Halfbreed - GMC Z71 + IH Extd Cab

[89muscletruck]

So cool...... I REALLYwish I had the gonads and the time to start cutting up a Truck like this.

[sparkydog]

I'm ready to consider using a professional body guy to shorten my rear doors and finish off the rear of the roof. My skills aren't far enough along to do a good job on these two areas and they just aren't something I want to kluge up.

Does anyone have a good SoCal body guy they want to refer me to? San Diego or Orange County is great but LA or Riverside is also no problem.

Thanks!

[nuke1]

I have kept tabs on what has been happening here, and your truck is totally fricken awesome!!!!! great work on it!

[sparkydog]

Originally Posted by nuke1

I have kept tabs on what has been happening here, and your truck is totally fricken awesome!!!!! great work on it!

Thanks nuke1. I am honored that a guy with your skills likes what I am doing! I sure wish you were local (like the same nation) so I could have you do my rear doors and cab roof. Any chance you are going to Disneyland real soon?? (hint)

[sparkydog]

Tonight I did two fun things.

First I tried out something crazy - I wanted to "stabilize" my stock bench seats from falling apart any more than they already are. So just for s&g's I tried some stretch wrap from work. I have no idea how long it will hold up but it was fun, kind of kinky and (at least for a short while) really firmed up the contours and fit. As a bonus I get kind of a weird fart noise when I climb in. To top it off I threw on a Mexican blanket I had. I swear I am not into the look - I just had it laying around.

Oh and of course what should fall out of the seat bottom while I was wrapping it but a hornet nest. Sheesh that Travelall was FULL from stem to stern with nests. Fer crying out loud!

[sparkydog]

Next I pulled out the two sets of hood hinges I had and tried to figure out if one set was better than the other - nope, both were in the same condition. So I grabbed a set, cleaned them off and disarmed them.

Then I got to drive the truck out and turn it around (yay!) and started setting up for the hinge fitment. I parked the truck nose in so I could hang lifting straps from the trusses.

Took the pass side wheel and fender skirt off. Tacked a little lifting eye onto the hood and set it back on the truck with some lifting straps,

[sparkydog]

Then started holding up the hinge and snapping pictures. Then I realized that things were going to be more challenging over on the driver side. Boy I sure hope I can clear the brake MC and the wire harness bulkhead unit. (It is a given that the cruise control module is up for a relo.)

Oh well that is why I am doing all of this - for the challenge and thrill of solving the 100's of big and little problems that crop up.

[Walts_restoration]

wow, i am jaw dropped. Great work, cant wait to see the outcome. She'll be one of a kind. i see one of those ih crew cabs near by and always admire it.

[sparkydog]

I have my first cause for concern over the condition of the GMC chassis. Now that I have the truck running again and have been around it for maybe a total of 20 minutes of running, I think I may have a problem. The exhaust pipes have two small leaks where the hanger brackets are welded on and they cracked. Whenever I have fired up the motor I got a lot of water dripping out of these cracks. (The crack is upstream of the stock muffler.) Well today when I turned the truck around it was the first time it was sloping backwards down the hill. I stopped the truck outside the garage and left it idling while I moved some chit around inside the garage. It was parked maybe 5 minutes and here is how much water came out.

That just seems like more than "normal" H20 combustion byproduct. My Burb doesn't make that much water. I smelled it and I don't detect any antifreeze - just smoky water smell. But I am worried that I have a blown head gasket. Except I woudn't think the water would get into the exhaust but the other way around.

Whaddup with all that water?

[Racinaround]

For Hood Hinges Check out the Porter Built Hinges for the 67- 72 trucks that mount to the cowl area?? or old jeep or land rover hinges that mount on the outside?? I think it would fit the build??

[NONHOG]

Hornets ! Hate them ! Always on the look out myself.

That seat cover before the mexican blanket reminds me of my grandmothers
62 Fury wagon with clear seat covers.(many years ago)

I am no expert but if all the running that engine is getting is around the yard
it could never dry out and am often surprised at how much moisture an exhaust system can hold. Thats what I am hoping for you !

[sparkydog]

Originally Posted by NONHOG

That seat cover before the mexican blanket reminds me of my grandmothers
62 Fury wagon with clear seat covers.(many years ago)

Our grannies must have had the same taste in bling. Mine did the same thing - probably hit some of the furniture in the house with it too! And right now my bench seat is as tight as granny's girdle!

[ERASER5]

Creepy. Sparkydog knows how tight his granny's girdle is.



Keep up the good work on the truck, and uh, leave granny alone...

[sparkydog]

Did a little more cutting on the GM firewall so the IH hood hinges will fit. Then I was able to mount them onto the hood and start designing a bracket/weldment that will become the attach point for the hinge onto the firewall.

I tried to get my camera over on the DS of the engine bay and see how the hinge looks there. Not quite the right camera angle but I'm starting to hope that I'm going to clear the harness bulkhead OK.

In the final shot the black thing behind the hinge with the vicegrip holding it is the start of my bracket.

[sparkydog]

Originally Posted by ERASER5

Creepy. Sparkydog knows how tight his granny's girdle is.

Ouch! I walked right into that one, huh?! Rimshot for Eraser5.

[JimmyFloyd]

Looking goof. Let me know if you need any little pieces, as we just got a rusty 65 in the junkyard here. I don't think there is a good body panel aside from the hood, but the interior has some parts.





couple more pictures here: http://s282.photobucket.com/albums/k...2010/?start=40

[sparkydog]

Originally Posted by JimmyFloyd

Looking goof. Let me know if you need any little pieces, as we just got a rusty 65 in the junkyard here. I don't think there is a good body panel aside from the hood, but the interior has some parts.

Wow.... that IH has had a HARD life! Paint is a little faded too!

[JimmyFloyd]

Actually, the Bondo is a little faded. I think the paint peaced out a while ago when the rust moved in...

[sparkydog]

Whenever I have been involved in a creative project I have learned that there always comes a time where I am tempted to modify/expand/redo something. Well I have just such an episode now with Halfbreed.

I'm fretting over 3" of proportion. I am second guessing my decision to cut the rear cab doors as short as I did. I am wondering if I should deal with this or not. For me, the "ideal" proportions for the cab and bed are those of the modern GM X-cab (like the '97 that donated it's chassis for my build). I really like the balance of the body. When I was busy 3 months ago trying to figure out how to cut the real sheetmetal and deal with all of the variables, I decided to make the rear cab about 3" shorter than ideal because at the time I could not figure out a clean way to modify the bottom rear wall of the IH cab to clear all of the GM equipment.

But with 20/20 hindsight I know there is a fairly good way to deal with this. I just wish I would have thought of it then. If I was to stop now and go do this over I will be faced with at least a 1-2 month delay and I will have to chop up the cab of another GM Xcab in order to get a new floorpan/rear wall piece. I will also be faced with having to fill in 3" of IH door frame opening with body metal that I don't think I saved. And finally I would have to cut the bed again and shorten it another 3". So it is a significant amount of work. But it's better now than later after I have cut down the IH rear doors themselves. If I do that and then change my mind I have even worse consequences.

These are shots of what I am talking about. In the first picture I show how the truck looks now compared to what the slightly longer cab would look like. The top image is how it is now and the bottom image is photoshopped to the longer cab. You can see the rear doorway is wider. And the second picture/pair shows how the slightly longer cab matches up with the GM body/bed proportions.

I know a lot of you probably don't even see the difference and that is just it - this probably doesn't matter all that much. It's the OCD/perfectionist in me.

My choices are: 1) forget it and keep going, 2) convince myself that someday later I can change the body again if I want to, 3) stop and deal with this now before I cut the rear doors down.

Opinions?

[JimmyFloyd]

I would say deal with it now. Think of all the other stuff you'll be basing measurements off of now, and all the custom pieces you'll have to make for the doors, which you'll have to re-do later on if you change your mind.

And if you need a roof cut section, let me know and I can cut that one of the 65. I think it's like $75 or so for a roof here.

[dougminton]

I wouldn't mess with re-doing that much wok unless I was going to be the one getting in and out of the back door.not enough difference in the looks.
But that's my opinion. Doug

[sparkydog]

Originally Posted by Walts_restoration

i thought they looked a little small on the rear doors, although its not my project nor my time and money lol. Id say if your unhappy now stop and fix it, but make sure its what you want so its done right the first time.

Originally Posted by JimmyFloyd

I would say deal with it now. Think of all the other stuff you'll be basing measurements off of now, and all the custom pieces you'll have to make for the doors, which you'll have to re-do later on if you change your mind.

And if you need a roof cut section, let me know and I can cut that one of the 65. I think it's like $75 or so for a roof here.

Originally Posted by dougminton

I wouldn't mess with re-doing that much wok unless I was going to be the one getting in and out of the back door.not enough difference in the looks.
But that's my opinion. Doug

Thanks guys! I really appreciate your thoughts!

[sparkydog]

I guess I should also say that as far as the interior space for the rear seat goes - I'm OK with where the cuts are now. The rear seat area and the rear doorway opening are about the same as the GM Xcab - maybe a little tighter. So it's not the functionality or ergonomics of what I have...

The thing I am obsessing over is the exterior body proportions. It's the "sculpture" shape that I am looking at - the shape and size of the outside of the cab relative to the bed and such. You know - like what if this thing makes it into the Museum of Modern Art someday?!! hee hee.

[Walts_restoration]

i thought they looked a little small on the rear doors, although its not my project nor my time and money lol. Id say if your unhappy now stop and fix it, but make sure its what you want so its done right the first time.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Put the rear seat in. Mount a door and with it open see how easy or difficult it is to get in or out. Go from there.

That's a hell of a lot of work for 3". That kind of change is sometimes the motivational killer in projects like this. You cut it back apart, wonder why the hell did I do this?, then give up. Maybe not permanently, but sometimes for years. You seem to not be this type of person, but redoing months of work can deter even the best of us.