My build. Project Karma. 71 stepside.

[lyrikz]

You can see the date on that. I started that sunday and here is where i am at as of monday.

[lyrikz]

My last inner kick panel came out not so good... SOme filler will fix it, but this one came out almost 100% perfect.



And how it sits now after about 8 hours of work from start to finish.




I tilted the cab up to get some underside pics for kicks.




Currently i am working on the bed, core support, and finish welding and grinding the cab...

[lyrikz]

Here i cut the angle strips off the bed.. Those were the only rusty items on the bed.... Once i get them back on and welded and the metal resmoothed, i can put some primer on this thing and start to get it back together.




Thats the strip after it was removed. These werent fun to remove, i think it will be ok to install though... Love working with metal because anything is fixable. ahaha.



Here is my little helper.... More to come soon..


On order.
I have a smooth tail gate, angle bed strips, and the rest of my air bag suspension for the rear on its way... MOre to come.

[estig70]

Nice work lyrikz, keep it up.

Bringin' little man up RIGHT.

Eric

[lyrikz]

Originally Posted by estig70

Nice work lyrikz, keep it up.

Bringin' little man up RIGHT.

Eric

Well, got back on it.. Got the rest of the frame por 15. Installed the rear valves for the airbags. Mounted the compressors. Im goign to do the bottom of hte cab and then remount the cab and start bustin out the rest..

Just startin the cab corner.


FInished the frame and started mounting and running lines for the rear bags.


Mounted the compressors. Anyone know where i can get some rubber gaskets to go around the holes where the leader hose goes into the frame? I dont want any chaffing.



Valve setup.


it for now.. More pics soon im sure.

[BACKYARD88]

Looks nice They should have some big grommets at your local truck stop.

[estig70]

Originally Posted by BACKYARD88

Looks nice They should have some big grommets at your local truck stop.

or Hardware store.

Eric

[68 short step]

looks good, keep upp the good work

[lyrikz]

Found the grommets that i needed. I used PCV grommets. The other side i found some reg. grommets that work. I have a few more questions. I have to run one of my airlines RIGHT next to the leader hose. ITs coming from the front left airbag. Is that going to be ok? The line is safe up to 180 degrees.. Would it be ok like this?? OR would that leader line melt it??




A side note. Most of the work i do on my truck, the twins are out in the garage. "daddy what are you doing", "daddy, whats this do". It gets a TINY bit grinding when the kids just hammer out the questions, then you get funny moments like this. This is my daughter. This is her with her favorite dolly.


And this is what happens when i ask if daddy can borrow her dolly to use to finish drilling some holes...

[Riveted1]

Too funny!

[lyrikz]

Havent updated in awhile...
Finished the front air bags. Just need to mount the front valves.




Finished welding in the cab corner and the rocker. I then started smoothing out what the PO just covered in bondo. i got a stud puller so i iwll get pics of that once i start working on that.



Here you can see all the creases and what not.. That metal was all smashed in and just filled with bondo.. Gross.. I will get a before and after pic when done.


Next

[lyrikz]

I have some rust spots where the back window went.. I cut a section out of a spare cab and replaced the rusty stuff with it..




I then moved on to getting the underside of my cab finished so i could put it back on the frame and clear up some room and start moving along. I picked up some DP40lf and returned it for the same epoxy but white. ahaha... So, a dp40 but in white....



That leads me to my next step.. undercoating.....

[lyrikz]

I was watching horsepower TV and saw them using this new linex type material that you can put on yourself.. Its a 3 part material. I got the gun, and 2 gallons of material for 120 bucks shipped.. Super helpful guy. You can get this stuff to look JUST like linex or super smooth if you want to.. You need a pretty beafy compressor to keep up wiht the gun, but it goes on pretty awesome...

I will give a final update on how it works once its 100% cured, that takes 48 hours... I want it to be 3/4 as tough as linex and i will be tickled pink..




I put the stuff under the cab on VERY thick.. So it looks more like rhino liner then linex. I didnt set the gun right and used WAAAAYYY to much....


I then figured out the gun and did my core support.


Overall, VERY happy with the product... I wont have my true evaluation until the 48 hour cure time...

[tdave00]

Looks good. Keep it coming .

[Riveted1]

You gonna go back and cut down those front cups?

[lyrikz]

Originally Posted by Riveted1

You gonna go back and cut down those front cups?

I dont know... I might.. Its easy enough... I dont really think im going to go that low, and if i do, im going to get a crossmember for it and do it that way.....

[chevy_mike]

Originally Posted by lyrikz

Found the grommets that i needed. I used PCV grommets. The other side i found some reg. grommets that work. I have a few more questions. I have to run one of my airlines RIGHT next to the leader hose. ITs coming from the front left airbag. Is that going to be ok? The line is safe up to 180 degrees.. Would it be ok like this?? OR would that leader line melt it??

Since no one answered, I would seriously look at getting any non braided lines away from any braided ones. Heat could be an issue, not sure how hot the leader line will get but I can tell you that steel braided lines cut just like a file over time. ANY movement will cause the braided line to cut through the plastic line. Even if YOU don't think there will be any movement, any vibration, expanding and contracting due to temps, etc. will wear a hole in it. I have seen braided lines cut thru steel inner fenders before.

[lyrikz]

Originally Posted by chevy_mike

Since no one answered, I would seriously look at getting any non braided lines away from any braided ones. Heat could be an issue, not sure how hot the leader line will get but I can tell you that steel braided lines cut just like a file over time. ANY movement will cause the braided line to cut through the plastic line. Even if YOU don't think there will be any movement, any vibration, expanding and contracting due to temps, etc. will wear a hole in it. I have seen braided lines cut thru steel inner fenders before.

Thanks.. I will drill a hole above it and run it through... I was wondering if there would be an issue...

[splatrd]

Originally Posted by lyrikz

I was watching horsepower TV and saw them using this new linex type material that you can put on yourself.. Its a 3 part material. I got the gun, and 2 gallons of material for 120 bucks shipped.. Super helpful guy. You can get this stuff to look JUST like linex or super smooth if you want to.. You need a pretty beafy compressor to keep up wiht the gun, but it goes on pretty awesome...

I will give a final update on how it works once its 100% cured, that takes 48 hours... I want it to be 3/4 as tough as linex and i will be tickled pink..




I put the stuff under the cab on VERY thick.. So it looks more like rhino liner then linex. I didnt set the gun right and used WAAAAYYY to much....


I then figured out the gun and did my core support.


Overall, VERY happy with the product... I wont have my true evaluation until the 48 hour cure time...

Where did you find the Hopper spray gun? I looked up the manufacturer's web site and found distributors, but could not find the gun.
How does the coating look/feel once it has cured?

[lyrikz]

Originally Posted by splatrd

Where did you find the Hopper spray gun? I looked up the manufacturer's web site and found distributors, but could not find the gun.
How does the coating look/feel once it has cured?

I bought the hopper gun with the kit.. 40 bucks or so... I just called them and said put the gun in.. They have it, but not listed.

Its not cure yet... Supposed 48 hours... This morning it was nice and hard... Seems like it will work really good...We will see... Let you know tomorrow... I spilled some on my floor when i was painting and this morning i pulled that piece up.. It took my floor coating with it. ahaha

[Riveted1]

Originally Posted by chevy_mike

Since no one answered, I would seriously look at getting any non braided lines away from any braided ones. Heat could be an issue, not sure how hot the leader line will get but I can tell you that steel braided lines cut just like a file over time. ANY movement will cause the braided line to cut through the plastic line. Even if YOU don't think there will be any movement, any vibration, expanding and contracting due to temps, etc. will wear a hole in it. I have seen braided lines cut thru steel inner fenders before.

Oh ya, I was gonna say those leader lines get kinda hot when the compressors are running. Doubt it would really hurt the air line, but I wouldn't chance it myself. Chevy_mike does bring up a good point about rubbing.

[lyrikz]

I said i would give a review of Al's liner once it curred. Here it is.

I was watching horsepower tv and chop/cut/rebuild when i saw them using this product called Al;s Liner. Its a 3 part spray on liner that you can do at home. It got rave reviews so i figured i would try it. I wanted something that would hold up about 3/4 as much as linex would. I was a bit skeptical.

I called a company called Graham Solutions and talked to the guy for a bit. He gave me the owners information of Al's Liner and i contacted him. I purchased 2 gallons of liner along with the hoper gun they sell for 129 ish shipped. I received the product fairly quickly and got to work. I followed the instructions and sprayed the underside of my cab. It didnt have the appearance of linex so i didnt put it on anything else. I went in the house and RE READ the instructions and found out i wasnt using the gun correctly.

I went back out in the garage, mixed up another batch and sprayed my core support. It came out PERFECT. Looks like linex, with a bit more shine. 48 hours later when it was fully cured i beat on it with a hammer and it didnt budge... This stuff works as a truck liner, or sound deadener....

I give the product a 9 out of 10. Only reason i dont give it a 10 is you need a fairly decent size compressor to spray it.... Awesome product, awesome service, and awesome price....
www.alsliner.com
Dana is the owner... Super helpful and nice guy.

[hp1967c10]

I would be interested to know where you got your bags and the part numbers as well.

[lyrikz]

Originally Posted by hp1967c10

I would be interested to know where you got your bags and the part numbers as well.

They are RE7 Slams from *****************

Just tell them you want some RE7's from slam specialities.

[lyrikz]

Well, got some updates. FIRE!!!! is one of em. I got the inside of the cab sprayed with some epoxy. Got the front of the truck sprayed also. Wanted to get that all done before i mounted the cab on.



Trying to get everything ran before the cab gets put on. I made some transmission cooler lines and got those installed. That was the first time i ever did lines. Came out great. I did a fuel line from the pump to carb and it came out perfect on the first try. I also installed my 4 core radiator while i was at it. And ran my pretty spark plug wires...


Radiator was only 200 dollars for a 4 core copper... Not to shabby. You can see the fuel line in that picture also.


Heres a pic of the wires. This leads me to my next post is the engine start up...