Jojo's '70 Stepper

[jojo]

Well... I finally painted the truck.. (sort of)..

Really I picked up a new hobby..

[mcbassin]

Nice painting! how are you coming on the vintage air kit? It's good to hear you are driving it daily too. Can't imagine driving without air every day here in OK either.

[jojo]

I'm not sure which way to go with the vintage air at this time.. That was the original plan but we may just end up saving the money and getting another truck maybe a late model silverado.. I need to be comfortable and presentable and I think I can be comfortable (with the vintage air) but we are a long way from being presentable..

I haven't posted pics in this thread yet but I have thrown some heavy duty wood planks in the bed. And I also snagged some low back buckets from a '88 gmc truck today. They'll need some new covers or re-upholstering eventually but I got 'em for 60 bucks..

[jojo]

Okay so the vintage air is on hold for a while. I ended up getting a "new" chevy. Check the pics.

2003 silverado
regular cab
long bed (will take some getting used to, that sucker is loooong)
5.3-V8/Auto trans
basic no frills interior
43,000 miles
straight body (outside of one small dent on lower passenger door and some surface scratches here and there)

The 3rd and 4th pics are the only unfortunate result of getting the new chevy (I had to put my favorite truck outside again)

The 5th pic is my second portrait painting (my Lil dog "Jumper")

And yes, that is a bunch of crap already in the bed. I needed to remove a bunch of trash to make way for the '70 to go back outside.

[matthew20061]

Originally Posted by jojo

Okay so the vintage air is on hold for a while. I ended up getting a "new" chevy. Check the pics.

2003 silverado
regular cab
long bed (will take some getting used to, that sucker is loooong)
5.3-V8/Auto trans
basic no frills interior
43,000 miles
straight body (outside of one small dent on lower passenger door and some surface scratches here and there)

The 3rd and 4th pics are the only unfortunate result of getting the new chevy (I had to put my favorite truck outside again)

The 5th pic is my second portrait painting (my Lil dog "Jumper")

And yes, that is a bunch of crap already in the bed. I needed to remove a bunch of trash to make way for the '70 to go back outside.

Welcome to the new chevy club! Nice trucks, I've got a 03 SS same color as yours I think!

[mcbassin]

Nice score getting the new truck. You shouldn't have to worry about vintage air for a while now.

[jojo]

Dang Mike... I just noticed that you got that ol' 86 painted! Nice job man.. I bet the young'n loves it..

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by jojo

Dang Mike... I just noticed that you got that ol' 86 painted! Nice job man.. I bet the young'n loves it..

Yes, hes loving it. He has driven it pretty much every day since school started a few weeks ago. I did a tune up on it today, only to make it not run. Not sure if I broke a wire, got the plug wires crossed or what, it won't start at all now and I got it flooded pretty good. I will hit it again tomorrow. sure it's something minor.

How you like the new truck? I had an 04 model for a few years. It was a great truck.

[jojo]

I like the new truck a lot. I gotta get used to parking it because it's loooong. And its cool having a small fleet of chevy's.

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by jojo

I like the new truck a lot. I gotta get used to parking it because it's loooong. And its cool having a small fleet of chevy's.

Come on it's not that long it's not any longer than a crew cab or extended cab. It's just your used to the shorty truck. It's cool you have a fleet now too.

[mcbassin]

Where you at Jojo? Still working on this project?

[jojo]

Hey Mike,

I'm still here.. Just haven't touched the truck in some time (Except for driving it).. I've been busy with other things, work mostly.. Also I'm squirreling away the money because I'm going to purchase a house in may or june... I need to do this quick because my truck will be banished to the back yard soon since my dad is planning on buying another vehicle (ford yuck!). I'll be able to set up my own "shop" when I get into the house..

[jojo]

Went to the flea market a couple weeks ago. Finally have time to post pics of my find.. Believe it or not, these plates are un-used. I think they had original wrapping on them. The last pic is them "Cleaned up".

I plan on registering them if possible with the dmv when registration is due (around may I think).

I wouldn't mind re-painting them if I could find that reflective paint.

[mcbassin]

Hey, Nice plates!Back when they used to actually stamp the plates out of steel. There is a huge prison rodeo here at the federal pen in Mcalister

[RCbowtie69]

Hey from N.C. just checking your build out & u R looking good with the progress that U have made,keep pictures coming & keep on truckin''

[matthew20061]

Cool plates, they look great!

[mcbassin]

any updates Jojo? long time no see.....

[jojo]

hey Mike! well a lot has happened since I've last posted progress...

firstly, I met my future wife and we are getting married this december!

I never thought I'd find something worthy of pulling me away from my projects and hobbies like this... Lol

anyways I found a decent fleetside bed for $500.00 to take things in a different direction from my stepper... but haven't done much with it.. so it's sitting at my dad's place awaiting my attention lemme know what you think!

I need to deal with the under bed tank and filler then I can properly install the "new" bed... maybe after christmas I'll get back after it.

here's some pics of the truck as it sits now..

[mcbassin]

Way to go Jojo! I love the new bed. And you got a great deal. I love the steppers too but fleets just a little better myself. Mostly because I like the double mouldings. Congratulations on the bride to be. Try to check in a little more often

[jojo]

Update:

Got married... 9 december 2011
Bought our own house... 16 may 2012
Baby Adrian Joseph Morgan is born... 7 november 2012
Moved the chevy to my new house... 20 April 2013

[Palf70Step]

Congrats on all the very special high points with your life.

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by jojo

Update:

Got married... 9 december 2011
Bought our own house... 16 may 2012
Baby Adrian Joseph Morgan is born... 7 november 2012
Moved the chevy to my new house... 20 April 2013

Congrats on all the life changes and events! Good to see you back on here. Hope to see some progress on your truck soon.

[jojo]

It's been a loooong time but I do have room in my garage to work on the old truck again and I actually can get a couple hours a week in on it so maybe I'll start posting some updates.

I needed a way to put in gas in that under bed tank. It worked fine when I had the step side bed but now the filler neck comes right out where the frame is for the fleetside bed. So the best I could do was start cutting the bed frame. I want to figure out how to fix the frame after the new filler lines are added. (more on that when I get home to take some pics) Btw, I have searched up and down for detailed pictures/build instructions for doing this with the LMC tank on fleetside bed and *not having a gas filler door in the bed. I would rather not have to remove the load off the bed to add fuel so I'll come up with a way to have a filler door in the bedside.

[jojo]

Here's the filler neck on it's way to being installed. I took a 1-1/4" 90 degree bent metal tube from the electrical department at Lowes and cut it in half then turned the two halves opposite of each other to achieve an "s" bend. I didn't think until after that I could have taken to muffler shop or someplace to have a piece bent but this solution only cost $4.00 plus about 30 minutes of cutting and welding. The 1-1/2" rubber fuel tube came from o'rileys and they had in stock so I didn't have to order it. They sell it for $20 a foot and told me on the phone you have to purchase the entire 3' length but when I arrived, they only had a 1 foot section (perfect for my needs and didnt have to spend $60.00). Btw the actual neck is the same as the one I used on the step side bed and it is from a 98 dodge dakota which was pretty easy to grab from the junk yard.

I needed a perfect circle to use as a template for cutting the bedside... I traced a cd and the size is pretty much perfect. So I traced and cut on the outside with a jig saw and metal cutting blade. The inside of the bed needed to be cut bigger so after cutting the cd size hole, I cut an extended rectangle to fit the filler neck and not have it extend too far in to the bed. I think the angle is even better than the setup I had when the stepside bed was on there so I shouldn't have problems with the flow of fuel in to the tank.

Now all that's left is mounting the neck so it does not slide around in the opening and build a protective box. I taped together a cardboard template for the box. Each joint of the template represents a bend in the sheet metal stock. Once its all formed it should create a nice protective box to protect the setup from any cargo I throw in to the bed. I will weld in a piece at an angle on the box so I can use the existing screw holes on the neck to mount it securely. I will show all that once I get the box bent in to shape. Pics of progress are attached.

[jojo]

pic attached of template box in place (forgive the rotation of the pic... or just turn your head sideways when observing Lol)