My glass guy got it.He gets it thru the shop he works for.He said its a universal gasket that is used on the flat windows on heavy equipment.
Got the bed on the truck for the first time today,looks pretty good for the most part,I think the bed sides need to be extended to match the cab.Tried to center the wheel arch over the rear wheel.The tail gate even fits.......for the most part. It still needs ALOT of work and cleaning,but that will come........ I think the bed being on makes the hood look a little long,I have to do somthing about that.I started to build the inner frameing until I ran out of material.I did manage to rebuild the rear cross sill though.
Got to work on the framing for the bed.I also wanted to use any space available,so I decided to build some compartments into the floor.There is quite a bit of un-used space under the floor of a truck.I started at the front of the bed,building a place to mount the battery and some storage.I will build some panels that will open,so I will be able to use the bed floor above it also. Got the gas tank mounted too.I was able to use a stock blazer replacement tank.It was pretty much a bolt-in deal,just had to add some spacers to keep itbelow the bed floor. It hangs down below the bed a little bit, so I will be making a lower pan to cover it later. I am going to add a filler neck later,so I can fill it from inside the bed.
That is one kick ass looking truck! Shop truck you say? Hell it looks like true rolling billboard for your talent. Yea...Keep us posted on the progress.
Did some more framing on the bed,and got the rear floor compartment openings framed in.Started cutting sheet metal for the actual floor.Got it set in for the first trial fit.Still need to cut the rear floor compartment and gas filler openings.Got the sheet metal cut for the front compartment door too.
Before I can build the rest of the outer floor compartments,I need to extend the bed sides to cover the trailing arms and gas tank like I want.When that is done,I will know haw far down the compartments can go.I also am going to build a rear tail pan at the same time.I am putting a recess into the pan for a license plate to mount. The previous owner had told me that there was a good amount of mud in the hood.I decide to find out how much,by the time I was done grinding ,the garage looked like a beach! I must have ground out at least 2 gallons of filler! I was quite suprised to find that he had actually welded a 1/4" rod down the center of the hood. Its like he planned on peaking the hood,but changed his mind and just filled it up flush with filler.It turns out he also accented the hood sides with rod too.
you've done this before haven't you? I'm kidding, GREAT work.....keep the pics coming, I'm getting the courage to start on my 51.
Had a small break from building,went out of town with the wife on vacation last week.Im still trying to get back into the groove of everyday life again.But,I did manage a little progress on the truck.I built the 2 drivers side outer floor compartments,and got them seam sealed.I also went and started welding up all the extra holes in the bed side Im not using.I started cleaning up the rest of the bedside sheet metal while I was at it.I sparyed some rattle can metal etch over all the bare metal.That will seal up the metal, and also let me see what things are looking like.It should keep everything intact until Im ready to do the filler work.
When I first saw this build I thought "oh boy, here we go...." but I'm really starting to dig the direction you're taking it.
First I remember the wheelbarrow firewall trick was in Rod & Custom about 35 or so years ago. Great build you have going here. Can't wait to see the grille/headlamp nacelle, assume it will built from the original grille.
When I got the bed for this project,the gate was pretty rough.It was bent up pretty good.I did what I could to beat it into a useable piece.While I was pounding on it,I flattened out the ford script on it as well. I wanted to do somthing a little different where the script would normally be.I had got this at a show a while back and planned to use it on the gate.I thought it would be kind of a cool "logo" for the shop truck. When I did a test fit,I was surprised to see that it was too wide for the raised center panel where I wanted to mount it. To fix this problem,I decided to cut the center panel loose,and move the ends out to the sides more until the wrenches fit like I want them to.When I was happy with the fit,I welded the pieces in their new location. I used some of the pieces from the bedside that I had kept when I shortened the bed to fill the gaps. With the panels all welded up,I ground and dressed the welds prepped the gate for the "logo" install. With the new "logo" installed,I cleaned up the rest of the gate on both sides and sprayed some rattle can etch on it to get a better look,and to keep the rust at bay until I can get to the filler work. I pretty happy with the results so far,but I still need to do some more work before its actually finished.
I was going to do what NRchopshop said,and repalce the top piece with a section of tubeing,but I ended up heating up the dents with a torch,then pulled them out with a stud puller while they were still hot.Heating the dents up let the metal move more than it would move cold.It still needs some filler work to be finished up. I chose they way I did because the gate had so much tension from being twisted and bent I didnt want to have to staighten eveything out again. I had to do that when I cut the raised panel,the gate twisted a bit,so I had to re-straighten,and shrink it again after I got the filler pieces welded in.
That looks incredible. I am in aww of your fab skills. I hope I can do half as well when i start my project.
Damn, you are the Man! Did you happen to make a template of the skull on the tail gate? I would love to have one of those! Excellent work on the truck, when are we going to see some more pics?
The Jalopy Journal
