Re: Plus Five
 

the rear beam behind the tank is also the trailer hitch mount.

It is 2 x 4 steel tubing 1/4 inch wall thickness bolted to the frame
with six 1/2 inch fine thread grade 8 bolts.

I figure that should be pretty safe...

Re: Plus Five
 

Great ideas and execution! I appreciate the additional information on the engine mounts and brake brackets plus the reference to brake warehouse.

Appreciate your fuel tank mounting too. And the frame kick out just a bit where the exhaust manifold would intersect the frame....like I said great ideas and execution.

Re: Plus Five
 

Thanks,

I really get into the fabricating stuff...
Hope you like the rest!

Re: Plus Five
 

I made the tranny tunnel removable for easy service.

The hole was cut out to about 6 inches diameter around
the shifter. I'll make a boot later.

The tunnel is bolted to the floor with 1/4-28 button heads in
the flange area. I put rivnuts in the floor panel and where the
clecos are in this picture.

Re: Plus Five
 

OK,
that pretty much covers the chassis mods.

I reused the rear tranny crossmember. Just needed to notch
it for a newer style tranny rubber mount.

The cross member below the tranny and above the cats is
split in the middle for removal.
It also supports a removable tubular skid plate
that protects the oil pan.

Obviously I added a couple additional cross members for stiffness,
and to provide mounting spots for the exhaust, bed floor, shocks
and sway bars and charcoal canister.

Re: Plus Five
 

I just finished the exhaust system.

I bought stainless mandrel bent elbows, an X pipe kit,
a couple of flex joints, a couple of flowmaster stainless mufflers
and made clamps and mount points for rubber mounts.
All 2 1/2 inch.

I won't finish the tail pipe until the bed is back on the truck

Re: Plus Five
 

made these brackets and heat shields,

Re: Plus Five
 

Excellent execution on the gas filler door/assembly. Looks better than factory. Although I can't see as well as I would like, your detail at the back of the rear fenders and the bumper filler panels finishes off the rear nicely. Really enjoying the quality craftsmanship.

Re: Plus Five
 

Looks really good. Did you buy the exhaust from mandrelbends.com?

Re: Plus Five
 

Thank you,
I'll be posting the rest so there will be better pictures of those areas too.

Re: Plus Five
 

Thanks,

I think I bought some from them...
I shopped around and mixed and matched, as long as it was cheaper
and stainless steel.

I think I got the x pipe kit from summit.

Re: Plus Five
 

OK,
today's update...

It started with the realization that getting the gaps between the hood
and fenders to look good was next to impossible.

I thought if I could bolt the fenders to the hood with spacers of equal
thickness, that I could keep the gaps even and tilt the whole assembly and
end up with a nice front end.

Here is the original cut line I envisioned.

Re: Plus Five
 

The metal by itself is too flimsy, so it needed a frame.

It was too heavy, with just the sheet metal and grill, for easy
lifting so it would also need to be powered. I searched the web
and found a nice overpowered 12 volt linear actuator that came
in various stroke lengths that could easily lift it.

I built the tilt frame around the actuator's dimensions.

It has it's own sub-frame and has shims in 1/16th inch increments
for final assembly alignment.

Re: Plus Five
 

the frame extends back to the firewall and adjustable
stops with rubber pads limit the closing tension against
the firewall gasket.

the actuator just fits!

Re: Plus Five
 

In the previous pictures you can see two rod end limiting
mechanisms. They have a die spring at the end, and just
begin to compress when the hood is fully open. They are a
safety device to keep the hood from going too far forward
in the event the actuator rod cap comes off.

I read on the web that it had happened to one guy at a show.
It crushed his hood!

The other picture shows an arm that serves as the lower actuator
attach point.

That serves two purposes. One, it moves the pivot forward of the
radiator for more clearance. Two, it also has a limited amount of
pivot travel itself, that allows the arm to rise at the closed position
of the hood. A stiff spring that is adjustable for tension with the
knurled knob serves to tension the hood "closed".

This is also the disconnect point in the event of electrical failure.
Simply undo the tension,pull a pin, and lift the hood manually.

Re: Plus Five
 

It opens and closes in about 25 seconds, and can stop in any position
or it will shut off at the end of it's travel automatically.

The sheet metal looks like this. Added some braces and modified
the factory braces to the fenders.

Re: Plus Five
 

going to need some custom inner fenders...

next week's update

Re: Plus Five
 

Amazing work, really enjoying following your project!!

Re: Plus Five
 

Nice! That's too cool!

Re: Plus Five
 

Hitting the like button....

Re: Plus Five
 

Enjoy seeing the fine craftsmanship. very nice.

Re: Plus Five
 

This is some nice fabwork!
You had to spending a few hours to think this over!

One small question: If you're down on power, can you still open the hood manually?
I mean if the actuator has crashed, battery is under the cab I assume.

Re: Plus Five
 

Thank you,

Yeah,

There is a manual disconnect.

Battery is under the floor passenger side.

If you look at the last picture in post #64, at the bottom below the lower
Pivot arm there is a knurled knob. On that linkage there is also a pin that
can be pulled ( after you release spring tension by twisting the knob counterclockwise)
that will allow manual opening of the hood. It's a little
heavy, but my wife can do it easily by herself.

When you lift manually, once it goes over center weight wise, it will fall to
the full open position. The springs on the limit rods catch it smoothly.

I did spend a lot of time figuring the linkage geometry of that lift actuator.
My calculations were pretty close though, so it didn't need to be reworked
too much after I tried it with scrap materials.

Re: Plus Five
 

The finest build I've read to date here. I only wish I had the skills, patience and dineros you have Sir. I've learned on my build that I can live without perfection at this point as life is short and I've already got my mind on the next build. I'm a little disappointed in my self for that.

This truck will be a show stopping winner.

Re: Plus Five
 

Thanks,

It's been over 3 years already, and I think I can finish it this year.
I've actually learned to slow down and add features to the build because
that's what I like doing most.

As far as living without perfection, the photos make everything look a lot
better than in person. I was lucky to find a good painter!
And believe me, there are times of frustration and disappointment throughout
this project. It's kind of like kids when they've grown up, you mostly remember
the good stuff.

My wife and I aren't going to show it, we are going to drive it!