bannerd

Well, I ended up welding panels in and I warped the driver side bed about 1/4 inch in a 6 inch diameter. Leveled it with evercoat filler, didn't want to but I would like the truck bed to look somewhat decent. The bed is pretty much done for..the more I get into it the more I'm finding cancer all over the place. Layed some primer on the bed last night and it's drying this morning. Also got the seat in last night, ended up buying some seat covers "tweed" which I really loved the dark grey look.

Question, what size hose goes to the heating core? 5/16? Been all over local here and no one has the hoses I need.

mknittle

If you mean the hose that goes from the engine to the firewall it's 5/8.
Welding sheet metal is more like spot welding sheet metal. you have to move around a lot. when you are done welding it looks like well organized seagull crap.

thrashingcows

And double check your vacuum controlled heater valve. I had a couple original units, but all of them, including the one on the crewcab, were toast. They functioned properly...but they did not shut off the water flow.

You can test them very easily....just pucker up and blow. Then push the lever in the opposite direction and try again. If you can blow through in each direction the valve is toast.

bannerd

I don't have one of those thingy majiggies. I'll have to go to napa and source one.

Mknittle: Yeah.. I moved around quite a bit. I guess you have to cool it with air before you keep moving around.

bannerd

To paint or not to paint, that is the question!?



Well, after chewing my nails for two days (I didn't want to). I decided to herculiner the truck bed on the outside. I finally got the truck on the road and took it fishing. Caught a perch and a small mouth, missed a large pike. Loading the boat and gear I scratch the paint job around the wheel wells. I like to use the tire to get to things in the truck bed and out. I'm thinking about painting over it, it will have the rough texture and protection. I measured it out on both sides where it seems to be accident prone area. Family, wife, they all side load there. I honestly hit it a few times loading wood in the back. The top part I will leave black. I have badges that will go in the front, old 80's badges that really make this truck pop out. They seems to off set the entire truck with the black undercoating like that. The chrome ram heads and black outline it makes the truck look very unique. As you can tell I'm stuck. I will up some photo's tonight with the badges on. Thanks all, lots of more work to do. I need to take some photos of her, maybe I can do that this week. Lots of good comments and a ton of offers on the truck, don't mind the windows sticker (NO, my truck is not for sale) . I really got sick of it and Geno's hooked me up.

Let me know what you guys think. I will put better photos up tonight/tomorrow.

bannerd

Here is a quick look on the interior, still need to put the door moldings in but this is the theme;

mknittle

Sounds interesting. I couldn't get the link to open though.

bannerd

working now?

bannerd

Truck is finally complete! The rest will be minor touch ups but I'll post those when I get to it. What do you all think? I need to weld the tail gate as the tube steel has had it. I will post more photos of the old dodge when I figure out the canon rebel.

bannerd

I've been fabricating my front bumper so that it will hold a cable and maybe some loop rings. I also would like to make the rear bumper to make the truck more rigid. Right now the front and rear bumper are the originals and are rusting really bad on the inside. I did paint them but I'm sure it won't last long. The hardest stuff is behind me.. body work takes such a long time but driving this truck again is worth it. Turns a lot of heads, the truck bed liner on the sides came out better than I thought. I used hercu-liner on the top rails of the bed and around the bed wheel tubs(keeps the wife from dropping wood and denting things).

Other than that this truck is complete! The last thing I need to do is weld the frame where the fuel cell is. Maybe this Christmas the wife will get me a plasma cutter!

mknittle

"(keeps the wife from dropping wood and denting things)". sounds familiar.
I still am having problems with the pictures probably this computer though.

A plasma cutter really makes things nice. you can rip trough a bunch of material in a hurry.

bannerd

Strange, I thought it was my hosting provider but I can view the pictures from other locations fine. Must be your computer

thrashingcows

Trucks looking good...whole new lease on life now. Congrats on getting it done, and back on the road.

Mike L

WOW, after reading all 11 pages of this thread I am exhausted. Dude, you really rock! What a huge effort you put into it. The end result looks fantastic! A really, really good job! Can you post up some more pics of your product?

Cheers!

Mike

bannerd

Truck is torn apart now. I'm doing some more modifications to it! We went on a small journey to pickup a Christmas tree. My wife was sitting in the passenger seat when the heater core decided to get a large leak. After spraying all over and her screaming I lost about two gallons of coolant. Ended up taking one hose and just looping it until we made it home. So the HVAC unit is pretty much torn out of it. This summer I plan on installing the OX locker in the front axle and then a ARB in the rear. I also have a ton of yukon stuff that I need to get installed. Axle work.. I hate doing that work!

I'll get some pics up tonight, I need to take her out, she's been sitting for a few weeks now.

Daughter is growing up really fast, nothing like working three jobs!