Thanks again for the information
Going to be holding on to the link for future reference

Bruce

[Bruce88]

If my memory serves me right
Or is it just floor shifter ergonomics

I’ve driven a few trucks with four speed floor shifters, stump pulling non-synchronized first gear (granny gear) where second gear was normally used as a first gear unless you where pulling a heavy load. As I slipped my hand off the steering wheel to shift into another gear the shifter knob was level with the center of the steering wheel, it just seemed like the right place for it. The shifter was not for fast shifting, in fact by the time I drove the trucks the shifters where somewhat worn and sloppy and some time you where hunting for the next gears, but it was a working trucks shifter.

Even though I have an automatic in my truck I wanted a floor shifter to resemble a four speed floor shifter. I’m using a Lokar Auto Trans 23 inch Shifter ATS6700AB, but there was a problem it seemed too tall and didn’t look or feel right to me. Lokar only makes a 23 inch shifter or a 16 inch shifter and I needed something in-between. Decided to shorten the 23 inch shifter.

For those interested in how I shortened the shifter, along with the pictures below, hear is some additional tips and information on how I did it. Where I think my dimensions in the pictures below are correct take your own dimensions as you take the shifter apart, you want to duplicate the dimensions (these dimensions worked for me). A nice chrome lever and didn’t want to scar it up holding it still or from rotating when cutting the threads, clamped the lever between two peaces of wood in a vice at the lever bend and also used a friend to stabilize it. You could cut the lever and then cut the threads but getting the die to start square/straight is some times hard, to eliminate that possible problem just used the existing threads and cut more threads than where needed. Definitely use plenty of tap and die oil when cutting the threads along with backing off the tap every one to two turns to clear the cutting chips, I’ve ended up in the past with damage new thread by not using oil or backing the die a ¼ turn and clearing the chips (you never see it until it’s to late).





Hears an after picture to compare shifter height after the shifter is shortened. I shortened the bottom end by two inches and the top by one inch, I see no way to make the lever shorter on the top because the shaft is tapered. Looks like I ended up with about a 2-3/4 inch reduction in height, closer to where I think it should be.

I now have a big trucks part on my pickup truck (smile). Found this Kenworth truck round shifter boot on Amazon.com from Big Truck Specialties (no part number) but says it matches OEM Part Number K042-D-70-2 boot.



I also found some floor mats on Amazon.com by Plasticolor (model number 001381R01) that I liked to finish off the floor. One problem with floor mats is that they have a tendency to move around and this is especially true on the polyvinyl mat. I’m using some 2 inch wide hook and loop (Velcro) with extra-strong adhesive backing I obtained from McMaster-CARR (part number 94985k811) across the aft section of the mat to hold them in place.

Before some one asks, the steering wheel is a 15 inch Grant that I was using before the build and I don’t remember where I got it and the switch you can see on the shifter I made so I can manually lock up the torque converter, ref back to (post #16) http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=318544





I probably don’t have any warranty on the shifter from Lokar after the modification, but it’s their fault, they should have made a 19 -20 inch shifter lever (smile). Some times I just want it my way, OK a lot of times and Ill do what’s needed.

Enjoy your build

[Cameron 1137]

Truck looks great man, that interior is so CLEAN! i love it

[Palf70Step]

Very nice Bruce!

[bobshotrodblazer]

Quote: "Some times I just want it my way, OK a lot of times and Ill do what’s needed."

Thats my motto also ....Nice job Bruce

[hotrodimpy]

Bruce88 Lokar will make custom levers. we have several options we bend all our levers in house and if we cam work within our all the lever options we have I will be happy to build a custom lever. Give us a call Toll Free 1-877-469-7440 Jeff or Eric will be glad to help. Thank you John

[Bruce88]

Originally Posted by hotrodimpy

Bruce88 Lokar will make custom levers. we have several options we bend all our levers in house and if we cam work within our all the lever options we have I will be happy to build a custom lever. Give us a call Toll Free 1-877-469-7440 Jeff or Eric will be glad to help. Thank you John

Thank you for the information
I didn’t know that Lokar would make a custom lever,
Shortening the lever wasn’t that hard but all the rest know now that they can just order one to the size they need.

[mcbassin]

Wow! that interior is Awesome! super clean and neat. The mat turned out great as did the shifter. Keep the pics coming.

[Bruce88]

A comfortable place to sit
A place for planning my work day on the truck with a morning cup of coffee (smile)

The seats are finally out of the back room and installed in the truck, ref back to (post #25) http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=318544

The interior of the cab is just about complete, a few minor things to do like installing the passenger side door weather stripping and some extension links for the seat belts. At this time I don’t have any final plans for behind the seats, something I will think about later after I get the truck back on the road.







As I was assembling all the internal parts to the doors I added some sound deadening material. I used Dynamat Xtreme Trunk Kit, part # 19405 the kit comes with 5 sheets of material (18 inch x 32 inch) that covers 20 square feet of area.

The primary noise from panels comes from the larger flat areas of the panel. I used two sheets from the kit on the aft cab wall below the window, the other three sheets I cut up to the sizes shown in the picture below for the doors. I believe I eliminated 90% plus noise in the doors and aft cab wall.

The inside of the doors is a damp/wet area and needs to drain. The sheets of material where not cut to exactly fit the panel from edge to edge, in fact there’s plenty of space between the edge and the sound deadening material so that any water that gets in there will drain and I didn’t want to create any water traps.

Taking a picture of the sound deadening material installed is impossible to show with the small opening to look thru. I pulled some picture from my archives and marked them up to show you where I put the sound deadening material.



In a short time I will be moving on into the engine compartment to finish the install there.

Enjoy your build

[VA72C10]

Looking good!

[chevytruckluver]

isnt it time for another update Bruce?

[bollybib]

Hi Bruce,
I finally spent a few hours this morning reading through your thread. You started your build long before I showed up on this site. Guys like you that take the time to record all the details provide the rest of us with a lot of useful information, insight, and method of approach on a project. I particularly found useful your engine setup, exhaust system, garage wiring for your compressor, wire splicing, and the cab mount details. Post 510 was excellent. I’ve subscribed to your thread for future reference. Thanks and best wishes. It’s a lot more than Just A Pickup !
Jim

[Newtz67]

Wow! Very nice!

[chevytruckluver]

Hello Bruce, Hows the truck coming along? Any progress lately?