Updates on the Supertruck

[oldraven]

It's time for a new update, now that something's getting done.

I took the day off work yesterday to get something done on the truck. Working two hours a night doesn't get you anywhere. Though I'm stuck at work writing this on a saturday now.

Anyway, I got the frame cleaned up and undercoated,





& the cloth seat in for the old vinyl.




The bumper and lower splash apron have been removed from the parts truck, and the apron is painted in the right colour with chrome re-attached. Both are ready to go on, as soon as I line up the front fender mounting holes to stock location. The p.o. rear-ended someone plenty hard, and this stuff is all messed up, but nothing I can't straighten up enough for winter.




The 383 is painted and in, though the propane hasn't been installed yet, so I haven't fired it up.




The cab corners are bought and ready to be welded in, as soon as the inners are patched up. The steel is cut for the patch as well. Should be done soon.



And finally, I painted the front of the box, so when it goes together and gets painted, you won't be able to tell it's not original.

It was nice to have a day where you can see productivity. It's getting really close now. Starting to look like something.

[1972C10]

An engine that has been run on propane sure does last forever. I used to work out on a farm we had a 16' flatbed dumptruck had a 350 that had been run on propane Clean engine and it had some miles on it too.

[oldraven]

Yeah, I know. No carbon buildup. And this one was rebuilt at the time of the conversion, and has hardly any miles on it since rebuild. I'm pretty happy with the way everything worked out. I'm just not expecting that old timex rear to last very long. :P

[Russell]

Adam -- Thats some sweet progess!! What did you use to do the frame up with? I saw you had most of the surface rust taken off, so can I assume that you used POR15?

[oldraven]

Just asphault undercoating, in a spray can. I got it at Canadian Tire, along with the paint for the body. Three cans to do everything, from two feet under the cab and back. (I'll do front end when I don't have to do it on my back out side, like with the rest of it) It's a ***** of a job, I was scrubbing soap into my mouth to get the paint out. Couldn't use varsol there.

[oldraven]

Like I said in my last post, I got the front of the box painted.



Klause finished the cab corners.



And I got most of the front end back together. I know the grille is crooked, I need to get some proper nuts and bolts to mount it. But you get the idea. I'm not really bringing anything new to the table, just cleaning the thing up. If I find I don't like the blue grille, when I redo everything in the spring I'll go chrome again.

[cliffsta]

Hey tell me about upholdstering that seat. You just hook the velour upholdstry with the hooks or did you have to stick it to the seat? I'm looking at going from vinyl (currently hiding under a nice seat cover) to velour.

[oldraven]

No, sorry. I got the whole cloth seat out of the parts truck. It was hidden under a failing seat cover. So it's still factory original.

Oh, I got my Chevy-Duty catalogue in the mail a few days ago. I see a lot is going to be getting done in the spring. A guy could live off this catalogue, esspecially in places where rust runs rampant, which is where this truck is headed.