So far I have done just a bit more with the firewall. Almost all of the holes are now filled and smoothed and I have a coat of primer applied to protect my work until spring gets here and I can apply paint.
I also cleaned out the cab of spare/removed parts and took a piece of aluminum free from the dash center. The aluminum had been bolted to the dash with stainless steel allen head bolts and was in place when I bought the truck. Of course it concealed a hacked up radio opening, which would not have been a big deal, since I plan on using a double DIN radio, but the PO also took a grinder to the raised rings embossed in the sheet metal above the radio holes. The metal there had random holes where the grinder burned through, or the remaining metal is paper thin, so I will be cutting out the hack job to weld in a patch panel, only to cut the opening out again to the appropriate size. I didn't take pics of this abortion yet, but you get the idea, not pretty.
This weekend my goal is to finish the firewall patching and rehang the front sheet metal for winter storage. After that, I'm going to start work inside the cab, making the bracket for the fuse panel, rust removal where the back wall of the cab meets the floor and some patch work on the rear wall where the metal got thin. I also need to reconnect the rear brake line where I shortened it to match the new frame length and rehang the fuel tank. This is all more than I can get done in the next few days, but with these items done, there won't be much left to do until I acquire some patch panels or start into the wiring.
And here the firewall is thus far.
It's not perfect by any stretch, but then again, this is not a show truck, just something to enjoy. As long as the final outcome looks tidy, I will be happy.
-Joe