I think I got them from a company called polyperformance they are big into the Rockcrawling sport.

Yes they have all been replaced, I waited until I had a good layer of rust proofing before I sandwiched them back in.


Ok so the front fenders are done and mounted and I just came in from doing front splash pan work as well as a bit of grill mod's But those pics will have to wait until it is all mounted up.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

 

Got the grill and front sheet metal all finished up today and now I am just waiting on my new front park light assemblies and tail lights.

For the grill mod I wanted something different but not WTF different and I think this has a stock look but will make people wonder what was done. I started with 6 teeth and cut them all in half and used the upper left as the new lower right and so on. What became a challenge was that the center or farthest point out of the teeth is not in the center top to bottom if that makes sense. So when you take two half's and put them together their is now 2 peeks and a dip in the middle. So I had to split them down the center about 2" and stretch the metal to change the peek to the middle so it would flow right. Then this left me with a void that needed to be filed and I tried to make a filler piece but I could not get the ridge to stay sharp after it was curved so I ended up using tig rod as the ridge and filled the rest in. After a bit of grinding and smoothing they turned out just like I was wanting. I then filled the holes in the lower valance and bolted it all back up.

I went for the first madden voyage today and that was all of about 3 miles to the gas station but everything worked well and it rode very nice. I need to raise the shift points in the trans (in 3rd at 15 mph) but other than that I am ready for a good shake down in the morning if the rain lets up long enough.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

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Any one need lowers?

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While I had the grill apart I cleaned everything and painted what ever would not show from the front. Not trying to make it perfect but I want to stop any rust from starting until the day we tear it all down for a proper build. I cleaned and painted the head light buckets as well but left the cup that moves for adjustment plane because I felt if I painted that as well it would end up sticking to the surrounding bucket. Here are a few pics of the truck after the drive safely back at home. The first one is ride height and the second is my fair ground height.

In the morning I plan to install some seal belts I have out of a 70 chevy pick up (temp for now until I can afford a set of shoulder belts) and maybe start on the rear fender rust patches and bed mods for tire clearance. Right now when I am all the way down my tires are pushing into the bed side by about an inch so I figured I would make a nice set of wheel tubs to fix that as well as hide the notches in the bed floor from the upper suspension arms popping through.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

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You know after the dog walked past the truck it seems the truck stance got lower.

 

Yes my truck cowards to my guard dog, what a guy too do!

Kevin
LFD Inc.

 

wow can i call it a sleeper
dont judge a book by its cover

 

And boy is it ever! I went for its first real test drive yesterday (about 30+ miles) and it drove great but when you pushed on that loud pedal it sure got up and went! Most of the roads were still wet so I was easy on it but I found a few country roads that were dry and how cool it was to come to a stop and then floor it and leave good posi marks all the way into 3rd We have been getting almost 24/7 rain for the last few days but as soon as it clears up (this weekend) I will have a buddy of mine go for a ride with me and get some video. I have an appointment to get the front end aligned Thursday and I plan on working on the bed side mods today if I can get the fender bolts off.

But over all I was really happy with the performance, ride, steering and braking of the truck and it will only get better as the brakes set in and I get more miles on it so the computer gets it self all tuned in.


Kevin
LFD Inc.

 

Well with all the rain we are having right now it made for tight space to work on the 51 but even so I made some progress. Only problem is in order to get from the front to back of the truck I have to go around the shop and through the other door! I have the 51 parked in my fab area and it is a real tight fit with the tools even after pushing everything up against the walls.

So I worked on several different areas of the truck yesterday but I will brake it down in areas. First I sanded all the flaky rust off the hood in an attempt to make it look a bit better and stop that rust from becoming something I might have to fix one day. I still need to find some Olive drab green for the final touch on all the patches but this gives you the idea.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

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Next I started on the rear bed mods for my tire clearance. When it is all the way down the tire run into the bed so I decided to cut out the area and build new wheel tubs like the one shown (its for a 41 chevy) but larger to cover the side and floor hole.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

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Next came the rear drivers side fender patching.

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More fender patches. Here is a quick picture over view of a patch around a wire edge.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

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Nice work! Man I wish I lived around the block so I could pick up on your skills.

 

Well after driving it around some I was surprised to find more room in the cab than I thought their would be. So in talking with my wife I think we will leave the body bone stock and not chop, channel or section like we were thinking on doing down the road. This is good news because that means I can finish the interior and quiet this thing down a bunch. So I need to fill all the extra holes in the firewall, sand and prep the interior (all areas that get covered with interior later) and then install about 80sq feet of Dynamat. We were going to hold off on doing this because once it is installed correctly it is a real pain to get off and in order to chop and section it would all need to come out for cutting and welding.

I also need to replace the window rubber and rebuild the doors (window felts and what not). Any recommendations on a supplier for that stuff?

Kevin
LFD Inc.

 

I took my son for his first ride in his F1 today. It was loud, wet and he was very quiet for most of the ride. I also noticed he kept looking down at my feet for some reason and when I asked what he was doing he said I'm watching your feet make my truck loud! Not bad for a 2 1/2 year old, then when we got home he looked at me and said that was fun Daddy. Here I thought I was making memories for him but it turned out the other way at least for me.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

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Yeah, those are precious memories you will have forever. Those are much better memories than when he asks for the keys. Great looking work on the truck!

 

No doubt about it, you are making fond memories. Keep up the good work. I admire you work and character!