1971 GMC Donald

[mxerhale]

I'm sure that I have skipped around the order of the build a little, mostly because it took over 2 years to get through and the old memory isn't what it used to be!

Having thrown out that disclaimer, I shall continue on. Here are some shots of radiator mounting tabs that I made and the one-off aluminum intercooler bracket that a friend of mine did for me. Then I moved on to 2 things that I had been working on in my brain for close to a year, a fuel filler door and a battery bracket. I have to admit (without hurting my shoulder from patting myself on the back too much...) that they turned out just about how I imagined they would and seem to work almost perfectly. So far.

The door took some serious time with a Dremel and oodles of little cutoff wheels to cut out and then some trial and error coming up with a hinge setup that was robust enough. I also borrowed the Harbor Freight spot welder from a friend and spent some hours getting everything just so with the hinge mounting and the $3 Home Depot push button magnet lock.

The battery mount was a bit easier after I mounted the bed and found one on Ebay that would tuck the battery up far enough for my liking. I didn't really want it in the bed, that looks a bit tacky to me, but I wanted it as far back as possible for some traction.