10 trucks.... 10 tear downs. Doesn't cost a thing.

 

Hahaha we don't know either! or mAybe its just enough distractions to continue running in circles not going anywhere, maybe its just me though?

 

this is good stuff!

 

I could handle doing some parting out, if I had the room...which I don't...

 

It's the most beautiful thing in my interior. It almost makes me want to cry!

 

Not much happened over the weekend but for motivational purposes...

Put car shaped bed together for my son, he's going to see it until the weekend when he's here though.

Started cleaning Julie and taking old wires and things out of the dash.

Chewing on the elephant one bite at a time.



Ed.

 

Julie did someone say Julie?

Huh ???

Havi....was that you?

 

LOL! Not that Julie!

I named my panel Julie even before knowing of you know who. Back in the day when they were used as police units people called them "Julia" in Mexico City. That's where the name came from.

 

Wow. Everyone's projects looks great! It also tells me that my garage is a huge mess. That's why I spent the little free time I had moving the spare engine up under my workbench as it's last home was in the bed of the truck. I then tied the canoe to the ceiling and pulled the canoe stands out (spare washer and dryer) and cleaned the over spray off of the sides of them. My wife is trying to sell the canoe stands which will free up a ton of space as it makes me actually do something with the canoe.

 

Started patching holes on the firewall, wire brushed inside cab area and repaird rust outs, started working on the damaged tranny hole . Brushed under the complete body discovered lots more rotted metal to repair. Man will it ever end!

 

I'd like to see pics of the dash extension too.

 

Got quite a bit done last friday. After that not much as my knee didn't hold up and now am down for the count again. Looks as if surgery is in my future.

I did manage to get the radiator assemby installed and all hooked up and steering column 90% installed. Cleaned and painted some brackets and dis-assembled most of the dash.





Hopefully I'll be back on my feet soon asi it isjust KILLING me not be able to work on this thing.

 

I have promised myself not to even look another potential project until my 55 leaves the shop under its own power and is a able to be driven daily. Multiple projects is the reason my 55 has collected so much dust in my shop over the 20+ years I've owned it.

To those that have posted to this thread, I've really enjoyed seeing what everyone is doing. Even if it's just sweeping the floor.

Now I just need to go and take another bite out of that elephant in the shop.

 

John, I'm interested in what you've got going on with the tilt front. I've got the Fairlane one piece front end also, but it looks like you've taken out some of the bracing that Fairlane installed on the underside. I'd really like to see more of how you're dealing with the fit.

I've spent a lot of time scratching my head on how the front will close and insure alignment of the lower fender portion that will be mounted to the cab. Any thought on how you're dealing with that. I'd like to see pics if you've made any.

 

Drew... you did look at those pictures hard !

The front doghouse was a disappointment. It didn't fit the truck at all... too wide at the cowl and too high also...

The bracing prevented any 'bending' of the shell so we removed all of it.. In fact after removing it we realized that it wasn't really glued in the right place anyway and was spreading the hood too much... It was really poorly installed with glue runs all over... not professional work at all. A couple of years ago someone else took over Fairlane and contacted me after reading my article wanting to talk about my concerns... we had several conversations and he said he would address my problems/concerns... guess the economy killed his plans... I think they went out of business after that.

We tried several approaches including sawing kerfs in the hood to 'relieve' it, which helped a lot... with some adjusting and moving around and cussing we have a reasonably good fit now... I also had to grind down the edge that sits on the cowl and lower the cowl itself to get a better fit/look.
All this is documented in the article I did.

the SS tubing brace should hold the hood to the proper shape when it's glassed in and the internals will look a lot better without all that cobbled up bracing that Fairlane had in it.

We're working on the lower fender sections now and we're having to build them up on the mounting edge to get them out to where they meet with the hood edge...and still maintain the wheel well opening and shape... I'm glad I have a body man that loves to work with fiberglass... I'd be a lost ball in high weeds !

I'm trying to document the rest of this work to add onto the article I wrote on the first part.... Hopefully when complete it will help someone who wants to do this... The ads are very misleading... it's not a weekend add on... it takes some serious fab skills to make one of these work well and look right.

the actuators bring the hood down nicely and hold it in place... I plan on some type of "hickythings" that will help hold it and prevent moving around and rubbing off paint... think of the hood bumpers/supports on modern cars. And we're considering some type of pin/socket that will align the hood to the lower fenders when closed... got some pics of some I've seen at the supernats... There are lots of solutions to different problems... the problem is no one has put them on the net where you can steal them ! you just have to walk around the shows and take pics, lay under them and ask the owners questions about how and why...

If I've got pictures or words you need let me know... I'll be glad to tell you all I know... it's a shame you can't just come over and look !

later
John