New Project: 1974 2WD Shortbed

[LSX408]

Nice work!

[Shady Chevy]

Thanks. Updates. Progress is slow, but moving in the right direction. Here is the driver side arm rest and in the background I started cutting out pieces of MDF for the Pass side arm rest. I am brushing resin directly on the wood to see if I can build up a nice smooth surface, without using any glass mat for the arm rest part. I don't want the top edge to really build up much thicker that it is using the 1/4 inch plywood. We will see what happens with several coats of resin.




More mat on the driver side door panel. I cut out the MDF for the pass side door panel this weekend.



And more filler on the top of the bed. There will be several more coats before I am even close on the bed top.

[Shady Chevy]

Putting on the third coat of Resin on the armrest. I also ordered the Eastwood high build primer. I have never tried it before. So we are going to see how that goes on top of the bed.


...and for those who don't have any snow right now where you are, I thought I would have to add this pic from outside the shop this morning.

[flashed]

Looking good and you can keep all that white stuff ,dont like it ,we cant deal with it and we damn sure cant drive in it .

[Shady Chevy]

LOL. We are getting more....

[Shady Chevy]

Thought I would try the Bondo Gold. Never tried it before and wanted to see if I could notice any difference. Have never tried other other fillers before. Does anyone have one that they feel is "better" than my standard bondo???


It took the whole quart to put one coat on the top of the bed. I didn't notice much difference. I don't see any reason to use that again.



Then sanded down with my homemade sanding board.


..and i just ordered some curly bubinga and purple heart wood to possibly make the trim piece for the arm rests from. I won't know what I want to do until I play with it. We will see what it looks like.

[Shady Chevy]

my next project, is to fix the lid I made for the fuel cell access. It has a fairly big dip.



So we are going to try to fix this.



...more work on the top of the bed.

[Shady Chevy]

So, given where I am at with my fuel cell lid. I could start over or try to fix what I have. (It warped bad when I welded it up) So I thought I would see what I can do with this. I cut out another piece of metal, about 16 gauge, and tack welded it in my low spot. Then I am going to fiberglass over to build up a little more before I use any filler.




...some fiberglass.


Then on to the fun stuff. My curly bubinga wood came in. This is for the armrests. So I glued up some maple/purple heart/ maple/curly bubinga. I can't wait to get some clear on this to see what it is going to look like. The clear makes the gain in the wood pop out.

[Shady Chevy]

Well, I came to the realization that there has to be a skim coat of filler on the whole top of the bed to ever get it straight. So now I am in deep with hand sanding with 36 grit on my long board. This is fun. This is a lot of sanding by hand. But it is starting to get smooth and straight. I am going to spend about another week on it and then spray my first high build primer from Eastwood and see how it works. Also, the arm rest is turning out nice, but I don't have a current picture to post. I will take one soon. I have three coats of clear on the wood piece.

[flashed]

Its looking good ,you have come a long way with it ,congrats .

[Shady Chevy]

Thanks. I was looking back, at the start of the project, and I have been learning a lot as I go along. I can't wait for my next project. LOL.

Dave

[Shady Chevy]

Pics of the drivers side arm rest.......I am going to spray flat black down inside the part where you pull the door shut...for lack of words.

[flashed]

That looks great ,very impressed .

[Shady Chevy]

Thanks. I like how it turned out. Now I have to make the console match....I am not going to work on that.

[maxxxy]

That armrest came out really nice!

[y5mgisi]

DAng dude! To be honest, there is ever so much about this truck that is not my style. But still, You are going really great work! Very inspiring! Looking very much forward to you finishing this build and hopefully you starting another one! I cant believe anyone would start with the truck you did. And as elbow deep as you have been for a while now, most would have gotten discouraged and given up long ago. The biggest of props to you.

One question that maybe i missed, what are you going to do for window cranks? i noticed the new door panels will cover them up.

[Hankster]

Originally Posted by y5mgisi

Looking very much forward to you finishing this build and hopefully you starting another one! I cant believe anyone would start with the truck you did. And as elbow deep as you have been for a while now, most would have gotten discouraged and given up long ago. The biggest of props to you.

One question that maybe i missed, what are you going to do for window cranks? i noticed the new door panels will cover them up.

x2 It's been a while since I checked up on this build. Wow! Great work!

[Shady Chevy]

Thanks guys. I am going to put power windows in it. I need to get some update pics loaded soon. I have been working steady on the bed. I bought a new spray gun to spray the high build primmer. I don't know about everyone else, but that stuff is very frustrating to try to spray. It just doesn't want to come out of the gun. I am using a 2.3 mm tip. But once I do get it on, I absolutely love it. No shrinkage, and sands like a dream. Love it so much! I am using the Eastwood high build stuff. The bed is getting close to being ready to paint. I want to try some color sooo bad.

I am going to try to pick up a pair of doors at Spring Carlisle on April 24th.

[Shady Chevy]

pic of the top of the bed with half in high build primer....

[Shady Chevy]

Pass side is getting close to spray high build primer...


Driver side has high build on it and in the process of block sanding with guide coat...

[CodyWorks]

Holy crap man.. You're a multi-talented dude. I'm gonna subscribe and go feel bad about my sub par skills lol. Great progress man. Keep it going.

[Shady Chevy]

Thanks......

[Shady Chevy]

Went to spring Carlisle last week. I got a passenger side door that is a much better starting point than what I have.

[Shady Chevy]

Ok, I started to layout the graphics. I have to make a template for each piece of the overall design.

[jott_06]

nice progress. I'm guessing you have a background of carpentry? If you are still looking for different body fillers to try maybe try some USC products. I am an automotive painter by trade and have done body work and paint for 10 years so if you have any questions on products I may be able to help you out. One thing a lot of guys do is to try to use the 2k primer as filler and end up wasting it. When I was first learning body work I was taught to get it as straight as possible before any primer is sprayed. Use the primer to fill sand scratches and feather edges, not dents.