When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Not too much to report. I dropped off the upper valence and radiator saddle to the powdercoater. They seem to love taking my money lol.
Picked up the radiator from the shop. They did an amazing job! Radiator was boiled out, seam was repaired, the cleaned up the fins, and painted it. It looks much better in person than the picture gives it credit for
Its possible that within the next 2 weeks, I could have a whole NEW front end, minus the outer fenders. Hoping it goes together easy. They are talking about upper 90s and humid here tomorrow, so I doubt much will get done.
Parts are in from the powder coater! Hopefully if the weather breaks here, I can start getting parts put back on!
Upper Valence:
Radiator Saddle:
Transmission cover with NEW gas pedal:
Got up early this morning, slept on the couch bc the puppies were laying in bed with the wife and looked too cute to move. It has been a gorgeous morning, low humidity and temp. I decided to finally make some progress on the truck. I used a scraper to get all the grease, dirt, oil, etc off of the exposed portion of frame on my front end. Then followed all of the steps to properly apply the POR-15. This is my first time personally using POR-15, but I have read all about it, and believe it will be perfect for my needs. As I write this, I have finished applying the first coat, and waiting the 2-6 hours before applying my 2nd coat.
Scraped down and lightly hit with a flap disc:
Hooray, the VIN is a match!
Degreaser doing its thing!
Etching primer drying:
1st Coat of POR-15:
Before Vs After:
I know it stands for Paint Over Rust, but it should be renamed POOR-15, since it is such expensive paint. O well, hopefully it outlasts the truck!
This morning I realized that todays Mets game was a 1 OClock start, not 7, so I spent the afternoon at the ballpark. It was a little warm, but otherwise perfect weather in the shade for a ballgame. I am completely fed up with their anemic offense. It is pathetic, and I have been calling for them to fire the hitting coach Kevin Long all season. UGH. I digress.
I picked up some fresh hardware for upcoming jobs. Some nice grade 8 hardware for the cab to frame mounts. Those should last the life of the truck.
Also picked up some stainless hardware for the hood latches and transmission cover.
Upper Valance after being powdercoated, latches were sandblasted and painted, and all new stainless hardware with anti-seize. My wife says it looks "nice"
It's been all hands on deck this weekend! My mom and wife even helped out, can you even believe it?!? Got the passenger side of the firewall, and the metal under where the driver's floor pan is going all POR15'd up. Under the floor pan didn't come out great, but once the new pan is welded in, Noone will know. The firewall came out great tho!
Nasty firewall
Firewall looking 1000x better!
Inner fender and air deflector back on. Starting to look like a truck again
Old vs new
A lot has happened since my last update. Not all have pictures yet. Got the drivers side front clip off, and POR15'd the frame and firewall there. I also used some fiberglass cloth and POR15 to create the shape needed for the metal under the hibeam switch. It needs a few more coats of paint, but it is coming out great! All new plugs and wires installed.
My dads mig welder was having a bunch of issues, but luckily, my buddy Keith came by with his to save the day! He welded in the drivers side floor pan for us. Also, pulled, sandblasted, and painted the valve cover. Unfortunately, I accidentally ordered the push rod cover gasket, whoops. We still fired the truck up for the first time since pulling the front end apart, and it sounds way better than before! It felt great to make all this progress over the last week. Also, got the drivers side inner fender and air deflector on.
Drivers side pre-POR15:
Drivers side post POR15:
Fiberglass cloth with POR15:
Starting to fit the floor pan:
Keith doing his thing!
Over the next week or 2, I want to get the floor of the cab done in POR15, install lap belts, reinstall the bench seat, and reinstall the steering wheel.
Unfortunately, the upcoming weather forecast looks HOT, so I dont know if I will be able to get all of that done. Also, I have a few things going on this upcoming weekend. I am speaking to a guy a few hours away that has brand new fiberglass front fenders for sale for $300. I think I want to get them and sell my rusted up original fenders for the time being. Down the road, if I come across the right set of steel fenders, I can switch back.
Another hot weekend, but with a patio umbrella, fan, cooling towels, and a lot of breaks, we got a lot of work done! The old welder was giving us a problem, and a guy in my dad's building had a barely used Millermatic 135 with a tank of gas for $200. All set up, this thing is freaking sweet
We were able to finish up the floor pan, fill in the old master cylinder access hole, and install a locking 8"x8" master cylinder access door.
We were able to remove the old passenger side cab mounts. The bolt disintegrated with maybe 5-10 lbs of force lol. Not much was holding the cab there! New rubbers and grade 8 hardware and she is sitting pretty. Doors are closing better too.
Got some new firewall grommets and cleaned up/wrapped up some of the wiring in the engine compartment.
Started putting on the new front fiberglass fenders. Not thrilled with them, but they look 10x better than my old ones. We were about to bolt up the new lower valance, but ran out of hardware, then started to rain.
07-22-2016, 07:25 PM
