That’s really cool. Nice work. I don’t think that I’ve ever seen a bed done that way. Forgive my blasphemy, but your rendering reminds me of a Cameo. The actual fab doesn’t however.

 

Interestinng revamp of box parts indeed.
I like the choice to be creative an make it unique.
Looking forward to the end result.
Great efforts on your build, congrats - Pete

 

Thanks guys!
It will be refined as time goes by. New back panel skin, rear bumper/trailer hitch, and stainless strips on top of the bed floor, tail light lens bezels, etc.

Today's job has been in the making and planning stages for a while now. The bench seat.
Quotes to get a custom cover and new foam made me spit my coffee out.
Aftermarket replacement covers were limited on material choice and colors. Not all that cheap either. I also wanted to do some custom foam shaping to add in some side bolsters for support and additional comfort.
This is where watching hot rod shows has paid off. An electric kitchen carving knife was incredible for shaping the foam. Unbelievably easy in fact!
I used 3" thick extra firm foam for the seat bottom, and semi firm 2" thick for the back, all with heavy weight burlap to cover the springs. Another tip learned from hot rod shows on TV! Some of the leftover 2" foam was used to make the side bolsters, and glued onto the main cushion with spray adhesive. The seat cover material itself is authentic heavy-weight wool Mexican blanket in a southwest type pattern. It too was adhered to the cushions with spray adhesive to keep in place, so it won't shift and bunch up.
All in, about $250 in materials and a half day's work.
Wifey was REALLY impressed. I'm pretty happy with the result too!

 

Yes they are. Sorry for the late response, I have been moving and not had much time for the forum.

 

It's been a minute since I posted an update. Wifey and I were on a 4 week-long road trip around the US (not in the '65) logging 7800 miles.
But before that, the Ol' Furd has been up and driving around, and I was able to identify some bugs, as well as some upgrades. Stuff like the speedometer readin' about 10mph slow at 50mph.

At this time, I'm closing in on finishing up the Vintage Air AC install. All the parts came in while we were road trippin.' So after we got back and a couple days to rest up, I got into it.
It didn't take as long as I figured. While it did seem rather overwhelming at first (there is a BUNCH of parts, pieces and procedures), just taking it step by step and it all got done. I didn't get it direct from VA. Their lead time was way out there. They suggested Affordable Street Rods. I dealt with a feller named Travis, and I gotta say, that outfit is an absolute pleasure to deal with! Not many places one can say about that is this day and age.
Anyway, I still have the compressor hoses, and wire up the "trinary safety switch." This turns the electric fans on when the system pressure reaches a certain point. I'm just waiting on a 4 pin Deutch connector. The connector is under the front fender and subject to water splash. I also need to re-install the glove box door, which needs to be retro-fitted with a latch. Easy stuff.
Then it's off to find somewhere to charge the system and we're done! I'm thinkin' of leaving the front fender off for this, so any leaks can be easily found. The dryer is under there and would be a royal pain to get to with the fender on.
Next up on the "To-Do" list is swap the speedo cable gear, and make up some new flex lines in the fuel system. My door glass is finally arriving today, so I can finish the power window set-up.
While the dash was all apart, I was gonna get a two-speed wiper motor kit. Wouldn't ya know it. I shoulda bought "back when." Now it's out of stock everywhere.

 

Mikey, I have the VA and I ended up using some rare earth magnet pucks on my glove compartment door. The latch setup CA. Sends kinda stinks IMHO.
Magnets are glued to the door and hold it shut.

 

Thanks SwampRatt. The magnet idear is awesome.
I didn't like the latch set-up VA sent either. Really, the ONLY part of the kit that wasn't well engineered.
I got a standard push button latch on Amazon. I had to enlarge the **** hole, but it works like every other car that uses a push button latch.
The 4 pin weatherpac connector showed up yesterday, so I can get that buttoned up.
After some comments on the FB group, I'm just gonna buy the tools and do the system charging myself. The tools would cost the same....or less....than having someone else do it.

 

I rented the vacuum pump and gauge setup from O'Reillys. It's basically a loaner program. They charge you for the equipment, and then refund your money. The refrigerant isn't cheap, but having a shop do the work isn't either. Pretty easy to do. If the system holds a vacuum, then you have no leaks.

 

I like your truck box cut down to flat deck.
The appearance keeps your truck looking like something the factory mayhave considered.
Good work - Pete

 

I looked into that at my local O'Reilly's and they have that stuff for loan!
Thanks for that tip. Saved me a big ol' chunk o' change!
AC system install is DONE! Just have to do the system charge. Probably later this week.
Then it's time to move to the next phase.....finishing the doors. I got my driver side door glass last week finally. I've had the power window units from Nu Relic for quite a while now.
So THAT should be big fun!

 

So, kind of a funny story. Took the Ol’ Furd into the office this morning. I just put the driver side window glass in and since I haven’t gotten round to the rest of the door components yet, I just jammed it in the “up” position with a stick.

I jump in, fire it up and drive off. I get to the office and realize that I had not installed the door release lever on the inside yet. With the window jammed shut, I can’t get out!

I had to De-Stick” the window glass so I could reach out and open the door using the outside door handle.

Not all that big a deal, but as I often do, called myself a dumb-***! Out loud even!

 

I got the driver side window in, on the tracks and connected to the regulator. Kind of a work around, because the lift channel that fit on the bottom of the glass that the regulator arm connects to has been out of stock everywhere for months. Passenger side, no problem. I bought one of those quite a while ago, and studied the original. Not a whole bunch of difference aside from the position of the channel part that the roller slides into. So, I drilled out the spot welds, flipped it, spot welded it back together.....BINGO! Driver side lift channel!
For the pillar to door leads, I just used some heavy grommets I had on hand and covered the wires with the nylon braided stuff that I have on hand. All that is left is to "Switch It."
Rather than just poke it into the door wall, I'm gonna build some fancy-shmancy armrests out of MDF and put the switches into that. So combo armrest-door pull-switch panel. More on the later.
And, I got the AC system charged. All went well, but it took quite a while, as I kinda figured stuff out as I went. Rental gauge set and vacuum pump. Vacuum pump had a busted cap for the extra port on the pump. So rather than drive back to the store, I improvised with a -4AN cap. Once that was up and running, and after pulling a vacuum, it held for an hour. After that I ran the vacuum pump for another 45 minutes to completely purge the system. I had a bit of trouble getting the system to take in the coolant, but after figuring out which way the ***** were supposed to be turned, the coolant got in there.
One good thing I found out. I had the truck running for over an hour while charging the system, and it held steady temp at 190°, which is the temp fan #2 comes on. And it was hot today too.

 

Running cool under the hood and in the cab...Can't beat that!

 

Well, quite a bit of progress has been made in the last few weeks. The goal has been to get the Ol' Furd buttoned up to make it a true driver.

I finished out the doors with custom armrests I made from MDF sheet. I cut out the shape, making six for each door, then stacked and glued 'em together. Then they were covered in the same Mexican blanket material I made my seat cover from. Power window switches are pressed into the top. I made custom door release handles that tuck in behind the armrests.

Roof is done. I dug out the old seam sealer out of the drip rails, did a little rust repair, epoxy primed the roof and applied new seam sealer into the drip rails. A bit of seam sealer touch up, some high build primer, and block sanding, and then I painted the roof, same color as I used on the lower part of the dash and the wheels. Not perfect by a good stretch, but pretty dang presentable as a "5 Footer." This is NOT gonna be a show car. It will be a driver. Perfection has never been the goal.

A couple days later, I put in the back glass, onto which I put a tint film to help keep the interior a bit cooler.

A new carpet kit from ACC in maroon was installed. Very nice fit and finish on that kit!

In the meantime, I also fabbed up a new back bed panel from .050" aluminum sheet that I had on hand from another project. Steel woulda been better, but I woulda had to buy a sheet. At any rate, I recessed the license plate, and the result is pretty good. My youngest son said I should do the entire body like that so it looks like a vintage airplane. And, should I decide to remake it from steel, it'll serve as a pattern. My youngest son made up some custom "Furd" decals. I think it's funny!

I also replaced the battery, which was borrowed from my older son, with a properly sized battery. I had a belt squeel problem early on. In fact from the very first fire up. The borrowed battery was smaller, and although it held a good charge, perhaps it was part of the belt squeel problem. The belt seems to need to be tighter than I have been accustomed to. No more belt squeel, but I do have a bit of a whine that rises and falls with engine rpm. I do have some concern about the alternator bearings. That will have to be monitored, but it could be fuel pressure regulator noise from my Holley Sniper EFI system.

I drove around for about 20 or so miles this morning for the first time since having all the glass and carpet in. MUCH quieter inside! In fact the exhaust note doesn't bother me anymore. I was thinking of swapping out the turbo mufflers for Cherrybomb glasspacks, but I think I will leave it. There is some wind noise. The door seals may need some work, but maybe it's just the nature of the beast.

I also have to decide if I wanna take some leaves out of the rear springs to soften the ride some. It is a bit choppy on bumpy roads. But on good roads, the ride is acceptable. It'll come down to load carrying ability.

So far, I am pleased with the way it runs and drives. It ain't fast. Not by any means. But that suits me fine. I didn't build it to be fast. That big inline six is silky smooth and fires up easily. With the T5 trans, the motor is turning 1500 rpm at 65 mph. It also seems to be doing very well on fuel mileage. I won't have specific numbers on that till I get some more miles on it tho.

 

The interior is nearly complete. I made sun visors from 1/4" thick black plexiglass, and using the stock bracketry. I also made kick panels from pebble grained ABS sheet. I coulda just bought this stuff, but even though I've spent considerably on some aspects of this build, I am a bit of a tightwad. Beside, I like to make my own stuff when I can.
Each item completed has improved the driving experience. Now it's down to a bunch of little things to fix or finish.
Next up is the headliner and overhead console for the radio. The stock style headliner......perforated cardboard. Es no bueno! At least not for me.
I began building the framework for the rear half to get the shape from 1/4" steel tube. Like for brake or fuel lines. I'll use cardboard and masking tape to complete the shape, and then do layers of fiberglass.
I'm building an overhead console for the radio for a couple reasons. It's out of the way and there is plenty of room. My dash is original uncut virgin. I don't want to cut a hole in it. If I did, I'd have to try and get one of those period correct looking stereos. But man, have any of you looked at the pricing? Ten times what a generic stereo costs!
Anyway, I'll build the main console housing from MDF sheet, and then extend that out to the sides in fiberglass to complete the entire overhead structure.
It might take a minute or two, but I've seen 'em do it on some of those hot rod TV shows. I'll post pics as it progresses.

Interior nearly complete


Kickpanel

Rear half headliner framework

Overhead console side panel template