I think the last time I bought paint was when I was painting my Mustang, that had to be 2013 or 2014. I always went to the place in Smithfield next to Smithfield Chicken & BBQ, now you got me thinking about whether it was a Carquest or a NAPA. They had all the factory books to look up paint codes and could mix it up in Omni brand. I have never been to the guy in Benson, is this the NAPA on Main Street right near the railroad tracks?

I looked at color chips online last night and convinced myself the most likely culprit is "Medium Regatta Blue Poly".

Hey good info on that wiring I am happy to hear that. I'm not looking forward to tackling the wiring, but you just made THAT job a lot easier!

 

Yes that is the place in Benson, by the tracks on main st.
I was there today to order 2 cans of SEM red for the inside for my truck and was shocked they had it in stock.
They asked how the truck was coming along and told them it was out side. The 2 desk guys loved it, the girl & her son that mixed the paint were not there so will need to swig by so she can see it.

That blue sounds right and is what I believe all the other trucks are done in.

On the wiring in the blue truck I would not even spend any time with it.
You can pull that dash and wiring out as a whole. Do the same on the white parts truck and swap it into the blue one.
I did just this on mine and it worked great.
You will kill 2 birds at once, good wiring and the blue dash assy, in a blue truck not that red stuff.
The only thing I see needing to do with the wiring is for the motor is maybe extend or shorten some wires, oil & temp, as the IGN wires should be ok.
The speed control part will also come over too when done this way.

When you pull the 300 motor don't cut any of the wires and try and mark them, maybe keep the ALT as that should fit the 302 and all the charge wiring should match up.
When time comes to pull the dashes give me a call and I will come by to help if I can. Again I think it was easy when I did mine.
Dash and wiring from parts truck and how it went back into mine.

I left that rear cross member to replace the bent one you have in the bed.
Dave ----

 

Started out the weekend by doing oil change and tire rotation on both my truck, and the wifes car.

I did a little work on Ol' Blue this weekend, but once again it was cut short due to finding .ore broken stuff.... seems to be the story of my life lately. I did get the new rocker arm studs installed, but found I had a cracked pushrod guide plate, probably wouldn't of been a problem, but I'm not taking any more chances.



So I switched to working on the four wheeler, the front wheel bearings needed to be changed on it so I stripped it down to change those. Needless to say the old bearing were shot.... they're 1 piece bearings and the left side came out in 5 pieces.





I got the suspension pretty much back together, I just need to get some new rubber spacers for the top of the struts, and 2 new tie rods.

 

Dave, my wife told you stopped by and dropped off that crossmember, thank you very much. It looks like yours is bent in the same location mine is, so I am guessing it is formed that way. But since yours is so much cleaner and nicer than mine, I'm just gonna bolt it up anyway

Man I would appreciate that very much and will definitely take you up on the offer. What day or days of the week work best for you? I'd like to find a time when I can get my son-in-law over as well, he's got a strong back and good eyes so I was planning to put him to work on anything that required laying down on the floorboard staring up under the dash!

 

Dave and John: This working together is what FTE is all about. Truckers helping each other. I know members in other States do it but seems to be more so in NC. "Hat's off" to both of you and to all NC members.

 

Thanks George if we cant help each other then why be on the forum right?

John, I did not look that close at either cross member.
I was thinking if you were to use mine being all pretty like it would make the rest of the frame look bad and more work for you to make the frame look pretty LOL

As for time 99% of the time my Saturday's & most of Sunday's are free. Work may give me a SaturdayLP load to run but I never know to where till late Friday.
Because it's been warm LP is a little slow and why I was by yesterday. I also try and start at 2am and depending on the number of loads & where to I am done early like today and 2 loads.
If you need a hand during the week text or call me as I may be home, like now, chilling.

I would say get the bed taken care of first then we can swap the insides around. Nothing like having 2 or 3 things going on at once with a bunch of help for the project to go bad.
.
When is the motor & trans being pulled on the parts truck?
If it is before we do the inside swap I can swing by and mark & disconnect the wiring, etc. so someone knows where it goes back to LOL
I also don't know when they may put me back on cement and that starts later, 5am most of the time and can run up to 5pm, then the drive home from Apex.
So during the week is kind of out but cement hardly ever runs on weekends.

Another reason it took 4 years to get my truck done, never knew when I was working or for how late.
Dave ----

 

Dave I will try to arrange for a Sunday then, my son-in-law always has Sundays off, but often has to work Saturdays depending on whether they ended the week behind vs all-caught-up. I will definitely disconnect and mark all the wiring from the parts truck prior. I keep a stack of tags out in my shop for this exact purpose!

George I agree. When the other Dave (NC Heavy Metal) was in the forums more we got together at his place once to install a front mount cargo carrier onto his Excursion. And he came by my place another time to do some welding, trying to frame up a box that could be finished off for "vacuum forming". I don't know how that ever turned out!

 

Last payday Friday, I was out & about and ran into Dave at Harbor Freight. Today, I was out & about and ran into Ed at Home Depot. He is hoping to bring something special to the next dinner, but that was all he would tell me. No further hints!

I visited Metal Supermarkets today and wasn't too happy. First, I didn't like how they are set up. All you can do is walk into the small entrance and order what you need at the counter. At Dillon you order from the counter also, but they have a large showroom that has some tools & gloves etc, and on the wall is a large display of the different metals they have. I remember one time I went there to buy metal to use as a grill grate, and I knew what I wanted, but I didn't know the name of it, and I wouldn't know the correct thickness to say even if I did. But seeing it on the wall and holding it in my hand, I was able to go to the counter and say "I want 9 gauge expanded steel". Second, Metal Supermarket didn't have what I needed available. It seems like you tell them what you want, and they tell you when they will have it ready. I asked for 1-1/2 inch angle iron 14 gauge, and she said the thinnest they have is 1/8. They could make what I need by bending 3-inch flat stock on the brake, and it would be a 20 foot piece. I said I'd need it cut down, so basically, for $100 I could have the angle iron - on Tuesday of next week! That being said, I went to Agri-Supply, Home Depot, and Lowes, and none of them have angle iron less than 1/8th either. Checking online, that seems to be the thinnest of the pre-made common sizes. I just want to repair the lip of the bed, and Dave & I talked about it, just butting a piece of up to the side and welding it in, but in the front sections on both sides, it's rusty enough that I really need to go up at least an inch to get to good metal. So maybe I will just cut some flat metal out of my scraps and bend a lip up on it. Obviously that won't look as clean and straight as angle iron from the factory.


This bugger represents about 1-1/2 hours of work to remove! Don't you love trying to get off rusted carriage bolts? *note* That timeframe also includes unbolting the front crossmember from the bedsides, which was at least half of the time I spent out there on my back getting WD-40 on my face and rust in my eyes.

 

Try www.npdlink.com I didn't see anything like for an 86 bed. But, for my 54 they list a lip that goes over the bed wood at the rear. If that would work.
https://www.npdlink.com/product/end-...1954&year=1954

 

Hmmm, that would be easy to modify for my use. But I wish it said what gauge steel it was.

 

I'm surprised that a good sheet metal shop didn't have 14 ga in stock

 

They had 14 gauge 3 inch flat sheet, but I guess it takes 2 business days to bend it into 90 degree angle iron and cut it into a manageable size!

 

John, I have a home made brake, the bend is not crisp but does bend sheet metal about 2 feet long IIRC


I was going to say start spraying the radiator support bolts, seat bolts and seatbelt bolts over the next few weeks and hope come time to pull them they wont fight us to hard.
I did that on both my truck weeks before I was going to even give it a try and they came off pretty easily for me.
Dave ----

 

I stopped by today but you were resting.
On the bed you are making progress and looks good.
I think I know what you have planed for the rear most cross member and think it will work out good.

That 2nd from back cross member that has the clamp on it does not go there, move it forward to the next set of holes in the frame.
There is nothing in that area as the rear tank would be in the way to get to any of the bed bolts.

Guess you are still working out the front cross member and how to bolt the steps back on to it or are you going new as you talked about?
With out stepping on your toes would like to get together to see what your game plan is for this project so I might be of more help.
I am around this weekend till about 4pm Sunday
Dave ----

 

Hi Dave, I would love to use your homemade bending brake. I'll cut what I need (it's around 17 inches) and then come by your place to bend it.

The rib where I have the clamp, actually there is a brace that goes across there, it ties the board and strips together, but not does mount to the frame at all. However for what I'm doing, it's a good place to hold up the back of the bed while I work on the rear brace, and I went ahead & put some 3/8 bolts through it into the frame.

Regarding the front, I went ahead and ordered that piece from NPD. With tax and shipping I paid $120. Considering the headache it would be to try to duplicate it while the bed is on the truck I think it's money well spent!

Sorry that I missed you, I have to work tonight so I laid down for a nap earlier.