56 shop truck build

[dubie]

Oh, I also got the under side of the bed coating in the satin black POR 15. Here's a shot of the under side of the step all done and dry

[Kim57]

Looking good.
Kim

[dubie]

Spent a little more time with the 56 this weekend. Cut out a couple spots of rot in the rear step side fender and welded in some new. Then pounded out a 30" long crease below the body line. I figured while I was there, I'd get the under side cleaned up and under coated. Last night I sanded down and painted the heater box and blower motor housing so tonight I started laying down some simple stripes. And then sprayed the base coat for the steering wheel adapter cone. This was my first look at the base color sprayed out. It's Diamond Blue Metallic from Hot Rods Flatz.

[dubie]

Here's a shot of the brutal wiring harness that was in this thing. I can count 14 splices under the dash alone. And check out the back of the ignition switch. Looks like a telephone operators board. I finished up with the welding on the floor so I cleaned it up with a wire wheel and sprayed the bed liner in there as well. I'm going to be picking up some sound deadener this weekend so It's going to get covered in that and then have a rubber floor to top it off. I came up with an idea to personalize the interior a bit. I have saved all the license plates from every vehicle i've owned. So I thought about making the upper part of the wind shield frame with a more personal touch. I bend 3 license plates to the save curve as the roof and marked them for holes to be drilled so I can rivet them to the liner. But first, I'm going to use a thin foam membrane as a gasket between the metals. The same stuff you use under the bottom plate of the walls for your new home or shop

That's it so far for this weekend. This week I hope to get the headers fit and do the welding on the other step side fender so the entire box can be bolted back together and mounted. Then I can start with all new wiring by the weekend. But I'm taking a few days off to go watch Volbeat in Saskatoon. Gotta enjoy the little things while we can

[Kim57]

I like the color.
Cool idea with the plates.
Kim

[dubie]

this color was as close to the original blue I could find but gives it that extra sparkle, yet the finish will be suede

[sqrlnts]

Looking good Dubie! Can't wait to see her finished.

[dubie]

you and me both bud. I'm trying to bust my ass as much as I can to get this thing put together and running. I don't care about getting it painted this year, I just need to get it done and on the road

[sqrlnts]

That was my exact motto, paint will probably come next year for me. Keep it up it will be done in no time.

[dubie]

I ended up getting the same shifter as your truck bud, how do you like it?

[sqrlnts]

Mine works just fine. I purchased the shifter, and cable together off of ebay. The bracket for the trans was from B&M. I think the cable is for a B&M as well which caused some adjustment issues. I finally have it dialed in. I would prefer a column shifter on the original column but not really sure why? I guess my thinking is it would clean up the floor area a bit. But as far as functionality the shifter works great, you will like it if you plan to drag your truck.

[dubie]

A buddy of mine gave me a full B&M kit the other day as an early birthday gift. What better gift than lightly used truck parts right? I always planned on having a floor shift automatic, Id just like a longer shifter. I made a plan on how to extend this one but for this year, it's all about getting it mounted and functional. I can always extend everything next year. I don't plan on racing this truck, but if the challenge does arise.........

[Bierkan]

Originally Posted by dubie

Spent a little more time with the 56 this weekend. Cut out a couple spots of rot in the rear step side fender and welded in some new. Then pounded out a 30" long crease below the body line. I figured while I was there, I'd get the under side cleaned up and under coated. Last night I sanded down and painted the heater box and blower motor housing so tonight I started laying down some simple stripes. And then sprayed the base coat for the steering wheel adapter cone. This was my first look at the base color sprayed out. It's Diamond Blue Metallic from Hot Rods Flatz.

What are you using for undercoating? I'm planning on POR15 under my fenders and then painting with something to keep the snow/salt at bay.

[dubie]

I used POR 15, let it set up then sanded it with 80 grit and sprayed it with a 3M rubberized undercoating for the fenders. The cab floor I cleaned up with a wire wheel on a grinder, wiped it clean and shot 3 coats of the same under coating.

[Bierkan]

Originally Posted by dubie

I used POR 15, let it set up then sanded it with 80 grit and sprayed it with a 3M rubberized undercoating for the fenders. The cab floor I cleaned up with a wire wheel on a grinder, wiped it clean and shot 3 coats of the same under coating.

Are you going to put down any sound insulation on the floor with carpet/matting? Or are you going to leave it as is?

[dubie]

I'll be using some peel and seal on the floor and then a rubber truck mat over top of that. I ran a steel floor in my last truck and it sounded like a tin can. So on this build I'm going to sound deaden it as much as I can

[dubie]

Got my Rebel 9 + 3 circuit wiring kit in the mail yesterday. I damn near pooped when I saw how many wires there are in the kit, but after reading the #1 rule in their instructions, I am feeling up to the challenge. Every wire is labelled on where it goes and the instructions are VERY detailed. I want to make it as clean of a job as I can so I'll take my time and get er done while I'm off work next week.

[Stepside Jim]

In the list of do's and don'ts, they should have also included

Do not "poop'.

Ha ha, I crack me up.

Go get 'em dubie.

[Kim57]

Looks like a nice kit.
Good luck with the install.
Kim

[sqrlnts]

You got this MAN! Mine was a 18 circuit, and it looked daunting laying on the garage floor. You will find that once your start sorting front, cab and rear wires it goes pretty quick.

[dubie]

My wife heard me GASP as I opened the box last night, but after looking through the install manual, anyone should be able to wire this thing. Thanks for the boost in confidence guys!!

[dubie]

this weekend was all about the rust repair. The step side fender both had some rust in the same place, right where it meets the step up. Someone had body filled the holes previously so I wanted to make sure that all came out and new metal went in. Also, both fenders were split in the same place on the back end. Obviously it hot something at some point in it's life time and nobody could be bothered to fix it. The passenger side fender had a crease just under the upper body line that ran into the wheel well edge. After some work with a mallet and a couple pieces of 2x6 spruce, it's all straightened out.
With having this entire week off of work, I anticipate a lot of progress happening. But now I can at least bolt the fenders back on and get the bed mounted.
The one big patch that was welded in was done with flux core wire. I ran out of gas shielded after my 2nd tack. SO I pounded the edges in by 1/16" just in case my welding was a bit sloppy. It gives me a little room to work the body filler afterwards.

The front fender is is where I found the bondo abuse. Lots and lots of filler

[Kim57]

Looks like you're getting it taken care of.
One of my rear fenders had the entire wheel opening made out of bondo. It was an inch thick. Took me hours just to get it to a manageable state.
Kim

[dubie]

I had a bit of a set back today when I went to mount the cab permanently. The front drivers side cab mount bolt head was welded to the cab support, so I had to cut out a section around the bolt head and weld in some new metal to rebuild the entire thing. Then it was onto going over the entire chassis from front to back re-torqueing, greasing, checking every single nut, bolt, grease nipple, cotter pin along the way. We're going to mount the cab and front clip tonight and continue on with the wiring. I hung the new fuse box and sorted all the new wires to where they had to go and gathered up all the connectors I'm going to need. I'm hoping that by the end of the weekend, this entire truck will be wired, the brakes will be bled, the body will be mounted and the fuel tank will be back in. I have a parts order that should be arriving on Friday that has some goodies I need to finish things off. I'll post up some pictures later

[6BT 56]

Originally Posted by dubie

Got my Rebel 9 + 3 circuit wiring kit in the mail yesterday. I damn near pooped when I saw how many wires there are in the kit, but after reading the #1 rule in their instructions, I am feeling up to the challenge. Every wire is labelled on where it goes and the instructions are VERY detailed. I want to make it as clean of a job as I can so I'll take my time and get er done while I'm off work next week.

That looks a lot like my American Auto wire kit. Yep scarry to look at but was actually enjoyable to do . Took me abt 14 hrs to do every wire in the truck .