Bob's Retirement Build - My '55 TF

[Low Elco]

Bob, what's going on with the Garage of Neverending Projects? The people demand updates!

[DransportGarage]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Bob, what's going on with the Garage of Neverending Projects? The people demand updates!

Well, Monday was the first day working on the truck since AUGUST 2014. I did some work on the door jambs, which is the start of final body work.

A lot has happened in the last 6 months. I've had 2 toes cut on and my trigger thumb fixed. All is well. The wife knocked the front end off the daily driver - $2700 estimate. I fixed it for less than $400 and I can't tell it's been hit. The wife wanted a pond, stream and waterfall in the back yard and she got that. I laid 550 sq. ft. of pavers next to the garage so I can put the '69 Cutlass project car outside under a tarp. I played with trains during the cold winter months, including putting up a ceiling perimeter "Napa Valley Wine Train" in the basement. I also did a seminar on the 4L60 trans in January. (20+ people showed up. See my 700R4 build for the highlights.)

The good news is, I'll be working on the truck tomorrow. I don't want the edge of the carpet to show so I'll be fabbing a lip for it to tuck under. Pics to follow.

[Sim6]

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

[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 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 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.

[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!

[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.

[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):

[Kim57]

Real cool stuff.
Kim

[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!!!!

[DransportGarage]

Thanks Kim, Roger and PTC. Now it's back to the drudgery of basic bodywork for a while. The cab is about 75% ready for high solids primer right now, with just the upper firewall and underside left to smooth out. After that I'll be making the fiberglass shell for the headliner and back panel.

[DransportGarage]

After deciding to move the radio to the headliner area I got a little nervous about getting all of the wires up there. It's a little early in the project for this, but I spent the day running the 5 pre-amp cables, radio memory wire, "amp on" wire and ground up there from behind the seat where the amp will be. What a PITA. Everything is now bagged so it doesn't get painted later, and is tucked into the roof.

[Kim57]

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

[DransportGarage]

I am in dire need of some help. Unbelievably, it appears that a PO has cut out the mounting for my wiper motor and replaced it with an unknown mount (and he/she did a really nice job too!):



If someone has a picture of a '55 3100 2nd series wiper mounting area I could sure use a look at it. If someone recognizes my mounting scheme I could use that piece of info too.

Also shown here is the bracket I have and the motor I have. Are these '55 parts?





Also, if someone has a donor truck and wants to sell me this motor mounting area, I'm probably going to be in the market after I figure out what's really going on.
Thanks,