78 downlow-littledough

[rusty76]

Looking good. What rear wheels are those? Are they just plain ole smoothies?

[cooperhw]

not sure on the wheels. I gave em to my buddy as soon as I brought it home. Then barrowed em back till i get my stock ones Monday. I gotta have something on there to measure off of.

[cooperhw]

Little progress this morning. got the bed cut up and bolted back onto the frame. Planning to raise the floor with as area that opens up in the back to access the air compressor and tank.

[cooperhw]

Now I see that the pinch weld on the bed front of fenders needs trimmed too. Oh well, it was bolted on for half a day. Bought a set of factory wheels & had a match set of tires (rollers) installed. I can finally roll it when needed. Yeah.

[cooperhw]

Been working hard through these hot days building a false floor to lay my raised bed floor on. Got her framed up, new floor & tubs tacked in place. Gonna make a accessible storage box @ rear for the air compressor and tank to reside. Might even put the fuel filler cap under the lid so I only have to lift the lid to fuel up. Not sure on that yet.

[cooperhw]

Getting the tunnel in. Making the whole section over the trans. Removable for easy access to the tranny bolts.

[cooperhw]

Still plugging along in this 110* heat. Supposed to cool off this weekend down to the normal 105* or 106*.
I have to shut the shop down around 1 or 2 at the latest and go hide in the AC, but I have got a little forward progress done.
About to get the removable tunnel hump completed. Should be 100% done by Friday morning. Stripped and sprayed epoxy on my front fenders, core support, and bottom trim under grill. I am wanting to hang them and my new (to me) doors on my truck this weekend so I can start body working them panels. Once I assure they are flat across each other I will pull em off and get em in polyester prime, ready to jam.
Pulled the motor and transmission back out. Gonna open up the LS-1 and check it out thoroughly before it goes back in. Tranny is off for a rebuild. Actually took it out of my El Camino after I hurt it and put the one in my truck in it's place. Now I gotta fix it.
Anyhow,
Just wanted to show anyone who is interested a little progress.

[rusty76]

Looking good. What will you do with the fan hole? I assume you'll use a fan for HVAC but will you use a stock fan assembly? Might seem like a dumb question but I actually want to pardon my AC stuff to clean up the engine bay and I wasn't sure of the route I could take. Still need heat, AC I'm ok without. Thanks.

[cooperhw]

Originally Posted by rusty76

Looking good. What will you do with the fan hole? I assume you'll use a fan for HVAC but will you use a stock fan assembly? Might seem like a dumb question but I actually want to pardon my AC stuff to clean up the engine bay and I wasn't sure of the route I could take. Still need heat, AC I'm ok without. Thanks.

No worries. I will be installing a vintage air Gen4 system like the one I just got finished putting in my El Camino. It has to have a path for both the heater hoses and the AC lines. This will be perfect as it will be slightly out of the line of sight.

[rusty76]

I got ya. Thanks.

[cooperhw]

Stripped the front fenders and doors and got them in epoxy last weekend so this weekend began the filler work on these areas. Not too bad for roughing in. I will be pulling the bed off tomorrow so we can work the cab all around. Overall, pretty happy with what I am finding hiding under the paint. Here's a few pics of this weekends progress.

[cooperhw]

couple more,

[cooperhw]

Little (very little) progress yesterday. Bout got the fender to door & back of door to cab levelled off where I like it. This coming weekend I want to cut the welded tabs holding the doors shut off & pull the doors, fenders, & core support back off. I will work them individually from here on out. Gonna work the top of cab while it's still low & easy to reach, then pull it off. Bite by bite.

[cooperhw]

Little progress report.
Pulled the cab & sheet metal. Epoxy primed chassis, firewall, and cab bottom. Shot black paint under cab & frame where cab sits before running out of paint. Will be able to finally bolt cab in place & leave it there. I'll start polyester priming & block sanding. Little bite @ a time.

[flashed]

Looking great ,staying tuned as much as I can ,have some stuff going on otherwise Im paying attention .

[cooperhw]

Originally Posted by flashed

Looking great ,staying tuned as much as I can ,have some stuff going on otherwise Im paying attention .

Right on. You keep your chin up. Hope everything is ok. Later, Wayne

[rusty76]

Looking good. Making progress.

[oldman3]

Nice progress, a "little bit @ time", is the best way to get things done. Keep moving along...Jim

[cooperhw]

Originally Posted by rusty76

Looking good. Making progress.

Thanks man. Like,a chess match to me. Any progress I'll take.

[cooperhw]

Originally Posted by oldman3

Nice progress, a "little bit @ time", is the best way to get things done. Keep moving along...Jim

Thanks Jim. My helper didn't show today, (was only going to use him for 3 or 4 hours anyways) which was probably for the best. Nice to just slow back down, plan my attack, & execute. Live my camper jacks for removing or placing a cab. Little down, other side, little down, repeat till in place.
Anyhow, got the cab mounted & squared back up. Pushed back outside. Work on some fenders & doors next weekend.

[cooperhw]

As she sits "aired" out. I have 3.5" spacers front & back so it can't go any lower than what it will when I dump all the air out.

[Derek@AccuAir]

This is awesome! It's looking really good!

I love that a nice looking build can be done without a big budget.

[cooperhw]

Originally Posted by Derek@AccuAir

This is awesome! It's looking really good!

I love that a nice looking build can be done without a big budget.

Thanks Derek. I appreciate that. All my "big money" is gone so for me to work on another project while I still cruise my show car I had to think out of the box. Get creative. I figured, it worked on paper, why not?????????? Worse thing that could happen is I have to replace the frame. No biggie.
Anyhow, I do appreciate the kind words.

this is the color combo I am really digging on right now. what do you think?

[Derek@AccuAir]

Originally Posted by cooperhw

Thanks Derek. I appreciate that. All my "big money" is gone so for me to work on another project while I still cruise my show car I had to think out of the box. Get creative. I figured, it worked on paper, why not?????????? Worse thing that could happen is I have to replace the frame. No biggie.
Anyhow, I do appreciate the kind words.

this is the color combo I am really digging on right now. what do you think?

I saw that truck for the first time when Crawdadfox owned it, and honestly that truck is the reason I went out and bought my 73. If my truck didn't have clean factory paint, it would already have been repainted this color combo. I absolutely think you should run that color combo!

[daddyjeep]

That color combo seems to suit your build for some reason. Maybe because it is close to the color it started out with.