My Unexpected '66 SWB-Fleet-Restomod Project!

[Grizz1963]

Looking at this whole series of pics you posted, I just shake my head, you guys really do go all the way.

Like the last pic above.

Looks like a prizefighter, but before the fight.

[Modges'66]

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

Looking at this whole series of pics you posted, I just shake my head, you guys really do go all the way.

Like the last pic above.

Looks like a prizefighter, but before the fight.

Rian,
Many thanks for your comments!
I really enjoy showcasing some of my skills through this build!
It is like therapy for me to concentrate and focus on a vision of what I want something to look like, and not divert.
Outside of the colors that I originally had in my mind, the rest of the build has been on par with what I had envisioned, but my quality level has surpassed what I had originally intended, (if that makes any sense)
I originally wanted something really nice, that I could drive daily. But what I have ended up with is something that I feel will be too nice...not complaining, but just wondering how I will keep it up???
My goals were to show-up my dad & his buddies efforts, which I am pretty sure has been executed, but now I am unsure about maintaining my truck's newness once finished.
I envy the ability for everyone to STOP at a moderate build level, and just drive their vehicle, but I feel that I am too anal in that dept. for that.
I don't think that I could ever execute a patina build...I wouldn't know where to stop. I am sure that after the first few stone-chips happen, that I will come to some sort of reality!
For me right now, it is all or nothing, which is how I ended-up here!
Thanks again Rian!

[clemdaddy]

Mike, buddy, just reading your comments to rian makes me think of a philosophy that i have about every car and truck I've ever built...

build it the best you can, to the extreme. and then when you're finished, drive and enjoy but don't worry about it any more. it had its moment of being perfect. now, every chip, scratch and oh-no is part of the life and enjoyment of that ride. like buying a new car from the dealership... its only new once.

you are building a beautiful truck, better than most i've seen. please don't worry about it. DRIVE IT, enjoy it, be proud of what you've done and thrash it just for the fun of it... 2¢

[Ta2Don]

Awesome results thus far… Better than New!!!
IMO Better than today's New!!!

[Pro Performance]

Truck looks sweet!!! I like the way the bed wood came out.

[Justin@EntropyRad]

bed wood looks real deep..kind of like the new Infiniti interiors! Nice work dude

[Modges'66]

Originally Posted by clemdaddy

Mike, buddy, just reading your comments to rian makes me think of a philosophy that i have about every car and truck I've ever built...

build it the best you can, to the extreme. and then when you're finished, drive and enjoy but don't worry about it any more. it had its moment of being perfect. now, every chip, scratch and oh-no is part of the life and enjoyment of that ride. like buying a new car from the dealership... its only new once.

you are building a beautiful truck, better than most i've seen. please don't worry about it. DRIVE IT, enjoy it, be proud of what you've done and thrash it just for the fun of it... 2¢

Thanks for the insight Clem, I hear ya loud & clear!
it was great talking with you last night on the phone. The more that we talk, the more that I want to talk to you!
Don't sweat about being responsible for the seat materials that you suggest. I like your sense of taste...we will get through this, and I really appreciate the assistance!....I am sure that it will rock!

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Awesome results thus far… Better than New!!!
IMO Better than today's New!!!

Thanks yet again Don!!!!
I always enjoy you lookin in!

Originally Posted by Pro Performance

Truck looks sweet!!! I like the way the bed wood came out.

Thanks Travis!
Not done yet! Gonna DA with #1000 grit & spray clear again, then sand & buff!
I gotta have something to keep me busy while I wait on the PB compressor brkts. LOL!

Originally Posted by Justin@EntropyRad

bed wood looks real deep..kind of like the new Infiniti interiors! Nice work dude

I wanted the wood to look similar to the original did once that the tar had worn off, but shiny!
Not sure that I accomplished this, but I like it just the same!
My dad has really light colored wood in his truck, but I wanted something different.
Thanks for the compliment!

[Modges'66]

I had a little bit of time to work the truck this weekend, so I mounted the valve unit & ECU.
Don't mind the coiled-up grey & yellow wires, the grey one is for the pressure sensor, and the yellow one signals the compressor relay for the compressors.
I am still waiting on the PB compressor brackets, so I will finish the wiring once that I have the compressors & tanks mounted to the frame.
The hose with the Tee in is is to temporarily feed the valve through a shreader fitting to keep it aired up until I have the compressors and tanks mounted & wired.
Here are a few pics of the air management so far!

[Modges'66]

Well guys! It has been a bit, but I spent a great part of this weekend on the truck!
I received my Porterbuilt compressor brackets on Wednesday, painted them on Thursday, and started installing them on Friday!
Once installed, I started to work on the final wiring & plumbing in order to complete this system.
This took way longer than I had planned, as I wanted it to look perfect...which I may have fell way-short on BTW, but it looks good to me.
I think that I spent more time planning on where everything would go, and how it would look, than actually mounting it. Also I have never before installed an air-ride system on anything, and wondered if I was doing it correctly!
The most rewarding thing was attaching the final power wire to the battery and seeing no sparks!
At this point, I was eager to start the system calibration program & see what this thing could do! The process went flawlessly!!!
I gotta tell you though, this Accuair e-Level system is really awesome! It went through it's diagnostic program, and set-up the factory ride heights, (which I tweaked a little) but this thing is so simple to use!
I had a little "buyer's remorse" at first, but that has long since passed!!!!
It may have been more complicated to install, but WELL worth the effort!
Here are a few new pics of the set-up.

First, the wiring for the compressors.


Passenger side compressor & tank.



Driver's side compressor & tank.


Valve & ECU all hooked-up.


And an overview pic...LOL!




Don't mind all of the little pieces of masking-tape...I had plugged all of the holes when we painted the interior silver to stop the over-spray...I just never took them off. LOL!
I will now be focussing on finishing-up my bed-wood!!!!

[LDO]

Nice job!

[clemdaddy]

She's looking really good Mike. Bit anxious to see her on the ground and doing some vertical maneuvers. I'm sure you are too...

[Bomp]

Looks great.

[aggie91]

Love this truck. You are doing a great job with it. Awesome!

[Strodder]

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Been a while since I visited truck turned out stellar love the wheel's. .. Where did the filler neck come from?

[Modges'66]

Originally Posted by LDO

Nice job!

Thanks man!

Originally Posted by clemdaddy

She's looking really good Mike. Bit anxious to see her on the ground and doing some vertical maneuvers. I'm sure you are too...

Clem,
This system works so slick!
I am so glad on my decision to go with it!

Originally Posted by Bomp

Looks great.

Thanks Greg!

Originally Posted by aggie91

Love this truck. You are doing a great job with it. Awesome!

Thanks again for the comment!

Originally Posted by Strodder

Thanks again for looking in Strodder!

Originally Posted by FRENCHBLUE72

Been a while since I visited truck turned out stellar love the wheel's. .. Where did the filler neck come from?

Thanks man!
I think that I got the filler neck from Speedway...It is a pretty trick piece.

[Modges'66]

Well guys, it has been a while since I have posted anything new up, but here are a few small but significant milestones of what I accomplished this weekend.
Last weekend I ended up D-A sanding all of the bedwood with #800 grit and spraying it with several more coats of clear. Then during this week I wet-sanded the imperfections with #1500 grit, then wet-sanded the entire surface again with the D-A with #3000 grit, then buffed it.
It looks pretty great!
This weekend I managed to get some of it installed, but I am leaving the center open while I figure out what I am going to do for a rear anti-sway bar, and finalize the fuel filler...
Here are some pics!











Also, I painted & cleared what I think are the final pieces to the truck...The heater control, radio-delete panel, and defroster vents,
I think that the dash looks pretty stellar!





That is all that I've got for now!!!

[clemdaddy]

super sweet...

[1963c-10]

Dash and bed look great!!!!

[Modges'66]

Originally Posted by clemdaddy

super sweet...

Thanks Clem!
Didn't know that you were watchin!...LOL!

Originally Posted by 1963c-10

Dash and bed look great!!!!

Thanks a lot!
Workin real hard to get this finished up!
Want to cruise this thing!!!

[Modges'66]

So, amongst other things, I started to mock-up my rear anti-sway bar to work with the Porterbuilt set-up.
I bought some 4130 DOM tubing, spherical rod-ends, weld-on tabs for the axles, and this is what I have come up with.
I am going to add tabs for the links to the rear of my axle, and pointed downward at about a 45 degree angle because of the minimum distance between rod ends.
I have run the suspension up & down throughout travel to make sure that this will work properly.
The pics show a cardboard template for the arm that I will have Laser-cut from 3/8" material and tig-weld to the tube...I will also be adding a plug to the I.D. of the tubing in the area where the arm is welded to support the tube from kinking when flexed
Here are some pics!
This first pic is aired-out.

This pic is at ride-height.

And this pic is fully-aired.

More pics to come as I get it implemented,,,

[markeb01]

What a spectacularly beautiful truck. The details, engineering, execution, color selections are all immaculate. And that bed wood is too beautiful for words. I could never live with something like that. I'd go berserk at the first scratch! The results of your efforts look like a six figure professional shop build.

[Gary V]

Fantastic work Modge! What wall thickness for the 4130?

[Modges'66]

Originally Posted by markeb01

What a spectacularly beautiful truck. The details, engineering, execution, color selections are all immaculate. And that bed wood is too beautiful for words. I could never live with something like that. I'd go berserk at the first scratch! The results of your efforts look like a six figure professional shop build.

Whoa!
I never expected that!
Thank you for looking in!
I am just trying to build something that is comfortable & functional by today's standards.
I originally never expected it to be this nice!

Originally Posted by Gary V

Fantastic work Modge! What wall thickness for the 4130?

Hey Gary!
Thanks for the compliment!
I am 99% sure that the tubing is 1-1/8" O.D x .088 wall thickness, but I haven't physically measured it.
I wanted it to be thin enough to be able to torsionally twist some...
Your thoughts?

[Gary V]

Well... I think that it will be would be a good start. You can always go to .095 or .120 if it's not stiff enough. Tack it up good and go for a ride. If you really want to experiment you can get a can of stress coat and check to see how the shaft is reacting. Stress coat is a brittle coating that cracks when it it's stressed... so you can visually see whats happening when the shaft twists... kinda fun to check stuff out like that.

Haven't bought any recently. Here's a link to the info on how it works. And here's the company that sells it... If their still in business LOL.