Our season is about the same as yours but usually late april at the earliest but do run into some miserable weather through May.

I must say the older I get the more I hate winter. This truck wont be driven in the winter but I the heater will work as a defogger if I get caught in the rain.
Welded up some tabs from scraps to make cable ties, these EFI builds have a lot of wiring and these help keep them secure without drilling holes in the firewall.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps660fe60d.jpg

ECM will go behind the kick panel, just have to make a bracket to hold it in place.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...psa2d2c96e.jpg

With that done the cab can come back off for more floor work, filling the firewall holes, and rust repairs.

Hey Dave, did you figure out your gauge situation?? If not, then I can donate a set of these (just pay shipping) to the cause.

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5dpkpkii.jpg

That would be awesome, much appreciated! I will shoot you an email. :)

Got the guages and the column drop in the mail today, thank you! I am going to make a set of gauges with the factory housings and newer internals.
I have 3 feet of snow outside now around my shop, we really got hit hard last night. Tried plowing a road out to the shop and got just to it when it was too much snow to push, made a nice 6 foot high wall of snow. Then had to shovel a path through the 3 high mess! I think it is going to be April before I can even get a car out of the shop to drive!

"51Panelman" That was very cool :-drink of you to donate those Gauges :-X22 , I'm sure that is gonna look really nice with the stock Gauge housing and new internals... WOW!!!:-hair you got that much Snow... :'( Boy I'm Glad I Live in Florida :-X10 I'm sure APRIL can't get here soon enough....

Hey Dave,
That little voice over your shoulder saying - "move to Austin"..... 86 here yesterday. In the middle of July that same voice will be saying "back to New York" .....

I like your gauges - so how do you plan to clean them up?

Ben in Austin
1950 F1

This is the most snow I have seen here since 1993, and more predicted for tonight!



At this point I am considering moving south more and more, I would rather deal with running the A/C than shoveling and plowing snow. I was up on my porch roofs yesterday shoveling, there was over 2 feet of snow up there and I didnt want to leave it with more coming. I will be back in Austin in a couple weeks just as it will start warming up here and turning everything into a muddy mess. I imagine there will be flood warnings as well with all the snow piled everywhere.

I will use these gauges with some other guage parts I have, mixing and matching stuff and using some newer parts I should be able to make up some factory looking gauges but with newer internals. Speedometer will be electric to match up with the VSS from the T56. There will be pics when I do the buildup of them, for now still working on the cab when I can get time for it. Seems other stuff has been keeping me out of the shop lately.

[QUOTE=drptop70ss;14070649]This is the most snow I have seen here since 1993, and more predicted for tonight!

WOW !!! Well I hope you are prepared, because that is no joke... I Hope you have a Fireplace :-fire in case the Electric goes out.... :-X16

Holy smokes it was 50 degress today and I got a solid 90 minutes in the shop between running around with the family. Weekends are hard to get a free minute!
Front floors and console done, have to do the back floors next. Took a break from them and fixed the right front cab corner.

Rusty

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps53d506d0.jpg

More rusty

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps1122b116.jpg

Cut out

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps1886f3b4.jpg

Welded and sealed up. Not sure why there was a factory hole in the inner rocker, where it was would let water into the cab. Gone now!

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps22ea150d.jpg

Patch bent up and welded in, looks much better.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps6c157951.jpg

Cool !!!!
 

Yeah... That Definitely looks allot better :-X22 maybe that hole was done by a previous Fabricater... Who knows on these Trucks sometimes what other peaple have done :-banghead or even from Factory, and 50 degrees is better than negative degrees, I guess.... It's easy to say that from FLORIDA :-missingt Same here, Weekends are tuff for me too because the wife and kids always want to go do something else :-hair and it's hard to get Personal time in on the Restore. It's all Good Though.... :D

Hey Dave, just found your thread, thanks for the link info. In the post where you cut out the cab corner I saw all the rust inside and I'm guessing you used POR 15 to treat it. I see this issue fairly often and wondered if there was something sprayable that could be applied up inside with a long spray nozzle. Do you have any idea? Eli

No problem, that is actually just some temporary black paint, I wire brushed the area, hit it with spray primer, and sprayed it black. When the cab gets flipped over I will be welding up the bottom so that no water can get in the cab, that area goes into the kick panel area where I am mounting the PCM.
Once the cab is done the floor and inside the cab fronts and corners will be first primed and then sealed with UPOL raptor liner from the top and bottom. The raptor liner is sprayed with a gun that comes with the kit and is really easy to use. I have no doubt it will seal up everything nicely and will outlast me. I used the UPOL on my caddy floor and am sold on it.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...%20rod/197.jpg
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...%20rod/199.jpg

Yesterday got to hang out with Ben (ben73058) and Kelly (rzns60) and help out a little with Kelly's awesome 56 big window coyote powered build!
Got this pic of Bens truck, had a pic of Kelly working on his chassis but somehow it is not on my phone. Made for a good day!

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps70287640.jpg

Can anyone tell me what switches went in positions 3 and 4, I assume one was a choke cable?

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...psf33b18d9.jpg

On mine #3 is a throttle cable and #4 is the choke cable.

why a throttle cable and a gas pedal? Was there a need to lock the throttle position?
Looks like I can weld up both of those holes since they wont be needed, still undecided on using a starter button or not.

Old style cruise control

Hey Dave (drptop70ss),
Here are a couple of pics from our adventure yesterday. Kelly (rzns60) in the grey shirt & Dave (in dark shirt) did a great job of modifying & installing Kelly's nice No Limit rear sway bar. Lot's of grinding & tinkering & they got it just right.

Kelly's Coyote looks awesome!

Ben in Austin
1950 F1

Great pics from a great day, gotta love the sparks flying!
Thanks again Ben, was a lot of fun :-X22

I'm not sure on the throttle. The Cruise control comment sounds good to me. Do use it sometimes when starting and then warming the truck though.

When these trucks were new and actually used for work vehicles, they often had PTOs and even rear axle accessory drives and used generators that didn't charge much at an idle, so it was often desirable to be able to increase the steady engine RPMs plus it helped warm up the engine in cold climates, so it was not unusual for trucks to have a throttle cable on the dash.

Cool, sounds like my backhoe. Mark that one to fill along with the hundred more on the firewall, gonna need more welding wire..

Also useful in the field to follow a harvester or whatever that is filling the bed.

Cool !!!!
 

Push Button Starter... would be Very Cool :-X22

im gonna install one hidden in my 56, like them new fangled ones have ,,,,

Was going to do that, but figuring that my wife may drive this once in a while it would be better to keep it simple with a modern ignition switch on the dash. At least that is my thinking today, it may change in a few days!

Dave and Ben, Thanks a lot for the help. It was a great day, I really appreciate Ben letting me get behind the wheel of his truck for a quick spin. Dave thanks for the help on the pan hard bar, got me motivated to get moving on the truck again. Looking forward to the next visit and following Dave's build.

No problem, glad I could help! You need a build thread so I can keep track of your progress, going to be an awesome truck when completed.

Yeah if your wife may drive it, then a regular modern ignition switch on the Dash would be allot more Familiar to her than a Push button. Understood :-X22

Everything old is new again! My folks have a couple vehicles where you don't put the key in it, and there is ONLY a push button switch. Some of the new stuff just lets you keep the key fob in your pocket and senses it when it is close.

Back in NY from TX, missing that 80 degree weather. This is the snow piled up outside my garage and it is frikin cold.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...pscbc135ed.jpg

Went out for a bit and started on the left front corner, more rust.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...psc288f8bc.jpg

and more hidden rust

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...psf3415a87.jpg
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps5b1937fa.jpg

Before starting the repair I saw I could get to the lower door mount from here. It had a broken hinge bolt so this was the time to fix it.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps6afa645a.jpg

Heated it up and took it out easily with a vice grip.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps907feb5b.jpg

cleaned up and cleaned all the threads with a tap.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...psd242240b.jpg

Reinstalled and cut a patch. This was as far as I got before it was just too cold to work. Will weld it in on my next free day.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...psca23c829.jpg

I had to do the same hinge bolt extraction on one of mine. Don't know your plans, but I went to a local hardware store and got some hardened 5/16" flat head screws with allen heads instead of the stock phillips screws for the door hinges. Went in much easier and I am sure will come out much easier if needed.

Thanks, I went similar, found a seller on ebay with stainless allen head style bolts to replace the originals.

left front done

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...psab2c5132.jpg
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps1f4c9074.jpg

Man that is some crazy snow piled up outside your garage...:-arrgh Rust is always an issue and you take care of it as you go along..... The Patch looks Good...... :-X22

Cab work continues, working down the drivers side first. Rocker patches are done, time to move to the rear floors and rear cab corner. This is the worst part of the truck, rust ate through 3 layers of metal in the rear corner so lots of layers to peel back before I can even start fixing anything.
Pictures show why it is best to start with the best cab you can, this one is rough but I consider it pretty good compared to some stuff I have found for sale.

Rear floors have surface rust but some heavy pitting with a lot of pin holes, chasing them all with the welder would be a waste of time.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps1cfc12ea.jpg

First cuts that I could do from the top

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps0344aaf8.jpg

Had to move to the bottom to get to the rest of the panel.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps08acb871.jpg

Once I got a good look at it all it was obvious that I had to do not only the floor but rebuild the whole inner corner as well. All layers were rotted through and all tied together. Cab corner view from the outside

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps6d5c4bd3.jpg

Inside rocker view

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps7f4d7111.jpg

lower cab corner cut away. This is what is left of the rocker panel, panel that goes over the rocker to the cab corner, and the inner rocker to the floor.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...pse0575a8b.jpg

rusted panels cut back. Next will be to remove the inner cab mount and the rest of the rusted floor.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...psfa889f94.jpg

You guys on the west coast are missing out on this kind of fun :)

Hey Dave,
That looks like a pretty hard slog! Geez - something just ate your back corner completely - that's impressive. What are you storing up there in the rafters just behind your cab?

Looking good up there in New York - I hear you get more of the flaky stuff this week - sorry.

Ben in Austin
1950 F1

Wow, pretty hard slog is right. I'm not sure what would be harder, fixing all that rust or wading thru all that snow. Keep up the good work.

Hey Ben,
I would bet road salt ate up the cab, but could of been dirt and mud as well. Whatever did it did it right, but this nothing. Check out the bottom of this 1950 GMC cab I was going to restore and then came to my senses!

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps03ca938a.jpg

Cars visible in the air are 1970 and 1972 novas, future projects after this truck..and the other truck..and the T bucket. My first car was a nova, always liked them.


I wish rust was as easy to get rid of as the snow. But in the end the cab will be good to go, just takes some work.