Bob's Retirement Build - My '55 TF

[DransportGarage]

Originally Posted by Sim6

Bob, you have talent sir. Looks amazing so far.
Jeff

Thanks, Sim6. As I have said before though, the guys that do even better work and can actually make a living at it are the ones that amaze me. I'd starve at the pace I work.

[Low Elco]

Son! You need a job, this retirement bidness is hard work!

[roger55]

Hey Bob.

What software do you use to create those schematics? I like that a lot.

Roger

[ptc]

Nice work Bob, just signed on and enjoyed the read so far. Looking forward to the rest of the results. Thanks too for all your detailed information, it certainly helps....

paulc

[DransportGarage]

Originally Posted by ptc

Nice work Bob, just signed on and enjoyed the read so far. Looking forward to the rest of the results. Thanks too for all your detailed information, it certainly helps....

paulc

Thanks, ptc. Glad to have you along. There should be great progress this year if the garden railway (G scale) doesn't get in the way too much.

[DransportGarage]

Originally Posted by roger55

Hey Bob.

What software do you use to create those schematics? I like that a lot.

Roger

It's a package called TinyCAD. Now here's the best news: It's FREE. When I downloaded it a while back it was at

http://sourceforge.net/projects/tinycad/

Now I'm also seeing something at:

http://ww2.tinycad.com/

I did a thread in 2012 that directly addresses this package...

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=519674

...but the circuits you saw in the thread you're in now are more up-to-date.

Have fun!

[DransportGarage]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Son! You need a job, this retirement bidness is hard work!

You got it, Low Elco, and you never get a day off. Saturday is just like Tuesday!

[RockinKees]

Boy, do you have a nice retirement!!

And a very nice truck also

[DransportGarage]

Originally Posted by RockinKees

Boy, do you have a nice retirement!!

And a very nice truck also

Thanks, RockinKees. Yeah, somethin' about not being blessed with kids. I'm spending what I would have saved for their college education!

[DransportGarage]

Wow. It's been a year since I've posted. The good news is that I've been back on the truck for about 2 months and have put in about 80 hours on it. I'm trying to post pictures of the closed cowl vent but...

No picture - Snapfish "improved" their website and won't give me the picture URL. I'm working on it.

[RockinKees]

Welcome back, Bob!

"Improved" something doesn't always mean an improvement

[DransportGarage]

Originally Posted by RockinKees

Welcome back, Bob!

"Improved" something doesn't always mean an improvement

Isn't that the truth! I hate blowing the bandwidth, but maybe I'll try embedding pics into the thread:

[Kim57]

Looks good.
Kim

[DransportGarage]

Originally Posted by Kim57

Looks good.
Kim

Thanks, Kim. I decided to leave the ribs in between the individual vents and that really worked out.

I also decided that I didn't want to see the edge of my carpets when I opened the doors, so I welded a lip in there to tuck the carpet under:

[roger55]

Originally Posted by DransportGarage

I also decided that I didn't want to see the edge of my carpets when I opened the doors, so I welded a lip in there to tuck the carpet under:

Now that is one cool idea!!!
Never seen that one before.

[DransportGarage]

Oh, I forgot to mention those funny 4" holes in the top of the dash in post #165. Those are for the dual center speakers in the 11-speaker sound system.

...and here's the pod I'll weld in that will hold the receiver, equalizer and DVD player in the roof area (cab is upside down on rotisserie):

[ptc]

Originally Posted by DransportGarage

Oh, I forgot to mention those funny 4" holes in the top of the dash in post #165. Those are for the dual center speakers in the 11-speaker sound system.

...and here's the pod I'll weld in that will hold the receiver, equalizer and DVD player in the roof area (cab is upside down on rotisserie):

Attachment 1517001

Now that is really thinking 'outside the box' ---- nice work on all the new stuff!!!!

[Kim57]

Real cool stuff.
Kim

[Kim57]

That should work out real nice when you're all done.
Kim

[roushinator]

Nice Work!!!

[DransportGarage]

Here are the details on the fix. Here's the riser, mounted to the wiper motor (or should I call it the "lowerer"?). Note that it has a through hole and a pin.



The riser bolts into the one factory threaded hole that remains, and the pin goes into the locating hole to keep the assembly from spinning.



I tried to take pictures similar to Orrie G's, so here they are:



When running, the passenger arm is closest to hitting, and misses the speaker by an 1/8". Now, back to the body work...

[RockinKees]

Nice fix!

[Kim57]

Came out nice.
Kim

[DransportGarage]

Thanks Kim & Rockin!

It's supposed to rain here this afternoon, so I can't clear the finished cars out of the garage to do bodywork on the truck. Dust storms lead to major cleanups. So off I go on another goat trail...

For weeks (and maybe a few too many adult beverages) I've been thinking about how to fab the headliner and upper back panel. I've looked at commercial panels, polyfoam, lauan plywood -- the works. But being as cheap as I am, here's what I came up with. I decided I could smooth the underside of the roof with drywall mud to make a mold, then pour a fiberglass panel. First, I taped off all openings so that someday I'll be able to get the drywall mud back out:



Then I put in a layer of 1-mil plastic film to keep the mud from sticking to the cab:



As I was smearing the mud around, the plastic wanted to slide, but by holding it here and there I was able to get a fairly smooth first coat in the large center area with a 6" putty knife. I then used a 1" putty knife to get a start on smoothing outside of the center area:



I've got the temperature up to 72 degrees, and hope to come out here tomorrow (or 2 weeks from now?) to find this dry and stable so I can put the next coat on. The good news is, the mud can be "sanded" with a wet cloth.

Once the mold is dry and smooth I'll cover it with another layer of 1-mil plastic, then apply fiberglass cloth and resin. The guy at U.S. Composites said that two layers of 'glass should do it. Do any of you fiberglass gurus know if 1-mil plastic under the 'glass is enough to allow it to release from the mold?

Before you ask: NO, I won't make one of these for anyone else. Also, I wish that every time I had the thought, "I sure am glad I'm not trying to make a living at this", I would run the other way!

[RockinKees]

This is a nice idea!!
Looking forward to what you make of it
I've decided to go the cheap way with the headliner...