Markeb01 Build Thread

[Captainfab]

Looks good Mark

Are you going to be at Goodguys this weekend?

[markeb01]

Not this year. We're busy working on the house to get it ready to sell so we can downsize a bit. Maybe next year though.

[markeb01]

And here's one more clearer photo of my new Paladin holster knight on the dash. I'm really pleased with it!

[Indian113]

That is Neat with the Knight on your Dash! Palladin was a Man's Man and he had a way with the Ladies at the same time. Loved that Show

[realvc]

Paladin's badge of Trust.
Looks great!!!

[clemdaddy]

More bling for the best interior on the forum...
Looks great Mark.

[markeb01]

Well my latest adventure has been installing a Trique/Altman Easy Latch on my driver's door. Rather than taking an hour like they estimated, it took more like two weeks to finish the job. The first task was removing the inner door handles and the interior door panel. After that I removed to forward door control mechanism, and disconnected the link to the door latch. And next the door latch was removed from the back of the door. This was not an easy task as shown on the 1965 video which is published, because after the upper and lower screws are removed from the rear door track, the track cannot be removed from the door. It appears to be welded to the door at the upper end and won't move at all.

[markeb01]

Next up using the template provided in the kit, I marked the rear edge of the door for cutting, and removed the piece with a Dremel tool and a cut off wheel. By the way that cut off wheel was brand new when I started! It made a perfect incision and no trimming was needed. Next, per the instructions the latch was connected to the mounting plate, and attached to the door using the only factory inner door panel mounting plate hole that lined up. The holes were marked and drilled, and it was subsequently discovered that the outside door handle probe was too high, and would not release the door latch. So after hours of refiguring everything, I redrilled the holes higher up and the latch fit and worked perfectly.

[markeb01]

I filled the two lowest holes which showed below the latch plate, and installed the latch, plate, and connected the inner control handle after bending a slight uphill tilt on the end that connects to the latch. After this I spent hours adjusting and filing the door jamb post plate to get the door to close tightly and correctly. I finally got it all lined up and working perfectly, and here's what it looks like. Next was reinstalling the tufted panel and door handles, and the thing operates like our Honda CRV! I still need to touch up some paint on the door around the door panel, which I'll get done in the next couple of days.

[markeb01]

Oops, one picture fell out. This was a shot of the door after the template was cut out for clearance to fit the new latch.

[Indian113]

Thanks for the Update. Those latches are a lot safer than our originals.

[cwcarpenter98]

Impressive as always! Your build has given me so many ideas that I want to do to my truck, but I don't have the time to do it all

[350TacoZilla]

Just discovered your build after voting for your truck and I love the truck man! On the bed have you thought about trying to open up the wheel wells with the opening cut out of a set of front fenders instead of running the newer bed?

[markeb01]

I've thought about it several times, but I don't have any welding skills so I'd need to hire somebody else to do the work. And I prefer doing all my own stuff, so we'll see over time I guess.

[350TacoZilla]

Cool deal, its your truck\money etc so I'm not about to tell you not to do something to your own stuff lol. I just love these trucks as a stepside and those rear fenders are one of the features that kinda pulled me to them from the square bodies I always had before. I do hate the small openings though and since I'm more of a lifted 4x4 guy they are even worse for tire fitment.

[markeb01]

So I hopped in the truck yesterday to go for a ride, and it wouldn't crank or start. I flipped the electrical disconnect switch back and forth, and it was dead as dead. So I got out the electrical tester, set it to 20V, and touched the battery posts. It registered .18V. So I waited for the wife to get home with the Honda, did the same test and it showed 16+ volts. I checked the truck battery again, and it still showed .18V. I also checked the electrical disconnect and everything was tight and working fine. It was time for another battery, as this one was over 6 years old. Plopped the new one in tonight, gave it a crank and wow the truck jumped to life like I just installed a new engine again!

I also discovered by "disc brake" pad fell off the pedal mechanism, so this time I glued it back on with black urethane adhesive. That should keep it on there from now on!

[markeb01]

I guess I've been busier than I thought. I finished installing the passenger side door latch a few weeks ago, and it works perfectly. More recently I installed a chrome ball knob on the switch for the exhaust cutouts, and also put on a chrome 2" solid shift knob on the Hurst handle. And over the last couple of days, I bought two 49 Ford inside window winding handles as they came with matching chrome ball knobs back in the day. I removed the 54 Chevy window handles, drilled out the knobs, and did the same thing with the 49 Ford knobs. Below are pictures of the new knobs, and the entire interior all back together. Now every knob inside the truck is a chrome ball style:

[cwcarpenter98]

Looking great as always I like how all the knobs match

[likaroc13]

Looks good Mark!

[pdxhall]

Very nice, Mark. It's great how you keep making these changes to an already fantastic truck to keep it fresh.

[markeb01]

Well, I’m now starting on a completely new adventure in life. I have had diabetes for the last twenty years, and my family doctor hasn’t done much of anything to bring my quarterly numbers down. So a couple of months ago, I was out mowing our back yard on our riding mower. I was wearing my standard Birkenstock sandals. I hadn’t been shot, I hadn’t dropped an engine on my foot, but the left side of my left foot hurt so back I could barely stand up or walk.

So I went in the house to lay down for a while. When that didn’t help, we soaked my foot in an Epson salts bath. That did two things, it made my little toe look dead, and a 1” x 2” chunk of skin came off right behind the little toe.

So Sunday morning, we checked in to the ER, and within an hour a doc was removing my little toe. He pointed out how it was now black and dead. But what he was really alarmed about was the size of the hole in the left side of my foot, and how everything inside my foot was black and also looked like it was on the way to being dead as well. So after more discussion and additional opinions and tests, my left foot was removed half way up to my left knee.

And the truth is, I’m not really all that upset about it. I spent my youth in the Marine Corps, so I have seen a lot of bad things happen, and also watched how individuals walked away from their problems. Since the surgery I have lost 20-30 pounds, and my diabetes numbers have dropped down to between 67-135. So now I’m riding it out, waiting until I can get a prosthetic leg/foot.

The bummer of all this, is I’m afraid I won’t be able to drive a stick shift anymore. So I’m already making plans to replace the SuperT10 with another Turbo 350 once I’m healed up enough. I also won’t be able to do any of this work until I’m into my final foot, which could be up to a year from now.

So I’ll be somewhat restricted from getting much done for a while, other than figuring out how to pay for the changes needed. The good news being I have a mechanic son, and a professional BMW mechanic in the family that have both volunteered to help, so that will be a big help when the time arrives for the change over.

That’s about it for now. Just wanted everybody to know why I’ve been offline for a while. Good luck to everyone.

[Palf70Step]

Sorry to hear about the issue, but am very glad you are still here to grace us with your presence and knowledge. Good luck

[mjh1965]

Sorry to hear that . Obviously as I work within the disability industry adapting vehicles . I see this quite often . There is an adaption called a duck clutch which basically puts what can only be described as a duck beak on the manual stick as you squeeze it it operates the clutch and the clutch therefore moves up and down as you squeeze the gearstick . I have fitted quite a few to vehicles that only come in manual (stick shift to you Americans . Hope you back in the truck soon Martin

[SKT]

Yikes. Not the type of update we were hoping to see in this thread, but so much is life.

Great to see a positive attitude and plans for the next project on the truck!

Best of luck and please keep us updated!

[likaroc13]

Wow, really hate to hear that Mark. Diabetes is definitely not something to mess around with! Glad to hear you're in good spirits though & looking towards a positive future. I wish you the best in your recovery & look forward to hearing back as progress is made for both you & the truck.