New project! The "Red Herring"

[JJorgensen52]

Back to the grindstone!

First off, as I've been doing more cleaning and wire-wheeling, I've found that the cowl vent recess in my cowl has got enough rust in the gasket channel that it needs to be replaced

There is perforation in probably 30% of it, unfortunately not in one place where I could simply patch. There is a patch section on ebay at the moment which I think I will grab for this.

Started in on the passenger's side windshield patch. Tonight I made the patch for the dash flange where it meets the cowl - it's tacked in, I need to finish the welds and grind it down a bit.



Also, on a different note, I've been working on conceptual artwork for gauges - I'm working with an aftermarket supplier who does a lot of one-off custom stuff to make a set of gauges which incorporate all the features I want (and will work with the OEM LS engine sensors). I'm mimicking the '48 color scheme, and trying to keep with my theme - which is that modifications should be subtle. I want you to look twice!

Anyways, figured y'all would like a look.

[JJorgensen52]

Well haven't done much the last few days, been working on the '71 because I'm taking a 450 mile road trip tomorrow to pick up another driveline parts donor for Red Herring

Meantime, I did check glass fitment on the repaired windshield frame:


Gaps are looking good!

And my friends in the Brown and White trucks brought me some fun stuff today:

I will paint the center sections red to match the body color


These are Jeep JK lights (picked them up new take-out on Ebay) - I did this mod on my '69 and it was the best thing I ever did from a driveability standpoint. They may not be quite on par with Cibbies or the like, but for cheap money they're lightyears (ahem ) ahead of sealed beams.

Also got my rear fenders in (finally), and some new toolbox bling

[JJorgensen52]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Glad you had a safe trip. Looks like a good score!

Thanks! Positive thoughts always help

---------

When I woke up for church this morning it was 28 degrees and there was ice in my driveway ??? I thought it was springtime....

Anyways, I didn't get as much done in the shop as I would like due to the cold, but progress made just the same:

I took more photos of my process, this time.

Flange section, simple 90 degree bend in the brake, and then notched to allow me to introduce curvature


Bent to mimic the old metal (there's about three dozen rounds of fitting and comparing in this stage)


Notches welded up, pre-cleanup


Notches ground, checking my profile fit


A little hard to tell, but I've filed the horizontal edge down to match the contour of the cowl and drilled for spot welds:


And clamped in place:


The upper lip will get ground down to a smooth contour after I weld it in place; that way, I have more meat at the ends and less risk of burn through on this thin metal. The flange on the dash (which I fitted up earlier in the week) has now been filed down to match the contour of the original metal.

On this side, I'm going to do a second 90 degree bent section and bring the repair out onto the flat part of the cowl, so that I can blend the joint better.

On a totally different note, my Dad and I were talking about antennas the other day, and we were talking about an on-the-glass marine style (about 3/8" wide element, would run the full width of the rear window along the gasket at the bottom), and he mentioned power antennas. Well, says I, I've got one on the Oldsmobile carcass out back, let's see if it will fit:


It would actually work out pretty well, with good access through the former heater intake panel. It looks like a B-body antenna has the right angled fitting for the shape of the cowl, here. Though I'm not sure it would clear the hood?? Food for thought

[JJorgensen52]

Well these things have been the bane of my existence for the last couple weeks, but they're done!

Fitted up patch with front portion tacked in


All welded up


And the two finished products, after several rounds of grounding, touching up welds, more grinding, and filing:



The important thing is, I think the windshield will fit, they're pretty strong, and 99.5% of this will be hidden

Separate question: Can I weld the seams in the pillars up solid? I would think either that, or fitting a sheetmetal patch over them ... but I don't want a bunch of filler in there.

[JJorgensen52]

Happy Easter, all!

Haven't done much these past few days, but I did get the passenger's mirror holes relocated where they ought to be:


And I stripped all the brackets and seal-holders off the floor pan in prep for closing up all these holes and installing my new gas pedal and brake pedal hangar, as well as the new steering column (going to center between the gauges which means trimming the floor too, go figure!)


Big things afoot soon!

[JJorgensen52]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Moving right along. Seems like a pretty tight deadline...a good challenge!

Originally Posted by 7dee2

At your pace I would not be surprised that you can make that deadline. Your work is excellent as always.

Thanks fellas! I'm doing my darndest to make it on time and under budget, but we all know how that goes

[JJorgensen52]

Figured y'all might get a laugh out of the project that's been keeping me busy the past few days.

I'm trading a friend of mine here in VA some parts off my S10 donor, and repairs on his John Deere (1970's model!) mower deck for help wiring up the Red Herring project.

This deck was probably 40% structurally made from bondo - Here it's all been ground out


All the rust cut out


And the new spindle carriers welded in, with some of the deck rebuilt. The deck is 14ga, I'm patching in 16ga but it's still a lot harder to form than the 20ga stuff I've been using!

[JJorgensen52]

Mower deck is done:


But more importantly, garage re-organized so I can begin the next fun phase of this project

[JJorgensen52]

Today was a busy day. I did a lot of things. Almost none of those things had to do with the truck

Spent some quality time at the junkyard this morning hunting for random little things I need and can't find elsewhere. I also played musical vehicles (again) - the Olds is up on stands and ready to have its stub amputated as soon as I get some nice weather to do it.

On the truck, I patched up the antenna hole:



And I got the rusty cowl vent cut out.


I was hoping to have the new patch trimmed and in place tonight, but I spent a lot more time than I was expecting trying to get the rivets out of the cowl-vent pivot arms so I can transfer them to the new part... no idea why that took so long.

I also did a LOT of sanding and wirebrushing inside the cowls, I'm going to etch-prime and paint those in the morning so I can get the outer cowls installed.

Lastly, y'all may remember that I bought some adjustable shoulder belt mount points a few weeks back - well today I discovered that GM made a truck (95-99) called the "Price Leader" ... which was so bare bones it didn't even have plastic interior panels. I was happy to see that, because it has a nice little snap-on shroud for those belt adjusters:


There's about 1/4" gap between the bottom of the shroud and the metal. Perfect! All I need to do now is make up a couple anchor plates to slip into the pillar. Now if only they came in black...

[JJorgensen52]

Taking a break for dinnner, new cowl is in!

[JJorgensen52]

Progress! I was obliged to quit working on the truck a little early tonight, so I didn't quite get where I wanted to, but the first portion of the center brace is in:



As well as the passenger center floor pan.

[oldman3]

Moving along and looks good...Jim

[FarmerSid]

Nice work!

[JJorgensen52]

Originally Posted by FarmerSid

Nice work!

Thanks! I am glad to see you here, I've been using your project thread as a reference a LOT as I go through this build

I'm on the road visiting family this weekend, but I did get a chance to get the driver's side pan burned in today. So minus some touch up welds and grinding - floor is done!

[JJorgensen52]

Long time no posts! Between snow this week (which as it turns out, totally shuts down southern VA ) and my having a fever, I actually have not done much at all.

However, I'm feeling better today and got the doors hung and lined up (outer cowl just mocked up for door gaps at this point)



I'm going to have to rebuild the hinges and the driver's side hinges are both bent (which makes sense, the old cowl had the "door swung open too far" dent in it), but I'm reasonably satisfied with the fit.

Also welded the rear pillars in place. Which means, officially, the cab is structurally sound for the first time in probably 25 years!

(Some reason I did not take a picture of passenger's side. Looks just like this but facing the other way )

[Advanced Design]

That looks really good! Snow...we lived in Warrenton Va in 1992 and it snowed 18 inches. I drove to DC the next day and I wondered where all the other commuters were. City shut down for a week.

What's next?

[flashed]

Here in Georgia a very small amount of snow turns quickly to ice and cripples us for days and our DOT is never prepared for it .I just spent 26 hours on call at our university campus spreading ice melt everywhere trying to keep our residents safe and sound .One of our students was not very smart out on the ice at 4 AM ,he was playing and smashed into several parked cars ,I would not want to be in his shoes explaining that to his parents .

[JJorgensen52]

Originally Posted by flashed

Here in Georgia a very small amount of snow turns quickly to ice and cripples us for days and our DOT is never prepared for it .I just spent 26 hours on call at our university campus spreading ice melt everywhere trying to keep our residents safe and sound .One of our students was not very smart out on the ice at 4 AM ,he was playing and smashed into several parked cars ,I would not want to be in his shoes explaining that to his parents .

Yikes! I like sliding around in the snow but not near parked cars!

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

That looks really good! Snow...we lived in Warrenton Va in 1992 and it snowed 18 inches. I drove to DC the next day and I wondered where all the other commuters were. City shut down for a week.

What's next?

I'm thinking the next logical step is to do the inner-outer cowl fillers, which I am going to have to hack up the patches a bit to make them fit. Once that's done, I'm going to roll the truck out of the garage and get it turned around in preparation for pulling the old chassis out from under the cab (can't get enough clearance to get it out from underneath in it's current orientation)

[chuckmc8]

Nice metal work!

[Sim6]

Looks great, nice pace too!

[Hawkerdriver]

I'm in! my 52 will be here in 2 weeks some great fab skills..

[JJorgensen52]

As always, thanks for the kind words guys! Y'all better be cautious with that stuff or I might be liable to think I know what I'm doing

For lack of a better term for them I made the "wings" for the kick panels - you know, where they wrap around onto the firewall (which is missing from the patch panels).

First, welded up all the screw and spot weld holes in the driver's side of the firewall



Cut out, bent up and drilled the "wings" - I used the intact driver's side as a template


Clamped 'em up


And viola! No cleanup done other than a quick scuff with a wire brush just to take off the burn marks



Can you guys tell I'm stalling on doing the inner-outer cowls??

I've spent a bunch of time this past week working on the layout for the wiring harness - I've determined at this point I have 51 wires passing through the firewall to have everything set-up using the underhood fuse/relay center I'm planning to use. Delphi makes a metri-pack 30 terminal bulkhead pass-through (HERE) which at this point I am planning to use two of - one to cover engine management and gauge related things (26 wires) and the other for power accessories and lighting (25 wires). I think it will look very clean (if non-original) when done.

I also spent a bit of time yesterday just staring at the rusty parts of the windshield frame which I have been dreading, but I have a plan now and I think once I get over my initial squeamishness of cutting into the frame, it should be pretty easy.

Stay tuned!

[Advanced Design]

Nice work getting the panel to fit. Good luck with the snow.

[Advanced Design]

Nice work on the cowl. Seems the replacement panels take a lot of work to make them fit!

[oldman3]

yes nice job on the cowl, always good to grab parts when you can...Jim