Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window

[Dan in Pasadena]

Hi Daze,

He's not a friend - yet! He's a Certified Welding Inspector (CWI) employed by one of our test labs, but in talking to him he seems like all of us on this board. A nice guy with our same interests. He closed his fab shop and works out of his garage now. It came up because he gave me his email and it referred to "customs" in the address. When I asked about it he told me he'd had a hotrod fabrication business for years but there were so many things he'd do "while he was in there" he wasn't making money and he couldn't stand to NOT do these things or do the work half-assed - his words, so he closed and went back to being a CWI.

I liked that attitude. I got thinking of it overnight and called him.mhe said yeah, he sometimes still takes on side jobs but can't work as fast now that he's got a full time gig again. I've told him I'm in no rush, I wont "Bart Simpson" him with "Are we there yets?" If this happens I'll get references before I go forward and I'll see some of his work. But it looks promising.

[Daze57]

got it !
well i hope it all works out for ya - i know you have been thinkin about the clip thing for a while - and hopefully it;ll be great .
My 57 has been clipped for years and i never regret it although its ''rear steer '' it is still very workable and have had no problems .
Good Luck on your 57 and i think when you finally get it done - you;ll be v happy .

[Dan in Pasadena]

It's a '55....but hey, who's counting, lol.

I can't wait for it to have that nice ride and power steering. It'll make all the difference to me. Haven't decided how I'm handling the rear. Probably a flip and C notch. I'd rather NOT have to notch but I want it to sit level or just slightly raked an inch.

[cameo]

I am finally up to date on this build. It's a build to me anyhow.
I'd like to say I admire the fact that you have been able to enjoy your truck while making it yours. I bought mine as a basket case and way too many years later, it still is. And I have never driven it and most who know me think I never will.
Good luck with the MII install.
My 2 pennies would be to mess with the firewall later. That could mean more down time and less time behind the wheel
Have fun.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Thanks Cameo. I know me and I knew if I bought a basket case or if I took mine down to the frame too fast it'd be a very long haul to get it done.

[Xephius]

Hey Dan,

Fantastic build thread! Very inspiring, lots of great DIY solutions here. You have a fantastic frame with IFS right now ready to go (Is it a Duramax as well?), why not put that under the '55?

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

Clear skies,
John

[Rude Dude]

Hey Dan back on post #246 you ask to post a pic of the emblems I got from you here you go. I picked up the V8 fender emblems here in AZ but the other emblems are your old ones. They are still in packages came out sweet!

[Dan in Pasadena]

Wow Rudy, from what I can see they look really good! Is this the shop somewhere back east you told be about?

John,
Cut up my Dually to put the '55 on? Lol, nah not hardly. I've still gotta pay it off before I cut it up.....and I'm never cutting it up but I get your drift.

[Rude Dude]

I ended up going to a place here in Arizona they just are very slow cause they are extremely busy shop took a 2 months longer than expected but that was fine with me cause they knocked off 20% off the price.

[QUOTE=Dan in Pasadena;6965064]Wow Rudy, from what I can see they look really good! Is this the shop somewhere back east you told be about?

[Gregski]

Hello, anybody home?

[Dan in Pasadena]

Yeah, I'm here.

Nothing new to report other than what I put on the "What Did You Do Lately" thread.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Took the day off today. I think I caught a case of "anal glaucoma" - I couldn't see my a$$ going to work today!

Decided to do a little project I've been putting off.... painting the white on some nice original side badges I bought from a guy in NY. They were rechromed at some point and I n doing it they lost a lot of the lower edge of the smaller letters in "Chevrolet" but I don't mind.

Basically, I just masked the large details as well as I could, and used Duplicolor touch up paint, both primer/filler and bright white top coat. The small brush that comes with the paint is good enough to follow the edges of the small letters; though they've lost some definition.

Anyway, here's my progress so far:


And the other end:


Here's the mateirals I'm using. No prep - didn't want to scratch the good chrome. We'll see if this turns out to be a mistake or not.

[57chevyman]

Nice! Lookee what I ordered. 10% off on ecklers.com

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

Took the day off today. I think I caught a case of "anal glaucoma" - I couldn't see my a$$ going to work today!

Danny Boy is one funny dude!

[Dan in Pasadena]

Nice, Frank!

I'm still working on the paint and frankly I'm not too happy with how it's coming out. I guess I pulled the masking too on and it partially pulled some of the paint off. I may have to end up wiping it all off with lacquer thinner and spraying it. There no way to mask the small letters so I guess I'd remove the paint I don't want with lacquer thinner on a Q Tip.

[JR25]

Carefully coat the letters etc. with Vaseline or similar, mistakes with this wipes off easily. Use a q tip and alcohol on the areas for paint. When you are satisfied, spray away! When you ARE SURE the paint is dry, the Vaseline will wipe off taking the unwanted paint with it!

[Dan in Pasadena]

Yeah, I thought of that but doing it accurately seems iffy at best.

[Kim57]

I thought it was looking pretty good.
You'll get it figured out and have something very nice.
Kim

[Dan in Pasadena]

Thanks for the confidence. It's a "small potatoes" job but at least I'm doing something.

[ptc]

Originally Posted by JR25

Carefully coat the letters etc. with Vaseline or similar, mistakes with this wipes off easily. Use a q tip and alcohol on the areas for paint. When you are satisfied, spray away! When you ARE SURE the paint is dry, the Vaseline will wipe off taking the unwanted paint with it!

Or try it with rubber cement.... it works good and doesnt move around like vaseline once its dried. You can also use a razor blade or x-acto knife to shape it once dried like around the letter edges.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by ptc

Or try it with rubber cement.... it works good and doesnt move around like vaseline once its dried. You can also use a razor blade or x-acto knife to shape it once dried like around the letter edges.

Ah....now this idea I like! I've never used rubber cement but isn't it kinda brownish and dries...well, "rubbery"?

I have some acetone and some MEK on the shelf, I'm gonna use one of those to remove this gunky looking mess I created then start again.

Thanks a lot for the suggestion.

[JR25]

Originally Posted by ptc

Or try it with rubber cement.... it works good and doesnt move around like vaseline once its dried. You can also use a razor blade or x-acto knife to shape it once dried like around the letter edges.

Now that is a gret idea! The rubber would just peel right off when do Done! I will have to give it a try myself next time I am trying to get paint in a "tight spot"

[Dan in Pasadena]

^^ ptc get's a gold star on his forehead! Lol

[ptc]

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

^^ ptc get's a gold star on his forehead! Lol

haha... Ive had them in worse places!!!!

Its an old trick I used when building model cars as a kid...

[Dan in Pasadena]

No big update, just want to keep all my info in one spot:

Dropped off my truck today with a guy that will rebuild the TH350 tranny and install a used Lokar shift I found on Craigslist. He is also going to get it idling down as it should but hasn't since the rebuilt carburetor was installed. This will allow me to install the new tranny floor cover and new shift boot/ring and that in turn will allow me to install the ebay knock off Chinese Lokar accelerator pedal/linkage I recently bought.

"The-knee-bone's-connected-to-the-thigh-bone...." Ha ha