Not Another Rebuild Thread....

[msg]

I showed the grill letter cut out trick to my wife and she loved it, which Im glad cause I was thinking down the line to copy that mod!!! Then we started talking about the letters on the tailgate and I wasnt sure how that could be pulled off. We thought maybe have it brighten up a touch along with the brake lights when triggered. Leave it you McMurphy, outstanding as usual!

[Bomp]

Interesting. Vaaary Interesting.

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by markeb01

That tailgate looks particularly trick. Your creativity always amazes!

I may have more imagination than skill is the problem....

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Ditto what Mark said… and

How many Pizza boxes were sacrificed in this recent madness?

None so far sir....but the roll pan is in the works too !!

Originally Posted by likaroc13

Cool stuff, Murph. I like where you're headed with the tailgate.

Thanks for stopping in and taking a look, sure do miss you around here some weeks, but I know you are busy too !

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Off the chain! This is gonna be neat!

The best is yet to come....maybe tomorrow?

Originally Posted by msg

I showed the grill letter cut out trick to my wife and she loved it, which Im glad cause I was thinking down the line to copy that mod!!! Then we started talking about the letters on the tailgate and I wasnt sure how that could be pulled off. We thought maybe have it brighten up a touch along with the brake lights when triggered. Leave it you McMurphy, outstanding as usual!

Thank you MSG and thanks for stopping by, always nice to hear positive things !! You really knocked those crud stops out of the park, you did Markb and I up one even!! Your fender repair really came out nice too, lined up very sweet for you.

Originally Posted by Bomp

Interesting. Vaaary Interesting.

Just you wait buddy !!!

**********************************************************************************

Ok so I got the inside facing panel finished welding in today. After some bondo and smoothing I think this is going to be acceptable !! One sad thing I realized after I had this all tacked on was that the four rail frame had twisted on me and I did not catch it in time to fix it without majorly hacking my tailgate up ....sooooooo I am just going to suffer with it for now as it isnt warped beyond use.
Also in this photo you may catch a cute little trick I did, but I will leave that for the hyper observant of you all !!! Good Luck:


A full shot of the inside facing panel and how I tied in the different countours of the left and right ends....


Here I mocked it up with the latch catchers resting in the stock gaps in the drip rail. This is how it would look if I only shortened the tailgate. Dont know about you guys, but I kind of like this look, and may do it again in the future. I also got the outside facing panel attached today by drilling 21 holes and tapping 19 of them. I started to use countersunk allen screws, but the metal of the panel is not thick enough for the size screw I used to get it to sit flush, so I am going with the button heads, and they look pretty sweet too:


Here is a mock up of it at installation height.
I think it is going to be a rather large roll pan, and may look odd, but hopefully the entire package will balance it all out:


One more at an oblique angle for you all:


All in all it was a pretty productive weekend, hope you all had as much fun, or more !!!

Thanks again for checking in on me and my crazy stuff

[CRGRS 66]

Speachless Jerry, I am speachlesss

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by CRGRS 66

Speachless Jerry, I am speachlesss

Jerry!! Jerry!! Jerry!!.......... LoL sorry could not resist. Poor Jerry Springer and the bottom feeders of society, also known as the "No Hope for the Human Race" people.
Thanks tho CRGRS, I will assume that was a compliment

**********************************************************************************

Ok guys, just a little mock up preview, you know I like to test the waters on some things. I have gotten 4 LED strips for the tailgate two 38" and two 9" with the intent that I would illuminate the CHEVROLET in a twofold manner.
Obviously we want running lights, but the lighting has to be even, it cannot appear to be brighter on one edge and fade towards the other.
I also wanted to see if I could incorporate brake lights (though my buddy downstairs made the comment that following drivers may marvel at the pretty lights and still rear end me... Thanks for that "keep me up at night" thought Daniel)
Here is a mock up using just one of the 38" strips, I will let you guess which edge I laid it in on:


These photos are with the plexiglass insert, but at this stage it is still clear. It will bet getting a Night Shades treatment in red.


The lights came from Oznium.com and seem to be impressively sturdy for this application, though they would be considerably bulky for others, so buyer beware. They arrived quickly, which is saying a lot for being central Alaska, and so far I am very pleased with them, and would buy more. One thing I really liked about their site was that when you go to order the lights, they also list all the other things you may want or need on the same page such as toggle switches and dimmer units.

All in all I am pretty pleased with this mod, and am going forward with it.

Thanks for looking !!

[msg]

That looks real cool McMurphy, the hard works really paying off!! Is the plexi going to be an insert to more evenly illuminate?

[CRGRS 66]

[QUOTE=McMurphy;6651457]Jerry!! Jerry!! Jerry!!.......... LoL sorry could not resist. Poor Jerry Springer and the bottom feeders of society, also known as the "No Hope for the Human Race" people.
Thanks tho CRGRS, I will assume that was a compliment

**********************************************************
The "Jerry" was intended to be Seinfeld reference, but yes a compliment just the same. Shine on you crazy diamond

[1963c-10]

Nice job on the tailgate....very cool.

[jlsanborn]

Way cool Murph! So the inner script is upside down so that it looks right when the the gate is open!

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by msg

That looks real cool McMurphy, the hard works really paying off!! Is the plexi going to be an insert to more evenly illuminate?

I wish the plexiglass was easier to work with (to a point) because I would try again to form it to the letters like I did on the grille, but I dont have time or patience for that right now. When I was a kid there was a hobby set that used colored plastic/urethane to make fake flowers with that would cure solid in an hour or so. I would like to find that stuff again, then I would glue the plexiglass to the inside with a seal around each letter, then fill them with that product. I do have the LEDs running along the edge of the plastic to diffuse the light as evenly as possible, but without some sort of indent or scribing to break the flat plane the light does not have much to bounce off of in there.

[quote=CRGRS 66;6651724The "Jerry" was intended to be Seinfeld reference, but yes a compliment just the same. Shine on you crazy diamond[/QUOTE] I cannot stand watching Jason Alexander, so I never watched Seinfeld. Which would explain why I did not get your reference, sorry....

Originally Posted by 1963c-10

Nice job on the tailgate....very cool.

Thank you... looking forward to your engine start up too !!!

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

Way cool Murph! So the inner script is upside down so that it looks right when the the gate is open!

Yeah you caught it, and I took that photo precisely in that perspective just to show that too... The original plan was to make the cut out panel the permanent, welded on one, with the back panel removable, but a lot of factors came into play and the decision was made to do it as it is. Thanks for looking buddy, I should be home (and retired this time, not just visiting) this August !! If you dont have any plans, you should come out to my place for our cook out-camp out weekend (disclaimer: you dont have to cook or camp if you dont want to )

[CRGRS 66]

Looks great buddy

[McMurphy]

Thanks for the kind words guys !!
You all keep me motivated

I took my retention arms to a machine shop today and for $5 they drilled the four holes I needed to adjust the level of the tailgate when down. So far it looks like they are going to be just fine !!



Ok, for my tailgate release latch...
The stock lift handle type that came off the 85 Sierra required too much operational space for me to adapt to this build, so I had to come up with some other way to get the catch latches to retract. I looked high and low for a "C" ring handle that would lie flat when not in use, but to no avail. I finally settled on a garage door latch that I can lock.
Here is that story:



I had to shorten the square rod to fit inside the curl of the tailgate frame, not a problem, and drilled a hole for a retainer cotter pin while I was at it.


One reason I did not want to go with this idea initially was the handle plus the base made it sit too high/stick out too far from the body of the tailgate and I didnt like that look. Then I got the idea of mounting the base from the inside.....


Here is the whole thing in final assembly, and it works like a charm !!


After this weekends efforts I will have to remember to shoot a pic with the cut out panel on, (it has wet paint right now) and show just how low profile I was able to get this handle.
And yes, I am just a tad proud of this one, as I was not sure at all it would work out....
Actually I am getting a bit too pleased with myself over this entire tailgate so far.

Thanks for looking guys, good luck and good progress on your projects this weekend !!

[matt_l]

Wow, McMurphy, that tailgate came out amazing. I have been following your build for a while now, and your ingenuity never ceases!

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by coulter

amazing work man thats gonna be sweet!!!! your skills keep progessing with everything you do!!! keep it up man

Originally Posted by piratexpress1369a

can't wait to see this part finished

Originally Posted by matt_l

Wow, McMurphy, that tailgate came out amazing. I have been following your build for a while now, and your ingenuity never ceases!

Thanks guys !!
As I get closer all I can say is I only have a few more tricks up my sleeve for this build, but hopefully you will find them worth your while.

**************************************************************************************

I cannot believe it has been almost 2 weeks since my last entry.... I must apologize for that.
Too many things that are in the works right now that would seem chaotic if I posted daily what I had worked on.

That being said, you know I hate to do things twice.
I REALLY hate having to fix something that was "perfect" because I goofed it up (and yes goofed usually comes out of my mouth with the F as the first letter) which is what happened to my tailgate.
I actually let it fall and the nicely done in side panel with the inverted CHEVROLET lettering got all scratched and gouged to ........ heck.

It was bad enough for me to stomp around my garage for a full 3 minutes exersizing ever curse word I ever learned.
I think my Drill Sergents would have been proud of that littany....

So I had to fix that, just finished it today actually.
I also filled the red CHEVROLET letters with clear silicon along all the edges and that was a chore to clean up and make look nice.
But more on that later...

I finally got all the body work done on the fenders, and cut in my Cadillac side marker/turn signals.


These are normallly mounted vertically, but like my tail lights, I emplaced them horizontally. I think they are looking pretty spiffy:


I also got the fenders, and the fender spaces on my bed sides herculinered; and today I threw down some paint:


I made some custom and extended bed rail caps, as well as getting my tail gate retainers/striker latches welded in place.


The cut out CHEVROLET was looking pretty good, but the clear silicon made a mess, and I did not approach it very well from the start. It was indeed a trial and error working.
After masking off the panel to shoot some Night Shades red in the letter wells for the benefit of the caulking, I ended up with some leakage from the masking tape job my wife did for me.
It played havoc with my metallic grey paint and one spot you can see between the E and the T really took a disliking to it all. A lot of my raised letter edges suffered as well, so instead of spending gobs and gobs of time masking off the letter wells, I masked off the panel edges, and filled the letters with water.
So that is what you are seeing here, 9 water filled letters, and fresh paint all around:


Other than that blemish under the arm of the T, I am quite pleased with the results so far.
I suspect the paint on top of the water will solidify enough for me to lift it out, and then I will sponge out the remaining water.

This also confirmed that I have a good seal around each letter, so no initial worrys about gunk getting inside my tail gate....

Thanks for sitting through this long winded post.
I am going to go shoot one more coat of the grey and call it a night.

Thanks for looking !!!

[Ta2Don]

Good eye Jlsanborn!

I sure missed that...

As always Murph... Your creativity is beyond words...

Well Played Sir!!!

[McMurphy]

So todays update.
I made a backing plate that will enclose the LEDs and help hold them, and the red lens in place.
To secure the backing plate I welded 6 of these elevator bolts in. I wish I had come across these a lot sooner, they could have helped me out of quite a few situations where it would have been nice to have a threaded stud emplaced:


The Plexiglass got the Night Shades treatment last night, and despite the ever present dust, it came out very even in color, I am quite pleased with it.
It is resting on some adhesive half inch foam door and window weather stripping that I stuck to the underside of the backing plate.
I used some aluminum skid plate that my neighbor had left over from a project to make the backing plate.


I spent some time sanding the cut out panel, working the edges to bevel them some, and round off the four corners.
This is after some primer:


Here is the tailgate with its second application of bondo. As is my practice, I am again trying to use as little of this stuff as possible, though frankly this is getting the biggest treatment to date on this build.
After I sand all this down, I may mix up one more batch and do spot filling with it, as I am never really happy with how this stuff is to work with:


That is it for today.... work day and all I just dont get that many hours to lay hands on this bad boy, as I am sure ALL of you can understand !!

Rock On dudes, and thanks for looking !!

[likaroc13]

Looks like it's coming together nicely. Keep up the good work!

[McMurphy]

Not a lot of photo worthy progress just yet...still working the tailgate.

You know the drill when you do a mod like this...
Weld - Grind Welds
Weld - Grind MORE Welds
Sand
Bondo
Sand some more
More Bondo
Sand Sand Sand
Primer
Sand
Apply pinhole filler
Sand
Primer

And that is where I am at now:


On a positive note, I REALLY liked how this corner turned out, I just need to go lightly with some sand paper on the other 3 to get them to turn out like this:


For me, and my limited skills, this was a tricky mod to do to marry up the different contours involved.

All I know for sure though is that I will be really happy when I am past this tailgate milestone.

Thanks for looking guys

[Bomp]

Gettin' them body workin' skillz all dialed in. Go Murph Go!!!

[CRGRS 66]

Keep on keepin' on murph, I envy your "limited" skills, as mine pale in comparison, what will you think of next???

[Ta2Don]

Originally Posted by Bomp

Gettin' them body workin' skillz all dialed in. Go Murph Go!!!

Originally Posted by CRGRS 66

Keep on keepin' on murph, I envy your "limited" skills, as mine pale in comparison, what will you think of next???

Ditto!!!

[Modges'66]

Murph, you simply amaze me with your ideas...in a good way!
"Mark my words", by the time you get your body work close to a completed stage, your skills will have increased to a level that you will start to re-address areas that you had originally worked on, and thought were good enough.
And by doing this you will get better at it yet, forcing yourself to re-work areas that you had finished with...Resulting with ALL areas being worked on a minimum of 3 times before all is said & done... "MARK MY WORDS"!!!

[msg]

You keep inspiring McMurphy, excellent progress, skills and imagination.

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by Bomp

Gettin' them body workin' skillz all dialed in. Go Murph Go!!!

I am fearing my roll pan, because it is next on the list, so I am going to need any and all tricks I have learned so far...

Originally Posted by CRGRS 66

Keep on keepin' on murph, I envy your "limited" skills, as mine pale in comparison, what will you think of next???

Hard telling CRGRS, I have already started contemplating new "themed" builds for the future, but for this one, well my days on it are numbered.

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Ditto!!!

Originally Posted by Modges'66

Murph, you simply amaze me with your ideas...in a good way!
"Mark my words", by the time you get your body work close to a completed stage, your skills will have increased to a level that you will start to re-address areas that you had originally worked on, and thought were good enough.
And by doing this you will get better at it yet, forcing yourself to re-work areas that you had finished with...Resulting with ALL areas being worked on a minimum of 3 times before all is said & done... "MARK MY WORDS"!!!

I am having to settle for "good enough" right now because on 15 June all work on this build has to cease, and all my attentions need to go to HRSaR to get it ready for the trip south. I have a lot of things I want to do to that rig, but I am going to start with the things I need to do. Sure wish you were in the Seattle-Portland area as we delve back into the lower 48 we are hoping to meet up with as many board members in those areas as possible. Wife and I are really looking forward to the trip with the 66 on a trailer behind the tow truck !!
I wish you would post more often, I feel like a crack addict when I read your thread !!!

Originally Posted by msg

You keep inspiring McMurphy, excellent progress, skills and imagination.

I guess just about anything is possible with these trucks, some tools, imagination, and stubborness....errr determination I mean !!
About time for an update on yours, yes?



I worked up until the whistle went off today, no photos yet, but got a lot of things closer to finished.
The in side of the tailgate is ready for masking and paint... mocked up my tailgate release handle, and got the retraction rods in.... positioned the tailgate, and got the new location hinge plates welded in.... and got the cut out side of the tailgate ready for paint.

I think I have figured out a quick, cool, and unique set of end caps for the bed rails today too.... will cut those out hopefully tomorrow.

The retention arms for the tailgate I am guessing are spring steel ??
I found out that I do not have a drill bit that will scratch them and I need to reposition the mid point piviot (shortend by an inch and three quarters) to get the tailgate perpendicular in relation to the bed sides, and level with the surface of the bed....

So my question for the day is how do I make holes in spring steel ????
I am going to use my plasma cutter unless you guys clue me in !!!

[Jeff La]

Great job, You have given me some ideas but I'm not gonna be lighting it up like you LOL. I think it's great.