Columbus..the 1957 IH 4x4..

[mongocanfly]

haha...I don't know how good that would work inside the cab Doug. ....the dust blows off the lizard fairly easily but I had moved it back in the shop and didn't want to create a dust storm in my buddies shop....he's a little ocd and I'm living on the edge with my mess....but he's a cool little dude...he's ok with it for now....
I've got most of it ready for high build now I've just got to wait on some rainless days to spray it on...

[67ChevyRedneck]

I'm a little tired of the rain myself... trying to finish up the siding job on my house... but then I always tell myself... we could be in a drought... again... 2016 was so bad I think I mowed my yard once from June to September. It literally never rained.

[mongocanfly]

yeah it seems like one extreme or the other...it either rains all the time or its dry and hot...
looks like your down to the short rows on the siding job....I bet that's fun in this 90+heat with all the humidity...

[67ChevyRedneck]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

yeah it seems like one extreme or the other...it either rains all the time or its dry and hot...
looks like your down to the short rows on the siding job....I bet that's fun in this 90+heat with all the humidity...

No, no it's not. I finished the siding this weekend, minus the top row on the front/back. I have to mark out a new line for the soffit and get that installed and I can give my friend his lift truck back before he just comes and takes it

I also just bought a 1968 Pontiac Firebird. I did get permission this time, but I have to finish the house before I can mess with it.

Truck is looking good! Still can't believe how clean it is.

[Advanced Design]

Amazingly clean floor pan! We haven’t had rain in 2 or 3 weeks and the crops are thirsty. Lawn is turning brown.

[mongocanfly]

yeah Doug....that floorpan underside looks almost as good as new....what was odd was the floorboard inside was pitted very badly...the lizardskin on the inside covered most of the pitting.....
I also was thinking of trying to save the headliner since it was original but after looking it over closely it was beyond trying to save .....so I pulled it out....now im trying to decide what to do for a headliner...I was considering fabric to match the seat but my buddy says I need to spray it with lizardskin and then paint it.....so I gotta decide what to do....im afraid the painted lizard for a headliner will look to much like a blown ceiling in a house

[mongocanfly]

with all this rain we've been getting its hard to do anything but work inside...and the humidity inside is unreal....2 min work and im soaking wet...been cleaning undercarriage parts and pieces for painting....fabbed some new lower shock mounts for the front axle....then welded em up...

[mongocanfly]

also acquired a pile of new parts....got the truck harness in from American autowire...went with the highway 15 series...got new set of shocks and steering stabilizer....still waiting on the new axle u-bolts to come in....also got all new brake parts and a new hydroboost. ..also went ahead and got new tierod ends and drag links...and a rebuilt steering box...so the steering and stopping should be in good shape once its all together and working

[rgunlock]

You've got a great build going here Greg! And building it for your dad is an amazing gesture. Sucks about the primer fiasco, but looks like that's all behind now and a lot of forward progress since. I'll be following this one.

PS. I appreciate all the advise I've gotten from you on the general forum for 73-87. A lot of us doing a lot of this for the first time and it sure helps to have folks to bounce our questions off of.

[mongocanfly]

thanks Rick. ....I'm still plugging along...just a lot of small, stuff that's not worth pictures...been working on all the frame and running gear stuff...bout got that part done....

[Advanced Design]

What about a custom steering rack? http://www.unisteer.com

[mongocanfly]

that's interesting Doug ....but all I see is for 2wds...and pricey
im waiting on a reply from ORD...maybe a 70s caddy steering box will work...it mounts inside the frame rail...if itll work that may be the remedy....maybe

[Nut Case]

Mongo

Strong work, looking grand! You might have to fab the linkage that you need to stay with the 4 X 4. Just thinking outside the box?

Keep on keepin on

NC

[mongocanfly]

well while I wait on a steering solution I hauled the chassis back to my buddies shop...when I got there and had some help I set the bed on the frame and hung a fender on it to get an idea what the beds gonna look like....

[jjzepplin]

That looks very stout. You do nice work.

[72 tigger]

Nice work- everything is looking great!

[mongocanfly]

Well I hope 3rd times a charm.....seems like alot of that lately....I just wasn't happy with the way the radio box was turning out.....sooooo.....I built another one.....I also made a new radius bending die from some 1 1/4 tube...the 1in radius just didn't look right.....the new die brought other issues...when I tried to bend the panel it would try to fold the metal rather than it follow the contour....I tried several things and nothing was working.....so as a last ditch effort I stuck 2 pieces of metal in it and bent both at the same time ....and it worked!....so I used a sacrifice piece along with my good metal and now have some nice 1 1/4 (5/8r)radius edges....I also narrowed up the size...originally I made it 10in wide and i dropped it to 8in now...I think it looks better...still have to finish the corners.....
started working on making a "dimple maker" to add the dimple thats on the front panel of a original radio box...tried it last night on a scrap piece and i think it'll work ok...still have to maker a backer for it to make it finish the ends of the dimple.....then I'll try to duplicate the louvors on the bottom panel....more on all this later...

[mongocanfly]

thanks zepp and tigger....
I really didn't want black wheels but they only come in black....they're starting to kinda grow on me the more I look at it.....
I heard from ORD today and they suggested a 88-98 gm truck steering box...it mounts inside the frame...I looked at one in the parking lot and believe that ,with the crossover steering that it'll solve my steering clearance issues...

[mongocanfly]

with the issues i was having with steering clearance and after talking to ORD ive decided to do a crossover steering....this will eliminate any tire to steering clearance issues....am going to use a 88-98 chevy truck 2wd steering box...they mount inside the frame and swing side 2 side.. so it should be perfect since this frame is 7" wider than the chevy frame...gonna wait til I get the engine set before I try mounting the gearbox
also finally got the rear fender and bumper off the other truck so ive got something else to work on now
was considering grafing the 2 fenders to make the white one with no spare tire hole but now im going to try to fix the old [bad] fender first...will get it blasted next week to see what ive got

[mongocanfly]

Not much to report....got the crossover steering kit from ord....may try to install that next week so I can get the steering squared away.....got most of the body parts in high build primer today....ran out of high build primer before i got done..the cab and 1 rear fender will have to wait til next week.....getting real close to seeing some color.....

[mongocanfly]

I feel you Jesse.....i saw where you had a tailgator...i hate those guys.....looks like a nice bird though...
last 2-3 weeks its been mid 90s, high humidity , 50% percent chance rain.....every day.....about 4hrs working on the truck and im done for the day....
doing the final sanding on most all the parts....still have a little body work left but maybe it wont be long before i see color....

[mongocanfly]

Ive been sparing yall from the grisly pics of high build and sanding,sanding,sanding....getting close to paint...still have 1 door and a fender to go....so I thought I'd work on the radio box a little and see if I could pull it off...here's a few pics of what I've done so far....1st I made a radius bending die for my homemade metal bender...it works purty dang good...made it from some 1in square tube and a piece of 1in round tube...bent up a couple pieces of metal to see how it would look...

[mongocanfly]

And here's a close fitting....hopefully I can weld it without burning it up...I'm using .22 gauge metal shelving from a old cabinet they were throwing away at work...

[mongocanfly]

Here's what I'm shooting for..the factory radios were mounted overhead like this one....

[Nut Case]

Mongo

Very impressive as usual!!!!! Looks like you're headed in the right direction.

I'm coping the photo's for my file, looks like you built the brake as well.

Thanks so much for sharing.

Keep on keepin on

NC