Project Orange to Green

[BACKYARD88]

And I got a wild hair and did some work on the cab this weekend. I didn't take a pic before I did the metal work but it was smashed pretty good on the drivers corner at the fuel filler from a rear impact, It also had several small dings here and there around the back window. I welded in a filler for the stock tank filler hole(you get the point)first. Then got to the smoothing. Here's the first wipe(Evercoat)


Second wipe(poly putty also by Evercoat)


And then after some 2K primer

[BACKYARD88]

My original idea was to shave the firewall and install a vintage air unit. After pulling all of the equipment off of of the firewall and finding no sign of rust I've decided to follow Ken(N2TRUX) idea and go back with the factory stuff just cleaned up a bit. It seems a shame to weld up such a nice firewall


So, the next order of business will be to address the rusty floors, although they could be worse(like my other cab)


Stay tuned!

[Laid out 67 small]

moving right along.The 9 looks good.cab body work looks good too.

[03HDFATBOY]

I've just read the whole thred and it looks good. I'm still lookin' for a decent truck for my project. I like the early 70's trucks but I did find a 75 GMC SWB that had a lot of potential.

[BACKYARD88]

Alright, made a trip to Mikes Bump and Grind Saturday and picked up a nice new cowl hood for my truck. No pics, I'll try and get some tonight. Mike is a great guy to do business with, I'd suggest him to anyone. I also managed to get some work done on the passengers floor, but it's not finished. I'll have to wait for some parts to come in for my welder to finish up. Here's a couple of pics part of the way

[BACKYARD88]

Here's a few pics of the hood. It had a little bend on the back of the cowl that I had to fix.





Can you tell I'm excited

[LUV2XCLR8]

Nice progress, and Nice Project

[BACKYARD88]

Thanks LUV!

[Spray-Bomb]

Sweet !!!

[Steve Kelly]

That truck looked good when you first bought it,I cant believe the rust damage you found in it.I think sitting lower looks great on it and hope i can get mine to look half as good as yours does.

[BACKYARD88]

The rust was all in the cab, and it was due to poor repair work by one of the previous owners. Everything else(fenders, core supt., bed, etc) were all in reasonably good shape rust wise.

[BACKYARD88]

Little progress this weekend. In between doing this and that for everyone else I managed to get the Rt side floor finished and the rocker fitted and welded in. I cleaned it up and shot a coat of epoxy primer over it but I still need to put some filler on it.


I also got my G-body brake booster mocked up.

[68chevy68]

You have done a ton of work. I like what im seeing. Keep it up, I need more motivation. I just aquired some air ride stuff myself. Its all used though. I hope I can get it all working.

[Spray-Bomb]

Keep it up bro

[6chevy9]

we need a update

[Spray-Bomb]

X2 !!!

[BACKYARD88]

I'm working on one. Closing on a new house this week so I haven't had a lot of time for anything else. I did buy all of the replacement panels for the drivers side of the cab so that'll be the next step.

[6chevy9]

sweeeet cant wait for pics!!!

[billdo]

are u going to have to do a tranny tub i want to do the same z and section. i have a 2.5 drop spindle and did a bag cup like urs but not so deep on the lower a arm and replaced all my suspension parts but my upper ball joint wont let my lower a arm bottom out or go as low as urs towards the cross member did u do some thing to ur upper arm thanks

[bb1979]

Great work on your truck man, wish I had the skills to make mine would progess, out of curiosity shouldn't you have raised your steering box & idler arm to maintain the factory steering geometry when you sectioned the crossmember???

[cstanley]

Looking Good. I'm Curious About That G-body Brake Booster And What's Involved. It's Gonna Look Pretty Clean.

[BACKYARD88]

Originally Posted by billdo

are u going to have to do a tranny tub ... did u do some thing to ur upper arm thanks

I'm not sure on that one yet. I bought a factory High hump to go in my cab. I hope if I have to raise the tunnel any it will be under the seat. I'm trying to keep the interior as stock as possible.

Originally Posted by bb1979

...out of curiosity shouldn't you have raised your steering box & idler arm to maintain the factory steering geometry when you sectioned the crossmember???

Well, the frame section raised the gear box and the idler arm with the rest of the front suspension. The cross member section only raised the front suspension 1.25 inches more than the gearbox so the only real change is the relationship between the center link and the spindle where the tie rod attaches. That relationship is going to move around with the suspension travel anyway so other than the possibility of some bump steer it should be fine.

Originally Posted by cstanley

Looking Good. I'm Curious About That G-body Brake Booster And What's Involved. It's Gonna Look Pretty Clean.

Thanks Colin. Here's the story on the booster. I used the factory truck m/cylinder and rod in the G body booster. I had to open up the lower booster mounting holes a tiny bit to match the booster. I had to re-drill new upper holes to match the booster and weld up the old ones. I opened up the top and sides of the center hole where the rod goes through because the new booster was a little bigger around than the old hole and it needed to be moved up a bit. Then I welded some metal into the bottom of the hole. I clearanced the pedal bracket for the upper booster studs. I used the part of the rod that connects to the pedal from the truck and welded it to the rod on the new booster and viola, G-body booster I'll take some pics of it when I take it back apart for paint.

[billdo]

another question is your frame on the ground to have that 1/4 gap on the bed step cause im kind of builin my truck blind where i havnt put anything on the frame to check clearance wise. does the bed and cab hang lower then the frame. and did your upper ball joint bind if so how did u fix. thanks alot ur helping out alot.

[Spray-Bomb]

Sad thing Mike, my build thread has 10 less posts than yours & you've had your going a lot longer than mine

[BACKYARD88]

Originally Posted by billdo

another question is your frame on the ground to have that 1/4 gap on the bed step cause im kind of builin my truck blind where i havnt put anything on the frame to check clearance wise. does the bed and cab hang lower then the frame. and did your upper ball joint bind if so how did u fix. thanks alot ur helping out alot.

With the frame on the ground the bed step lays on the ground too. My upper ball joints bind with no drop spindles and a tallish 17" tires so with drop spindles I should be fine.

Originally Posted by Spray-Bomb

Sad thing Mike, my build thread has 10 less posts than yours & you've had your going a lot longer than mine

One of these days I might get some time to work on mine