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Hi Bryan
Definately a nice custom job on the tail gate handle and a perfect match to the door handles. I noticed about half way during your build you made a new dash’s. Real nice job especially the surrounds. Thought I would share a standard Aussie one and a mates customised one.
The tailgate handle is an awesome feature - but I can't recall why you're doing it.
Did you want that "shaved" look but still have access to drop the gate mechanically?
Possibly adding a locking mechanism to the exterior of the tailgate might have been an easier venture - but then we wouldn't have ended up with this awesome update
The tailgate handle is an awesome feature - but I can't recall why you're doing it.
Did you want that "shaved" look but still have access to drop the gate mechanically?
Possibly adding a locking mechanism to the exterior of the tailgate might have been an easier venture - but then we wouldn't have ended up with this awesome update
Yeah, did it all for the update
I did it mostly for the security. I thought about just adding a lock cylinder to the exterior, but then decided to go full custom. If I were to do it over again, I would have just gone with the lock cylinder to be honest.
So freaking rad. You've been told this time & time again but this thing is gorgeous! Your skill level, fabrication & ability to do it all amazes me. I wish I was able to keep mine & build it to the level you are taking this one. You have set the bar very, very high.
Wow, thanks guys! I'm all inspired now, I'll see if I can get some updates posted after the weekend. My laptop blew up, and it has all my photos on it. I did back them up, so now I just gotta see about posting them from a different computer.
Adjustable headrest (I'm 6'3" and I don't like the idea of whiplash caused by a rear-ender)
Manual adjustment (I hate power seats)
80/20 bucket seats with flip-down center console seat
They have to physically fit in the truck (i.e. width, seat height, etc.)
Took a bit, but I finally found them, 2006 Ford F150 seats. I didn't care about the color or material, as I will be recovering them in brown leather. What I found was a set of beige cloth front seats from a fresh arrival at the junk yard. Fresh arrival meaning it hasn't been sitting around getting rained on and rotten over the winter. Score! The passenger side is manual, the driver side is electric. I yanked the electric motor from the front/rear slide adjustment, but ended up keeping the front/rear seat bottom tilt control. They also have adjustable lumbar support. I ordered a set of Sparco seat sliders for manual adjustment.
Here are the seats getting outfitted for new upholstry
I definitely have to apologize here, once again I got carried away with heads-down work and neglected to take pictures of the process of fabricating the seat mounts.
The trick was to build brackets that mount the rearmost slide position far enough back for my height, but can slide forward far enough for passengers to be able to access the back seats.
Anyway, here are the completed brackets.
Driver side
Passenger side
And here is how the seats turned out. Fox Brown leather with black stitching, French seams, and diamond inserts. This is the passenger side.
how far does the seat fold toward? How is getting in the back?
how far does the seat fold toward? How is getting in the back?
Definitely not as far as I'd like, getting in the back is a bit of a pain. I want to get this truck to a point where it can be driven, then I'm going to look into modifying the seat mechanism. Hopefully it will just require grinding down or relocating a stop. Haven't looked into it yet.
Ok, that's way too long without an update, sorry. I made a bezel to cover both my transmission shifter and my transfer case shifter. I started by cutting a square of aluminum plate just big enough to cover the relocated shifter holes in the tunnel cover.
Next I made a very simple curve to follow the outside edge, leaving room for carpet thickness. I did this because the T/C shifter is so close to the edge.
Then I taped a piece of paper to the top of the tunnel cover to trace the holes to make a template.
After that, I cut the holes out and transferred the template to the aluminum plate. Then I traced out the design that I wanted for the bezel.
Here I'm starting to cut the piece out. As you could probably tell from the photo above, I misjudged the overall size and cut my aluminum plate a little too small. I had to extend the T/C portion of the bezel towards the bottom by welding on a small scrap section to it.
Here is the bezel all cut out
And here it is with the mounting holes drilled. I will then transfer these holes to the tunnel cover and install nut-serts to mount it. I will also countersink the bolt holes so that I can use flush-mounting hardware.
Here is the tunnel cover with holes transferred and nut-serts being installed.
I decided to go with a texture black on the bezel to match some of my other trim pieces, I like the way it looks. I think it will be set off nicely with polished stainless hardware.
03-30-2018, 06:07 AM
