I can't wait either.
Makes me want to drive back up right now and get it goin'.
You can be sure that I'll be bugging him to start his build thread.

 

I could also pack a couple of Go Pro's for the great POV shots! 3 Cam shoot.

 

That would be great to watch my new '79 front end work through the rough.
I'm thinkin' this summer we need to put together a gathering of the faithful up on the hill.
Lots of trails, fishing lakes and all around good terrain. Take a couple of days to really explore with maybe one camp night. You know, circle the "wagons".
Whaddya think?

 

You can count me in!

 

2x... I'll clear your way so Mother Nature doesn't leave her pinstripes on that gorgeous paint job. I'll mount my GoPro to face rearwards for shots of your rig!

Fishing! Camping! ... and I recall hearing something about turkeys and deer. Who says no one hunts with an AR-15?

 

Sounds like TWO trips to me

 

I am looking forward to the build thread as well.

As far as the HVAC box, here's what I did. I had 2 boxes and used the better box and the thicker cover. Because both boxes were cracked at the bottom and you can see where I had to fix the cover I had. I straightened, welded the back side, and flap wheeled it smooth. Then I made an aluminum spreader plate out of an old truck toolbox I had.

 

EXACTLY
Nice piece Ted.
My brother has a water jet so I was thinking that would be the way to do it.
Did you do yours on a band saw?
Also gives us chrome freaks more surface area to do that voodoo that we do.
Love the painted raised areas.

 

Well, I'm glad you like it, but I am kind of hack compared to your stuff
I didn't want to see the cut marks on the cover, but such is life. I dressed it up with Rustoleum Hammered black and a Krylon Silver Leafing pen

As far as cutting aluminum, I have found that a jig saw with a metal cutting blade, a small amount of WD40 and medium speed will just cut it like butter. Skip the WD40 and you will start practicing your vocabulary

 

Oh, you placed the spreader on the cover to hide/help the repairs to it?
In my case I'm thinking of placing it on the plastic side to spread the load on the plastic of the HVAC case. ( BTW thanks for reminding me of the easy way to refer to the case- HVAC)

Wow, you gots *****
That's an awful thin piece, congrats.
And you don't give yourself enough credit. I'm a fan.

 

No, you have it right. It goes behind the plastic to sandwich it(the plastic) between the aluminum and the steel "snail" cover. It might be a little thin but it does a good job of spreading out the load.

Why do I you say I have *****? Because of how it necks down near the AC hose inputs, or because the aluminum itself is just thin gauge? It really cuts easy if you lube it

Thanks for the compliment. I think I do a good job, but I do everything budget instead of spending the $$. I would love to, just get cold feet when the time comes to actually shell out the dough

 

Just because of the physics involved in a small/long piece of metal, supporting it and making a good cut with the motion of a jigsaw. It's not that easy to do well, but you did a real nice job.

 

Haha! I'm a Jedi knight with the hand held tools. You ought to see me with a grinder and a cutoff wheel. You couldn't do better with a Ginsu slicing ham

(All this is actually just code for "I'm too cheap to buy real tools and parts")

 

Hah.
I feel you there.
But if I had some more room I might be able to convince myself.

 

Nice job.I just read through the whole build.Hats off to you.