My build. Project Karma. 71 stepside.

[lyrikz]

Well, update. That sand blaster that i bought for cheap, was just that.. Tried using it again and its broke already.. I went back to harbor freight and spent 70 bucks for a 20# unit and that thing works AWESOME. Very happy with it...

Got the rest of the cab spot blasted and ground down. Need to just epoxy it and start on the body work...

Truck fully lifted.


Truck dropped.


Side view


Rear


Side drop. Doesnt look very low, but its low enough for me...



Today im cleaning the rest of the cab, and going to hit it with some epoxy today or this weekend... Once thats done i can start with my body work.

[Riveted1]

Lookin good!

[OARNGESI]

Nice

[idonutn0]

Whats the part number on that Harbor Freight Blaster? Ive been looking for a cheap one.
Great progress on the truck.

Thanks

[lyrikz]

Originally Posted by idonutn0

Whats the part number on that Harbor Freight Blaster? Ive been looking for a cheap one.
Great progress on the truck.

Thanks

Its the 69 dollar one on their site. The 20# one....

Just follow the instructions.. They say to open the valve 100% and i wasnt doing that. Well, i blasted a hole in the side of the fitting. ahaha.. It works good.

[B17CRX]

Maybe its the pic angle but the petcock on the bottom of your air tank looks volnerable to be knocked off?? Would suck to all of the sudden lose all your air. Maybe make a little skid plate for it?

-Joel

[idonutn0]

Originally Posted by lyrikz

Its the 69 dollar one on their site. The 20# one....

Just follow the instructions.. They say to open the valve 100% and i wasnt doing that. Well, i blasted a hole in the side of the fitting. ahaha.. It works good.

What size compressor are you using with it?? Ive got a 6 gallon one and im wondering if it will be enough to to do the job well.
Thanks for you time and feedback.

[lyrikz]

Originally Posted by B17CRX

Maybe its the pic angle but the petcock on the bottom of your air tank looks volnerable to be knocked off?? Would suck to all of the sudden lose all your air. Maybe make a little skid plate for it?

-Joel

Dont know if i can do much about that.. I was going to do a whole 16guage cover over that area... I dont know. Not to worried about it really... I will have some sort of backup setup by the time i get it on the road.

Originally Posted by idonutn0

What size compressor are you using with it?? Ive got a 6 gallon one and im wondering if it will be enough to to do the job well.
Thanks for you time and feedback.

Mines a 7 gallon and i have to compressors. 400's i believe... It would be super easy to add another tank on the other side, but right now i dont need it. I might later. Depends on how much i play with it.

[lyrikz]

Well, got the rest of the truck in epoxy... I also got the dash clear coated. I couldnt get a good picture of it to save my life. It just looks like REAALLY REALLY shiny metal. aha...

I will be starting on the body work here pretty soon....

Trying to get a pic of the ashtray.



Truck top in epoxy...


Dash taped.



I couldnt get a good pic of the dash to save my life...





You get the picture.... Now on to the body work... I need to get the cab pretty much completed so i can get it outside and finish the bed. I have ZERO room to work on both...

[Riveted1]

Is that the bare steel look you're going for on the interior? Hard to tell on my comp if it's paint or just clear coated steel.

[lyrikz]

Originally Posted by Riveted1

Is that the bare steel look you're going for on the interior? Hard to tell on my comp if it's paint or just clear coated steel.

Clear coated steel. Few steps you have to do to get teh clear to adhere to the bare metal... There is still a possibility that it could rust later. I doubt it because the clear is on THICK.

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Im thinking you better get some dark tint on that back window or the shinny metal is gonna blind ya when the sun comes through the back window.

[lyrikz]

Originally Posted by FRENCHBLUE72

Im thinking you better get some dark tint on that back window or the shinny metal is gonna blind ya when the sun comes through the back window.

Back window will be dark. Im not to worried about that though.. I always wanted something like this and i like the way it came out.

Newest update:
I did my drip rail sealant. Used the self leveling stuff in the expensive gun and it worked like a dream. well, the back section of the drip rail i had to use the thicker stuff. Can you sand that thicker stuff once its dry to get it 100% smooth?

I used teh self leveling for the front. Came out AWESOME. RIDICULOUSLY high priced tool you use once.


Awesome results before


After


And here is what i used on the back sides.




It took awhile and it came out OK, but what i want to know is, can i sand that stuff when im done??? ITs not 100% smooth. It doesnt say if you can or cant sand when dry.

[lyrikz]

No response, i suck

I actually started to put things BACK on the truck interior. Rebuilt the steering column and decided that i want to stay with a column shifter instead of the floor shifter. That way the kids wont kick it and it lets them run free ahahah.

Here is the column installed.




Next step is to get the harness installed, then im going to put the brake booster on and install the gas pedal and then DRIVE this thing around the neiborhood. HAHAHA...

[tdave00]

Looks like progress to me. Keep it up.

[lyrikz]

Some updates...
Installed my lokar shifter. THe shift indicator does not match up to what it says on the indicator but it works. Very quality metals and finishes. I likey. Also got their throttle cable.

[lyrikz]

Opps, hit enter. Anyways.. Installed the lokar. Anyone know how to adjust this to get the indicator to read right?


Rod.


Installed. Looks cool, but cant get it adjusted right. LOL.

[lyrikz]

Back tracking a little bit. Got the master cylinder and booster installed. That was pretty straight forward. I lost the part that hooks the pedal to the actual booster so i made my own.


Here we are installed.



I didnt like the way the lines looked coming off the prop valve, so i ran new front lines. Once i got it all bleeded i noticed fluid coming from the rear. The rear brake line was cracked spewing brake fluid. BACK to napa for some more line. It all looks good and functions well now... Final lines.

[lyrikz]

Also got the heater core installed. Added a few plugs to hide some of the screws that normally just hang out.. Nothing big but i like it.

Heres the heater core installed. Nothing new.


And a pic of the two plugs that i used to cover some exposed screws.


Next thing i moved onto was starting to install the wiring harness... Pretty straight forward on that. I dont like how it comes out of the firewall, so im going to redo all that wiring. Theres a lot im not using and that needs to be redone. Before i installed the fuse panel i inspected it and found that there were a few wires that had rubbed together so i fixed that. There is also the wires that hooked to the prndl switch on the steering column seemed to have been bad because it melted all these wires. I replaced them all and the switch.

[lyrikz]

Also got the heater core installed. Added a few plugs to hide some of the screws that normally just hang out.. Nothing big but i like it.

Heres the heater core installed. Nothing new.


And a pic of the two plugs that i used to cover some exposed screws.


Next thing i moved onto was starting to install the wiring harness... Pretty straight forward on that. I dont like how it comes out of the firewall, so im going to redo all that wiring. Theres a lot im not using and that needs to be redone. Before i installed the fuse panel i inspected it and found that there were a few wires that had rubbed together so i fixed that. There is also the wires that hooked to the prndl switch on the steering column seemed to have been bad because it melted all these wires. I replaced them all and the switch.


I also noticed this. THere were two wires that were ductaped in this black tape. This is FACTORY. I thought that was really weird. I just rewrapped it better. I figured im actually taking ALOT of electronics off the original fuse panel and running alot of stuff off a secondary fuse panel which should mean the original one will be fine.

[lyrikz]

Here are just some random pictures of how she is sitting right now.


The lovely 454. Anyone interested in a set of chrome valve covers?? I want to go with black.



Bad rear brake line.



Thats about it for now. I just want to get the truck to a state wher ei can start it with the key and just run around the block once or twice. Do a break in with an actual load on teh motor. My next step is figuring out the wiring from the firewall to the engine. Im hiding all my wiring so i cant really do anything until i get the fenders and inner fenders installed. SO, i will do the insides of those first so i can mount em.... Moving ahead... Hope to be driving it on sept.... Depends how the money goes...

[nuke1]

Truck is really coming along, how come you just did not get a new wiring harness? may have been easier to work with than the original. Gotta love the ari ride though, osmething i still may do in the future, but not right away, have other things to do. BTW, i like the way you ran the brake lines, much cleaner.
Later James

[lyrikz]

Originally Posted by nuke1

Truck is really coming along, how come you just did not get a new wiring harness? may have been easier to work with than the original. Gotta love the ari ride though, osmething i still may do in the future, but not right away, have other things to do. BTW, i like the way you ran the brake lines, much cleaner.
Later James

Painless kit is like 300 some odd dollars. This harness and fuse panel are in REALLY good shape... Just those 3 wires were melted.. Basically the PO would pop a fuse everytime he put it in reverse.. Instead of diagnosing the problem, he just threw in a bigger fuse... Thats my guess... I removed all the fuses and will replace them with stock.

[Riveted1]

Coming along nicely! I finally got mine where I can fire it up again. I don't have my mufflers installed yet, so it's straight headers. My neighbors LOVE me!

Looks like your PO was like mine when it came to the wiring. "Nothing a bigger fuse or some MASKING TAPE can't fix!" LOL I just hope I haven't missed anything...

Get any ideas on that Lokar shifter adjustment? There has to be a way to make it right. How about calling Lokar?

[lyrikz]

Call lokar? That would be to easy. ahaha

BRB, i will let ya know what they say..