What I did today...

[joe231]

Originally Posted by TimE

None...I haven't been off (except for the night/day turnaround) since last Thursday. I plan to spend some quality time with her this weekend though!

right on!!!
you friggen work-a-holic
mo' money, mo' progress!!

[scotts62]

Originally Posted by joe231

right on!!!
you friggen work-a-holic
mo' money, mo' progress!!

Mo hours, Mo money Lot Mo sleep time By they time i get off work its time to run home take a shower say hi to the wife and kiddo and try and get 7 hrs sleep so i can get up and "look forward" to doing it all over again...

But yeah so where are the progress pics! (i have no room to talk )

[TimE]

Originally Posted by gulfcoast66

Nice.. Man i dig them big wheels... on that dolly..... gets the job done....Chris...

Thanks! I originally purchased the wheels to use when I built a rotisserie...but, since that never happened they are being put to good use now.

[TimE]

Originally Posted by joe231

right on!!!
you friggen work-a-holic
mo' money, mo' progress!!

The sad part of working 6 of the last 7 days is that only 1 of the shifts was actually OT.


I was just asked if I wanted to work all 3 days this weekend. I told them !!!

That would have paid for some shiny new parts... Oh well.

[TimE]

Originally Posted by scotts62

Mo hours, Mo money Lot Mo sleep time By they time i get off work its time to run home take a shower say hi to the wife and kiddo and try and get 7 hrs sleep so i can get up and "look forward" to doing it all over again...

You been peakin' in my windows?!?!?





BTW, if you're getting 7 hours sleep when you're working that's about 2 more than I wind up with. Think I'm gonna go home tonight and just pass out in the recliner...

[scotts62]

Originally Posted by TimE

You been peakin' in my windows?!?!?





BTW, if you're getting 7 hours sleep when you're working that's about 2 more than I wind up with. Think I'm gonna go home tonight and just pass out in the recliner...

yeah i got lucky and worked only 12 today..

[TimE]

Well...I didn't take any pics today but I got a little bit accomplished. Managed to find time to remove the doors from the cab, pull the remainder of the wiring out and remove the windshield and back glass. Tomorrow I hope to get the heater box removed and start cleaning the pans (I'll take some pics before I start and you'll understand what I mean!) in preparation for melting some wire.

[joe231]

Tim, what am I gonna do with you?

[TimE]

I'm fixin' to make up for it Joe.

Go get yourself a cold glass of (insert favorite beverage name here), kick back and get comfy-this may take a while!

Here's what I was working on yesterday and the reason I didn't do much to the truck.





It's an 87 Suzuki LT50. It was supposed to be ready for Christmas but it didn't quite make it. Finally got it lined out and all back together yesterday afternoon. My boy rode it for about 10 minutes, flipped himself off and was through for the day.

Okay. Moving on to the truck stuff now.

Here's the cab stripped out--






Pics of rusty areas that will be repaired--

Windshield channel


Drivers' side roof seam


Drivers' cab corner


Passengers' cab corner


Dash-This wasn't like that when I quit driving it regularly 4 years ago!!


This is what the passenger floor looked like before I cleaned it up.


More to come...

[TimE]

Here's the pile of crap that was removed from the pass. floor.


After all of the fiberglass and bondo was removed!!


Another view of the same side.


Drivers' side before--


another before--


Notice the piece of aluminum angle (in above pic) that was being used to retain the door weatherstripping. Both sides were done this way.

Drivers' side floor after-




Here's some of the creative work that one of the PO's did!


What it actually was made from--


Still more coming...

[TimE]

More creativity!! I actually thought this was pretty nice for a custom dome light mount-


The "custom" glove box-





Here's what I used for my braces. These came from my parents front porch. They had it closed in ad these were the supports that were removed.

Here's the braces installed.


I think they worked pretty well myself-plus they were free!!!


Yep, still more on the way...

[Alan's Classic]

Originally Posted by TimE

Dash-This wasn't like that when I quit driving it regularly 4 years ago!!

More to come...

I have my old dash that I cut out. I have that area left over if you need it. Is that your only area of concern on the dash? I can cut out that piece you need and mail it. I cut and removed the the section marked with tape. The rest still remains.

[TimE]

Since it was now all braced up, my next step was to try out this...


Worked like a champ!!


And this is where I left it-I was tired...




I think I'll cut off the remainder of the rocker and do the bottom like Rokcrln does in this thread- http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=271066
I think it will be easier plus I won't have to lay on my back and drill out all of those little spot welds.

Well, that's all I've got for right now. Hope to get some more done tomorrow and order some more metal patches too. I honestly didn't realize my cab was ssoooo rotten.

[TimE]

Thanks for the kind offer Alan! Let me get a little further along on the cab and I may take you up on that offer.

The reason I'm unsure at the moment is because I haven't fully decided which direction I am going to go with the interior just yet. I am kicking around the idea of using the stock '03 gauges, column, switches, etc. If I do go this way some of that area will need to be trimmed off.

I had to put the '03 seat and column in the empty cab and I am not sure it will be worth the trouble. I'm 6'10" and there wasn't alot of legroom with that seat in there plus the column was further out than I liked. (I just need to make up my mind on the absolute direction of this truck!) I will know more once I get the floors repaired and remove the braces. At that point I will do a more detailed mock up and decide from there.

Thanks again Alan.

[joe231]

Nice work Tim!!!
you have new replacement panels yet?
that is a cool little wheeler


Hey Alan....
I sure could use the center section of that dash, heck even everything from the tape right, ours has the radio butchered and some cracks around the glove-box.....pm me if you want......

[TimE]

I already have the full rockers, front pans and inner rockers(not to mention a pair of CRAPPY cab corners). Looking at it before I tore it apart, I thought that was all I needed. Now I know better. It looks like I need about another $150 worth of panels...

Hey man!! Don't be cuttin' in on my parts!!!


j/k Hook a brutha up Alan!

Sending you a PM Joe.

[joe231]

[TimE]

Got both rockers off today and quit. I managed to come down with a cold and just feel crappy. Hoped to accomplish more... maybe next time.

Man, this thing was way worse than I thought!


Drivers' side-





Pass. side-





The pass. side was FULL of dirt. I couldn't believe that it was in better shape than the drivers side after seeing this.


I guess now I need to sit down with the accountant(wife) and beg for sheetmetal money.

I don't think I'll cut anything else out until I get the new metal. I did stick a new rocker on the truck to look at just for motivational purposes. Can't wait until I actually get to burn some wire. Haven't welded on anything worth talking about in too long and I'm getting the fever.

I kinda wish I would've pulled the BBW cab off of my 65 and used it, seeing how much work this cab needs. It is in similar shape, just a BBW. Oh well, I'm commited to this one now. I'll know exactly what I'm getting into when I do start on it though!(some year)

[scotts62]

Sweet man lookin good!!!
Yeah good luck with the accountant

[joe231]

wow....

[gulfcoast66]

WOW TimE you got your work cut out for you!!!! Are you going to replace the whole cab floor? Chris......

[TimE]

You are ssooo right Chris!

I already have the inner/outer rockers and front pan patches and I ordered the left door pillar(dogleg) and the left inner cowl panel today (that was all I could talk the accountant out of ). The door pillar is backordered.

My plan is to get the parts for the drivers front that I know I have to have and get it all mocked up before I completely remove all of the metal(for alignment purposes). Before I weld anything in I am going to move the cab back outside and do some sandblasting on it to see what else I have to replace. I may ultimately even remove the roof panel, then blast it and seal it, so I won't have any future issues from that part of the cab. From there it will be a matter of doing what has to be done to make it right!!

This simple 5.3 swap and a little bit of bodywork has really snowballed...

[jason65]

I wish I could pull off something like that. It's funny the inside of your cab was the same color as my orignal one. Good work.

[TimE]

Thanks for the comments Jason.

I have always tried to do my own work. Everything I do has been mostly self taught with advice from friends(a special thanks to my old pal Ray S.) and family members. This truck is the deepest I have ever been in to a vehicle before. When this truck is done, everything labor wise will have been done by my hands.

What color was your truck originally? Mine had been painted with, I think, Western brand paint with a royal blue(not positive on actual color name). I had thought about going back with that color or a suede light blue but I am thinking about a darker blue at the moment. Still undecided though...

Won't be any updates for a few days, got some personal business to take care of...

[gulfcoast66]

Nothing like your own hands doing the work.... More pride in the end product.... I think.....Chris..... Good luck with it...... TimE