New project! The "Red Herring"

[Advanced Design]

Looks like the fenders need some work to fit the cowl. Bummer, always something more.

The gauges look good haven't seen that company. How do the prices compare to using Dakota Digital?

[FarmerSid]

How's the bottom of the fender fit where it wraps around under? The fenders contour fit good to the recess in the outer cowl?

[JJorgensen52]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Looks like the fenders need some work to fit the cowl. Bummer, always something more.

Originally Posted by FarmerSid

How's the bottom of the fender fit where it wraps around under? The fenders contour fit good to the recess in the outer cowl?

I know it! They actually fit better underneath the cowl than I expected, and the contour (at least on this side) fits nicely with all the holes lining up easily (once I figured out that the bolts at the bottom of the inner fender need to be loose to line it up) - it's just that section in the center that kicks out a bit. I also don't have my rear cab mounts bolted up (this just occurred to me this morning) so maybe if I'm really lucky, it's just that the back of the cab is scooted over a little bit and getting it centered would help with the angle.

Since I have to cut out the flange in this portion anyway, it shouldn't be too bad just to tack in a little extra metal there and match the curve. Hopefully going to get the other side hung tonight, and then work up my game plan and start cutting and welding!

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

The gauges look good haven't seen that company. How do the prices compare to using Dakota Digital?

If you buy one of their off-the-shelf packages, the price is pretty comparable. For what we're doing here... maybe not so much . Since this is a one-off set, there's a chunk of money going into the design side of it. This is one of the few things I'm willing to pay a premium on, because I really wasn't a fan of any of the ready made packages and you stare at them THE WHOLE TIME you're in the truck. I'd rather have it just so, because otherwise I'd be perpetually annoyed by it

[JJorgensen52]

Alrighty. So the passenger's fender fits better, but the inner fender not as well?? I've given up on figuring out why it is the way it is, I'll just fix it .

Nice, tight gap at the cowl (the lower brace is missing on this side, so it's not bolted at the bottom but it pushes into place nicely)


And dropped the hood back on:


I have a couple hood related questions:


Both sides are like this - like the cowl is too wide for the hood. Is there an adjustment for that? It's popped up at the center of the rear edge and too narrow at the sides; seems like maybe the cowl seal would help? I figured out how to get it to come down and back to line up the fenders, so otherwise the fit is decent.

Second question: Has anybody ever had to extract a broken pivot bolt? My lower driver's side bolt snapped off ... off course it was about 1/2 a turn from bottoming out so there's NOTHING to grab onto ... figures.

On a different subject, I got a whole pile of boxes today - I had a 20% off coupon for one of the vendors so I grabbed a whole pile of weatherstripping, trim, glass, etc.

Two highlights:

Name the vehicle of origin! They should fit nicely on the rear panel above the bumper and below the tailgate.

Also, I'm toying with the idea of installing TF style V8 badges on the truck, and I was hoping to use the fender either behind the front wheel or behind the headlight, but there is too much curvature so it won't sit flat against the panel. I tried a couple different arrangements on the hood:
1.

2.

3.


I think #3 is probably my favorite - I'd just move the 100 badge directly up, so it's the same distance above the GMC as it used to be below.

Thoughts? I'm not set on using them at all, but in my mind I thought it might look good so I figured I'd try it out. If not they'll make nice wall art

[FarmerSid]

Cool! Would the V8 emblem work above the GMC badge? Also, howdid you figuredout how to get the hood to come down and back to line up the fenders?

[Advanced Design]

Nice work! I struggle with aligning hood and remember I found a really good process online....somewhere...I just dont remember where. Maybe Stovebolt.

I like Sid's suggestion for the V8 emblem. Maybe above and a bit right of the GMC emblem if that will work.

The light...hmm...Ford something?

[JJorgensen52]

I tried the badge above the GMC when I still had the hood off the truck and thought it looked a little goofy, but I didn't once I had all the panels on - I will try that out later on today and see what's what. I'm not sold on it being on the hood, because it looks a little busy to me with the three emblems right there in close proximity.
I had a thought this morning, that maybe I use it where I wanted it to go on the fender anyway, and just make a plastic shim/wedge to make up for the curvature of the fender and get it to sit flat.

As to the hood alignment - in my factory shop manual, it said to do the alignment with the hood closed and tightly latched in the front, but I found I couldn't get it to move like that, really at all.
I actually did it with the hood open - with the hinges loose, I used a piece of 1"x2" wood strapping to lift the front of the hood up, which pivoted the hinge end on the springs and took the load off the hinges, so I was able to shift them down and back. When I first installed it, it was about 2" up at the cowl. Yikes!

My alignment on driver's side is all goofed because I don't have the one pivot bolt in there that snapped off - going to order some new ones this morning, so hopefully I can get that taken care of, but I'm now confident that everything WILL fit the truck, so I'm going to fix the fenders and get that sorted out, then move into swapping the cab/doghouse to the new frame.

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

The light...hmm...Ford something?

Ford??? Gosh no! It's in the family, at least

[JJorgensen52]

Just found this:

http://www.chevytrucks.org/tech/AD_hood_alignment.htm

And the same thing is posted on Stovebolt, and also apparently in one of the original shop manuals (not the GMC one I can tell you that ).

Of most interest to me, there is an adjustment for the width at the back of the hood, so hopefully I can get all of that sorted out quick-like

[Advanced Design]

Originally Posted by JJorgensen52

Just found this:

http://www.chevytrucks.org/tech/AD_hood_alignment.htm

And the same thing is posted on Stovebolt, and also apparently in one of the original shop manuals (not the GMC one I can tell you that ).

Of most interest to me, there is an adjustment for the width at the back of the hood, so hopefully I can get all of that sorted out quick-like

That's it! Good find. The light...glad it is in the family..Grand Prix back up.

[JJorgensen52]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

That's it! Good find. The light...glad it is in the family..Grand Prix back up.

I think they actually use the same lens as the GP does. Repops of course, but optional 60-66 pickup (fleetside) is the origin.

[Coldshot]

Pretty sure that light is a mustang reverse light would be my guess

[junksaver]

On your pivot bolt problem, find a flat washer with the same diameter hole as the bolt. Weld the washer to the bolt, then weld a nut to the washer and back it out. If you need better detail then give me a shout.

[JJorgensen52]

Originally Posted by junksaver

On your pivot bolt problem, find a flat washer with the same diameter hole as the bolt. Weld the washer to the bolt, then weld a nut to the washer and back it out. If you need better detail then give me a shout.

This is genius. I would never have thought of it, either, even though I've used it to get broken fasteners out of engine blocks and such

Spent a lot of time today mucking through wiring diagrams and so many different GM part numbers for connectors and terminals I'm about to go cross-eyed!

Sid, is this what you had in mind??

It's a little hard to tell with the hood mounted, but I think there might be interference with the hinges / support mounting it there.

I happened to find another V8 emblem (As it turns out, those ones are Chevy and GMC had a different style), which is narrower and taller, but I think may fit on the front of the fender where I had originally envisioned it going. I picked up a grungy one on ebay for cheaps to try out, so the jury stays out on this one for a bit

[FarmerSid]

Ya, that's what I was thinking. Looks a bit busy I think. What about putting the smaller V8 one above the GMC and the 100 emblem over on the cowl above the vent?

[JJorgensen52]

Originally Posted by FarmerSid

Ya, that's what I was thinking. Looks a bit busy I think. What about putting the smaller V8 one above the GMC and the 100 emblem over on the cowl above the vent?

Yeah, the more I look at it the more I think three emblems in one area is too much.

I thought about moving the 100 emblem back onto the cowl, but the problem becomes that while I can install it on this side, I've got no access to put the screws in on the other side. I could thread some studs in and use push nuts, maybe??

I'll have more renditions when the smaller V8 emblem arrives .. looks like I ought to see it Monday or Tuesday.

[JJorgensen52]

I was on the road Saturday, but today was a truck work afternoon. Unfortunately, it was one of those sorts of days when I felt like I was going backwards, rather than forwards. I did make some progress with the hood, adding some shims at the center brace bracket did push my edges out to line up with the cowl, so that's good.

This I knew about before, but I found two other rust spots and two large dents in this fender that were cleverly hidden:


This, however, I did not know about. They did a REALLY good job of making this disappear and yet not be visible from inside the door.



So inner door bottoms are in order on both sides, it looks like.

On the progress side, I did make the driver's fender fit better:



I still need to do more cleanup and stitch up a few holes I found in the joint, but it's looking up. I found several large dents that were hidden in this one, too.

Anybody have some good fenders they want to sell??

[Advanced Design]

Too bad about the rust! Nice repair on the fender. I know a place that usually has good fenders. I've purchased a number of parts from them over the years. http://www.tricktrucknrod.com/hh/Stu...n?refresh=true

[JJorgensen52]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Too bad about the rust! Nice repair on the fender. I know a place that usually has good fenders. I've purchased a number of parts from them over the years. http://www.tricktrucknrod.com/hh/Stu...n?refresh=true

I may be giving them a call here in the next few days ...

Today I worked on stripping some of the suspension off the donor frame to get ready for it to come into the garage.

Driver's fender is off again, after some scraping and poking I'm confident I've found all of the rust and this side won't be too bad to fix:



I'll be working on that tomorrow.

Small V8 (55-57 GMC) arrived today. Devilishly hard to get a good photo of, but:

This is where I had pictured putting an emblem



And here's the other spot


Opinions, please!

Of course, this one has a different curvature and it doesn't really fit the fender, either ... so we'll see

[FarmerSid]

What about below the vent on the cowl? A different attachment method may be needed. Just a thought.

[Chevy-49]

Yes, nearby the vents sounds good.

Originally Posted by FarmerSid

What about below the vent on the cowl? A different attachment method may be needed. Just a thought.

[JJorgensen52]

I'll give that one a try the next time I'm out there. This emblem has a weird curvature to it, as well, which I have an idea for how to deal with but it's making me wonder if maybe this truck just doesn't want more trim!

I spent tonight wrestling the fender on and off while I attempt to repair the lip ... this is definitely not my cup of tea

[JJorgensen52]

Alright! I actually feel like I made progress tonight

Fixed the fender flange on driver's side

Still need to clean up the bottom edge to make it blend, but that's for later.

Checked the fit, still pretty good:


So who has ideas how to fix this gap at the back of the hood? Beyond adding metal to it:

The other side is more even but it has a gap too


I don't recall it being quite that wide when I bought the truck, but I don't have any good photos of this part of it. That was dumb!

Now, back to V8 emblems:

It has to go this far forward because of the door:


So then I tried this one. I hadn't thought of it before because the other emblem was way too wide. This is my new favorite I think.


Keep the ideas coming!

I got what should be the final draft of the gauge artwork today, it's looking great!
If only you guys could see the size of the pile of wire, connectors and terminals I have sitting here in my living room ... I think I may write a separate thread on that one.

[JJorgensen52]

Last couple days, more electrical design work done, spent a bunch of time at the boneyard hunting up parts, and some time out of doors just enjoying the beautiful weather this weekend.

But I also got the axle pulled from my parts Blazer and test fitted to the frame:



This is important for two reasons.
1. Confirms I have clearance for everything as I had hoped
2. Will allow me to roll the chassis under the truck here tomorrow or Wednesday

It also shows me (you can see in that second picture that the parking brake cable wants to go through the coil spring) that I am probably going to have to swap the backing plates around (so the brake cables exit rearward) for routing purposes. The 2WD backing plates have the calipers clocked opposite these, so I can swap the parking brake cable orientation and keep the calipers in the forward position.

[Chevy-49]

Posted via Mobile Device

[JJorgensen52]

Originally Posted by Chevy-49

Posted via Mobile Device

Richard, your post disappeared??

Big progress today!



And after a lot of moving, measuring, blocking, lifting, lowering...




Based on my measurements between the frames, the 67-72 shortbed front bedstands are within 1/2" of where the 47-54 front block fell. Hopefully tomorrow I'll start working on getting the bed set up on the chassis so I can get a more certain location for the cab.

Right now I'm blocked up one 2x4 - at this height I'm definitely going to need a transmission tunnel. Based on my clearance to the trailing arm crossmember, I may need to go up about 3/4" or so to be in a good place. After that, I'll be in a good place to build cab mount stands and get the cab fixed in place. Then I can re-hang the front clip and work on getting the stub situated.

I'm also riding at about 1" below my unloaded ride height in the rear at the moment - based on where it sits, it looks like I can mount the stub right into the straight center section of the longbed frame and I'll have ~1-1/2" of rake, which is about what I'm after.