The new transmission cross member is made! Hoping to get it in tomorrow night and then bolt the motor in! Don't worry I will be painting it prior to installation. Talked with my father in-law about doing the sheet metal or wiring first. Came to the conclusion its best to start wiring prior to the sheet metal going back on. So this weekend will be removing the rat's nest under the dash and getting it ready for the new wiring harness.
Painted & installed the new transmission cross member. Finally have the motor sitting where it needs to be and the mounts marked so they can be drilled. Going to be pulling the motor & transmission out to properly drills these. Hoping by the end of the week the cherry picker will be removed. Pulled the gauge cluster out and the old rat nest wiring harness. Cleaning up under the dash to prime it and install the new wiring harness. Thinking I will get my mechanic to do the wiring, not the biggest fan of wiring. Primed the inner door panels. Following up with the upholsterer today for the seat to be re-foamed and covered.
FINALLY, the motor & transmission are in! Took a lot longer than I originally thought but its finally done, no more cherry picker or jack holding them up! Mocked up the rad support last night and set the rad in place. Should have plenty of clearance. Noticed when I unpacked the rad it has some fins slightly bent, shouldn't be an issue. Going to get the carburetor, distributor mounted and get ready for wiring. Made the decision to get my mechanic to do all the wiring and first fire up. I'm not to confident with wiring, so this will be a safer bet! The light at the end of the tunnel is getting a little closer!
Tinkered away again last night. Cleaned up some trim from the interior that was painted over. It wasn't in the greatest of shape so I scuffed it up to make it look like brushed steel. Primed our inner fender, still working on the other to get the nasty under coating off it. Was also toying with the exhaust layout. Hopefully what I have in mind will work!
Worked a little more last night. Have the carb installed, need to get a new throttle linkage & work on the choke cable. Started to paint our inner fenders last night as well as the shift linkage & distributor retaining bracket. Also I dug out the two Colt 45 rounds I found in the old seat that was in the truck. I got both rounds disarmed and I plan on using one for the end of the turn signal arm & the other will possibly be on the key chain.
Had another decent weekend working away on the truck. Have the pulleys now mounted, all new brake lines, mounted the rad, installed the cowl lace and filled the rear end with fluids. Also rolled it outside so I could fully sweep out the shop. That was the first time since last October its been outside! Probably won't make it back out until spring but at least then it will be running.......................I hope.
It has been a little while since I have worked on the truck. I has been wired for the most part need to finalize a couple items. Install my new Lokar Radical 32 shifter last night and removed the old column shifter. Hoping in the new year to have more time now that the snow is here.
Finalized the fuel lines, pressure regulator & fuel pressure gauge this weekend. Also installed the replacement front fenders and did a little body work. The roof originally had a seam so I welded it and I am smoothing it out with bondo. Also welded some hole in on the door from after market mirror. It is slowly coming back together!
Did a lot of sanding last night on the first layer of bondo and put another thin layer on. Hopefully this will be the final layer. Will be back to sanding tonight, that should be it for body work! Having a tough time finding the body trim for a long box, anyone out there have this or know where I can find it?
A bit late to the party, but you want to sand the paint back a ways beyond where the bondo is going. Give it better bite to stick with
Did some more sanding the other night, still have some imperfections that I need to work on still. Slowly coming along. I know its not perfect.
Have the body fill close to being complete. Also started sanding some rough patches in the old paint on the box & cab. Also made some door handles out of 11/16" wrenches.
some unsuspecting passenger is going to lay their arm on that wrench and unlatch the door at the worst time.
Had another productive Saturday in the shop. Front end panels are slowly going back on after some persuasion. The bottom stone guard was a royal pain, it was all twisted and dented. Didn't really noticed this when I tore the truck apart originally. Re-hung the front fenders as they had to be removed for the lower stone guard. I got the old manual choke to work with the new carburetor, swapped the old cable hold down off the original 2 barrel. Cut the hole in the trans hump for the new floor shift and put it back in place. Have an idea for the shifter boot using a Crown Royal bag, just need to figure out the boot ring. Also starting working on the steering column, little slack in it.
It has been a while since I have last posted on my progress. Its gone a little slower than I would have liked but that's life. I have ran the trans cooler lines from my new Lentech AOD to the Griffin Rad. Put the serpentine belt on, will need to fine tune this once I have the truck timed. Pulled the whole front end off again to sand blast the parts and started to epoxy prime them in the makeshift paint area. Have done a lot of wet sanding to smooth out rough areas & prep for primer. I know it may not be perfect but that is quite alright with me for now. Couple years down the road once I have some money saved it will get a proper paint job.
I didn't notice before... where did your alternator bracket come from? neat setup, down low out of sight
I ordered my whole pulley system from March Performance. You can build your own kit on there website.
Primed a couple more items this weekend. Also have the truck timed and will be finishing up the wiring under the hood. Just dropped off the hood & tail gate to be sand blasted this morning. Hopefully over the weekend the front end priming will be completed and ready for assembly next week. My personal deadline is fast approaching, need to start burning the late night oil.
Made more progress last night. Moved our coil from the passenger side to the driver side. Found the passenger side was getting a little too busy. Made the spark plug wires and ran them, need to clean up the layout for them. Getting close to firing it!! Finalized my custom shift, I am hoping it will not hit the windshield. Note those are fake brass knuckles. Topped up the engine with the Lucas Hot Rod motor oil. Need to finish smoothing the old paint and then we will be priming!
We got our hood and tailgate back from sand blasting and priming. Couple more war wounds that expected but oh well more character. Ran the heater hoses tonight, surprising how much of a pain this was! Can't wait to fire the motor and hear the lumpy cam I put in it. Did some more sanding as well. Need to clean it now and get all the dust off and ready to taping off. Hopefully this weekend it will get primed!
This weekend we cleaned the shop and hung plastic sheeting for priming the truck. Clean all the dust off the truck outside and prepped the body three times with cleaner. Taped it all off and laid the first coat on late Saturday.
Coming along well. If you pop the door handles, wiper mounts and tail lights off youll be amazed at how much easier it is to sand around them! Wont take long to remove them. And what a catch having a woman who helps out in the shop!
We have put the truck back together for the most part this weekend and I dropped it off yesterday to have the wiring finished. Should have it back tomorrow and I will arrange for the glass to be installed & finish up under the hood.
Well last night was the first time in almost 2 years our truck started! It was only brief but it ran!! Still need a couple more items to get and finalize. I have arranged for the exhaust work to be done and will contact the glass & interior folks today. https://www.instagram.com/p/BTXq6xlAwmN1Cd9omLJkoDgyF4_0n43cr3dmiM0/?taken-by=milvertonff41
The Jalopy Journal
