Lurker OrrieG Progress Pics

[Kim57]

Very cool.
Kim

[_Ogre]

nice work on making it fit the updated column

[OrrieG]

Bling! Cleaned and polished the cap. 400 wet dry, black cutting compount, red rouge polishing. Still need to hit it with the magic blue stuff, but misplaced it!

[Kim57]

Cleaned up real nice.
Kim

[OrrieG]

Yeah, not 100 point finish but I don't mind using 50-60 year old parts if they look reasonable. New repops are $65.00. I have a little over an hour in this one.

[OrrieG]

Steering wheel trial fit in the truck and check for belly clearance. Looks ok.

[Daze57]

looks v v nice !

[Kim57]

Sweet.
Kim

[sgtusmc]

Cap came out looking really nice.

[Rude Dude]

Looks good, a big wheel excellent choice for the 4X!

[OrrieG]

Thanks guys, rude you are right its a TRUCK wheel not one of those fufu ones! I've never driven this with power steering, will probably have a little bit of learning curve on over correcting.

[Madd Doc]

Nice job on the wheel, I would rather spend 2 hours making something I could buy for 2 dollars.

[OrrieG]

Here are some photos of the steering wheel mods I had to make. I am going to do a separate detail thread just in case anyone else wants to do it. The method should work for an later model GM standard, tilt or tilt/tele column. I had to add a washer on the back of the 48 wheel to take the place of the stock upper bearing that the wire to the horn relay attaches to. I had to modify the GM trim pieces.

Most interesting part was figuring out the transition between the trim ring and steering wheel. I thought about using fiberglass but decided to take a trip to the big box hardware store to see if I could find something with an angle to transition from the trim to the wheel. I was wandering around looking a one of the female associates asked what I was looking for. I told her what I was trying to do, she thought for literally about 5 seconds then said follow me. Not a hard thing to do, she was easy on the eyes. We ended up in the toilet repair section. She grabbed a tank to base gasket and asked if it would work. With a little trimming it looked plausible. I asked her how she figured that out, she said her and her husband are gear heads too and are always doing the same thing, looking for something that works.

[OrrieG]

Also started the wheel repair with my trusty roto tool and JB Weld.

[1985-GMC]

Looks good, I like all the DIY stuff you do!

[oldman3]

Nice mod and repair.....Jim

[Kim57]

Nice job.
Kim

[edge]

I sure do enjoy this thread.

[Daze57]

lookin good OrrieG

[OrrieG]

Had a good weekend, banging and sanding tailgate, bumpers, grille, and other front clip parts. Also worked on steering wheel, third coating of filler. Glad that the hood only had some small dents where it was slammed to hard.
Posted via Mobile Device
Posted via Mobile Device

[OrrieG]

Here are a couple of progress pics. Basically sand, Rage, sand again. Using JB weld on the steering wheel, from what I read over at the HAMB board the epoxy metal holds up better than plastic fillers. Hood is ready for final primer and blocking. Tailgate and bumpers will be too. Steering wheel is ready for prime and paint, took probably 6 hours total to grind, fill, sand, fill, sand, fill, sand... Does not look like much work but every spoke was cracked on both ends plus the guy had a necker knob that cracked and dented the rim. And a dozen or so cracks around the rim. I did not grind them, just filled, I will use a leather wheel cover so it is not as critical. Looks like next weekend is going to be a paint one. Also had a little cash windfall so getting parts critical to moving forward (AC fittings, gas filler, door glass, bed bolt kit, etc.) Comes from stuff my dad had I put on ebay. Turns out original 55-59 VW tail light assemblies are like our GMC front parking lenses, not reproduced and rare. Also found a box of 4 NOS Fram canister filters like on the 216 and 235 engines. I put one on ebay and was amazed it sold for $123.

[oldman3]

Everything coming together, looks good....Jim

[Kim57]

Looking good OrrieG.
Kim

[OrrieG]

Modified the tailgate trunions. When I was working on the tailgate cables and latch I noticed that I could get the tailgate to line up, but when I opened and reclosed it, it dropped about 3/16". I looked closely and discovered my trunions were not perpendicular to the rear sill and tailgate. The trunions were not bent or tweaked, the bed corners they mount to are splayed out a little bit. I do not know if it came from the factory like this or if they were bowed when the lift gate was installed. Anyway, I welded and ground on one side of the trunions to square them up. Next weekend I will refit the gate and see if i solved the problem. I also found the part the trunion goes into was out of round and enlarged, so I tuned it up for a tighter fit with the 2# adjustment tool. Also did more body work, wax on wax off drill with Rage but getting close.

[daverod]

What did we do before Ebay. Nice sell.