Over 25 Years Later, Finally My 71 C-10 Truck Build

[hgs_notes]

One more thing. I think the regular Als liner kit is fine for a short bed but not enough for a long bed which has about 18 more sqare feet to cover.
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[lyrikz]

Originally Posted by hgs_notes

One more thing. I think the regular Als liner kit is fine for a short bed but not enough for a long bed which has about 18 more sqare feet to cover.
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What possesed you to use the crumb??? The liner hides pitting by itself. I forgot to mention the little spray bottle. You literally MIST it on. You dont drench/paint it on.

I wish i was there to give you a hand. lol. The next time you spray it, it will be alot better. The color match on that is DEAD on. What do you put in it to match color? Real paint?

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by lyrikz

What possesed you to use the crumb??? The liner hides pitting by itself. I forgot to mention the little spray bottle. You literally MIST it on. You dont drench/paint it on.

I wish i was there to give you a hand. lol. The next time you spray it, it will be alot better. The color match on that is DEAD on. What do you put in it to match color? Real paint?

I could have used a hand. Why weren't you here?

As for the crumb, it seemed like a good idea at the time. My truck will be used to haul an occassinal load and the bed surface was very rough in many areas. The primer, I was not drenching it. It was spraying a mist, but just not misty enough, if that makes sense. I do learn from my mistakes though. I ordered 2 more kits and will have plenty to do the tailgate and touch up and hopefully enough to do the Jimmy. If not I can always get more and it's really not that expensive ($109 on ebay, free shipping). If I use another full gallon, so be it. Just heavier protection for my bed.

The tint is just that, the tint used in the regular car paint. You can't use a mixed paint to tint it because the binders will either leach out of the liner after its sprayed and make a gooey mess of it OR curdle the liner when you are mixing it and ruin it before it ever gets sprayed. (I emailed Als Liner for this info BTW)

What I did was tell the paint mixer my paint code, we looked it up and needing about 8 oz of tint to color a gallon of bed liner, figured that the amount required for a qt of paint would yield about a cup of tint. He used that formula but just put the tint in an empty can, not in a can with the binders, which is basically the part of the paint liquid that makes up the bulk of the paint. Only cost me about $13.

[lyrikz]

That is pretty awesome.

Im getting ready to order some als again. I just bought the wife a 69 VW so i iwll do the inside/ out with als. I think that would be pretty neat with a RED uncoat on the bug. ahahah..

Im learning as much as i can with these VWs. I have the front figured out for lowering and working on the rear now. i have NO idea how to tell what engine size i have. Need a manual or something.

[hgs_notes]

I had a much better go of it today with the Als Liner. I think having th full gallon mixed up and then having some issues with the gun settings really hrew me off last time. This time I mixed the liner in 1 qt batches. First I did one batch with the crumb for th tailgate and for touching up some spots to even it up some. That went well, then I mixed a qt without the crumb to do the touch up in the corners and areas that were a bit thin. With that done it looks much better.

I still have a couple areas where its too crumbly, and I think I want the bed floor to be a bit thicker, so later this week I think I'm going to mix up another half gallon and just do the floor and front bed panel. I think that will bring it to as good as it's going to get.

[ctandc]

Just got through finishing your build thread. GREAT JOB! Truck looks great.

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by ctandc

Just got through finishing your build thread. GREAT JOB! Truck looks great.

Thank you. Labor of love right?

I got home yesterday from an overnight work trip. After driving 250 miles, I walked the dogs, then got in the truck for more road time. I almost hate the idea of starting work on the exhaust and having it unavailable for joy riding, but I need to keep progressing. So I should get started on that soon.

[VA72C10]

Liner's looking really good!

[Dusty4x4]

Nice build...

[Mike Bradbury]

Originally Posted by hgs_notes

Did a little research, talked to the local welding supply store and he said I should be able to get a good weld using the 75/25 mix I have now and a .030 stainless wire. He said if it was for show car and it was butt welds then the tri-mix would be the way to go. He also said the main problem using the steel wire is that the wire tends to melt too fast and that by the time you get a puddle going in the stainless base metal it can blow through, but that I might be able to put the arc over the outer layer of the joint and use that as part of the fill metal since most of the welding will be slip fit joints rather than butt welds. I think I'll just pick up the stainless wire, use my current gas mix and try it out on a small piece. The problem for me and getting tri-mix is that they only carry the large bottles of it, which I can't afford and is not worth the cost for a small job like this.

I have had good results using the C25 on S.S. I have found that rather than trying to run a continuous bead on the thin stuff a triggering approach yields a nice dime patterned bead, also S.S. tends to crack in the heat affected zone if it is overheated from welding. I think you should not have any burn through issues since you are doing a lap joint.

[hgs_notes]

Thanks for the tip Mike. I haven't played with it yet, been working too much. This morning I ordered a new chrome steel grill, headlight bezels and front bumper from top banana. Got a pretty good deal and a 5% discount using "boards" for a discount code.
http://www.topbananaparts.com/chrome...lle-frame.html

This was the last big parts purchase I had planned for my truck. The only things left I would like to add are a bed cover, stereo, recover the seat, seat belts, maybe a new tilt column. I can live with what I got now and look forward to splurging as money becomes more available.

One more thing. The headlight conversion set up I bought earlier went back to amazon because #1, one had a loose reflector in the lense and #2, the lense was flat and I didn't like the look of it. So I ordered a different set off ebay that are an Autopal brand and were $44 and included the bulbs. Not a projection style, they look more stock. I'll install those with the new grill, bumper, etc.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/230154579474

[VA72C10]

I really like the look of the chromed steel grill over the polished aluminum ones...looks better with the bumper....

Originally Posted by hgs_notes

Thanks for the tip Mike. I haven't played with it yet, been working too much. This morning I ordered a new chrome steel grill, headlight bezels and front bumper from top banana. Got a pretty good deal and a 5% discount using "boards" for a discount code.
http://www.topbananaparts.com/chrome...lle-frame.html

This was the last big parts purchase I had planned for my truck. The only things left I would like to add are a bed cover, stereo, recover the seat, seat belts, maybe a new tilt column. I can live with what I got now and look forward to splurging as money becomes more available.

One more thing. The headlight conversion set up I bought earlier went back to amazon because #1, one had a loose reflector in the lense and #2, the lense was flat and I didn't like the look of it. So I ordered a different set off ebay that are an Autopal brand and were $44 and included the bulbs. Not a projection style, they look more stock. I'll install those with the new grill, bumper, etc.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/230154579474

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by VA72C10

I really like the look of the chromed steel grill over the polished aluminum ones...looks better with the bumper....

I might try to paint the black stripe around it like the 71s are supposed to have. A touch that most wont notice but should look good.

[Mike Bradbury]

I would like to see a photo of that when you are done, I polished my aluminum grill and it is a pain to keep shiny.

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by Mike Bradbury

I would like to see a photo of that when you are done, I polished my aluminum grill and it is a pain to keep shiny.

Got the parts yesterday and they look great. Not sure I'll get them on this weekend, but I'll give it a shot and post the pics once its done. One surprise was that it came with headlight bezels attached. I bought new ones separate and now need to see if I can return those.

The bumper looks like a better quality one than what I had also. I have a new inner grill in the garage attic. New front end soon.

[hgs_notes]

First progress pics since the end of March. Oh well, at least I finally got to it. This morning I started out cleaning the new grill. There is something oily on it, and it took 3 or 4 tries to get it clean enough for masking tape to stick to it. Once it did, I started masking off the headlight area and the for the stripe around the grill. Not that bad, but kind of a pain because the chrome is shiny and reflects the tape as you are laying it down, so keeping on the right line gets tricky sometimes. Eventually I got it though...


Then I scuffed the exposed areas with a 3m red pad, just to help the primer get a bite. Then I sprayed it with some self etching primer.


I let that dry for a bit then sprayed it with some semi gloss black. About 3 coats. I waited a couple hours, paint was still a little tacky, and pulled off the tape. It turned out great. Just hope it sticks, but touch up shouldn't be too bad.


I pulled the old parts off the front of the truck. I found another set of the grill mount brackets. They needed some clean up, so I got the sandblaster out.


They got sprayed with some etch primer and semi gloss black.


So now I just wait for paint to dry. New bumper also, nicer part than my cheapo repro from 20 years ago. Got the new inner grill out of the attic. Hopefully I can get it all back together tomorrow.

[VA72C10]

Looking good! That front end is going to look awesome when it's all together!

[crsweet91]

Great Work!

[tkeduk8r]

always a great read to catch up on....dont be afraiod to call again while y our up in these parts!!! I cant wait to check this thing out in person on of these days!!!
--Mike

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by VA72C10

Looking good! That front end is going to look awesome when it's all together!

Yes it does, pics below.

Originally Posted by crsweet91

Great Work!

Thanks

Originally Posted by tkeduk8r

always a great read to catch up on....dont be afraiod to call again while y our up in these parts!!! I cant wait to check this thing out in person on of these days!!!
--Mike

That part of the state got shifted to another inspector so I won't get up that far north as much. I'll try and make time to visit again if I do. Why don't you buy my 2wd blazer project and come down here to get it, and check out my projects in person.

Was going to go to a swap meet up in St Paul today, but the weather was iffy at best, so we did some things closer to home. That gave me the time I needed to finish up this part of the project. I got the new headlights in, much easier to do with the grill off. Bolted in the nicely painted grill brackets. Mounted the inner grill into the outer.

A quick tip, the little plastic clips go through the holes on the tabs of the inner grill before they are pushed into the outer grill. Lucky for me I didn't break any of the clips removing them, because sometimes I'm a dummy.

Then the whole grill set up was set in place with one bolt in the hood latch support to hold it. I got the pop rivets in the passenger side first. The driver side on top lined up good, but the bottom needed some persuading to fit. I had to take out the bottom front bolt for the fender to radiator support, sit down in front of the truck, grab the frame rail and push the fender bottom out with my foot, then push the bottom of the grill in between there. Once that was done I finished riveting that side, made some adjustments and tightened it all down.

I found the hood bumpers in a parts box, cleaned them up, installed and adjusted.

Then I got the parking lights installed in the bumper. After about 30 years of working on these trucks and this one in particular, I finally figured out that the little bracket for the front bumper to the top of the frame rail needs to be bolted to the bumper first, then set it in position and put in the rest of the bolts. Getting the top bumper bolts tighted after the bumper is installed is a pain with the grill up kinda tight to that bolt if you try to do it the other way.

Enough rambling, time for pics...

[Palf70Step]

[Low Elco]

Looks fantastic. You should be very proud.

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Exactly. Rock on.

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Looks fantastic. You should be very proud.

Thank you, I am.

Found my old punch list from a few months ago. Time to cross a few things off. The worst of it is the exhaust and wheel polishing. Compared to where the Jimmy is at right now, this list is just frosting the cake.

Punch list:
Polish other wheels
fan/headlight wiring upgrade
adjust e-brake cable
horn
Cowl shims
Washer pump
finish exhaust
install closed loop sensor
upholstory recovered
alignment
air cleaner
touch up paint under hood
stereo (eventually)

[VA72C10]

The truck looks AWESOME! Love the work on the grill....especially the time to paint the outer black stripe which is pretty much never done anymore...

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by VA72C10

The truck looks AWESOME! Love the work on the grill....especially the time to paint the outer black stripe which is pretty much never done anymore...

I actually forgot about that stripe until it came up in another thread on here. I decided at that time I would try to get it back on there. My wife said it made it look meaner. idk, but I do like it.