Markeb01 Build Thread

[Vernski]

Originally Posted by likaroc13

you know, i always love reading about your build...not only does it keep my interest, but it's pretty easy to read/follow with proper grammar & spelling....and some build threads just don't captivate me quite as much as others...however your insight and perspective of things always keeps me longing for more...to me it's not always just a truck build, but it's somewhat like a bio offering a little glimpse of someones life story...those are the kinda build threads i enjoy most...i appreciate your contributions to the forum, and i'm glad we have folks like you around here

What he said X 2 ....Vernski

[McMurphy]

Mark, you know those refigerator magnets you get from just about everyone? The ones the bank sends you with a calendar, or the local parts store with their hours and phone number on them.... If I had stickers like you do, I would apply them over those frig magnets (I actually do this alot with photos). I do it with car show stickers and do-dads too.

They are long lasting, and moveable.

[likaroc13]

Originally Posted by McMurphy

Mark, you know those refigerator magnets you get from just about everyone? The ones the bank sends you with a calendar, or the local parts store with their hours and phone number on them.... If I had stickers like you do, I would apply them over those frig magnets (I actually do this alot with photos). I do it with car show stickers and do-dads too.

They are long lasting, and moveable.

actually been playing around with that idea myself, using the Mooneyes decal like Mark has on the fender...not for my '66, but for my S-10...but i'd have to use a larger magnetic sheet cut down to size

[markeb01]

Originally Posted by likaroc13

you know, i always love reading about your build...not only does it keep my interest, but it's pretty easy to read/follow with proper grammar & spelling....and some build threads just don't captivate me quite as much as others...however your insight and perspective of things always keeps me longing for more...to me it's not always just a truck build, but it's somewhat like a bio offering a little glimpse of someones life story...those are the kinda build threads i enjoy most...i appreciate your contributions to the forum, and i'm glad we have folks like you around here

Thanks for the comments, and I share your appreciation for story telling. As an example, one of my other hobbies happens to be WWII military aircraft. While I would find it interesting to look at photos of a perfectly restored P38 Lightning, by comparison I have spent hours (actually years) following and studying all the details of how it took millions of dollars and years of effort to dig it out from under a glacier and another 10 years to restore it to flying condition, as happened with Glacier Gal. The effort, risk to human life, and dedication invested really increases my enthusiasm. So I’ve come to appreciate that if something is worth sharing it’s worth offering some of the details that hopefully make it interesting.

One of my other foibles is that I grew up watching too many episodes of Perry Mason. As a kid I came to appreciate that the correct selection of words could make a statement bullet proof. Something that could not be reverse engineered to produce a different, alternate, or more favorable result other than what was intended by the author. I started practicing this philosophy in the Marines when drafting official bulletins and procedures, and throughout the rest of my career. In the service there were consequences for improperly worded communications and I preferred to avoid those consequences. It became part of who I am. But I’m also not a fanatic. The only time I have an issue with poor use of language is when it’s so bad I have a hard time understanding what is being said or asked.

Originally Posted by McMurphy

Mark, you know those refigerator magnets you get from just about everyone? The ones the bank sends you with a calendar, or the local parts store with their hours and phone number on them.... If I had stickers like you do, I would apply them over those frig magnets (I actually do this alot with photos). I do it with car show stickers and do-dads too.

They are long lasting, and moveable.

Originally Posted by likaroc13

actually been playing around with that idea myself, using the Mooneyes decal like Mark has on the fender...not for my '66, but for my S-10...but i'd have to use a larger magnetic sheet cut down to size

I thought about doing that myself on the glovebox, since I actually have sheets of magnetic material I bought years ago to make my own back magnets. It’s available from McMaster-Carr under “magnetic sheets”. They actually make Mooneyes magnetic “decals”, but from the few I’ve seen applied to the outside of a car they tend to curl at the edges over time. I figured inside they’d hold up much better, but I’ve tried to stay as “authentic” as possible on mine, and back in the 60’s refrigerator magnets wouldn’t have been available yet. I agree they do make a lot of sense on a truck where you don’t want to permanently mess up the paint. I suppose it would help to move them around every now and then so the paint doesn't fade a pattern around them.

[markeb01]

A little diversion from progress for some random stuff – The last time anything I owned made it into print was the January 1976 issue of Street Rodder when my flamed 54 Chevy made it into the Early Iron segment:





So it was a real treat when my truck was selected for entry in the 2009 Stovebolt calendar:



The following year it appeared in the February issue of Classic Cruisers segment of Classic Trucks magazine, which was also fun:



I was surprised when it showed up, as I had just sent in the information a few weeks earlier. Even more of a surprise was being notified by one of our forum members living in Germany! He received the magazine before it was available here.

I’ve always wished I hadn’t photographed the truck with those stupid tie downs installed in the stake pockets. I never even used them. They were removed shortly after the photos were taken.

It showed up again with a different photo in the 2010 Stovebolt calendar:



I’m hoping to get it considered one last time if I can capture a really fantastic photograph presented against a better background location (which I haven’t found yet). I’ll only make the attempt if the stainless windshield trim gets installed, this likely being the last exterior cosmetic upgrade the truck will receive.

And while I’m already slightly off track from the truck progress, I’ll throw in some models of the truck I’ve built over the years:

The first was built to replicate the original concept. Gloss black with steel rims and small hubcaps. This was assembled (with great difficulty) over the course of a year, and almost went in the garbage multiple times.



The cab is made of Modelhaus resin replica 1960 GMC doors, front fenders, cowl windshield frame, hood, grille and grille support. The roof, back of the cab, and chassis are from the 1964 Revell short fleetside kit. Although both kits were 1/25th scale, they weren’t close to being the same so nothing fit without serious effort. The original bed came from the AMT 1955 Chevy kit, it was slightly too small and didn’t look right. About the time this was coming to completion Revell released the stepside/boat kit, so that bed ended up being used instead. It was painted with acrylic enamel car paint, and other than wheels looks the same today. The front bumper guards came from the 55 kit.

This was taken a short time later after a set of 5 spoke mags were added.



Hanging on the wall it fooled a lot of casual observers into thinking it was real, but closer examination reveals the left front tire is floating above the snow. In fact it was taken on top of a 4 foot berm of snow right outside our front door.

This one came along much later and is a stock Revell kit with a GMC grille.



This is what I envisioned as the final build level of the real truck with complete chrome trim. I even obtained a mint condition grille for the real truck to have chrome plated, but costs are too high for retirement pay, and I’ve grown to like the white front end. If I win the lottery however I may still chrome the front end. Compared to the original/resin model which was more accurate, the AMT version actually has a desirable 1-2” chop to the top. It’s clearly shorter than the real thing, but it makes for a nice improvement.

The last version represents my truck as it sits today, complete with windshield trim:



I believe I still have photo reduced copies of the original California black license plates to add, which I’ll get around to eventually. Studying the photo, I finally realized the front bumper is incorrect on each of these models. The ends slope up to the rear on the rear truck. The models are backwards sloping rearward from the top and they’re also too rounded. Maybe I’ll fix that too eventually.

[markeb01]

Back to the truck updates, once the stake pocket tie downs were removed, I started looking for an original set of bed rails, since we were in fact using the truck for dump runs of grass clippings every week. Having done the occasional search for authentic bed rails, expectations weren’t very high. Ultimately one of our forum members pointed me to the rails I ultimately installed. They’re identified as mini-tubes and are produced by Perry Craft. They’re very strong and completely fabricated from stainless steel, so they won’t peel and rust like originals:



I would still like to have an original set. I like the way the stand up taller and the stands are beautifully sculpted, but I’d never be willing to pay what a mint set would cost.

As winter set in it was time to reinstall the studded tires. Since I was bored with the black rally wheels, I reshot the wheels with Krylon Dull Aluminum.





If I didn’t already have mags, and if I could have afforded factory beauty rings, I could have been happy leaving these wheels on the truck. Without beauty rings, it looked too plain to me.

This picture was taken just after sunset. The sun had just gone down and the shot was taken with a timer and manual aperture control to keep the lens open for a long time. As mentioned earlier the Blitz Black paint is interesting to photograph because the resulting color is strongly influenced by different light levels.



And this was a test photo with the red metalflake gearshift knob. It’s very cool in real life and looks like a wet Lifesaver. I still prefer the blue one, because the red knob has higher transparency and shows the threaded interior portion of the knob more clearly.



Since I didn’t intend to use the truck much during the winter, it was subjected to outdoor storage for the first time since moving to the northwest. It was however intended to be well protected. A tent was erected alongside the house, the truck was covered with the indoor California Car Cover, and a space heater was kept on “frost watch” in the cab. The tent was anchored to concrete in 4 places and also to the truck.







One afternoon we pulled it out for a ride, and after it went back in the tent. The heater was put in position and the cover reinstalled. Unfortunately I didn’t tether the tent to the truck bumpers. Later that night we experienced one of our frequent severe winter storms. It blew roofs off buildings, collapsed some others, and ripped our tent free from the moorings and threw it over the fence into the front yard. Fortunately nothing hit the truck, and the tent couldn’t fly because there were too many straps still attached, but that was the last time the truck spent a night outside.

[McMurphy]

With Newman Lake and Liberty Lakes real close to where you live, I am surprised you are having a hard time finding a photo backdrop !

Not to mention all the parks.

My hope is to one day get permission to photograph our 3 classics in front of the clock tower and the Loof Carousel downtown.

I get what you were saying about making a statement leak proof.
I have to author policy letters, memorandum for records, and standard operating procedure documents all the time. The fact of the matter is you have to make them answer all 5 W (Who, What, Where, When, Why) and close up any loop holes that could be exploited.
To assume the reader is mature, honest, or professional enough to not engage in an action or conduct based on preconceived perceptions of socially accepted notions is not acceptable. People will make honest mistakes, but choose a dishonest response to justify it.
It seems odd, but it is true at times.
In our documents we attempt to "cover all bases" my making the instruction or information "idiot proof".

Proper communication is not a given, a person needs more than a command of the language. There is a skill and at times an art to communicating with out doubt or loss of the message.

And yes, the truck looks great in satin ;o)

(if you read enough of my ramblings you will that I break grammer and syntax rules all the time because I just think it is fun to do so. However I do not usually lose context, as that is always important)

[markeb01]

Well stated!

Funny I’ve only ever known two men having served near the North Pole. Back in the late 70’s I had a boss that was ex Air Force. At the time of his active duty “incident” he was assigned to the staff of a General. I don’t remember where he was stationed, but he loved the place and expected to serve out his enlistment at that location.

He also had significant conflict with the First Sergeant, to whom he was subordinate. For over a year they scuffled, and every time he skated through claiming privilege of the General. One day he unexpectedly received transfer orders to Fairbanks Alaska. He ran to the General expecting him to intercede over loyalty and principle. The General merely stated “Well, everybody knows you can’t mess with the First Shirt”! In one of the most significant learning experiences of his life, he spent the rest of his career freezing his a$$ off reflecting on what he might have done differently!

[markeb01]

So as I’m wandering around thinking about what to tackle next it started bothering me that the truck leaned noticeably to the driver side (like an inch). Earlier I had jacked it up and placed the frame on stands and measured everything. The frame measured out square and level, and the trailing arms weren’t bent. I had replaced the rear springs twice (and changed them side for side another time). New front springs had been installed with the 1975 crossmember swap and yet it still sat crooked. I even measured the bed and body to make sure it wasn’t an issue with the mounts. I kept checking until it was determined the front spring on the driver side was sagging about an inch more than the passenger side. They were only about 10 years old but the one side just gave up faster than the other.

I didn’t even bother pricing out new springs because I just wasn’t physically up to changing them at the time.

So I started considering possible alternatives. Looking back to my high school days, spring spacers were very popular with guys in my budget range and age bracket.

They instantly transformed your average teen kid car into am impressive high dollar gasser with just some minor effort (smashed, pinched and bruised fingers mostly). The intent was to force the coil springs to stay separated, lengthening the spring and sticking the nose in the air. It was worth the injuries, knowing that soon all the girls around would be overwhelmed with ecstatic joy at the mere sight of my super fast gasser style car!

Of course to adults the result probably just looked stupid, and strangely I don't remember the girls being all that impressed either.

The Unofficial History of Spring Spacers

There were several types available in the early 60’s. Here are some examples, starting with what was most commonly available where I lived:

The block or wedge type. This is the only example I have left. My son found it in a wrecking yard and polished it up for me as a souvenir:



The spring was forced open with a crow bar and tire iron, and the spacer gently tapped in place with a hammer. Well not exactly. Needing 3 hands and having only 2 turned out to be an inconvenience. Once the spring was spread as much as practical, the spacers were nearly beaten to death almost knocking the car off the jack stands trying to get them in place. In theory they could be inserted either horizontally or vertically, and spring pressure would hold them in either position. 1954 Chevy spring coils were very close together, and the spacers would only fit horizontally.

An improved model soon came along, the twist-in style. Early models spread the coils maybe an inch. Later models were considerably bigger.



Installation required only the simple twist of a wrench. Well, again maybe not quite that easy. If you had a crow bar and tire iron to spread the coils, a couple of socket extensions, a breaker bar with a cheater pipe along with 3 hands to manage all the tools, they twisted right in place.

Other designs I never found locally can be seen in the 1962 J.C. Whitney catalog. At the time I really wished I could find this installation tool. It seemed a lot more convenient than all the pry bars:



This type just seemed ridiculous. All I could envision was the thing collapsing or breaking and shooting fragments in your face while you were trying to put it in:



This looked to be the most impossible to install (at least on my car):



And these seemed just plain goofy. With no way to spread the spring that far, no surface area to grip the spring adequately, and extending them causing probably breakage or separation…:



These seemed like they might actually work – for a while, at least until the bolt loosened up and vibration caused it to fall out.



In my experience, none of them worked. Even with the limited travel of driving back and forth to school, within a week or so when the car hit a bump one or more popped out. The car leaned over until more could be added or others removed to balance things up again.

But all this reminiscing started me thinking along a more modern version of the same concept – spring rubbers, like those used in race cars to alter the spring rate.

So I ordered up a 1” Afco AFC20186 spring rubber. Here’s what it looks like. Since it has deep grooves on both top and bottom surfaces, and goes all the way around the spring, it doesn’t pop out.



Here’s the passenger side of my front suspension, obviously without the spacer.



And here’s the driver side with the spacer fitted:



In truth it wasn’t much easier to install than the aluminum versions in high school, except this time I used plenty of lubricant, disconnected the upper shock bracket, and removed the upper bumper for more suspension travel. Beyond those improvements it was still a matter of manhandling the spring like a teenager enough to insert the rubber. The project was worth the effort however. It may not be pretty, and I can’t say I’ve noticed any girls being impressed by the addition, but the truck now sits dead level, and once again corners and rides like it has a brand new matched set of springs.

[awbrown]

I remember when i started racing in the early 80's we used spring spacers rubbers etc and it was thought to be mickey mouse .. now they do it and it is high tech science...

[markeb01]

I don’t remember what inspired the next project, but it turned out to be improving the headlight wiring with relays. After reading a large number of nicely done threads on the topic, I found myself still lacking details of which wire went to which relay terminal. And many of the schematics were for completely different vehicles. So I printed out everything I could find and started filling in the gaps with the all the overlapping information. Ultimately I drew up a simple relay diagram primarily for my own clarity and convenience. After the work was completed on the truck and functioned correctly, the information was posted on the following link to hopefully save someone else starting from scratch:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=387693

During all this it never occurred to me I didn’t include any photos of the relay installation. So here they are exposed and covered. I also edited them into the thread above. The small relay nearest the radiator is for the fog lamps. The other two are for the low and high beam circuits.




The location hides everything, is easily accessible, and offers good weather protection. The headlight relays are mounted on an ABS panel for ease of attaching or removing the connectors.

Looking back through photos a reproduction Sunpro Tach head update became the next project. Much earlier I had installed an Autometer/Moon tach head in a Sun cup as shown in posts #38 & 47. I talked myself into being happy with it. It looked okay, was very accurate, easy to read, and had the Moon eyes printed on the face, which I thought was cool. Other than the eyes and different markings on the face, it was a standard Autometer tach. Subsequently Moon dropped Autometer and aligned with Classic Instruments. It turns out the Moon tach I had is now somewhat rare. Mine stayed in the family, one of my sons is going to put it in his 1960 Galaxie eventually.

Soon after attending a local Goodguys show, the Goodguys Gazette showed up. Inside I discovered a new advertisement for the Sunpro FZ88R retro tach.



The advertising hype is mostly bogus. It isn’t the same tach as the original. It doesn’t work the same, it doesn’t look the same, and the original company Sun Electric Corporation isn’t producing it. In spite of these drawbacks, I thought it might be worth trying - primarily because years or searching for an original FZ88 Sun tach, established that I would never be able to afford one.

Whereas the Moon/Autometer took some engineering and brackets to fit in the case, the new FZ88R head bolts into an original cup perfectly, because the new retro cups are dimensionally identical to the originals.

The one screwed to my dash however is the longer version of the same cup (which I prefer). No problem. At the time I had a trashed original FZ88 for parts. I pulled the extension spacers from the original and screwed them to the back of the mounting posts on the new head, and if fit perfectly in the long cup. For purely cosmetic reasons I also pulled the Bakelite zero adjuster off the original FZ88 and attached it to the face of the new FZ88R. Excuse the poor quality photo. Around the time this was taken I had a hard drive crash and lost 6 months worth of progress photos that weren't backed up properly:



Although I would still have preferred an original 1960’s version because the face looks better, the FZ88R has proven to be an adequate substitute. It works well, and with nothing nearby for close up comparison most people assume it’s an original. Unless the money tree starts blooming in the backyard it will remain a permanent feature.

I put together a thread on the topic to share both the installation and as much as I can remember about the popularity and timeline of vintage Sun Tachometers:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=392461

With progress on all these trinkets I believe it was another forum member’s truck that sparked me into thinking about spotlights again. I grew up with dual Unity spotlights on my parents 1948 Oldsmobile, and have had them on a variety of cars over the years. Once I discovered that custom mounting brackets for the 60-63 cab existed, a frenzied search ensued. Over the course of several months I was very fortunate to obtain the rare inside and outside brackets for both sides of the truck.

Here are shots showing the outside and inside:





And the truck with both installed:



Many more details of the installation and information on how to repair these lamps can be found on these threads:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=401449

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=403869

More to follow.

[markeb01]

Since I’m a fan of Unity products, I scored a set of NOS Unity Back Up Lights at least five years before they ended up on the truck. Here are a couple of photos showing some of the details:



I honestly don’t remember the source of this photo. I probably took it myself when I was planning to sell the lamps, but it could be the Ebay photo of the kit I acquired. Either way it exactly matches what I purchased, down to the two different types of wire, and broken paper templates (hardened from age). The larger wire coil is a waxy impregnated cloth, while the jumper wire to go between the lamps is vinyl. Although all of the wire was as new, during installation I replaced all of it with newer fire resistant wire. It didn’t seem prudent to use stuff that was approximately 60 years old.

And here’s a close up of one rim showing the marking found on all model “C” lamps:

Pardon the stuff in the photo being dirty. It was just rained on and I mounted the information upside down to keep the top nicer looking.



The stamping says - UNITY CHGO (Chicago) MODEL “C”

Every year or so I would bring them out in the garage, hold them up in various positions on the truck, then put them back in the original box for another year. I just couldn’t find anywhere they would fit and look right. For no reason I can think of the idea of putting them next to the license plate popped in my head, so out they came again for another check.

Here’s what the back end looked like without the lamps:



Here they are clamped to a pair of hardware store L brackets:



A close up of same shot



Pleased with the general appearance, I started working on a sheet metal pan to both permanently mount them, and conceal the wiring.

I had a piece of sheet metal left over that was purchased to repair the lower doors. This shows it trimmed to shape and drilled:



This shows the orientation of the lamps:



A local sheet metal shop formed it on their brake:



I had a painted and assembled photo showing all the wiring, but it was lost in the hard drive crash.

Here’s the first photo of the assembly attached to the truck:



I painted the pan with Blitz Black out of a spray can, and obviously the sheen didn’t come out matching the rest of the truck. At the time I wasn’t enthusiastic enough to reshoot it with spray equipment so it went on as is.

[markeb01]

Finishing up the back up light project, here are a few more photos.

The finished installation late in the afternoon:



This was taken with an aperture controlled long exposure:



At night, illuminated with nothing but the parking lights and license plate light:



And this is what the lamps offer:



They seem ridiculously bright, but are just normal 1156 bulbs. It must be the design of the reflectors and glass lenses that adds to the effectiveness.

At first I wired them up to a switch on the dash, with a yellow indicator light so I would remember they were on. Many decades ago I used this arrangement on a different car and found it to be a convenient if not so polite way to instruct tailgaters to “back up”. Being suddenly blinded there really was no choice but to get off my bumper. I also found it dangerous and stupid.

Being somewhat older and wiser that wasn’t my intent this time. It was just easy to hook up. I soon discovered the indicator wasn’t visible enough and I routinely forgot to turn them off. So I stopped using them until I could connect a transmission operated switch.

And typical of hot rod stuff, even that wasn’t easy. The Hurst universal bracket positioned the switch completely beyond the reverse lever. Once the bracket was shortened and redrilled, everything lined up and worked fine.

One last footnote. The outboard bulbs in this photo were original to the lamps. Being 6 volts they are pretty much useless, but are probably the coolest looking automotive bulbs I’ve ever seen:



More to follow.

[LostMy65]

I was just thinking about where to put my backup lights on my 65. I don't want to put them in the fenders like a 66. And I don't want them anywhere near the fenders, because I don't want to detract from my fleetside tailights. Where you have them is perfect.

Obviously, I need to get my bumper flipped back to right side up.
Posted via Mobile Device

[markeb01]

I started collecting photos of trucks with sneaker plugs, like this example:



I picked up a couple of lengths of matching exhaust tubing to experiment with different attachment angles. I never finalized a design because I couldn’t decide if they looked better behind the tire or under the fender, or whether to use 2 or 3 bolt caps. The project got side tracked, but is still likely to happen some day because it’s reasonably inexpensive. Originally I wanted hidden electric exhaust cut outs, but they are no longer in the budget.

Another ongoing annoyance was the battery hold down bracket. When purchased many years ago it was coated with a rubberized red covering which soon blistered off. Over the years it was repainted with everything from POR-15 to Zero Rust. No matter what it was coated with, it looked like this within weeks:



I finally solved the problem with a plastic bracket made for boats. It came as a kit with a tray, plastic bolts, and the bracket. The bracket was the only usable part for my installation. A year and a half later it still looks like this. The corrosion monster was finally defeated!

[markeb01]

The next order of business was proper headlight aiming. For decades I had just lined up on the garage door and dialed them in. Unfortunately our driveway and garage floor slope to one side, making it difficult to get them set accurately. I started shopping Ebay for a professional alignment kit, and scored one for very little money. I was lucky. As promised it was in excellent condition and nothing was broken or missing.

One nice feature is that the adapters are initially set up to compensate for the crooked floor. After that it’s a matter of sticking the alignment tools to a pair of headlamps, and lining them up optically. It was rather confusing at first, but once figured out correct alignment was simple. The embedded captions tell the story. After I install the mint condition grille, the process will need to be repeated. After that I’ll probably rarely use the set again, but it’s certainly is a nice to have tool.

[markeb01]

After several years of running the 15x5 TTO front wheels, I wanted to swap to a matching set of 15x7 mags on all 4 corners. In my opinion the 15x8.5 American mags produced in the 1960’s were the most beautiful wheels ever created by man. The 15x6 version wasn’t far behind. Of the TTO sizes currently offered the 15x7’s looks the most like the originals, especially with the 5x5 bolt pattern.

Being married to a wonderful wife, another pair of 15x7’s showed up for Christmas. They were quickly degreased and shot in gloss black. I used the same Martin Senour 7239 Tecnique Gloss Black used on the rear wheels. It’s available from Napa Auto and is very durable retaining both the high gloss and deep black color:



To me they just look more impressive than the 15x5’s. Here’s somewhat of a before and after comparison between the 5” rims and the 7” rims. Both are wearing the same 215.70.15 Radial T/A’s.





And finally I couldn’t wait, so it was backed out in the snow on a 17 degree day when all the snow froze in the trees. It was a spectacular day, but the severe contrast didn’t help take a decent photo:



So then I got the bug to retro-upgrade my Unity fog lamps to have the early topknot emblems instead of the flat/boring patch on top. It was a pretty simple upgrade as shown in the photo sequence below. The inner flange of the emblem rivets were lightly trimmed with a drill bit and the rivets knocked out with a spring punch. The holes were filled with silicone and the emblem attached with a screw as they were on original lamps with these emblems. I don’t think they’re much doubt they have a much richer appearance, for anyone that cares about this sort of stuff:

[LostMy65]

All these years gone by, and you are just now getting all this posted.
It'll benefit many.
It has me.
Thank you.

[markeb01]

Originally Posted by LostMy65

All these years gone by, and you are just now getting all this posted.
It'll benefit many.
It has me.
Thank you.

Yep, the difficulty has been that I had almost 20 years of photos collected before I started the thread. I was stuck for a long time trying to get things in chronological order before submitting the first post. I finally gave up and just started near the beginning and hopefully will find forgiveness for all the details that show up out of sequence.

Thank you for having interest!

[markeb01]

In order to provide more convenient access to the emblem screws (required for bulb changes) I decided to move the lamps forward on the bumper. Fitting factory cast brackets didn’t place the lamps where I wanted them, so I fabricated my own from steel plate. Rather than appearing to hide behind the bumper guards, they now looked impressive sticking out in their new forward location. Here are a couple of before and after comparisons:









This led to another inadvertent design improvement. Because the new brackets are even stronger than the bumper, I was able to eliminate the adjuster balls on the bottom of the lamps. The brackets were individually adjusted until the lamp mounting bases were perfectly level. Now the lamps are bolted solidly to the brackets and require no vertical alignment. Left/right alignment is easily accomplished by placing a level across the bare housings before the bulb and bezels assemblies are installed. It’s both simple and rugged and results in a perfectly aligned light pattern.

In the spring I finally got a chance to take a couple of pictures of the truck with its new wheels and fog lamp improvements:





And the first phase of the final engine compartment project was initiated with removal of the majority of the inner fender panels:

[Woogeroo]

no inner fenders... hmn, Mark is going full gasser drag truck next!!!



-W

p.s. thanks for sharing all of this stuff, especially the rear back up lights, I love that setup.

[markeb01]

Originally Posted by Woogeroo

no inner fenders... hmn, Mark is going full gasser drag truck next!!!



-W

You’re very perceptive! That’s actually where the plan was headed for the last 10 years before retirement. It would have been a street rod version, way too heavy to actually race because I still wanted to keep all the doodads and didn't want to back half the truck. But it would have been finished with components common to that build style. A BDS scoop was intended to poke through the hood on top of a pair of carbs, preferably sitting on a 6-71 supercharger but more likely on a tunnel ram due to cost.

With my poor photoshop skills this was the best image I could create to demonstrate the vision:



And fenderwell headers something like these (shared by another forum member) were a must have:





For rod runs and graffiti night the final touches were going to be a pair of Radir pie edge slicks on these Buick wheels, with skinny Firestones up front mounted on the vintage Dragmaster mags shown in the photo:



Removal of the front bumper and various methods of installing a Moon tank up front were also tossed around, but nothing was decided on.

Even after retirement I went ahead getting the engine compartment ready for the fenderwell headers. Who knows, my rich uncle could still get out of the poor house, I could win the lottery, or Publishers Clearing House could show up at my door. If one of these unlikely events happen at least I’ll be ready to get back on schedule!

[markeb01]

Following up with more details of the inner fender removal, the ultimate goal was clearance for fenderwell headers. The more immediate need was cutting out rust before it spread any further. And a third objective was simply ease of maintenance such as greasing the front end. I’m 63 and retain the same automotive enthusiasm I had as a teenager. Unfortunately with missing spinal discs and bad knees the carcass doesn’t always cooperate, so anything that makes working on the truck easier is welcome

Since I don’t weld, and couldn’t find any better examples of used inner fenders locally for a budget price, I decided to cut out everything I didn’t want, and repair the remaining rust damage as usual with JB Weld. For those that may have missed it, I’ve used JB Weld on just about everything imaginable as detailed in this thread:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...p+hole+filling

Here’s what the forward end of both panels looked like before starting the project. As can be seen rust was blistering from the outer panel, over the top and down toward the frame on both sides. Fortunately it was all contained on the inner fenders. Here’s the passenger side:





And the driver side:





Had I realized years earlier this would be caused by the open bracket underneath collecting and packing up with road debris I would have simply sealed all the openings from the bottom and avoided all this rust to begin with.

But a little late for preventative measures at this point, so the slicing was started. Cutting the rear edge free without damaging the firewall was very difficult. It would have been much easier with the panels out of the truck, but I didn’t want to extend the project with more disassembly:

Here’s the last shot before cutting began:



First the passenger side was removed, followed by the driver side:

[markeb01]

I wanted smooth edges covering all the rough sheet metal cuts, so aluminum angle was fitted the length of the inner panel cut line and attached with button head Allen screws. They were deliberately fitted in two pieces and with a bend in the middle to avoid being driven through the firewall into the occupants in the event of a crash.





Rather than spending time finishing the repairs with body filler and labor, steel plates were fabricated to cover the repaired ledge portion between the hood springs and radiator support.





Once satisfied with the fit of all the plates and angles they were removed. The rusted areas over the reinforcement brackets were cut out, ground clean, acid washed, dams formed from steel brackets and duct tape, then filled with JB Weld. The gap in the angled portion was then filled with JB Kwik because it sets in 3 minutes (no picture).





At this point all the new aluminum and steel parts were sanded down and brush painted with epoxy primer. The aluminum angles were bolted on and the steel plates were epoxied to the inner fenders with large C clamps over a generous bed of JB Weld.



Before completing the engine compartment, two events occurred that convinced me to reinstall the Gaylord bed cover that had been leaning against the garage wall for the last two years. First, one of our dump loads managed to knock a dent in the back of the cab just above the front bed panel. Second, my brother in law sold us their old box trailer made out of the back half of an old Ford Courier, so I didn’t need to abuse the GMC any longer.

Because I had already installed the stainless bed rails, I first thought about buying a soft cover that fit between bed rails. But since I already had the hard cover, and considering how ridiculously expensive they’ve become it seemed more prudent to reinstall the one I already had. Problem being I didn’t want to give up the bed rails. So after careful study, and against the advice of Gaylord, I decided to mount them on the hard cover purely for cosmetics.

I couldn’t use screws from the top because they would collide with the top of the bed sides. So I trimmed the cover seal underneath to accommodate stainless screws and fender washers from underneath pointing up. These were topped with chrome plated acorn nuts. I actually think they make a nice feature and look better than the original screws:





These were the first pictures taken after the cover and rails were reinstalled:

[markeb01]

With the bed cover in place it was right back to the engine compartment project. The final phase was getting all the prep done for an application of Raptor bedliner. With all the degreasing, sanding, grinding, filling, priming, and more sanding and more cleaning, this part of the project turned out to be every bit as much work as painting the whole truck.

First the hood, hinges, and springs were pulled:



A rented power washer blew off all the dirt and half the poorly prepped paint back to the original yellow on much of the outer firewall:







And this is just a shot of the truck with the hood off, showing how much light makes it to the pavement now:



All of the removable panels were pulled for individual attention and fabrication of new gaskets:



And a new hard line was formed for the clutch connection:



To replace this crappy looking version:



The new line in place:



Not looking much different, this is after hours of sanding the heater panel openings, yellow portions of the firewall, and fender panels next to where the hood springs mount: