Harold's '48 S10 LS1 Build

[Tikal48]

I finally got my grille, but the rain has set in for the past few weekends. I had a short time between storms last weekend to try it on the truck.

The grille looks good. But OMG between the Dynacorn fenders and OER grille, I only got just a few holes to line up. This is definitely a battle for another day. I packed it back in the box and put it away for later. I'm getting crazy busy at work, so the truck will be on the back burner for a while. I have several machine shop/rainy day projects that I can work on during the winter, when I get caught up with my real job.

[99 to Life]

I can only imagine the fitting of that one. Grills aren't no walk in the park to begin with. looks good though.

[Tikal48]

I haven't touched my truck for about 5 weeks. I've been getting withdrawal symptoms. Things have been busy at work, so I have been putting in the hours there. This weekend was reasonably nice, so I figured that I would go outside to see what kind of damage I could do.

Ever get one of those crazy ideas that just will not go away? I saw an Orange Chevy AD that had vents in each side of the hood. I've been playing around with my own version. I created a Solidworks 3D section that roughly resembled the side of the hood and projected three round holes through. Once I got the angles adjusted for the look I wanted, I printed it out on a clear plastic film. I used that as a template, taped it to the hood, and painted a light coat of white paint to mark the hole profiles. I also did that to a couple of pieces of 1/8 x 1 flat bar, for the inner supports. I will also use these to mount either a stainless wire mess, or perforated metal sheet, on the inside.

[Tikal48]

Here are a few shots of the hood with the vents installed. I was working to save this hood and I just about decided to replace it. I figured that if I screwed it up installing the vents, no big deal. I still have a lot of work to do on the bottom lip of the front part of the hood.

The vents still need a bit of work. I ran out of time and it was starting to drizzle. But I think that you can see where I'm headed. God I need to build a workshop! But that of course would shut the truck project down for a couple of years. I think that I'll deal with the weather and finish the truck!

[Advanced Design]

That is pretty cool!

[FarmerSid]

That is pretty slick!

[99 to Life]

I dig the buick style vents, nice work.

[Tikal48]

I worked on the hood a little more last weekend and installed the vents on the other side of the hood. It's been too cold and humid to do much. I still have a lot of work to do replacing the bottom lip on the front of the hood.

The hood vents turned out like I envisioned them. I can't wait for spring, where I can get all of the body work done and the front sheet metal aligned.

[99 to Life]

looks good, yeah weather can be a PIA for sure. Even though we have had a mild winter here on the eastcoast, it still effects a build.

[slammed57]

loks pretty slick...nice touch!

[Tikal48]

I just picked up a couple of seats from LKQ off of Ebay. These are leather, out of a 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe. I've been watching them for a while, and I did not want to let this pair get away. The shipment tracking showed the estimated delivery of today, but unfortunately, they did not make it in. Bummer, now I will have to wait until Monday.

I've spent months looking at different styles of seats, and it was between these Genesis Coupe seats, and the Infinity M35 seats with the built in Bose speakers. I really kept coming back to these. I liked how the top of these seats wrapped around the head rest. I guess that I like them because they are a bit unusual. That fits the style that I'm going for, a bit out of the ordinary.

I'll try to post a couple of shots next week with them sitting in the truck. For now, I guess they will be redneck contemporary decor in my house. I'm sure my wife will let me know how much she appreciates them. . .

[Tikal48]

I'm trying to work on some of my miscellaneous projects while its cold and damp. I finally finished the machine work on my latches. I just need to purchase the clevis pins and do some minor welding to complete these. I still need to install them and see if the door handle striker is in the right position.

I'm planning on using a flush mount door handle. The obvious ones are a bit expensive, so I'm considering making my own.

I had another thought for a hidden handle. It would mean putting a small notch at the back edge of the door. The handle mechanism for that would be simpler than what I've already made. Decisions . . . decisions!

[Tikal48]

All of the bolting in the hood front support was rusted solid. Fortunately when I drilled these out, the nuts were installed in square holes in the support. I made a set of nuts to install back in the square holes, and I will tack weld in place. I have a few other areas on the support that were rusted through, that will have to be repaired.

[99 to Life]

nice work, your brain works good! flush mount handles will be crafty.

[Tikal48]

Thanks 99!

I wish I had more hours in the week to work on the truck. I'm getting really anxious to drive it again, but I figure that I'm at least two to three years out.

In the end though, I guess that it is really about the build. It's nice to see your vision come to life.

[Tikal48]

OMG, the freight company finally delivered these today. They've been sitting on their dock in Shreveport since Friday. I'm not that patient when I'm waiting on something that I've bought.

I got home and had enough daylight to put these in the truck and to take a couple of shots. I've got the raise them up a bit, but I definitely think that I am going to like these.

[Tikal48]

The past month I've been working on the overhead console. I was inspired by the awesome fiberglass work in Ogre's "58 TRUK intro" thread. So I thought that I would give it a try. Besides, I needed to cover up the hole that I made with the 3rd brake light, and still maintain access to it if needed.

Since this is my first project of this sort with fiberglass, I figured that I would see how this was going to turn out before embarrassing myself. . ha ha

I started looking for a map light, and found one on Ebay with a drop down sunglasses case. In the pictures, it looked black or dark gray. To my surprise, it was tan when I received it. I'll wind up painting it in the end. It didn't cost enough for me to worry about returning it. I used the location of the map light as my starting point of the skeleton. The reverse angles over the windshield were perfect to cast in fiberglass as the front console support.

Once the skeleton was complete, I used fleece and stretched over it as I have seen in many Youtube vids. I applied my fiberglass cloth over the top of that. Honestly, it was ugly as a mud fence at that point. The fleece sagged between the ribs after the glass was applied. Thankfully, it gets better.

[99 to Life]

nice buck you made there.

[918733]

Wow really nice work I'm thinking that I will use the Absolute sheet metal inner fenders do you have any pictures of how you trimmed them to clear the frame Thanks

[Tikal48]

I started smoothing out the sags with some of the Bondo short strand fiberglass filler. I'm not a big fan of Bondo, but I really like this stuff. It laid down nicely once I got the hang of it, and sanded out nicely. Once I got the basic shape that I wanted, I re-hung the console and cut some 1/4" wood pieces to run along the sides. My intent is to cast a lip on the console that will support the head liner.

I will eventually case a fiberglass mold off of the top of the cab. That will be the shell that the headliner upholstery will attach to. That will be run under the lip on the console.

I found some pet food bowls that I will use as molds for the speaker mounts. I waxed these up, and they actually released very easily. I run a box cutter blade between the bowl and casting, and they popped right out.

[Tikal48]

Once I pulled the console back down, I laid some more glass to thicken up the lips. I'm not a big fan of doing this on the ceiling. I wound up wearing more glass resin that I applied to the console.

I cut the map light in and had a gap under both sides. I switched over to long strand filler, since I could buy it cheaper by the gallon. I taped up the map light and filled the areas underneath, and then pressed it down into the long strand filler. More filler and sanding and I started to shape the front speaker mounts. This is where I run out of time for this weekend.

My plans are to mount two 4" Boss Phantom Skull speakers in the back side of the console, and two Pyle Dryver super tweeters in the front. I am also debating a USB power point, and front & rear DVR.

[jae]

Wow, that looks good so far. I've never taken the time to work on finishing out fiberglass, but given the limited "rough" work I've done I'm very impressed with how yours is turning out.

[Tikal48]

I've been working on the console some more this weekend. I added the front bosses to the console for the super tweeters. The previous rear bosses that I made were a little bit too small, so I recast another set of larger ones. I will try to add those to the console tomorrow.

[Tikal48]

I made a bit of progress yesterday, but I was hoping to get the rear bosses attached and sanded out. At least I came close.

I'll have to finish this out after Easter. Last few shots before Lent.

[99 to Life]

nice work, seams like a job for patience.