Pieces

[my67chevytruck]

nice, may look into the strut install later.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Dang, that's different! Have you tried it out with the hood on yet?

[bad6772]

looking great bill....

[HuggerCST]

I agree, it looks great, and is really coming together now Bill!

[Palf70Step]

Kind of playing catch up. Last weekend, I finished stripping the hood, primed the top/outside, then I stripped the underside, and primed it. I also did some experimenting on my bed side to see how the epoxy primer will lay. Still lots to do (blocking) with the whole truck.

On to this week end, blocked the underside of the hood and shot it in gloss black. Why I am not for sure, probably because I painted the rest of the engine compartment black.

Anyways, that is where I stand. I didn't get much else done today between my yard and helping my elderly neighbor (man, me calling someone old ) pull some tree stumps and haul away some old railroad tie/landscaping timbers.

Now, at least I hope, I'll dome the sanding/cleaning of the interior and prime it. At least that is my first goal. I'll need to yank he bed again before I do anymore on the exterior.

[VA72C10]

Looks good. Nice progress...

[Palf70Step]

More piddling. I finished cleaning the hood hinges and painted them today. I also put the rattle pads in the hood and put it back on the truck. Did some more sanding/blocking on the hood and worked on the passenger rear quarter some also. I am going to be real interested in seeing how the hood does with the new struts. I am try to get the hinges and struts hooked back up tomorrow. I'll be pulling the bed again as I get into the blocking and get ready to do the paint.

[VA72C10]

piddling....looks like good work to me.

[Palf70Step]

Today I got to put my hood lift work to the test. AS a few of you remember I took Tony's (bad6772) idea and tried it. I had some issues with the parts Tony used and I bent a set of hinges. I thought maybe that the pressure was just too much, plus the lift seemed lacking. I did some measuring and came up that I would nee a strut that compressed would not exceed 11.25" and if I could Fully uncompressed would be about 21.5"
The original struts I had also had a force of 146lbs each. So I knew I needed something less. I couldn't get the hood to cooperate and me hold it on the bathroom scale to see it's weight, but I guessed it around 90ish pounds. (yeah I could have looked at a vendor's site for the weight, but that didn't come to my mind at the time)

Anyways I took myfigures and started google'n stuff. I found a neat website that was very useful. The site is Lift Supports Depot.com
( http://www.autopartsbylou.com/index.php )

They allowed me to punch in figures and come up with a bunch of struts they sold. I suspect it goes to something like for a bed cover or some RV thing.

Anyways here is the part I came up with


Lookup Part Number Conversion (329019) or (20824)

Their Part #30824 (or 20824)
Drawing Ext. Length (inches) = 19.5”
Comp. Length (inches) = 11 “

Rod End Fitting - Ball Socket=10mm
Tube End Fitting - Ball Socket=10mm
Force (lbs) 92
Nitrogen Force 410N (I have no clue what this is)

I also order 2 sets of Mighty Lift Ball Stubs (ML3000) from O'Rielly Auto Parts
(I am told this is the same thing as what they 67-70's use for the gas pedal, but I did not check this against mine)


I used an existing hole in the fenders with some large heavy washers on both sides and A lock nut to secure the ball stud on the fender.

I then drilled a hole in each hinge and secure a ball stud there with a lock nut.

Snap in the struts and you are done.

[Palf70Step]

What I really liked about this, is putting the hinges on. Yesterday I laid the hood on the truck to get it off the floor. Once I finished painting the hinges, I installed then from underneath through the fender wells. I got everything finger tight/loose. Then I adjust the hood for it's gaps, then snugged down all the bolts. I then lift the hood and snapped the struts into place.

They work real smooth. the 92 lbs force seems perfect for this application. I don't have to force it to stay down, and just a hair after starting to lift, it gently puts it up to full extension. It also takes very little effort to shut it too.

I still have to put all the latch stuff on, but I am happy with the outcome.

Tony, thanks for the idea. Never would have though of it on my own.

[lyrikz]

I really like that idea. So you took a stock hinge and cut out the spring, or just REMOVED the spring and then added the hood lifts???

[Palf70Step]

I just removed the springs.

[Palf70Step]

Well, today i worked on what I hope is the last bit of welding on this truck. Since I( am going with aftermarket wiring, I needed to make a plate to cover the stock fuse-box/engine harness connector. I cut me out a piece of metal to fit in, then takes it into place. I still have to finish cleaning up the welds, seal the area, and paint the firewall area again.

[Palf70Step]

So I wouldn't be tempted to keep welding so I could finish up the firewall patch quickly, I started another welding project to keep me occupied. I got the idea from Alan's Classic (on the 66 board mostly). I have an old Sears tool chest that isn't used for much since I got my big chest, so I am making a rolling welding/plasma cutter box/cart. I guess because the box was a super cheap craftsman (many moons ago), it was a little lacking in the depth compared to the newer boxes. So I grab a piece of scrap 2" angle and added the 2" I needed to make it hold my welder and plasma cutter.

I still have a few more ideas to work into it, but it should be real useful and I can cut down on the number of carts I have in the shop. Oh yeah, it did keep so the truck cooled very well between welds.

Thanks for the idea Alan.

[lyrikz]

Sent you a pm. I like that cart idea..

[Palf70Step]

Thanks and you got a reply.

[nuke1]

Bill, the truck is really coming along nicely, sand and sand somemore, i know all about it. I really liked the hood hinge idea with the gas struts, makes me want to do that for my 72 once i start on it. thanks. James

[firsttry1971]

i really like that. i think i am going to do something like that on my truck. i have been wanting to move the tank but did not know were to put it. were are you going to put the filling nozel to??

[Palf70Step]

I have a fuel door in the side of the bed, post 190 shows it best. How I did it is around page 1 or 2.

[Palf70Step]

Mostly little things. Between other projects, work and soccer, the 70 seems to be lost in a pile of dust.

I did get the firewall patch finished to cover the old fuse box, and I have the new hole cut for the new harness. It looks off in the picture, but the black does match. It'll blend in once the dust evens out or I was the thing. I am not sure when the wash thing will happen.

I also started stripping my metal door panels. I stripped, primed and painted the insides black. I have the passenger side stripped and primed on the outside, but when I started to do the driver's side it started falling apart. So I am hoping to get another one at our Cruising the Coast Swap meet later in the week.

[VA72C10]

Hey, progress is progress. Keep at it...you've done a great job so far!

[Palf70Step]

Got some time in with the old girl last couple days. I worked on welding up my extension/expansion pipe for the tank file. I used two adapters to get it from the stock up to the 2" dia.

Today I finished cleaning and testing it and seems no leaking at moment. Touched it up with some some sealer and paint.

[VA72C10]

Glad to see you're back at it.

[Palf70Step]

Between welding and all, I decided to put together my dash. It's a combo of parts, part stock, part, well not,

I had to take the tach apart to remove the rim so it would sit behind the bezel. I also painted the inside of the stock metal pieces with chrome paint to help reflect the light in the stock gauge areas. I had to make a new turn signal light tube, since I dunno what happened to the other. I also paint the black areas again so it will look nice when assembled.

Thanks to an old, but now gone member, found that the fuel gauge from an 82 (and whatever other years are like it) Buick Limited works to fill in the center hole.

So stock speedo, Buick fuel gauge, and Autometer tach make up the top. I made all the bulb sockets use a newer style soft rubber twist in holder (from the Buick dash). I'm using the stock configuration for the turn signal and high beam indicator, just used the newer bulb sockets.

Lower row is VDO gauges volt meter, water temp, clock, and oil pressure.

I may end up having to get another tach later on, but so far it seems like it will be OK. I have a bit more on the wiring to finish up, but all and all a good day.

[1sik52]

Looking good Bill