Projects My Apache...

Yeah man, its like ive been trying to bust ass and get shit rollin. But right now everything is still 15 different colors and welds and bare metal all over. The cold weather is killing me and it just doesnt look like a truck yet. In my mind i know i only have a few more things to do, and then its mockup and then primer,filler and paint soon after. So its really not much longer before everything will start to look awesome, but for now it sucks. I want this thing painted by summer........

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Also, as far as patches go, the lower pillar hinge patch i got was awesome. Fit great. I still need to finish the actual inner and outer pockets on both sides, hopefully they fit as well as the lower pillar. Im not sure why your hinge is sticking. Maybe something is bent slightly causing a jerky movement. Where did you get youre hinge components to rebuild em ? Howd you like the parts ?

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Well, truth be told I'm one of those guys who buys something long before he needs it, puts it away, goes to find it months or years later and can't, so then I buy it again...or worse, I forget I bought it (once or even twice) and then find multiples of the same thing when I'm not even looking. Sooo, short answer, the hinge bushings and pins came from either Jim's Chevrolet in Sacramento CA, or Golden State pickup parts, or Impala Bobs. As far as quality, they're all fine. Some of them had LONG pins that I had to shorten once they were installed, but that's no biggie.

As far as paint goes, I kinda screwed myself about 6 months ago when I decided on a pearl color and painted a few things that color because now I can't paint the truck in pieces, I have to paint it as one complete unit. I really don't have the space to do that. If I had to do all the bodywork and preserve the first piece all the way through until the last piece was ready to paint, the first piece would get contaminated or begin to rust again. I didn't think this through very well and I'm kicking myself now. Not sure how to backtrack, or if I even want to at this point. I may drive it like it is for a few years and tear it back down once I have the financial resources to have someone else paint it the right way. - I may also just paint each new piece of sheetmetal I buy right when it arrives with the same flat olive drab green...that way it's ready to scuff and repaint when I get to the point f shooting the pearl color.

Just keep pluggin away...the way things have looked so far, your truck is going to be bitchin.

 

Well, on all counts, I'm glad I'm not the only one. I do that exact same shit.

 

Lol, i think all gearheads have hoarding issues. I still have misc cummins parts in my shop, random jeep pieces, shit from my 54 ford. Just random parts all over lol. I cant believe im saying this, but i cant wait to do bodywork. Im sick of seeing shit in 10 different colors. I want a full painted truck again!!!!

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Yeah, I give you ten hours of bodywork before you're wishing you were done with bodywork...

On a different note, I need a decent welder really damn bad, or even one I can borrow for a few hours to knock a few things out. I'm TIRED of needing equipment that I don't have and/or can't afford.

 

That miller i bought was a hard bullet to bite. Really hard. But its been worth it no doubt. Absolutely awesome machine. Id let ya borrow it but were quite a ways a way. I think we need to get a bunch of guys on here in the middle of our truck builds and meet down at the lsr one year when were all finished. Ive been dying to get there

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Agreed. That would be fun.

I'd let you borrow mine too, but again you are a little farther away.

 

I've got a Lincoln 140 that is a great little buzz box. Hooked up to an argon mix gas with the right wire and anyone can weld with it. Plus, you can usually find tools like this used and in great shape. Hell, we picked this one up from a welder that was upgrading his machine at home and sold us this one that was still like new for $250. That came with the cart, extra wire, and an auto darkening helmet. It sure makes the metal work a lot easier than if I had to call on someone to bring their machine over and weld things up for me.

I can relate on feeling that I want to do body work. After a few hours of sanding, I'll realize exactly how stupid my initial thoughts were. But, it's one of those jobs you have to suck up and get through it if you want the truck to be done. Another 4 hours of work on the truck and I'll be ready to start hanging the front clip and mounting the bed and then the sanding will commence

 

Man I love that gold motor...Such a great color for engines. I really love the white pulleys those would look killer with the frog mouths painted white inside. Either way those frog mouths are pretty killer!

 

So, I found out that your seat is a 1960-66 chevy truck seat. They are the same style and shape, but they moved to almost a "S" shaped spring on the bottom in the mid 60's. It removed the metal seat pan and the costly amount of springs in the stock 55 to 59 seat springs. Your seat lasted longer and was less prone to fail, btw. So that is good news.

The reason I know this is that I am getting a '64 Chevy Fleetside and I looked under the seat and did some research. I am going to pick it up this weekend.

 

Thats cool, terd ferguson mentioned something about those seats a while back. Never really researched em tho. Is the new truck gonna be your daily ?

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Yes it will be my daily. Since I need something to haul stuff around in and I don't drive since I work down the street it will be perfect

 

Sweet dude, post pics when you get it.

I started the seat mount. I used some black pipe i had layin around. Basic idea, the seat will sit on this and you can see the little tabs it will bolt to. I will make the seat risers and floor mounts tomorrow and finish weld and grind everything.....

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And im serious fellas, anyone down to hit the lsr next year ? I think itd be a blast

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Lsr?

 

Lonestar roundup

 

Tejas huh? Long drive for me, but could be a cool time.

 

Same. I need to get mine tuned in first and highway worthy.

 

I thought you meant Land Speed Record, as in Bonneville!

 

Id be up for Bonneville without a second thought!! Let's make THAT the destination...who's in?

Bonneville Salt Flats - Speed Week 2013 or bust....

 

Id love to hit bonneville... But Thats a solid 2500 miles for me lol. Buzz me and you probly have a similar drive to texas. Id love to run down with the truck next year. Theres a group of guys outta jersey and delaware tht drive down to the roundup.....

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Well i got the brackets welded on the seat mount frame..... Was gonna finish the risers and floor mounts but my buddies ended comin down to shoot the breeze so i didnt get much else done. Heres a pic of the brackets welded on

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Your fabbing looks great. Dumb question but do those tabs bolt direct to the floor or will there be some kind of stand-offs? I was wondering if a stack of thick rubber engine mount type washers would give you adjustability AND provide a little extra "cush" for the tush!

 

Thanks dude, What you see there will bolt to the bottom of the seat, i need to make some risers and make the actual floor mounts next....

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Small update. Ive been slacking ass on finishing fab. This weekend was a total wash with st pattys, but i did get a brake pedal finally and i found a set of the classic instruments gauges that i wanted, listed from a private seller. They are brand new in the box never used and the best part is i saved over 200 bucks on them!!!!! I need to make the engine turned aluminum gauge panel now...

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Have a few green beers there buddy? LOL, I'm enjoying my second pint of Fat Tire right now...it's kinda late, but I figure better late than never. Besides, ANY time is a good time for a cold one.

I spent about 15 hrs on the green machine this weekend. Got some stuff done, left more work for myself with welds that need grinding, but what the hell...it's a project, right? If I finish it before I'm 50 I'll throw a party and invite you all for my famous pulled pork sandwiches and BBQ ribs.

Hey, maybe we can fire up the grill in Texas...

 

Haha, i had enough guinness this weekend to hold me over for a while lol. gotta represent my heritage right man ! Hahaa, and hell yeah dude we need to fire up some bbq down in texas next year. I think itd be cool as hell to meet dudes from cross country. Hopefully the truck will be worthy of the trip. 3x2 rochesters, bias plys, and no radio will probably get old for 1300 miles each way lol. I dont wanna wimp out and trailer it tho......

Saxman, any word on that door yet ?

And chaddilac, did you have the shifter on your muncie at some point? I tried to bolt it up and nothing lined up at all...... ?

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I'm trying to go back and find where you explained your issue with the Muncie. What kind of shifter are you trying to bolt up? Is it a Hurst?

 

Hey guys. Here's the deal on the door.

I finally got it hung on the truck yesterday. It's actually not too bad from what I can see so far. It fits the hole pretty good, at least as good as an original, which is usually not that great. I had to take a 2x4 and put a little bend in the top of the window frame so that it would fit the cab better. I'll probably have to weld a bead or two down the edge to get the gaps just right but I would expect that on almost any door. I've never found an original door that fits the hole exactly either, so I'm not discouraged about that.

The original interior door panel seems to fit with all the holes lining up.

I haven't fit the internals for the window or the latches yet so I don't know how well that stuff fits.

It looks like I will have to do some minor work where there are some marks where a couple of welds were ground down. Also, the top edge of the stamping just below the wind wing will have to be worked a bit. It is not perfectly smooth.

Inside the door, at the bottom, it is just bare steel so I will have to get in there with something to coat it.

Overall the fit seems to be good. I can definitely work with it and it's way better than the original door I had, as far as the amount of work it would have taken to make it right.

Now, the thing that bothers me most is, come to find out, the damned thing is made in Taiwan. When I saw that I thought "this thing is not going to fit for shit" but it's actually pretty good. The Taiwan thing still bugs me though.