Project Pro Touring "Ole Blue"

[Mechanic77]

Plugged holes for tailgate chains








I make no claims of being a body man.....but I think they'll work.....

[Modges'66]

Very, very cool!!!
Where did you get the bed material?
I am having second thoughts on my bed!

[Mechanic77]

Worst damage on the top of the tailgate

Cut section out

Beat section flat

Weld back in

Grind flat


Good enough....I guess....

[Mechanic77]

Originally Posted by Modges'66

Very, very cool!!!
Where did you get the bed material?
I am having second thoughts on my bed!

Thanks , it's just 18 gauge paint lock sheet metal that I ran through a bead roller.....it took forever to bead roll, and it made all the pieces bow real bad.....that's why you can see the cylinder heads in the back, and they didn't weigh enough to push the pieces flat.....I had to stand on them while I tacked them down.....it sucked and the floor still isn't truly flat.....

[Modges'66]

On a side note, check out my build to view the work on my tailgate!
Pretty amazing how well a good epoxy primer can work for you!
My tailgate looks better than new, I am sure of it!

[ol_skool_chevy]

Holy Crap................That's a lot of bead rolling to do. Your a better man then me. I could not spend that much time..but it looks cool as heck

[Mechanic77]

More damage





Almost done

Done


Tailgate is still rough, but work-able.....it's just going to take a bunch of bondo.....oh well, I'm not building a show truck

[Mechanic77]

Originally Posted by ol_skool_chevy

Holy Crap................That's a lot of bead rolling to do. Your a better man then me. I could not spend that much time..but it looks cool as heck

You're not kidding.....I did put a motor on my beadroller, but three passes on each bead, times however many beads, equals entirely too much time.....

If I had it to do all over again, I wouldn't go this route.....

[Mechanic77]

Originally Posted by Modges'66

On a side note, check out my build to view the work on my tailgate!
Pretty amazing how well a good epoxy primer can work for you!
My tailgate looks better than new, I am sure of it!

Wow!!, I thought I was a detail freak.....nice work!

I wish my tailgate was in as good of shape as yours....it's twisted like yours was, but mine is bowed in (towards the cab) by at least a half inch, top and bottom.....I'm going to try and straighten it using a pickup (or a school bus, if I have to ) and a bottle jack.....we'll see what happens.....

[bluex]

Wow.....


Thats all I got to say...

[Mechanic77]

Oh, and here's some pics of one of the things keeping me from working on my truck....(you can just see my bike in the background.....I still need to take some good pics of it to post up )
My buddies '27 Ford pickup (started as a sedan )....all's I did was build the engine and put a shift kit in the tranny (200r4).

These are all right after we put the engine and tranny in the car.....

[aclew62]

Great to see ya back on it man. Good progress and your access hatch answered a question I asked of you last year. Clean job.
Posted via Mobile Device

[ChickenCityHotRods]

Very nice work! Really digging all the fab on your chassis.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Jmorales3181]

I'm glad your back at it too! Nice progress
Posted via Mobile Device

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by Mechanic77

I wish my tailgate was in as good of shape as yours....it's twisted like yours was, but mine is bowed in (towards the cab) by at least a half inch, top and bottom.....I'm going to try and straighten it using a pickup (or a school bus, if I have to ) and a bottle jack.....we'll see what happens.....

at least you dont have a lot of money tied up in that tailgate.

[BigJoe29]

i have to tag this for later, amazing build

[ChevyFreak60]

Amazing work!!

[Mechanic77]

Originally Posted by joedoh

at least you dont have a lot of money tied up in that tailgate.

Lol, yeah thanks again joedoh for the donation

[Bomp]

Wow, Been reading and Wow.
Late but following along til the end.
Sub'd

[Mechanic77]

Originally Posted by Bomp

Wow, Been reading and Wow.
Late but following along til the end.
Sub'd

Thanks Bomp, I've been following your build for a while, very impressed with your work too.........might have to post up on your thread to try and get my hands on some of those points.....

[jtrichard]

Originally Posted by Mechanic77

Here's some pictures of the work on the front suspension

One of the lower arms I fabbed up (I need to modify the ball joint plate and angle it up to keep the ball joint from binding )
Attachment 684964
One of the upper arms jigged up, ready to weld
Attachment 684965
Mounting the steering box
Attachment 684967
Front suspension mocked up
Attachment 684968
I built the arms with the ball joints moved forward to center the front wheels in the wheel wells and I also set it up with increased caster (6* base) with the option to go +/-2* besides the normal adjustment available. I'm running 2.5" drop spindles with the 1.25" thick rotors and Wilwood D52 calipers (thanks Jon ) The way I mounted the steering box it actually raises the center drag link approximately 0.75" from the stock '84 front geometry, so I'm hoping I can juggle thing around to reduce bumpsteer as much as possible.

what size pipe did you use on the frame for the gear? what is your take on this way VS. the kit?

[Mechanic77]

Originally Posted by jtrichard

what size pipe did you use on the frame for the gear? what is your take on this way VS. the kit?

I honestly don't remember.....it takes two different diameters, a larger one for the top part and a smaller one for the lower (to allow for the mounting holes). As far as my take.....I would suggest the kit, it's waaayyy easier
I did mine that way for a couple of reasons....one, I'm a cheap bastard that would rather make something than pay for it .....and two, I didn't like the idea of the steering box being pushed out because it would make the pitman arm and the idler arm not run parallel (probably doesn't make 2 cents worth of difference, but it would bug the crap out of me)

[Mechanic77]

Oh, and one other thing....there is only one of the factory holes on the frame that is in the right location, so trying to get the angle right on the box lined up right is very difficult.....

[Bomp]

Originally Posted by Mechanic77

Oh, and one other thing....there is only one of the factory holes on the frame that is in the right location, so trying to get the angle right on the box lined up right is very difficult.....

Tell me about it.
I ditched trying to go off of anything that might be factory and started using the force. A little bit of the Dark Side goes along ways.

[markeb01]

First time through your entire build. incredible engineering and fab skills. Very impressive!