Stooge's longer term car projects

[dlcwent]

Looking great as usual Stooge. Ha..hammer sacrifice. Now you have a special tool to add to your collection.

Nice job on the sail panels.(Not that I expected anything less)

 

[Stooge]

Thanks! I had really putting a lot of effort into avoiding 'finishing' the shape of the sail panel and actually laying the trim down over it but its alot better than I was fearing it was going to be. now I just have to get to the other side, but that's already fairly close.

Im not even sure where the HF hammer and dolly kit came from, I don't remember buying it so I guess in that regard, I've gotten my moneys worth! and also thanks to that chinese pot metal hammer, It was like using a using a cutting wheel to cut through cheddar cheese or something! I have plans for the other hammers that came in one of the door and fender kits this one came out of but im just imagining alot of weld popping and splatter before i get poisoned by whatever is in the metal, (plan is to split a short piece of 2"pipe and weld the face to the inner pipe section to have a drastic convex face, like this



and theres a chisel faced hammer that im planning on grinding the chisel section down and rounding out the sides to use to help make the filler pieces for the corners around the trunk weather stripping channel that has the step down. I had been looking for a smaller purpose made hammer for something like this but didn't see anything readily available. nice thing about cheap/ throw away tools is you don't feel bad about destroying them! I think the whole kit retails for the cost of one normal hammer and the dollies that come with it have come in handy a few times as they are noticeably smaller than most of my other dollies.

 

[dlcwent]

im just imagining alot of weld popping and splatter before i get poisoned by whatever is in the metal.

Hold your breath and wear full leathers. Ha ha.

That looks like it will come in handy once you make it. I find "custom" tools are not used often, but when you need them, they work the best.

 

[Kainedogg]

Sub'd

 

[Stooge]

did a little work on the gto that i didnt take any pictures of but just imagine the last sail panel picture but prettier.
Started to work on the tailgate so i can eventually get the body in primer. There were really only 2 small spots, maybe the size of a pencil eraser from what im assuming was a dealer tag or trim piece, but it had been shittily repainted that seemed to either chip off in big chunks or be impossibe to sand so i ended up sanding the whole thing down. the truck will also be white and i wanted to lessen the possibility of red bleed through....plus they were having some sort of club day next door and the loud sanding kept the visitors at bay.



I was having some issues with my primer gun, just a cheap devilbiss, it didn't seem like it was holding pressure and I couldn't adjust it out and was basically finely texturing with it so I scuffed it all back and finished it with the paint gun and is fine now. I didn't notice anything obvious when I took it apart but it was cheap enough to not worry about. I was thinking of getting a nice gun for all of the clear and candy i will be spraying for the dash and console and eventually the truck body, so i might just do some swapping around with the regular paint gun and whichever one i narrow it down to for the new one.



I'm getting ready to pull the bed apart to repair the floor, body work the bedsides and figure out how Im going to mount it to the raised frame works. I think I made a decision on how the fuel neck will go from the bed floor gas door I have, but I need to cut off the stock tank neck and plug it and drill a new 3" hole for the fuel neck grommet. I would like to have a rubber coupling inplace but theres maybe 2" clearance, so im hoping the space between the inner seal for the neck and the outer seal will provide enough flex for misalignment.

new $25 grommet for mid 90's ford cars that I had to cut apart a bit around the fuel neck that came with the bed gas door, im not sure if I will need a longer piece of tubing.

finally got around to making the last trim piece for the dash. 1/2" tubing from home depot, 1/16 wall. set up with tape and 2 brackets I found to cut 1/4" out of the circumference. 3" cutting wheel on a die grinder for 11" made for a slow process.

thin electrical tape and dykem

there was a better picture but for some reason it loaded as bright lime green?

some button head screws tacked to the back side to fit the dash

and sanded with emery paper, ( to the left of the speedometer) it looks short in the picture but it reaches the edge near the door

next i'll sand all of the chipped paint on the speedometer bezel so I can send it all out for for powdercoat.

 

[dlcwent]

Hopefully 2" will give you the clearance you need. Looking good.

 

[kbs2244]

If you run into a dead end on the gas tank filler neck, check out some boat sites.
Just about every boat tank install is custom and they have a bunch of funky pieces to make things work.

 

[Stooge]

Hopefully 2" will give you the clearance you need. Looking good.

me too, I think I should be able to get away with it, the large flange screws into the black cap, the cap is the only thing that's above the sheetmetal/ can be seen, I think all together, its closer to 3" so im hoping it's enough to not cause issues.

If you run into a dead end on the gas tank filler neck, check out some boat sites.
Just about every boat tank install is custom and they have a bunch of funky pieces to make things work.

I love the boat parts websites, didn't really think about looking there for the gas tank stuff, but theres always a lot of clever little bits and masquerading hot rod parts on there.

I dont know if anyone remembers the old black and grey paint all over the speedometer bezel, but i started stripping it back last night and was pleasantly surprised with how good of shape it was in.i think i went to 600 grit dry or so after a chemical strip and sanded out some knicks and scratches. Its going to get powdercoated but now im wishing i knew someone who did polishing, but then the trim and clock wouldnt look right and wouldn't look the same as polished aluminum... or keep it sanded/ brushed, not polished and do the same to the rest of the trim and maybe clear coat it to keep it from tarnishing/ surface rusting, rather than powdercoating it all mirror/ chrome?






i'll did out my plastic polishes at some point and clean up the lens but its in pretty good shape overall .



theres an ever so slight low spot/knick in the bottom of the bezel but that's about it, and that just faces the steering column so im not going to lose sleep over it.

 

[Stooge]

A little update from my 'vacation' week off, probably could have gotten moe done but i wanted to relax a bit and what i did manage to get done should put me in a good place to get alot more small things done

Finished bodyworking the tailgate after i had to secton a few of the ribs out to clear the bed floor.


air vent hole nut and bolt that are meant for drums should work for a simple bezel around the emergency brake pull. I'll have to drill a bigger hole for it in the dash and cut the thread side down a bit but i'll wait until i pull the dash out next time





I guessed at how tall the bed spacers i was using were, and somehow i managed to guess right and bought some new bed bushings. I thought i was buying them from energy suspension, but they came from some generically named website, loose in a padded envelope with no paperwork. $29 for 8 of them, 1 5/16 i believe. Im using some large washers and will probably use some sort of lubricant between them.



I'll end up needing some longer bolts i think to go through the bushing and the raised bed floor frame tubing. I want to say the stepside bed floor bolts are longer but i could be wrong



The bed floor is going to take some reinforcing since the bottom of it is fairly cut up, and im also thinking of putting a few recessed D rings in the 4 corners incase i ever actually need to use it for truck things



cutting up a perfectly good, new gas tank from Brothers. Needed to get rid of the filler neck so i could locate where the new hole would go for the filler neck and gasket. I managed to knock the bed off of its mount and jam my finger inbetween the bed and the bed frame tubing when putting the gas tank back in. Luckily i had a pry bar next to me so i could pry it up and pull my finger out, sans alot of skin, could have been worse bit its still pretty sore almost a week later.





Pulled the bedsides and bed off



And a few steps back






All of the magnets are atleast 1 of those weld in ziptie tabs that Motobuilt sells and there are a few on the driver side



And pulled the rear end out to finish welding everything





And some paint, could have spent more time prettying it up and smoothing it all out, but im happy enough with it.



And from this morning, Was hoping to have this done a few days ago, but progress is progress. Probably could have spent another day going at the frame with a flap disk and sander and really smoothed everything out, but i wanted to get it painted today at the latest so it could have some time to really dry before i start putting it all back together.

 

[BBChevro]

And some paint, could have spent more time prettying it up and smoothing it all out, but im happy enough with it.

Considering the "in the weeds" stance, I don't really think anyone's going to see it - you could paint it hot pink with purple polka dots.

...Just kidding.


Great work as usual.

 

[Stooge]

Someone on c10 site's been pushing for a neon green chassis, could look nice with the hot pink! If it was something people would be seeing, i probably would h e spent some mpre time on it, but im actually alot happier with how it turned out than i was expecting, sometines lazy works!

I had to touch up a few spots i couldnt get at with the gun this morning but i can start putting stuff back together permanently this week. Need to go through and get the right hardware for a few things instead of whatever i've mickey moused together and I guess i should buy a rear bumper snd the brackets sometime soon.
Since i was waiting for the paint to dry, i figured i would get the trunk lid back on the gto and started making the filler pieces and finishing off the sail panels. Most of it is welded in now, just a few smaller pieces to finish up

Starting to look like a car again

 

[dlcwent]

Great update. And I hope you know you're not supposed to use fingers as spacers. They get squished pretty easily. Good thing you had a pry bar handy. Things are looking great. I'm sure your happy with the progress you've made.

 

[dlcwent]

Well that will teach me to run my mouth. Within an hour of the above post, I smashed my left ring finger. I got it jammed between a wheel and a brake caliper. I've never had a fingernail turn black as quick as that did. I won't be commenting on any more of your accidents, just the work that you're doing.

 

[Stooge]

Well unfortunately, im still the 'winner'!
The result of a pollen induced sneezing fit Sunday which resulted in dropping an old impact gun on my foot. I guess that's the cost of wearing old tennis shoes to the garage

 

[dlcwent]

Yep, you win. And I hope that's the end of it for both of us.

 

[cbogg]

Just happened across this thread and read it over the last two days. Neat! If you're looking to have paint stick to that plastic tank, strip it off and buy a can of bulldog. It's not cheap, really horrible for your health, but it'll make paint stick to anything. Water goes on thicker so be careful not to run it, and follow the directions on the can and that thing will have paint on it long after we're all gone.

 

[dlcwent]

?????????????????cbogg. Got to check into bulldog I guess. Never heard of it but will google it right now. It sounds awesome..........."really horrible for your health"

 

[Stooge]

Just happened across this thread and read it over the last two days. Neat! If you're looking to have paint stick to that plastic tank, strip it off and buy a can of bulldog. It's not cheap, really horrible for your health, but it'll make paint stick to anything. Water goes on thicker so be careful not to run it, and follow the directions on the can and that thing will have paint on it long after we're all gone.

Hey thanks, I appreciate hearing that! Thanks for taking a look

I've always heard of bully dog, ive just never used it,i do have a few containers of some industrial adhesion promoter that ive been tempted to try but its pretty volatile stuff and i'm not sure if it will destroy the plastic or not. Theyre only like $20 so it wouldnt be too big of a loss of it did, maybe an excuse to buy the bully dog stuff

 

[cbogg]

Shouldn't be an issue with the bull dog in theory. Last place I worked the painter told me about it, used it when painting vinyl dashes. We started using it there to get spray bed liner to actually stick to plastic as there wasn't too many good ways to get it to adhere, it'd stick and soon after start to lift off in a sheet. Spray it with bulldog first, never came off. He told me just for shits one time he sprayed a piece of glass and then painted it. Instead of just sheeting off with a razor, you could scrape it off, but it didn't come off easy or completely. Give it a shot, if you melt a 20$ tank you're out 20$, if it works it's painted forever. Fair gamble in my book.

 

[Stooge]

Give it a shot, if you melt a 20$ tank you're out 20$, if it works it's painted forever. Fair gamble in my book.

that's my thinking! It should probably be fine, the plastic has to withstand constantly housing methanol, and if it melts from the bulldog, i'll buy another one and just not paint it....it is just a windshield washer tank hidden under a cover afterall I think TCP sells Bulldog, i'll have to remember to pick up a can when I buy the rest of the dash paint and that metal flake gun

 

[MP&C]

Sail panels on the Goat are looking good!

 

[Strouty]

That bull dog stuff sounds awesome, may have to try some myself.

The frame looks great, as much as I like to be different, I don't think Pink would look good.

 

[dlcwent]

Just reporting 4 days without and toes or fingers smashed. ( I hope I didn't just curse anyone).

I'll be interested what your take on the bulldog will be.

 

[mason_tay]

I'm subscribing so I can go back and look at your build I love the smoothies though. I haven't bagged anything but I did static drop a 2004 Chevy Silverado on 22s a few years back. Mini notch and everything.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Stooge]

thanks guys! its nice to see some actual progress on both of these projects. hard to get too far on the gto with the 'pay me as we go' arrangement that we kind of fell into with it, but i definitely understand budget restrictions and not being able to just hand me some cash and say finish it. i finally cut and welded the upper adjustable link bars with the delrin pivot bushings so i'll need to get those painted. i might try and find time to pull the front upper and lower control arms so i can paint it all at once to avoid having to clean all that thick black paint out of the gun. i also need to make a list of all of the Mickey Mouse'd hardware solutions i was using while putting stuff together so stuff can go back on hopefully permanently.

I'm subscribing so I can go back and look at your build I love the smoothies though.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well you might be a little disappointed by the time you get to page 5 or 6 when i went with steel cragars

Just reporting 4 days without and toes or fingers smashed. ( I hope I didn't just curse anyone).

I'll be interested what your take on the bulldog will be.

long weekend and it will be in the 90's, plenty of opportunity to hurt myself!

 

[mason_tay]

Ah man. I like the cragars but I loved the smoothies. Why the change? :sadface

I just read in your post about a nova with an Ls... Look familiar?



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Stooge]

Ah man. I like the cragars but I loved the smoothies. Why the change? :sadface


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

i ended up with the Centerline billet smooth wheels in a deal where i traded some very expensive Boze forged wheels i had, unfortunately i met the person in a parking lot and didn't think to ask that the 5 lug on the centerlines were a ford 5x4.5 5lug which required a spacer of having the axles and discs redrilled. this was also when there really weren't many people using the smooth wheels and they were still 'different'. unfortunately i work pretty slow and as i progressed, the smooth wheels were popping up on so many cars and trucks and i got tired of seeing them so much. still a good looking wheel when done up, just wasn't for me anymore so i sold them, and ended up with the cragars for close to free from a buddy of mine who had them new in boxes in his attic.

plus i wanted to use a bigger tire out back, and not that 20's are all that big of a wheel these days, it was still sort of limiting. now i have 275 M&H drag radials, (because i thought it was funny)

 

[mason_tay]

Did you see my edit?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Stooge]

i did, Love those Holley intakes on the LS's! now if only it was a first gen nova I've had grand dreams of finding an unmolested first gen 4door and stuffing a turbo LS or a procharged big block into one as some sort of joke to myself.

ultimately, my next project will be a little more traditional and finally picking up a 49-54 chevy coupe to turn into a daily driver. there are a few im looking at, but i want to wait a few months until the truck is further along before picking something up or i'll never finish any of them

 

[mason_tay]

Yeah my dad had a 66 and I've been all over looking for one. Found out the neighbor has one.. Went to look at it, completely gutted as he was getting ready to make it race ready. :sadface . Oh well. I sold the nova because I have two camaros that need attention (68 and 72)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[cbogg]

that's my thinking! It should probably be fine, the plastic has to withstand constantly housing methanol, and if it melts from the bulldog, i'll buy another one and just not paint it....it is just a windshield washer tank hidden under a cover afterall I think TCP sells Bulldog, i'll have to remember to pick up a can when I buy the rest of the dash paint and that metal flake gun

Your local napa should be able to get it for you if they don't stock it. If it has the paint shop should have it on the shelf. Don't let them charge you more than 20$ for it.

 

[Stooge]

Re-assembly begins

Needed to modify one of the air tank brackets to clear the compressor filters but other than that, so far so good. Using 243 loctite treadlocker for all of the hardware around there since the air tank brackets are bolted to the compressor tray/mounts, amd 545 loctite pneumatic thread sealer for the fittings.




The new adjustable upper link bars have a delrin spherical joint which is narrower than the rubber ones that i set it up for so i will need to add some thick washers to take up the space. Also managed to buy buy some lower shock bolts that were about 1/2" too short






Also started to modify the stock fuel pickup disk? Didnt take much, just a little cutting and clearancing with the die grinder to clear the 49-53 ford/mercury sending unit so i could use the one drop down. The sending unit came with its own mount but the way the tank is shaped and sort of crowns at the top, it seemed like a better idea to do it this way.

 

[Stooge]

I dont remember all of this stuff taking so long to put in the fist time around! Have been plugging away at putting everything on the rear back on for what is hopefully, permanently installed.

(ignore the background mess, I completely blew the truck apart, painted the chassis and put it back together in 2 weeks and that makes for a messy shop!)
while I was still putting everything back together, it looks a lot tidier now.




Got it fired up yesterday and aside from puking brake fluid all over the floor from the disconnected line that the plugs fell out of, everything seems to be working as it should. I still need to mount the parking brake rear frame bracket along with the brake line bracket on the frame notch but i'll need to do some more measuring for both of those so I don't set it up to rip themselves out with the extended rear axle travel. Also need to check to see how much fuel line I have left and maybe try and get that bent up and routed this week so I can call it done and start work on fixing/finishing the bed. I'd rather not run the fuel and battery cable on the same side of the frame but fairly limited on options so the battery cable is on top of the frame and the fuel line will be run inside the frame channel. also might change the exhaust mounts while its accessible to something a little more robust.

all the way up, puts the rockers and front bumper at about 10" from the ground and makes it look like a very mildly lowered truck...which makes me happy for some reason


And just for something for me to look at

 

[mason_tay]

Looking good man. I want to build one like this next


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Stooge]

Well I hope for your sake, that your better at making up your mind and following through on plans than I am!

And thank you, its almost seeming like I may actually be able to drive this lump at some point this year!

 

[mason_tay]

Everytime I get on here I look for more updates then cruise craigslist for a non running c10. Everyone wants crazy money for any of the body styles. Just not in the cards right now I guess.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[dlcwent]

Well I hope for your sake, that your better at making up your mind and following through on plans than I am!

And thank you, its almost seeming like I may actually be able to drive this lump at some point this year!

I hope you do get to use it this year. I'd challenge you to a race on who gets done first but it probably wouldn't end well for either one of us. So I'll leave it alone.

 

[Stooge]

Everytime I get on here I look for more updates then cruise craigslist for a non running c10. Everyone wants crazy money for any of the body styles. Just not in the cards right now I guess.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Luckily, I think I must have bought mine before the squarebodies started to get more popular/ went up in price. fresh engine rebuild, more than mild but nothing to radical, new heads and nice march performance accessory drives, hadn't even been timed yet, low mile trans with a spendy lokar shifter, newly built eaton posi 3.73 rear, new bedsides, new fenders, (although I sourced some better fitting original ones), a new hood, and a new pair of doors and the original doors. I mostly bought it as a pile of parts that were loosely thrown together to transport it from the previous owner after he had to sell it due to an injury. I forget the exact amount I paid, but I would be surprised if the cost of the whole truck to me even covered the engine. I know it was in the mid $3k range

I hope you do get to use it this year. I'd challenge you to a race on who gets done first but it probably wouldn't end well for either one of us. So I'll leave it alone.

Hey I have a deadline! it was spring of 2012! , I should be finishing up the fuel lines this week, brake lines are located but I need to get a new parking brake cable to really say im finished with the brake system...plus i'll probably order a rebuild kit for the drums since they've been sitting for a bit now.
next big thing will be to fix the big hole in the bed floor and the tail light pockets that were "shaved" by the previous owner

(stick welded with a healthy slathering of bondo....on what would have been nice new bedsides )

then theoretically, its just finish bodyworking the dash, console, front fenders and hood and spray some paint on everything. it might not be completely finished but it will get driven at some point by the fall im hoping

 

[mason_tay]

Oh I have you beat on the tail lights. Let me get home and I'll explain


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mason_tay]

Here it is. In all its glory. The previous owner cut out all of the taillight wiring, bondoed over some euro tail lights and then sprayed Bedliner over everything. I had to put reflective trailer tape on the truck just to drive it home.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk