Projects New Shop Truck

For Sure Chuck! Mikey and I have played cars together since we were little kids. Choo Choo Trains first but then we quickly transitioned into the HotRod deal. And yeah he builds a mean car. One of the best "Car Weeks" of my life was spent in his shop building my '32 chassis with him.. The 2 of us worked so fast and so well together we both had a blast! The chassis popped right outta the jig and was PERFECT... Gotta love that!

More news soon,

Robert M.

 

Wow, congratulations on the hood. The diff also looks clean and nice. And my oh my that yeller bucket is nice!

 

Robbie, that cast color is so close to raw Magnesium

 

That's gonna be too nice to be a shop truck if you're not careful

 

Man I hope not! Well we'll see...

I just called a Soda Blast Guy to see if they might be able to do my new hood and possibly the inner fender panels at the same time. Apparently these guys can do this shit right on site and it's a real clean deal. I would love it if they could just mask off the fenders and shoot the panels right in place. I don't want to take all that front end sheet metal apart if I don't have too. It would be swell to just do it all at once and then I can shoot the primer and black paint right back on. The hood is going to be a touch more tricky because I need to get the paint house to make a possible match for this faded red paint. We will see how that works....

It's almost time to blow the whistle here at work so I can blast home and get crack'n on this for the night.

More news soon,

Robert M.

 

looks like you are off & running-great start-hope all goes well and keep the updates coming

 

Some random shit was wrapped up last night inside the shop because of rain yet again here in CA yesterday.... It was cold as hell last night and I wasn't about to sit out there and freeze while assembling the rear brakes.. Sunny and 70 today however so work can continue.

Last night I wanted to tie up some loose ends and clean the shop up a touch. I did manage to install, inspect, and adjust the shift linkage. 1st thru 4th is never really and issue with these hurst shifters but that pesky reverse needs to be just right! It took just a few turns on the little adjuster to line things up perfectly. So this is officially ready to go in the truck this week once the engine is dialed in. The nice thing is that I have had oil in this for a week now and no leaks so far.... Hopefully it stays this way.



Next up to bat was the dash panel. I noticed that the temp gauge was dangling inside the unit but thankfully the truck came with a new temp/amp gauge set. So I pulled the whole thing apart and cleaned it really well. Installed the new gauge set and then buttoned it back up using a new shinny chrome bezel. These little dash units are super sweet! They do have little cardboard tubes with a thin green lens on them for the turn indicators. You need to look at these and rotate them such that the light will shine thru an un disturbed section of the lens. Mine had been used for so long that they had actually burned right thru the coloring and were basically white. They should be nice and bright now just as they should be... Here's some pics:




Here it is all done and ready to install.... Love that Chrome!!!



Until next time,

Robert M.

 

HELL YEAH!!!! I'm back on 4 wheels!!!! 41 days since the start of the project and the rear wheels went on tonight. Yeah I had to do the brakes first and that was a treat... But they are good to go and the tires are all on the ground.

Pics:

A little grease on the wear surfaces...


Then jam all this shit together.... Notice the self adjuster mechanism now installed. I don't really like how the spring is retained at the top but I'm sure it will be fine. Here is the done deal:


Then on goes the tires and off the stands we go!!! It's going to sit just right. Need a bit of weight in the front, which will come from the SBC next week. But otherwise its golden.



Tonight was also the night to receive the wiring harness... I gave it about an hour of thinking before I tucked it away. I need to sleep on the exact mounting location and general routing procedure. I love it however and think it will be a great improvement over the stock deal. Here is Max with his new toy!



Finally tonight I tore back into the motor after getting yet another fucked set of lifters.... I'm not going to go into that in detail but I will say I'm less then happy with aftermarket parts folks right now.... I re checked all the bores and did a clean up hone to 0.8440" Yes the 4th decimal place is important.... lifters need to run at 0.0015" to 0.002" clearance. I'm now set for 0.0015" on the number... tore the whole damn thing apart this evening and then honed, checked, cleaned the lifter bores and surrounding areas... Then jammed the crank back in. This will be buttoned back up by the end of the week.





Well after that I'm done and tired... My cold PBR is treating me right tonight and I need to hit the hay. More news tomorrow...

Cheers,

Robert M.

 

More Work!!!!

Not a bunch but the key thing is to keep moving right? The truck came with brand new shocks for all 4 corners but when I went to use them it seemed like somebody sold this guy the wrong deal. The rears were perfect for the front and the fronts are perfect for??? I'm not sure. So I headed over to the parts house and picked up a set from a 1960's era chevy truck for the back. They seemed about right with the closed and open measurements to work. Painted up all that and bolted them on. I couldn't just leave them the stock colors..... So thats all done and good at this point.

I still need to make the rear brake line that spans the rear-end housing as well as tie in the rear circuit to the prop valve but it seems like by the time I get around to that its too late in the evening which means its too dark outside. Hopefully these will get done tonight and maybe just maybe I will get the brakes wrapped up.




Last night however I was determined to do my prep work on the cab floor and get the rust situation under control. Getting this done plus prepping and giving the firewall backside a good coat of paint is really key right now. There is a ton of shit thats about to go down inside the cab and all of this dirty work needs to be done. I have finally stripped the remaining bit from the firewall like the heater assy and all the old firewall pad. Wire brushed the entire thing plus vacuumed like 300 times to just get all the loose stuff outta there.



Next comes the magic product.... POR-15. Lots of good words on here about this so what the hell??? I'll try it. There is one spot that is rusted really bad in the corner but the remaining parts are really just heavy surface rust. Regardless I want to stop this in its tracks and get some form of unity on the floor. I have a complete sound deadening kit for this that needs to be in here and it requires a clean surface to stick to.



I wish I had some additional pics of the progress but I have been going kinda fast and have missed a few here and there..... The last thing that was messed with last night is truly understanding what's going on with this wiring harness. I now know.... And I'm ready.... I laid the thing out and started to divvy up who goes where. I think I have determined all the routes I'm going to take and its just a matter of getting the panel mounted and then sending the spaghetti on its way. AH HA! Can't mount the damn panel until the firewall is done!!! Hence all the nasty shit mentioned above. Here's my rats nest:



Ok.... More news soon.

Robert M.

 

WOW.... Just put the first coat on the floor of the true POR-15 top coat... I'm a fan... Nice Shit! I turned the heater on in the cab at 5:00 this morning and let things get up to temp and happy. I just blasted out there and brushed on the first coat and I'm nothing but impressed. Really looks good and was already laying flat for me. Maybe one more coat before heading to work. We'll see. If not lunch time.

 

GO MAN GO! I like your comment about it may not be much but you need to keep going - great advice I need to use more as when I have done that you seem to keep going more. Keep up the great work and pace as you're inspiring me and I am sure others too. Great thread.

 

I've been working on my last quick together 2 years next month. But I have an excuse; just give me a minute I think . . .

That one looks pretty smooth the way it comes, but from the pile it looks like it should look even better.

If it runs like it looks it'll be a rrrreal winner. Love that body style.

Keep us posted.

OH I don't know what your final plans are but I think I wouldn't do much on the top side but wax it.

Damn I didn't realize how long this thread was before I posted.
Did a quick scroll through looks like your quick together is going along like one of mine. But what you're doing looks good.

I don't know what you have been using for lifters but I have good luck with Erson Lifters over the last 10 years or so. The day of going to the autoparts and just buying a set of lifters is long gone isn't it.

 

Thanks Much!

Yeah I tell ya the one thing that rings true with any project is that you just need to KEEP GOING..... I come home after work and for the past week or so I have been super frustrated by the BS I have been having with the new motor for this truck. I want so BAD to have the engine done and painted but I just can't seem to get there with all of the crap I have been dealing with. Now, If I let that really get to me I would probably be way behind schedule but I try like hell to just go onto the next thing. So far so good. The motor issues are now behind me, I think, and it really should be in the frame by Sunday afternoon.

One thing that I like to do when I have a entire day to work on the truck is to figure out the night before 3 or 4 things that could get done at the same time. So in the morning after I jack myself on the Cup-O-Joe I head out and get after it. I will set one thing up at the end of the driveway for paint and then another maybe in the shop. The truck is in between these 2 locations so I can bounce around and hit several projects at once. After I knock out those main things I save 1 more little thing for the evening that isn't so intense.... Plus I sit and stare at shit for about an hour to plan my next move.

Obsessive Compulsive???? Probably so.... But she's get'n done...

I forgot to mention that I scrapped and cleaned the underside of the cab last night as well and finished applying my fresh undercoating to the floor.

Race home at lunch today to 2nd coat the POR-15 and then get ready for what comes next!

Cheers,

Robert M.

 

Looking great, dude! I'm building the same truck, so I appreciate everything you're doing. Looks great, keep posting.

 

Mr. PorknBeaner!

Thanks much! Yeah its going at a good clip for sure! I am on day 44 right now of what is looking like a 60 day build. Now mind you there will be plenty of little things to dick with after the 60 days but the point would be to have the truck back in running condition and be reliable enough to drive daily. I think I'm gonna make it....

I almost finished the brake lines tonight. One more little section in the AM and then we'll bleed um. I also stuffed the entire short block back together tonight now that the right lifters from Crower are here. Unless something really weird happens in the next 2 days that engine tranny combo will be in and bolted down. And if I can drill a few holes and string some wire to the rear I might just get the bed back on by Sunday night.

Pure ORGASM if that happens... Wish me luck...

No pics tonight.... I have them but I'm tired and I'm drink'n a PBR...

I'll post goodies tomorrow for sure.

Good Night,

Robert M.

 

Okay... So this weekend has turned out OK but our schedules got all screwed up and I've been on Daddy Duty all weekend. The wife had to work her stores all weekend. So it slows me down a bit. But early mornings and late nights help you catch up.

The engine has been the main focus over the past few days... I am happy to report that its almost ready to go back in. Here's some pics of the fresh unit:



All the little shit that mast be painted and detailed then bolted on... Water pump, fuel pump, yadda yadda....



I also completely finished the brake lines on Saturday. My wife and I will bleed them tonight. All I gotta say is don't buy a cheap fuck'n flare tool. I got a solid one finally from NAPA and life is good. I had all kinds of little weeps and shit here and there. The other treat was the front brake lines. They look the same but they are slightly different on one side vs the other. Well that makes it so the copper washer doesn't completely get crushed! Brake fluid everywhere!!!! So I annealed the washers again and flipped the hoses over. MUCH better..

Here's the lines over the rear end, they only took me 2.5 hours.... Did I mention I HATE BRAKE LINES.... Well they are done... So chin up!!



I've got the first part of a solid pedal so I think bleeding will go pretty good tonight.

I also took advantage of the nice weather to do a little gucci work to the bed. I wanted to black out the underside of the fenders and make everything look super nice. So I shot some rust killer primer on the bad surface rust areas underneath and then used 3M undercoat to cover the entire thing. These pictures suck but I will confirm to you boys that it looks FUCK'n great! The bed is ready to go on as soon as I can get a few more things off the list on the main truck.





Last night I wanted to slow down a touch and I polished the dash. It shined up really well and After the stock radio goes in I think it will look killer. I also polished the doors and changed out all the screws to new Stainless ones. Very snazzy...

Here's a few pics of that as well:




Hopefully one more update tonight...

BACK TO WORK!!!!

 

that is going to be one hell of a shop truck when you are done.

 

wow, you dont muck around. this is going to be very nice.

 

Looks like it is going to be one nice ride.

 

Great work, I just spent the last half hour getting caught up. Great motivation.

 

Oh Boy Oh Boy....

Will this Damn Rain ever stop???? I'm sad that the motor is not in the chassis yet but also thankful at the same time that its not! It rained like a cow piss'n on a flat rock here yesterday. UGHHHHHH......

So take advantage of that rain and wash the cab of all its old funky grunge! I did just that and now its ready for the Wifey Poo to polish it all up. I went ahead and dick'ed around inside the shop last night doing last minute tinkering with the motor. All the little dumb shit like, adjusting valves, oil filer on, priming the oil pump, yadda yadda... I think it's ready to come off the stand tonight and get the clutch/bell housing/ tranny bolted up. "I think..."

But better keep it out of the frame until thursday because there is another rain storm on the way! This has been a weird year for the weather.

So I zipped home really quick today at lunch and was able to shoot the inside of the front fenders to match the bed. These pics will show the contrast a little better... This will look so pro once they are on the truck. I love blacked out wheel wells!





Sunday night we made out first full attempt at bleeding the brakes. That's always a hoot... So the front brake lines that go to the calipers are just slightly non symmetrical.... Why does this matter? Well when they go on the wrong way the line actually hits the caliper and cocks a little. This makes it so you don't get an even load on the soft copper washer and WHAMO! Big Leak. OK, anneal the washers and flip them around. Try it again and one side is fine but the other still leaks. AH well thats because the end of the hose is made ever so slightly too big to fit into the round recess area on the caliper. So when this gets tightened up it bottoms out a little on the end and yet again does not crush the washer completely. Out comes the grinder and we are back in business. No leaks up there any more. There is a few little weeps still coming from down on the prop valve but I'm not totally sure whats going on there. Either I have shitty flares still or the backing nut is bottoming out the threads before properly crushing the cone into place. I'll look again here shortly. Key part is my helper... Her she is in the main seat waiting to push that pedal. Nothing like a glass of Pinot to go with bleeding your brakes.



Otherwise there is nothing else to really show pictures of right now... Trust me that I'm work'n me ARSE off but I feel like nothing is really getting done!!!! PRAY FOR SUNSHINE AND A MIRACLE.... I NEED BOTH.

Cheers,

Robert M.

 

Rob,

The fender wells look awesome! Can't wait to see the stance!

 

TERD my MAN....

You should see them in person! I finished the rears like I posted on Sunday and about lost my mind... It is such a simple little trick but it looks beyond cool.

I'm thinking about taking Friday and Monday off to really rock the house on this thing.... We'll see what pans out.

~Robert M.

 

What did you use on the fender wells? Undercoat? I tried some Napa undercoat, a few weeks later and it still isn't dry! Your fenders look great.

 

nice job so far. It's been raining cats and dogs here as well. Have you got that thing wired up yet?

 

Looks good. Glad to see you are keeping it a manual instead of going to an automatic trans. I'm planning on making my '59 a manual again.

 

Mr. Pabst,

I used the 3M stuff that comes in a can. Interesting part is that I first bought some when I built my '68 truck and it came in a white can. I ran out of that and got some new 3M stuff from NAPA. Well that was a green can. Ran out again and went back to the main paint shop to get more. RED can.... Who knows.... But it's all 3M and all can colors have been lovely. I ment to take a picture of the can but I forgot. Easy enough to go get some.

Hope this helps.

~Robert M.

 

The wiring is about to commence... I couldn't sleep last night so I hit the shop at 3:30 this morning. I finished the final details on the motor and took it off the stand.



I will bolt up all the remaining shit tonight like, flywheel, bell housing tranny etc.... Here is the final shots of the motor prep stuff... I painted the ram horns VHT Flat white for that perfect mid 60's look. SO DAMN COOL.... It took the entire can of paint to shoot these last night. About 4 coats. I then baked them on top of the BBQ for about 30min. After they cooled from that I then transfered them inside the BBQ and cooked them a touch higher for 20 mins more. THey will get their final cure on the motor. Hopefully it will work well.



The engine needed its oil system primed and for that I was lucky to borrow a sweet system from my local engine builder. This pressure pot gets about 3 qts of oil poured in and then you charge it up with 80 to 100psi of air. Hook the line into the oil sending unit port and then kick the valve open. In just 5 mins the entire oil system was rammed full of oil and it actually pushed all the way up thru the rocker arms. I rotated the engine 1 time to ensure it went thru all the holes and then I was done.



Next don't forget you super Zinc Additive.... Otherwise you get a flat cam ASAP....



The final piece was setting the rough timing and dropping in the distributor. This Pertronix unit doesn't have any indication as to where the magnets are at to accurately locate the point in which it trips the sensor. "Like opening the points" So I took a wrench and moved it around until I saw it snap to the center hub. I marked each one and then went about lining things up. I put the engine at about 12 degrees BTDC and then lined up the magnet mark with the pick-up. I know it's not perfect but I'll bet its right on for firing up without any BS.



After that I finished up my mounting scheme for the fuse panel. I wanted it to be tucked up in the driver side corner because the wiring bundles seem to fall naturally into the right places. But the Rebel Kit needs to be spaced off the sheet metal a touch for clearance on the back side for the wires. I took a few chunks of alum that were about 3/4" x 1" and ran them under the 3 fuse block modules. I wanted to mount all 3 of the fuse block sections solidly so I laid out the blocks and popped 3 holes in each. The outside holes were drilled all the way thru the block and serve as my mount holes for the entire deal. After this was drilled and tapped I keyed the whole thing off of an existing hole in the firewall and then marked/drilled the remaining holes. Now the alum blocks are mounted up solid to the inside of the firewall and once I finish tucking the firewall pad in and around these I will reinstall the panel and start routing the wires accordingly. This wiring harness is such a slick way to go... Same thing with a painless etc. but once you pick that magic spot for the panel it's pretty much Blow And Go at that point. It seems like the hardest part is just keeping things happy and pretty as you are making your way from the panel out to the various destinations.

Oh yes and of course the tricky little part about solving some of the original switch mysteries and how they work with the rebel harness..... Mr. 1959apache gets the gold star for that one.

In the past I have painfully tried to route my wires as tight as I possibly can and have made it damn near impossible for taking things back apart again due to wire lengths being EXACTLY what they need to be. I'm not doing that this time. I promise it will be clean but I'm not going to go APE SHIT on the thing. Think GENTLE CURVES this time around.... Only makes for a bitch later on if something needs to be accessed or changed. Here's a pic of the beginning.... I will clean this up... Promise...



More news soon,

Robert M.

 

Ah.... I almost forgot... One more pic for a little tease. I got the steering wheel last night. The Bell 17" from SoCal SpeedShop. I thought this would just be the thing for a touch of custom detail on this thing. Still big like the stocker but total cool HotRod shit. This is about to be my view each day when I drive to work....

 

Looking good man. This is going to be a neat truck..

Do you have pictures of how you mounted your fuse panel? I need to figure out how I'm going to mount mine.. I picked up the Rebel 9+3 kit for my 63