Project Reno - 72 cheyenne rebuild

[cmabolt]

UPDATE!
Well after a year and a half of suffering from sciatic pain, I finally got back surgery. Bummer! So for the last 6 weeks I have been hobbling around waiting for things to heal up. Now I'm feeling 100% better and ready to get cracking on this truck again. So with that out of the way…

"Operation body shop," has now reached a new mile stone, my 4th body shop! What the… in order to get this thing done before 2017 I have decided to go the way of specialists. So I am now using a metal and body guy as my first stop, then a painter only for the second stop. The cab, hood, doors, fenders and cowl arrived at the painter on friday. Picking paint on Monday and this week the bed and tailgate go to the body guy for a little filler work.

So, in anticipation of the paint being done some time this year (Lol), I started rebuilding my vent windows. I read and watched a few tutorials, but all in all seemed pretty straight forward. I did not buy the vent window rebuild kit. I instead used steel pop rivets and hammered them flat. The result was pretty strong. LMC rubber was decent quality and fit.

I'll post some more pictures when I do the passengers side. Next up is the window regulators. Just gonna clean them up and lube.

Now that the weather is warm again and once I get the cab back, all hell will break loose on further work. Stay tuned...

[CUSTOM/10]

Hope your healing up well and get back to your project soon !!!

Gary

[cmabolt]

Hey thanks Gary! As soon as i see paint on my truck I am sure 'll be instantly healed.

Chris

[CUSTOM/10]

Yea, That would be "Good Medicine"

[cmabolt]

Bodywork progress!!!! Whatttttt!

Well, we're getting closer to paint.

Cab is in primer and being blocked out. Fenders, hood, doors, and cowl are ready for paint.

I also picked a new paint color today and had it mixed at the request of the painter so no turning back now. I will not reveal that color until the paint is done though. At this point I am cautiously ecstatic!!!

More to show soon I hope!

[swamp rat]

Nice Photoshop work!

[cmabolt]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Nice Photoshop work!

Thanks!

[swamp rat]

Oh, and take care of that back, you'll be back at it before ya know it! Thanks for stopping by my thread!

[cmabolt]

A few more odd and ends of progress. Had a few hours yesterday and cleaned up many parts. Filler cap was raw metal as were several parts.

Door regulators

I rebuilt my e-brake cable brackets so they pull slightly inward toward the center of the truck. This ensures the cable stays in the caliper E-brake bracket.


test fitted the tailgate with new hardware. Looks good. Hopefully the bed will go out next week for bodywork.

[CUSTOM/10]

All those little things add up. I've done a lot of the same type of stuff getting things ready to be installed. Window regulators painted & new rollers, window tracks all blasted & painted. I'll soon be rebuilding my vent windows. I was thinking about getting a rivet squeezer off ebay for the vent windows & the rivets for the grille, then resell it when I'm done.

Good to see your able to get out there and keep the project moving forward !!!

Gary

[cmabolt]

WE HAVE COLOR!!!!!!! Wahooooo!, Yipeeeee! The clouds parted, the sun is a shinin and we have color!!! The cab has yet to be color sanded and buffed, but fenders, doors, cowl and hood are ready for pickup.



And the color is... Root beer. This is a root beer pearl color from Honda a element. A nice dark brown, that explodes in the sunlight. I sprung a little extra for a high end clear and a lot of it to make buffing in the future a possibility.

I will take more pics when the sun is actually out, but looks good. I should be swapping the cab for the bed next week. So, the cab is the first thing back on. I also got my push button start this week which will replace the original keyed start. Nice thing about this is I can add security to it later and other modules if I decide to add power locks or windows.

[mjensen]

Looking great!!!

[cmabolt]

Originally Posted by mjensen

Looking great!!!

Thanks!! It's almost surreal this has been such a roadblock
On my build. Now I can finally start getting her back together.

[rgunlock]

Congratulations! The color looks great, particularly the shot where the sun is shining on it. Can't wait to see an outdoor sunny picture of it.

[CUSTOM/10]

Nice like already said, can't wait to see it out in the sun !

[cmabolt]

Originally Posted by rgunlock

Congratulations! The color looks great, particularly the shot where the sun is shining on it. Can't wait to see an outdoor sunny picture of it.

Thanks Rick

[swamp rat]

Great progress! Like the color too!

[cmabolt]

So, a little progress on the bell housing. I picked up a 486 bell housing on ebay and got her prepped to go back on.


This bellhousing is going to do the trick I think. It fits the SM465 and has a much wider hole for the clutch fork. It also measures the exact same height as the cast iron bell housing. I did need to drill out the lower attach holes so the housing could be bolted on the bottom from inside the housing, but other than that, will be a good fit.


Hopefully this will end the adapter phase of the build for the trans/motor. Tuesday I should be reinstalling the trans and with some more luck the cab next week. Whoaaa that would be nice!

[cmabolt]

Andddd, we're re-installed. This has to be the easiest, knock on wood, trans install yet. literally slid right into place.

Now plenty of space for the clutch fork boot. Mission accomplished.

I checked on the cab, but still not color sanded. Hopefully I'll hear something this week.

[cmabolt]

Mo-paint
Well, after some badgering, my paint guy finally finished up the cab. Got it back to the garage this morning.


I am awaiting lizard skin to do the inner floor/firewall before I install the cab.
I also flipped the bed up on it's edge so I can convert the surface rust. I decided I am going to do the raptor spray in bedliner underneath the bed instead of the more expensive line-x. It has received a lot of good reviews via various forums. I will do the line-x on the top side of the bed instead. I am waiting for materials, but will get that done and then the bed will go off for bodywork and paint.

Thankfully, I can get the cab on and start putting Reno back together. I am praying my budget will hold out. It's gonna be close.

[rgunlock]

Your cab looks great! That root beer color is really growing on me. What product do you plan to use to convert the surface rust on your bed floor? I may have missed a post, but are you planning to use seam sealer before applying the lizard skin?

[CUSTOM/10]

Looking Good !!!

Your catching up to me so I'll have to pickup the pace a bit..... "LOL"

[rgunlock]

Thanks for the tip on the Corothane. I have the same plan for the underside of bed and cab, but was thinking of applying over epoxy primer. I'll have to look into this.

[cmabolt]

Originally Posted by rgunlock

Thanks for the tip on the Corothane. I have the same plan for the underside of bed and cab, but was thinking of applying over epoxy primer. I'll have to look into this.

No problem. The only catch is that it isn't available at your local Sherwin Williams store. You will have to go to their local supplier and it's not cheap at $100 for a gallon. If it keeps that bedliner attached it is worth it for me. You spray the bedliner within the pot time for the Corothane so it is a chemical bond not mechanical. Here is a pic of the can for reference



Good luck Chris

[cmabolt]

A little more progress…
I completed the bell housing and clutch fork saga today with a boot. Checked off list

Lizard skin and raptor showed up.

Cab floor is prepped for lizard skin. I ordered a Devilbis drier/filter for my air systems so going to install before i start spraying anything.

As discussed here on the forums, used foam ear plugs for all the vital holes.

I also started modifying the location of the transfer case shift stick. it turned out to be way too close to the trans shifter so I am making a small bracket to position the shift knob back a couple inches. Should be done today.

More to come. Should be installing cab next week.