Popular Post _Matt Posted February 17, 2017 Author Popular Post Share Posted February 17, 2017 Got the cab back from sandblasting. Has also been etch primed. They did a very good job of it. Patch panels for the right hand side floor should be here in the next week or two. Made up a plate to replace the door hinge captive nuts that were turning. Plug welded it in. Pic for thread because these updates aren't that exciting and so I don't forget how cool this will look once it's done. 37 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post _Matt Posted February 24, 2017 Author Popular Post Share Posted February 24, 2017 Finished this patch Made a start on the exhaust and realised I have a problem with it fitting between the crossmembers. It's going to have to be made of lots of different sections with a heap of flanges, otherwise it won't be able to be removedĀ or fitted. It's fairly tight just to get the x-flow bit in. Might be better if I put the x-flow underneath, so then that whole section to the headers can be one piece and just drop straight down to remove. Only problem with doing that will make the exhaust sit very close to the ground, but should be fine as it won't be as low as the running boards. Will run a resonator on either side in the middle and hopefully those sections can be slid out the back if there's a flange just before the diff kick-up. 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post _Matt Posted February 26, 2017 Author Popular Post Share Posted February 26, 2017 Done a little bit more. Tried the x-flow underneath but there wasn't really enough room. Move it back to here and looks pretty good. Can be dropped out from here as well. Resonators go somewhere around here. Ran out of stuff to do on the exhaust since I don't have the pipe or flanges yet, so went and filled in some more holes in the floor. 20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post _Matt Posted March 4, 2017 Author Popular Post Share Posted March 4, 2017 Went out to buy some resonators, realised how overpriced for how simple they are, so decided to make my own. Rolled up some perforated sheet, wrapped in stainless steel woolĀ and fibreglass strand. Will probably make another couple to put in behind the diff, which hopefully will make it reasonably quiet. It's a real shame no-one is going to see underneath here once it's done. 35 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post _Matt Posted March 11, 2017 Author Popular Post Share Posted March 11, 2017 Got just a few flanges laser cut. Got most of the exhaust tacked together. Couldn't pull out the part with the resonators so they're going to need a couple more flanges welded on either side. Looks so good though! Will it need any flexi's up the front? I'm thinking it will be mounted at the front of the resonators and at the back where the shock mounting bar is with some quite stiff rubber mounts. A package finally arrived from America. New floor panels! 24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post _Matt Posted April 3, 2017 Author Popular Post Share Posted April 3, 2017 Longest exhaust build ever!Ā What a stupid idea it was to design it like this haha. So far has 5 pairs of flanges on each side if you include the ones at the end of the headers. Will have another pair after the diff as well. Got some flexi's and welded them in, as well as the rest of it. Need to put the tray back on now and see where the rest of the exhaustĀ can run out the back. Made some mounts, after making them incorrectly to start with. Had the rubber hanging under tension where-as it should be compressing, otherwise it would most likely tear the rubber in half. Also made some gussets for the 4 link brackets since they didn't quite look strong enough. Might make some to tie in the other side as well. Need to make a start on the fuel tank soon. Any recommendations on an in-tank fuel pump to use? Don't really know much about them, 255LPH should be enough? Tank will be about 220mm deep if that matters. 18 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post _Matt Posted April 9, 2017 Author Popular Post Share Posted April 9, 2017 Got the tray and cab back on. Plenty of room for the exhaust to go out betweenĀ the chassis rails and guards. The cab was sitting slightly on the driveshaft hoop, so cut a hole and made a patch. Then cut a big hole in the floor! 35 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post _Matt Posted April 15, 2017 Author Popular Post Share Posted April 15, 2017 Done the floor patch, just need to do the bit up the side and then there's a few little patches of rust, where the top of the guards bolt to the cab on both sides and a pin hole in the rear cab corner. That'll hopefully be all the rust in the cab done, then I can start on the transmission tunnel. 30 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post _Matt Posted May 3, 2017 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 3, 2017 Nearly done the transmission tunnel. This piece of the firewall has always annoyed me by how it isn't symmetrical, so cut it out and fixed that.Ā Just need to do something with the little hole on either side where the tunnel, floor and firewall meet. Also built the fuel tank. Drew it up in Solidworks and then lasercut it. Added a couple of baffles that located and slotted into the top. Here it's fully welded, will give it a polish or something one day. The big flange is for the pump, the smaller one is for a sender unit and the small holes are for the return line and breather. I think it's just under 60 litres. Now to figure out how to mount it. 40 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post _Matt Posted May 22, 2017 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 22, 2017 Finished another patch of rust. Hate trying to do them when you can't get in behind with a dolly, makes it difficult. Made up some strap sort of things to mount the fuel tank. Spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to mount it and decided that adding another bar between the chassis rails was the best. The straps pull the tank up against the top brackets, should hopefully hold it in place well enough. Made up a aluminium tray to mount the air tank and compressor in. Being able to draw stuff up in cad, program it, laser cut and use a CNC press-brake is pretty great! It's pretty tight but fits. Will swap the tank to the back as the tank will look better being visible through those holes than the compressor. I'm sure I'll paint it black so it's a bit more subtle. Got the rest of the exhaust tacked together as well. Not sure if I'll change where it exits, because at the moment it sort of comes out between the tailgate and bumper or just leave it as is. I think the whole exhaust has 10-12 u-bends in it now haha. 38 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post _Matt Posted June 6, 2017 Author Popular Post Share Posted June 6, 2017 Made some brackets to mount the valves. For some reason the holes ended up too far out so had to slot them a little. They're held in with countersunk screws so it's all still flush underneath (not that anyone will be able to see underneath anyway haha). Played around a bit with the location for a while and decided this was the best. Wasn't really enough room for the compressor to fit in between. Will mount a compressor on each side of the bed, just above the exhaust area. Back to fitting and fixing the rust in the dash now. Cut out the good/un-butchered section of the dash that some idiot tried fitting a commodore cluster in. Glad to finally throw this shit out! Pic for motivation 52 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post _Matt Posted June 13, 2017 Author Popular Post Share Posted June 13, 2017 Haven't done much more to the dash apart from fit it into the cab, as I am undecided how to approach the rusty holes under the gauges yet, a bit too many complex shapes! My Dad had a 55 Chevy steering column laying around, so we started to mock it up. The shaft out of that column had been welded in multiple places so we found another column that had a mint shaft and it was also longer so didn't need an extra universal joint added. The outer tube of the column was pretty average, had lots of extra holes, cutouts and had been shortened, so drew a new one up in Solidworks and got it put through the Tube laser at work. It's now made from 2 inch stainless tube. 39 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post _Matt Posted June 25, 2017 Author Popular Post Share Posted June 25, 2017 Had to make another steering column tube since the first one was too long and the spline didn't stick out from the end. Also made the slot for the shifter longer so it has more gear selection. Laser cut a mount out of 12mm Ali for the steering column, needs a little bit ground out of the main mounting hole as it's a bit small and the triangles could also be polished more. Have also polished the shifter/indicator part of the column, looks heaps better than the silver paint. The steering columns going to be the flashest part of the whole truck haha. Done a bit more to the dash, has come out really well, very happy with it. Wasn't sure how well this would turn out, but so far it's turned out mint. Can't really see from the photos but I also fixed the left gauge surround, as it was terribly deformed, the front face was flared out a bit/not flat and out of round so the gauges didn't fit. It's pretty good now, just has a small rust hole that needs fixing. Not looking forward to welding it as there's so much! 23 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post _Matt Posted July 9, 2017 Author Popular Post Share Posted July 9, 2017 The dash now has all the rust fixed, really happy with how it turned out. Took maybe close to 10 hours to justĀ weld it all up though. Should only need bog in a few places, the rest a few coats of primer will fill nicely. 31 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post _Matt Posted July 30, 2017 Author Popular Post Share Posted July 30, 2017 Nothing too exciting has happened, just lots of little things, hence why there hasn't been many updates, but I thought I'd better do one before I get too many more photos. Rust killed and painted the back of the dash today. I'm tempted to weld it in to the cab but I know that I will regret it when I need to fit the wiper motor, heater etc behind it. Pressed the holes in on the airbag tray, looks heaps better! Needed to weld some box section behind it as it warped quite abit. I'm thinking I might paint it with some black crinkle paint. Had the certifier come and have a look at how to mount the seat belts, since the upper back of the cab is a thin double skin. Came to the conclusion that we needed to slide in and weld some plates in behind the skin and door frame.Ā Hard to see in the photos but the inner skin has quite a weird shape to it; curves outĀ and then back in and around to the rear window. It also slants down at an angle, so that's where these brackets come in. Took awhile to figure out how to make them as I started off trying to shape them to fit the curved profile but that was a fail, then realised that they could just be flat plate at the two angles. Drilled some holes, hoped they were in the right place. The plates fit through a gap up by the headlining. I could only just fit my hand in there, caused a lot of pain trying to get them fitting right. They were perfectly in the right place so plug welded them in. Also another two plugs above and below the nut. Scored a handbrake for a few dollars from the vintage car club Cleaned it up and cut some holes in the floor Because the dash has been swapped from LHD to RHD there wasn't any holes in the firewall for the support brackets. Instead of drilling holes and having some horrible looking threads and nuts sticking through, I made up a mount and shorted the bracket to suit. Need to do the same on the other side now. Welded in the cowl vent pivot/gutter thing as well. Gave it all some decent coats of paint so hopefully it doesn't rust again. Put the rubber seal in but it's too thickĀ and hard so the vent sits a little high, will have to sort a new sealĀ one day. 34 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post _Matt Posted August 13, 2017 Author Popular Post Share Posted August 13, 2017 Exhaust is finally all finished fab wise. Got around to doing the rear most mounts. It's pretty rigid now and hopefully shouldn't hit anywhere as there's some quite close clearances. Pulled the cabĀ off again to do some stuff. Started by scraping off the remainder of underseal, that took quite a few hours. Then finally got around to finishing the trans tunnel. Made the holes in the corners bigger so some patches could be welded in and then just gave all the welds a sand to tidy them up. No idea why the firewall rusts so quickly where the etch primer has been sanded off. Nothing else seems to rust much.Ā Crappy primer maybe? Will sand it all back to metal one day anyway and use some better stuff. Fixed the rust holes in the rear cab corners. It's in pretty good condition compared to most! Seemed to be missing some photos of those rust repairs but it's all done now. Whilst the cab was off it was a good opportunity to pull off the shackles that mount the back of the cab to the chassis and give them a tidy up with new bushes. Pretty surprised at how well they've survived, the shafts that the rubber bushes go over were still shiny steel! Gave everything a sandblast and then sanded off all the edges so they're a bit nicer. They made some cool looking sparks! They're all painted now, photos to come soon. 28 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post _Matt Posted September 3, 2017 Author Popular Post Share Posted September 3, 2017 Redone the gusset on the front end because I wasn't happy with how it looked, should be much stronger now. Made a start on the handbrake linkage thing. Used some $2.50 block bearings from aliexpress, as I was not keen on paying over $100 for two in NZ that weren't even the right size (needed 12mm ID ones and apparently 12mm is a very uncommon bearing size) so would of had to sleeve 20mm ones to fit. The china ones seem decent enough for what they're being used for. My dad had an aluminiumĀ air bag tank that he was planning on using for another car, but it fits this perfectly apart from the mounts being on the back instead of the bottom. So might buy it off him, cut off the mounts andĀ re-weld them in the correct place. Made up some more plates for seat belt mounts, this time for the floor. The retractor bolts onto the back and then the lap belt bolts on to the part sticking out. Also has a doubler plate underneath the floor with some captive nuts. Stripped everything off the doors to see if they needed any repairs. Yes they did. This is the worst of the two. Was hidden under a rubber seal and the strip that holds it in place. Left side door isn't as bad but still needs some patches as thereĀ was a few rust holes. Found some on the outside skin which is a bit annoying, but the patch shouldn't be too visible anyway. My parents are heading off to America soon so I made up a list of all the parts I need. Everything is so cheap but it adds up quickly. Hopefully it will all fit in their suitcases. 25 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post _Matt Posted September 26, 2017 Author Popular Post Share Posted September 26, 2017 Have finished the majority of the rust in the doors, just one little hole onĀ the side of one to go. I have welded on a new folded over flangey bit and painted all in there on the photo below. Has come out pretty good. The other door was pretty much the same deal. Another thing I did was makeĀ the cowl vent bracket fit this dash. Since it's changed to the RHD dash and I'm still using the LHD vent bracket it ended up mounting in the same place the glove box hinge was, so cut it up and drilled some new holes. That's the vent fully opened, can also be set to be slightly opened. Needs a different seal as the current one is too stiff and doesn't allow the vent to pull down flush, otherwise it operates pretty well. Filled up the two holes that were left at the top of the firewall as well, probably should do the same to those other two. Hooked up the accelerator cable. Then did some average panel beating and bogging to fix where the panel warped when I welded the bracket to the back of the firewall. Might need a bit more work one day. The part that clips in to the firewall for the accelerator cable was a bit loose and needed some sort of spacer, so laser cut out some circlip sort of things. Cable ties are sweet to hook the cable to the pedal right?! It does work well though, has good travel, feel etc. Received the seatbelt mounts back from getting passivated. Today I made up this after work. It is to mount the steering column to the firewall. Making a cone that small out of 2mm stainless without using rollers isn't very fun! Pretty happy with how it turned out though. Don't think I could makeĀ the steering column any shinier if I tried! Haha Borrowed a wheel off the Mercury to see what whitewalls look like. They're a bit wider and higher profile than what I'll be using, looks so sweet though! 34 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post _Matt Posted October 1, 2017 Author Popular Post Share Posted October 1, 2017 Made a start on the bed over the past week, first thing was to remove all the old brackets and supports. They were a bitch to remove since they were spot welded ever 150mm or so and you couldn't see where the spot welds were, eventually got there after doing 1/4 of them each day after work. Decided to put the c-notch up through the deck because I think they look terrible with a raised deck with hardly any depth. After that I made up a frame out of 40x40 box section that fits on top of where the original wood would of sat. That means the deck will be about 40mm higher than standard, which is good because it will hide all the rust/corrosion behindĀ where the oldĀ brackets were removed. Need to sandblast/paint where those brackets were and everywhere below the box section and fix the rust up the front of the tray. Was thinking of making the whole deck lift up so you can access stuff underneath it, but I couldn't figure an easy way to do the hinges. Then I realised I only really need to access the airbag stuff and the fuel tank so I'll just make the back third lift up. Made a mock-up in Solidworks to test how the hinging works. The pivot point needs to be above the wooden boards so that they clear the c-notch panel when it lifts up. Seems like it works well, can lift up to 60 degrees before it hits. 18 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post _Matt Posted October 8, 2017 Author Popular Post Share Posted October 8, 2017 My parents arrived back from America with all the bits I ordered. It was a little less exciting as I thought it would be, it's basically just a bunch of rubbers and screw/bolt sets haha. I also got them to pick up a pair of Classic Instrument gauges whilst they were over there. They were so expensive, but definitely way better looking and higher quality than most of the other types out there. Folded up a bit of sheet for the c-notch cover And also laser cut out the hinges for the back of the bed. Then decided how to make them pivotĀ and turned up some bosses and sleeves. Need to get a better tap, a couple bolts and a some nylon washers to finish it off. 28 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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