It’s Just A Pickup

[JFP Motorsports Div]

I have never seen such great detail put forth into a project such as yours; awesome job!

[Bruce88]

Not everybody’s way of finishing off a stepside
The older stile look of the past showing thru

The 1972 was the last year that a step side was made with what I would call a true step side in the older tradition and stile. The step was actually functional (you could stand on it), they had wood bed floors, and the spare tire was mounted on the side. This is how I remember it from my younger days as a work truck, nothing fancy but functional. Where my truck has been customized in some areas I wanted to incorporate its roots as a work truck and functional and the spare tire on the side helps in one way to say that to me.

How I set up the spare tire mount can be seen on (post #79, 82 & 84) http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=318544&page=4 . All the mount parts have been powder coated and hear are a few pictures of it installed.

Went down and had 5 new tires mounted and balanced on my new rims. P255/60R15 BFGoodrich Radial T/A tires, since I didn’t take the truck down to get the tires put on the truck you will see in the pictures that the tires still have the light blue protective finish on the white lettering (it will be washed off with its first bath) (smile).

A number of things coming together, tire mount, left hand fender and tail light gas filler door.











More pictures than I can post in one post (see continuation post)

[Bruce88]

Continuation post for additional pictures

If your interested in how I came up with the tail light/gas door concept (see post #37 & 39) http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=318544&page=2 .

I did have to shorten the filler tube about 1-1/2 inches for it to clear the tail light when it’s closed. A minor adjustment to the plans that can only be finalized when everything comes together (smile)



The end to assembling all the parts for the build is in sight (smile). No I didn’t forget and leave the lights on in the picture below, it’s just the camera thought it needed to use the flash and the reflective nature of the tail lights light up from it. In fact the wiring for the tail lights is not hooked up and is one of the final things that needs to be done along with making a shroud/cover for the gas filler cap to protect it from the dirt and grime of the inside of the fender.



The truck should be on the road soon, then starts the fine tuning of the parts, like front end alignment and engine for best performance.

Enjoy your build

[mcbassin]

Your truck looks great Bruce! I Had those same wheels on my 77 stepside I love them! Thanks for sharing the pictures of the near complete project. Jobe well done!

[Hurst28]

I'm really impressed with your build. Very thorough and no shortcuts. And the body shop did a great job as well. What type of wheels did you have to begin with? (with the black centers)

[Bruce88]

Originally Posted by Hurst28

I'm really impressed with your build. Very thorough and no shortcuts. And the body shop did a great job as well. What type of wheels did you have to begin with? (with the black centers)

I’m not sure of a brand name on the old rims, there just chrome with black centers. They are the same offset and size as the new rims and the tires are the same size as what’s on the truck now.

[chevytruckluver]

The truck looks great Bruce, you have done a fantastic job!

[-sean-]

You better not EVER delete this thread! Because it's going to take me FOREVER to copy everything you have done!

Great attention to detail.

[landarts]

Bruce, once again I say " This build is the BEST! " I have followed it from the beginning and check in and reread areas that are of interest. You are a true craftsman.

[onetoncrewcab]

good-goggley-goo! WOW!

I just spent parts of the last two days reading 26 pages of posts and I am impressed with your attention to detail in your postings. I wish I was half as detailed with the models that I build and documented on my website.

My question is actually non-truck related. What camera are you using to take your pics? I like the clarity of your pics.

Mike

[Bruce88]

Originally Posted by onetoncrewcab

good-goggley-goo! WOW!

I just spent parts of the last two days reading 26 pages of posts and I am impressed with your attention to detail in your postings. I wish I was half as detailed with the models that I build and documented on my website.

My question is actually non-truck related. What camera are you using to take your pics? I like the clarity of your pics.

Mike

Hi Mike

Thanks for the picture complements, I try to generate the best clarity so that everyone going thru this thread can feel like their hear seeing it in person.

I’m not a photographer and I can’t say that it’s all due to the camera. I’m using a Canon Power Shot A630 and found it set to 180 pixels per inch works for me along with a shop drop light aiding to light up some darker areas. I take 2 to 4 pictures of an area and keep the best one to modify/enhance with Adobe Photoshop. There are so many ways to take a less than sharp picture and make it more clear/sharp within Photoshop (and I’m learning more everyday).

All I can say is take your pictures with a high pixel setting and maybe from different distances along with some added light where needed. Then use a good imaging software to improve its quality and sharpness. After you’ve made the picture as good as you like, then size the picture for the format that you’re going to present it on. I convert mine to 72 pixels per inch with a 640 max pixel width and 100KB JPEG size max for this web thread.

Hope this helps you out, I don’t think it’s just the camera it’s a combination of things.

Bruce

[lyrikz]

Bruce, just want to show you, im about 95% done on the outside. Thanks for the help and the seat/ and belts.

[Bruce88]

Originally Posted by lyrikz

Bruce, just want to show you, im about 95% done on the outside. Thanks for the help and the seat/ and belts.

Looking good, thanks for the pic

It’s been about two weeks since I checked out your build thread, you’re moving right along.

I’m having second thoughts about putting our two trucks together for a photo shoot, mine is such a plain Jane compared to yours (smile), build well done.

[67dailydragger]

awesome truck man!!!! i noticed in the way you type. we may work at the same place??

[mcbassin]

That looks great! I was wondering how you were going hold the filler tube in place. Nice!

[68GMCCustom]

thats sweet!

[VA72C10]

Nicely done!!!

[VTX-treme]

where in portland? Im in Happy Valley

Glenn

[VTX-treme]

Oh, and, Bruce, one of the nicest builds I've ever seen. Keep it up, cant wait to see it all done.

Glenn

[doosekoop]

Nice work on the gas filler!

question on the tailgate latches do they require opening from both sides or is there just one latch? love the look but thinking i might try and come up with a one lever setup for mine , if i can even remotely live up to your awesome skills!

[Bruce88]

Originally Posted by doosekoop

Nice work on the gas filler!

question on the tailgate latches do they require opening from both sides or is there just one latch? love the look but thinking i might try and come up with a one lever setup for mine , if i can even remotely live up to your awesome skills!

There’s two latches one on each side and you have to open each one by pushing inboard on the black levers on each side. I just added a small black handle to each small bear claw latch you can see the setup in (post #69) http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=318544&page=3

After I installed the small bear claw latches I saw that Mar-K had a smaller latch that could fit in the tailgate side channel, didn’t do any more research on how the Mar-K system works but it looks like there controlled with one handle as I could see from a picture on their web page http://www.mar-k.com/what_s_new_at_mar-k.html . This might be something for you to look into that has a one handle opening.

[hgs_notes]

I've enjoyed my build, and enjoyed following yours. I learned quite a bit and appreciated the thought and detail you put into your posts. I'm almost done with mine too, we'll say 97.1% and just love driving it again. BTW, yours would definitely have a good showing at most car shows, even thought that wasn't the intention of your build. Same as mine, it was built to be a real nice driver, but my wife insists it's a show truck and said I can't haul anything in it. We'll see. I have a load of braches in the yard waiting for a ride right now.

[bobshotrodblazer]

Awesome job. I've followed your entire build and also used many pointers you used. Big hats off to you. I've done 6 of these trucks/blazers over the past 30 years. You are a pro.

[VA72C10]

Excellent job!!! Truck looks fantastic!!! And I agree...it would fare well at many shows!

[mbgmike]

I have been watching this build and I am truly amazed. I appreciate the time you took to do the detailed photos. My hat's off to you also.