Stooge's longer term car projects

[Stooge]

**SKIP TO THE END OF THE THREAD WHILE THE THREAD POSSIBLY GETS REBUILT**

THREAD WAS WIPED OUT IN THE PHOTOBUCKET TERMS OF SERVICE CHANGE. TRYING TO REUPLOAD A DIET VERSION SO ITS NOT GONE COMPLETELY, BUT MAY BE MISSING SOMETHINGS. KEEPING ALL OF THE TEXT THE SAME BUT THE PICTURES MAY NOT MATCH EXACTLY SINCE IM GUESSING AS TO WHAT WAS THERE ORIGINALLY

its time i saw fit to start a build thread for 2 of the longer projects ive been working on, i work in a calibration lab for a tensile strength product testing manufacture for my day job, but i just like puttering around the shop as a hobby. first up is an 84 squarebody c10 (mine) and the other is a buddy's 37 chevy panel truck that we are trying to save. i rent out a few bays behind a car club's (Spindles) clubhouse and an engine builder/machine shop who also has a few top fuel dragsters, so its always fun to see what will be out front when i pull into the parking lot.
i started the 84 about 3 yrs ago, had planned as just a stripped down parts mover with a little low, and has blossomed into a more comfortable cruiser with air suspension, updated steering and something to practice some creative sheetmetal work on. the 37, owned by a buddy who owns Xtreme Finishes in Walpole, Ma bought it as a project probably 8+yrs ago, sat for a bit until he wanted to start on it. was brought into the garage as a bodydropped, camaro clipped bondo box with a seized 350 and alot of mess.

time for some pictures, i'll try my best to put them in some kind of order but i switch back and forth between the 2 and whatever else im working on.
startting at the back of the c10, leaf springs were lost in place of a triangulated 4 link, side saddle tank was replaced in favor of a rear mounted 25 gallon blazer/ suburban tank. frame was notched above the rear axle to allow for more travel and a raised bed frame was made up to try and shoe horn everything under the bed.

IMG-20111124-00287_zpsnmiguwvq by Dan Haas, on Flickr

2012-09-03_16-01-39_398_zps89fb004c by Dan Haas, on Flickr

2012-09-18_17-24-58_751_zps73f9bb2d by Dan Haas, on Flickr

flange plates to relocate the mounting points on the bedsides, exactly what it looks like; welded some nuts to a piece of 1/8 plate..keep it simple

IMG-20120418-00250_zpsa4cae0fc by Dan Haas, on Flickr

IMG-20120421-00254_zpsa747f99c by Dan Haas, on Flickr

IMG-20120423-00274_zps7473da91 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

IMG-20120423-00273_zps579facd1 by Dan Haas, on Flickr


hagan street rods gas door for rear mounted blazer tank

2013-02-25_06-26-31_281_zps7f70c181 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

2013-03-02_12-35-59_522_zpsa881e7ce by Dan Haas, on Flickr

sectioning down the rear wheel tubs since the hole in the bed floor was the same size but would contact higher up on the tub, needed to be shortened and stretched about 1.5" if i remember correct

2012-05-15_16-49-39_540_zpsc9d9ea29 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

2012-05-18_19-17-30_898_zps25bbb7d3 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

2012-05-20_13-48-46_467_zps49850edd by Dan Haas, on Flickr

time for the front suspension, i had been planning on z'ing the front frame to raise the crossmember but ended up going with a Porterbuilt Dropmember dropped front crossmember, air spring mounts, and also converts to a power rack and pinion steering and narrows the track width by about 1.5" each side. had my motor pulled on a saturday and had most of the new front suspension back in by sunday afternoon, definitely recommended for anyone with a 54-87 gm truck

2012-08-24_19-27-10_732_zpsc084d924 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

2012-08-24_19-27-29_275_zps83b41c40 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

2012-08-26_11-13-25_494_zpsb1aececc by Dan Haas, on Flickr

2012-08-26_11-23-48_565_zps8749e1ba by Dan Haas, on Flickr

also decided to lower the front wheel arches, i had seen this done on a few other blazers and trucks, and is basically meant to align the front wheel arches with the rear bedside wheel opening, subtle but looks great

IMG_20130730_194643_514_zps4b00bb12 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

IMG_20130804_111537_919_zpsda011327 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

IMG_20130804_113537_658_zps0640609a by Dan Haas, on Flickr

hammering out some filler pieces

IMG_20130804_124944_310_zps1ab509af by Dan Haas, on Flickr

IMG_20130804_130746_722_zps7013bd1c by Dan Haas, on Flickr

IMG_20130810_095904_111_zpsf4e1f7d6 by Dan Haas, on Flickr
and also started making the inner wheel tubs, trailer fenders from tractor supply for about $30

IMG_20130813_193543_546_zps179f466f by Dan Haas, on Flickr

IMG_20130813_193522_769_zps98d05f37 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

2012-06-19_19-39-24_375_zpsaa6428c6 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

theres alot more pictures on their way, i'll post some more when i get some free time later on

 

[wornoutoldman]

Nice work happening there!

 

[Stooge]

had a need for an extra gauge (air tank pressure) some aux momentary switches and my gear indicator since i did away with the column shift in favor of an oversized Lokar floor mounted one. wasnt sure where to start with it so i bent a piece of 18ga over a few pieces of exhaust tubing and went from there.


IMG_20130602_093713_560_zps61b35438 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

IMG_20130602_094703_328_zps203efedb by Dan Haas, on Flickr

IMG_20130602_105331_236_zps1403bb9f by Dan Haas, on Flickr

IMG_20130602_105342_403_zps44ce7832 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

lokar gear shift led indicator, pretty clever piece. has a sweeping armature that mounts to the trans and you calibrate it to read out a different gear at different points of travel

IMG_20130404_184745_730_zps32a516ca by Dan Haas, on Flickr

IMG_20130611_205321_760_zps7dc229d0 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

IMG_20130728_152133_006_zps0b33b0c7 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

 

[pepi]

Nice work

 

[zcar751]

Nice metal work.

 

[54FordPanel]

Cool thread, I'm enjoying your work.

Why do you still have shackles on the frame, since there is a 4-link? Just haven't gotten rid of them yet?

I've seen those boat fenders at a farm store, and also thought they'd make good bases for tubs.

 

[Stooge]

Cool thread, I'm enjoying your work.

Why do you still have shackles on the frame, since there is a 4-link? Just haven't gotten rid of them yet?

I've seen those boat fenders at a farm store, and also thought they'd make good bases for tubs.

hah, i think i had enough fun cutting the rivets off of the frame at that point, the pass side is off but i think the driver's side is still on there now

i appreciate the compliments guys , i'll post a little more of the truck later on and start putting some up of the 37 at some point soon, just need to go through the pictures

 

[Anglia Guy]

Super job!! ******** outstanding, dude!!

 

[Stooge]

i'd also like to add, i have yet to buy ANY sheet metal for these builds. its almost all scrap metal from various departments at work or that people have had and didnt need and graciously donated, hence why so much of it has been ground down, mostly to get rid of paint or surface rust.

while staying inside the cab after the gauge pod thing, i needed to do a few more things;make a more accomodating trans hump since the engine and trans were lifted a bit, make a driveshaft tunnel since it would be smashing against the cab floor at the truck's lowest point of suspension travel and i also wanted a cup holder/ seat divider. maybe not the most important thing to be thinking about, but im a cranky ******* without coffee so i did need it.
trans hump, still need to make some filler pieces for the corners, but well on its way
driveshaft tunnel start

IMG_20130417_200248_381_zps9c9993bf by Dan Haas, on Flickr

IMG_20130417_200549_661_zpsfd0e49a5 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

ive always liked the looks of those curvy fiberglass center consoles i see in magazines and stuff, problem being, i dont know how to fiberglass... ive tried it once or twice and it was a terrible mess and i swore it off. i'll figure it out eventually im sure but until then im stuck with scrap sheet metal, heres my attempt at it
first a cardboard cutout, notice the perfectly drawn out sharpie lines that i drew out and the fact i had to tape 2 pieces of cardboard together ...pathetic

IMG_20130419_195552_499_zps73a5f637 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

followed by a big piece of what used to be a cantilever shelf that wasnt being used

IMG_20130419_204300_364_zps4255b22a by Dan Haas, on Flickr

and grinding off the paint to make it look artsy

IMG_20130420_103031_021_zpsf3a72a8f by Dan Haas, on Flickr

the start of the cupholders, cost me $7 for the 2 exhaust adaptors at the local parts store

IMG_20130824_194901_519 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

IMG_20130824_194841_414 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

Part of my air suspension management is the Accuair E-level system, which is all controlled by a small remote control. i didnt like the idea of the remote just kind of hanging out somewhere so i built a little tray for it as well

IMG_20130825_174246_217_zps110f51a2 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

IMG_20130825_192817_611 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

IMG_20130825_192438_966_zps79cqfqzj by Dan Haas, on Flickr

IMG_20130825_192824_071_zpsdkhzkhyh by Dan Haas, on Flickr

 

[Stooge]

Super job!! ******** outstanding, dude!!

thanks man, i appreciate it

 

[460Rustang]

Very nice, as one who is also slowly building a car,................

 

[el Pedro]

Awesome job! Great attention to detail too.

 

[Stooge]

the oversized smoothie wheels i had gotten for free in a trade for some other wheels i wanted to get rid of, and thought about selling the smoothies, but i figure i will run them for a bit just to move it along a bit. added some '55'ish caps to zazz them up a bit
drilling and tapping the rims to add clips

IMG_20130928_180835_591 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

IMG_20130928_184018_607_zpscc5cfad2 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

i may end up painting the flat dish portion a satin black or dark charcoal grey and keep the lip polished to give it a little stock steel wheel look, nothing is ever definite though, thanks for looking

 

[racer8432955]

absolutely awesome work!
i'm a desk jockey by day and a shop tinkerer by night as well. I love the sq. body chevy's too (73-87). Your build was me thinking about taking on another long term project.
Thanks for posting!

 

[Zeke]

Sick, sick, sick. Sick low, sick hood, sick mad fab skills!

Sure would be time for someone to figure out something less intensive than stitch welding. I had miles of that to do a few years back and it only takes one pin hole. I've experimented with a TIG and I've done quite a bit with a mini torch, hammer and dolly.

Still a LOT of work no matter how you go about it. But I love the feel of a torch in the air on a cool morning. Hell, I love it on a hot afternoon, just not so much.

BTW, this should be in Fabrication. Something to be very proud of.

 

[Stooge]

Very nice, as one who is also slowly building a car,................

Well you need to take your time with it, or else it seems too much like work

Awesome job! Great attention to detail too.

absolutely awesome work!
i'm a desk jockey by day and a shop tinkerer by night as well. I love the sq. body chevy's too (73-87). Your build was me thinking about taking on another long term project.
Thanks for posting!

thanks guys, i appreciate it!

Sick, sick, sick. Sick low, sick hood, sick mad fab skills!

Sure would be time for someone to figure out something less intensive than stitch welding. I had miles of that to do a few years back and it only takes one pin hole. I've experimented with a TIG and I've done quite a bit with a mini torch, hammer and dolly.

Still a LOT of work no matter how you go about it. But I love the feel of a torch in the air on a cool morning. Hell, I love it on a hot afternoon, just not so much.

BTW, this should be in Fabrication. Something to be very proud of.

haha, thanks Zeke! i do a little tig here and there, just more comfortable with mig on most things, seems a little more forgiving if i dont have perfect gaps, which i generally dont.

As for all the tack/ stitch welding, i dont mind it really, sort of relaxing to sit and just weld stuff all afternoon, probably why i make all these little things, just looking for something to burn together. doing the fenders was a pain, and so was the front bed panel when i sectioned out the middle to compensate for how shallow the bed is. it was just a straight line, but it was about 6ft of just slowly tack welding back and forth.

i just put this in the free parking, since i saw a few other builds here
Found the pictures from the bed panel, i was pretty happy to see that the length i was taking out basically lined up the corners of the stock recess in the panel and made a nice round rectangle, not sure why the pictures are so terrible of this

IMG-20120422-00271_zps578489d3 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

 

[Zeke]

That's just a long *** weld! Nice job.

 

[Stooge]

i have alot of pictures of the '37 panel that im trying to organize. most of the metal work is mostly to repair some of the old rotted steel thats been covered under ALOT of bondo, so not as many places to for too much fun, but im trying to convince the owner of a few things i'd like to do. at the shop now, and since i have terrible data service on my phone here, just a few pics of what i've been working on this morning; the driver's side door i had been planning on trying to source either a replacement door, (no luck around here, atleast not for this style late 30's panel) or ordering some patch panels from EMS auto or someone else. problem being, ive only found 37 patch panels for sedans and coupes and from comparing them to the other 37 in the shop, they arent compatible and for the $200 or so most places want for them, wasnt worth trying to make fit. time for some hammers, dollies and sore arms and shoulders.
started making the outter lower door skin the other night before i knew what was underneath

IMG_20130915_153450_456_zpsd0ad042b by Dan Haas, on Flickr


most of that cracking is old body filler, alot of the steel underneath is nonexistent or too far gone

and after a little while, i had this rough form

IMG_20130928_183811_418_zps5b46155a by Dan Haas, on Flickr

the lower crown was pretty close to where it would be workable, but there is a very subtle vertical curve up the door where the swooping body line peaks. to recreate this slight arch, and instead of using the right tools for the job, i mickey moused this together. i used to have a slightly more refined set up to replicate the result from a slip roll using some wingnuts, bolts and exhaust tubing but i got rid of it since i needed that table for other stuff (sort of explained here http://garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=3212070&postcount=9 ). this time i just took a piece of conduit, some small clamps to keep a downward pressure on the tubing and slipped the panel underneath. i heated up the panel with a cheap torch and slowly started pulling up against the tubing and "massaging" it with a soft mallet. the panel is crooked in the picture since i let go of it to take the picture .the curve came out exactly how i wanted it

IMG_20131027_143705_319_zps477907e3 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

and cutting out the old, i try to avoid cutting out squares when i can since it seems easier to blend in a rounded edge. cutting this out also uncovered the mess underneath, (all of those "gobs" are where the previous owner filled the rust in with bondo)

IMG_20131027_150855_330_zps5f6b2e03 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

without the **** joint clamps in there, the piece fits much better. the cheap HF clamps seem a little on the thick side so when i go to weld it into place, i'll probably just opt to use alot of magnets

IMG_20131027_151926_748_zps80051674 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

IMG_20131027_152008_741_zps29d0a06c by Dan Haas, on Flickr

IMG_20131106_185011_369_zpsf21ce989 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

IMG_20131106_191925_596_zps7d6769ec by Dan Haas, on Flickr

IMG_20131106_195841_645_zps7a43a92e by Dan Haas, on Flickr



happy enough with the outer skin panel, had to start looking at the inner door structure.
starting out with a scrap piece of 18ga and some scribbles, the top line tapers out since that portion of the door tapers out, pletty slightly but just something else to make it a bigger hassle

adding a lip and the start of a curve

IMG_20131102_163504_644_zps27bf2f45 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

IMG_20131102_165539_921_zpse501bbfe by Dan Haas, on Flickr
getting a little closer, yes the piece is too long, i did that on purpose to accomodate my poor measuring so i could just trim off what i didnt need.
old bit cut out, new piece clamped into place

IMG_20131102_163857_675_zps0235d56e by Dan Haas, on Flickr

and this is where i left off, still need to clean up the edges of the door and clear out all of this bondo, heres a picture of the back/inner side of the bottom of the door lip. they decided to make a nice radius of body filler to stop/ hide the rust and rot i guess.

 

[Stooge]

More Door! was getting ready to start tacking in the replacement inner sill portion of the door, and discovered some more rot that i had previously believed to be usable. sanding that away revealed the 7 layers of body fill and pinhole puddy along with a few rust spots and actually alot of still good steel, so all the body fill seemed pretty unnecessary with the exception of hiding a few small wrinkles in the sheet metal and covering everything in the shop in a fine dusty powder. needless to say, i have a little bit more to do on this before i can do anything else, have the next 4 days off so hopefully i can manage to make some forward progress on atleast something

the inner sill of the door isnt in there yet, and the far corner piece i hammered out to replace the newly found rust holes under the hinge slot is just sitting there, hence the misalignment

 

[e30bradley]

I wish I could shape metal like that.. Good work. I love this kind of stuff because I'm from Jersey and all the cars I like are rotted out by now. I'll be posting about the 89 f250 I'm working on sometime soon.

 

[Kevin54]

Fantastic job and looking forward to more pics. You may want to ask a Mod to move this to the Fabrication Forum though.

 

[Stooge]

hey thanks guys! i appreciate the compliments. kind of forget to update this thread. some forward progress has been made on the 37 and everyone likes pics.
i wanted to start getting the mounts for the trans cooler made up and do some line plumbing, so i needed to get the front radiator support/ headlights/ front clip piece mounted up. problem being its all junk sheetmetal thats been sitting in Massachusetts for the last 10yrs and there wasnt much to mount it to except for a thick layer of bondo

some sweet "popcorn welds" from one of the previous owners

since none of the green section will be visible,and i wanted to do something else, i didnt bother with the bead roll line along the bottom and instead drilled a few holes both running vertical and horizontal to plug weld to the structural pieces behind the patch. pretty damn rigid now.

And of course the other side

and just a simple clamping plate since prior the clip was only held to the mounting posts with a handful of oversized washers, which didnt sit well with me. just 1/8" plate drilled and tapped for an extra secure fit.

And sitting pretty

 

[Stooge]

not much to write home about lately on either trucks, but even a little progress is more than no progress i guess
first, owner of the 37 just wanted a super simple exhaust, straight pipe with some glass packs he had sitting and was wanting to use, not much to see but its already in my photobucket. just clamped to a table to get the nice effect, (dont mind the mess )

to try and make my life easier, we decided to just order a new brake booster, mc and pedal bracket from classic performance parts, really nice piece but in keeping with the theme of everything i touch being a nuissance, it took some convincing.

first was, the pedal that was in there was mickey moused into the steering column support and the dash support, some of the previous owners welds touched, some didnt, all in all a big mess that had to be removed

stock pedal bracket cut out and notice theres a "slight" difference in the way the pedal bars are shaped

which means grinding that pretty new paint off and massaging it to fit. first i bent a piece of steel tubing in the shape i needed it around where the column was

putting the pieces back together, not too visible in this pic, but the pedal bar is not flat and does follow the angle of the stock one where it kicks out towards the driver

not the greatest of pictures, but the pedal in place. there is about 1.25" between the bar and the column when the column bracket is tightened up.

and just because theres some under dash pics, i'll follow up with this truck supposedly ran at one point

And where im at, most of this has been pulled and is being done over.

 

[rktolds]

WOW. Nice work. I love the squarebodies too. I had an 87 that I sold so I can focus on my Olds'. I may get one again and do a crew cab sb 3/4 ton. I assume you are on 67-72chevytrucks.com. Are you going to run an LS motor?

 

[skyking]

You sir, are a surgeon !!

 

[Stooge]

WOW. Nice work. I love the squarebodies too. I had an 87 that I sold so I can focus on my Olds'. I may get one again and do a crew cab sb 3/4 ton. I assume you are on 67-72chevytrucks.com. Are you going to run an LS motor?

thanks, i appreciate it, i missed out on buying a square from a buddy's father about 10yrs ago, so when i saw this one a few years ago, i decided i needed it, bought it as a nonrunner and a bunch of parts so it was an excuse to go completely through it and have some fun.not a member but i lurk around on 67-72 but i am a member on c10forum, little more relaxed and alot of crazy projects on usually low budgets, so its a nice fit. no ls on this truck, but ive been dreaming of a mid 60's nova as my next project, and an ls would be on the short list.

You sir, are a surgeon !!

aww, your going to make me blush i appreciate the compliment

 

[Kevin54]

Is the dash in the '37 out of a '59 Chevy? If it's not a '59 dash, what is it?

 

[Stooge]

correct, believe it to be from a 59 impala . one of the previous owners put that in so i dont know what it took to fit it but it mostly looks like the center radio section was sectioned out and the gauge cluster and glove box/pass area were joined up. looks pretty damn cool but its quite the pain to maneuver underneath it. i think most of the rest of the front came from a 2nd gen camaro

 

[Kevin54]

correct, believe it to be from a 59 impala . one of the previous owners put that in so i dont know what it took to fit it but it mostly looks like the center radio section was sectioned out and the gauge cluster and glove box/pass area were joined up. looks pretty damn cool but its quite the pain to maneuver underneath it. i think most of the rest of the front came from a 2nd gen camaro

I'd love to find an old POS car with a cool dash like that and bring the dash back from the dead and mount it on the wall with stereo and all hooked up along with all of the dash lights with it. Sadly though, around here you can't find anything like that. All of the cars back in that time has some pretty cool looking dashes vs. todays plain style dashes. I think it was an Olds that my brother-in-law had that the speedometer was a red line that went across the bottom instead of a needle that clocked around for the speed. A lot of the old dashes were truly a work of art.

One or two of the members on here took a truck grille, and mounted speakers where the headlights normally went and had it mounted on a wall. A functional dash with a working stereo would compliment something like that really well.

 

[Bradley Miller]

Good grief . . . great fab techniques, but the previous owner should have kept adult beverages out of hand when wiring. Oof!

 

[Stooge]

.... Sadly though, around here you can't find anything like that. All of the cars back in that time has some pretty cool looking dashes vs. todays plain style dashes.... A lot of the old dashes were truly a work of art.

unfortunately, we have the same issues over in new england; old steel and snow, road salt etc. dont do mix so well and as a result there are too many classic car rust buckets that people seem to want top dollar for. one of the major things i tend to focus on when i go to antique car/hot rod shows, have always been the dashes, consoles/ seat dividers, door cards, etc., so much nicer than anything made today imo with almost as much attention to design as the exteriors no plastic dash pads and single tone interiors. hardly ever see any color matching on interiors to tie in with the exterior, just beige, grey or black.

One or two of the members on here took a truck grille, and mounted speakers where the headlights normally went and had it mounted on a wall. A functional dash with a working stereo would compliment something like that really well.

i dont know if ive seen it on here before, but ive seen a couple of people take the 60-66 c10 front grills and front hood section and do the wall mounts with them, by far my favorite truck front end, hence the "V" hood section homage on my 84

Good grief . . . great fab techniques, but the previous owner should have kept adult beverages out of hand when wiring. Oof!

when wiring ....and cutting.....and welding ....and using body filler. i was trying to find a picture of it, but before most of the body was sanded down, there was a chunk missing on the roof above the windshield, that must've gone down a good 1/2" that was all bondo. from what ive been uncovering, there really wasnt much need for it, a slight bump or wrinkle here and there that could've been knocked back, just got covered over with as much bondo as it took to hide it. thanks for the compliment, i appreciate it

 

[Steven67fr]

WOW - Your fab abilities are AWESOME!

 

[Stooge]

not much to see here lately, but we are making our way out of the 0* temps and im over whatever cold i had was so i cant venture out to the shop a little more often. been focusing on the 84 lately, there were a few things i wanted to change and the owner of the 37 has been putting his money towards buying a new building for for his paint shop, but he gave me the go ahead the other day to order up some some parts so hopefully we can start back on that in the next week or so.
i had been over thinking where to mount my battery tray, and was trying to be too clever about it, with thoughts of making an access door in the bed floor behind the cab, which would then need to have a frame built to support it which would then get in the way of the air compressor mounts. had an impulse buy and ordered up a simple battery tray and welded it in before i could change my mind. it sits on the pass side frame infront of the rear bumper. Stays hidden when the tailgate is up, and will give perfect access when the tailgate is down on account of the raised bed floor.
(tray isnt in these pictures, just showing the "access point")

also managed to decide on how to mount my shocks. i wanted to keep the angle fairly vertical, and since im pressed for space behind the axle with my gas tank pretty close, i didnt have too much choice.
ordered a few misc bracket pieces a few months (maybe a year ago)which included some "banana" brackets for shock mounts, cut out some 3/8 plate to mount off of the frame notch, drilled some holes and went from there
(i think there must have been some dust on the lens of my phone so the pictures aren't that great.) with the shocks that are in there now, which were just some i had lying around from another truck, i can get about 11" of travel until the are extended all the way, and the way the angle moves, there shouldnt be any limiting/ binding all the way through movement from the shocks. also, none of the tabs on the axle are fully welded in yet, just tacked in enough to keep everything in place, but wont give me too much grief if/ when i change my mind.

lastly, the only other thing picture worthy lately. i was never too keen on my original upper link bar crossmember. it was originally only supposed to be a place holder for something better. unfortunately, that was 2 years ago and i had built up around it with the bed frame, tank mounts, compressor mounts, exhaust hangers, etc. so after a few hour struggle cutting out the old one, i had an open space again and bought a short stick of 2x3 3/16 wall tubing and some 3/16 plate.

some fish plate for bracing it a bit.

and something i hadnt really planned on, but i was tired and hungry and didnt put much thought into it. Again, i had been over thinking how and where to mount the manifold block and the "brain" for the Accuair suspension levelling system and ended up with this.

this positions the manifold directly under the air tank so it can be plumbed pretty easily.

thats all i have for now, thanks for looking and hopefully i'll have something a little more to show soon.

 

[48RON54]

Nice work!!!!!

 

[Stooge]

Was looking for an easy project this morning and in the back of my mind, have been worrying about how i would eventually fit a carpet into the truck with the floor pretty far from stock. Decided if i continued the seat divider / cupholders to the dash, i could cut the stock carpet in half and save some money and aggrevation down the road, and i could lose the gauge pod i previously made that, although i was happy with how it came out, looked out of place. Wasnt sure what i was looking for in a finished product, so i just grabbed a scrap piece of cardboard and went from there

















Still need to cut the holes for the lokar gear indicator, the aux billet buttons for the door poppers and im thinking about making a little cubby for change, phone, whatever

 

[Stooge]

A little more progress to one day make some scrap metal look like a truck cab floor.
I wanted an extra little cubby/ holder, locate the lokar gear shift indicator amd mount the aux switches for the door poppers and have it not look too out of place. I've used this method to make a cubby a few times, most recently for the accuair remote in the seat divider a few posts up. Theres probably an easier way to do this, but this didnt require buying any new equipment i didnt have.
Start with a basic shape of the opening, rectangle and traced a socket for the corners and cut it out.

Cut another piece of sheet the same length as the circumference of the rectangle piece, ( i ran a piece of tape around the edge and just measured the tape after). The piece being used is leaning up against the magnets, small one on the table was just to space the magnets. Start tacking the back edge where the lines are and start working/ rolling the piece down longer piece tacking it as you go and weld up the seam. I used a small torch to heat it up when i was doing the corners and not shown but trim the back lip, or dont if you have space.

Trace out the opening and cut it, i was hungry and cold and my air saw was acting up so the opening wasnt as precise and had to cut some tiny filler pieces around the edge.

Cut off the excess and grind it smooth so the opening is flush. Again not shown is cutting and drilling the holes .




Same method used on for the accuair remote in the seat divider, just a little nicer.

 

[Stooge]

Update...of no visible progress unfortunately . nothing worth looking at; new rear upper link bars crossmember welded in, most of rear frame bits are fully welded after 2yrs of dragging my feet, boxed sections under the crossmember and the notches, just a few spots i want to do over. also need to trim my rear upper shock mounts as they come a little too close to the upper link bar bushings and also want to re-align the lower shock mounts.
Been chasing down a possible issue with the ignition wiring the last few days thats getting to be too aggrevating, maybe figure it out this weekend.

in the mean time, heres an elephant i made when i didnt feel like working too hard/ think too much and wanted to play with a new to me, old hammer i found.

obligatory raisnin bran box template

and something i made a month or 2 ago,first time trying to make a sheetmetal flower so i kind of made it up as i went

 

[RogueFab]

Wow!! Pics of the hammer? That is some fun art. I bet your kids love it (if you have any).

 

[Stooge]

Nothing special about the hammer, just a no name with a dexent condition handle that i found helping a buddy move some stuff out of his basement and he told me to take it.



I actually ended up using an HF chisel tip hammer for the center of the petals out of one of those fender and door kits they sell, that a buddy left at the shop since i need a new handle for my regular one. I hate to admit it, but other than the fiberglass handles, i dont really mind the hf hammers...just need to get past that odd smell that lingers in the case


And no kids, but the same buddy has a little girl who has a fondness of elephants so the elephant will almost certainly end up in her possession

 

[gus1962]

That's a lot of talent,patience and a lot work on welding,cutting,bending and shearing. It's looking great. I'd like to see the finished product.