finally my chalky 71 build in progress 56kbeware

[Mordachai]

well, I've had the truck for just over a decade, bought it both because I could do the maint and repairs myself, and always loved that body style.
After drawing and drawing, in 2004 I decided to put my touch to the truck. I had already ripped out the rusty wheelwells, and the majority of the rust(still need to do doors and rockers/corners)I relocated the tank under the bed, and made a hidden filler behind the drivers taillight.

the basic engine stuff, HEI,high flow WP,new 4 row rad, elec fans, high power Alt,2barrel holley(instead of stock 2) headers with glasspacks, etc. Turbo 350 tranny swap too.


Then late 2005 I started to change the whole look of it.


And this last weekend, i actually got back to my project, and mounted the front end.



Then i prepped and painted it.




I haven't done all my rust repair, and have some things I want to do to the bedsides, so I'm just wanted a temp paint. But seeing how it looks, this coming weekend, I am going to paint the rest of it the same.

[Mordachai]

That's right, I Painted it with CHALK Board paint!! I thought, how boring is it to have the same paint every day, and came up with the idea of painting it with chalkboard. The idea stemmed from a buddy who has an outdoor table painted with it for Tic tac toe, hangman, etc.



So now i have a rolling canvas, and have already got a few different designs on it.



It's been along time since I used chalk( i did some sidewalk painting festivals years ago) and doing it straight on a curved surface is somewhat tricky. haha




but I'm having fun with it. And can't wait, I'm expecting funny looks to say the least!!!



my bro's angry piggy creation







I will continure to post as i get into construction and modding my bed/suspension, and with snaps of the occasional good chalk picture.

|M|

[1LoC10]

I'm not really diggin that front clip at all... but it looks like your having fun with it.. keep at it

[bcanini]

Did you make that front clip yourself?? Looks like you're having ALOT of fun w/ that!

I have to agree w/ above I"m not diggin the front clip either maybe it's just....

Looks like fun.

Brian

[qksilver]

I agree.....have fun, that's the whole point

[wibilly]

what the he77 happened after the tank relocation?! looks like your having fun

[Mordachai]

haha, that's all I've done to it ! (after tank relocate) I've driven it regularly until early 2005 then it sat for about 1 year. I've only recently got it insured for the road, but have used it all around my property( so it never really sat for long)


It's all just for mock up, see what I want to change, what I like. I need the truck for some jobs coming up, but when school gets out(yes after years and years, I've gone back to school) I am going to pull the front back off, send the engine out to be rebuilt.
Then I'm going to strip it to the frame, and put back the pieces I want. Already got a good collection of pieces. It will have a bamboo wood bed, bamboo dash, and forged bronze bamboo steering wheel. Already have bucket seats and new gauges to put in it, as well as a vintage air unit.

I've actually got a list of very specific things I want to keep, add, or see how it looks. So it's turned into a real chalkdust torture project!


|M|

[big blue 72]

Looks evil.........weird..........i think i like it.....................

[Mordachai]

I have to cut from 1.5" at the a-pillar to 2" in the middle of the rear of the front, for better wpier/ squirter clearance and better visibility, and to re-sculpt the top body line of the fender part of the front clip to better match the doors. ( I did make it in my driveway, and was rudely fubar'd by a late season hurricane) and to resculpt the headlight surrounds. I still havne't figured out what I'm going to do with that bumper....


thanks for the comments guys.

|M|

[84 400]

to each his own. i love the chalk man looks like your having fun. i like the head lights and with a grill it would look sweeet but the top of the hood is too out there for me

[Yukon Jack]

That is some wild fiberglass work. I'm impressed that you made it yourself. Glad to see you are having fun with it!

[watahyahknow]

think the best thing to do is get a scale model of the truck and try some fronts on it if you got one that looks good on scale you could use it as a base for the fullsize one .
you might want to try truck hood and fender type a thing like a mack or petebilt truck , a square hood with rounded fenderwhells think that would look ok

[shifty]

that is one of the wildest front ends i've ever seen. if it makes you happy, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks - people have strong opinions about very strong, standout work, and you will no doubt hear a lot of them

strong can be good and bad. just look at erections and body odor. when strong, one is repulsive and the other makes you feel 17 again

[Mordachai]

alrighty, about a year after my last post, I'm really digging into the truck now.

I pulled the bed off and just ordered all my patch panels. Rockers, Cab supports, Door inners and outers all going to be replaced. I'm also going to repair my kick panels and rear wheel arches. Gotta get the cancer out from around the drip rails, so I'm going to shave them off at the same time.

Then once I get done with rust repair, I am going to finish customizing my bed and finish up a few things on my front end. Then it'll be time to put it all back together. I'll be posting pics as I go along...

Here's the most recent pic of the truck I have, just screaming to get torn down....



|M|

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Kinda reminds me of a modern day rand c dream truck very cool..

[Mordachai]

What's R & C ? Isn't that spence murray's truck? or did I miss something?

[FRENCHBLUE72]

r @ c is rod and custom magazine

[Mordachai]

haha, about an hour after I posted last, I realized ^ That must be it!

But I did manage to unbolt my bed and disconnect the fuel filler(through the tail-light) and took off the bumper today. With a little help from friends I should have the bed off tomorrow afternoon....

...Then on to the cab!


|M|

[Mordachai]

So this last friday I pulled the bed off my truck. Then over the weekend I stripped most of the cab, got almost everything out of it.




here you can see the severity of the completely rusted cab support and lack of body mount bushings.


and here's a glimpse of the p.o.'s hack job repair. The 'replacement' panel (at least at this stage) looks like it's just bondo holding it on. It's so far out of alignment it's not even right...

[Mordachai]

So the p.o. also did rigged hack jobs in other places. Like the floor pans. I thought they were pretty solid, they felt strong under the rubber mat. And they even looked alright from the bottom. But lo and behold: what looks like aluminum Riveted to the floor, where I can only assume it is covering a rusty hole...





passenger front:


Driver's front:

[Mordachai]

Why they would rivet those pieces of metal in where there is rust right around the body mounts, with out attending to said rusty areas is beyond me...


But the rear corners of the cab look about the same

What looks like a gallon of bondo holding the rear floor together. Actually I think it's a gallon of bondo gluing a piece of angle iron(or similar metal) to the floor!



The floor obviously needs replacement, and probably did when they did this hack job.
Driver's side:


Passenger side:



So With the last repair a half assed halfass job is gonna force me to do it right.

Being as this is how I got it, I'm wondering, Shouldn't the back of the floor abut (or be welded) to the rear cab wall? It looks like it was maybe spot welded at the factory. but would like some imput from anyone with an idea of how it should look.

I'm going to try to get my rad. and core support pulled and get the cab off the frame this weekend so I can rent a blaster and get all the rust and debris outta the way so I know what I really have to work with.

One things for sure: more repair panels will be headed my way in my future!

But my Arc and friends 110 mig should be more than capable as finishing the task at hand!

|M|

[BACKYARD88]

Wow, props to you man. There's no way I'd tackle that job. My cab wasn't that bad and I trashed it in favor of a less rusty one.

[Mordachai]

Yeah, but down in South Florida they are hard to come by. And to get one shipped in would cost apretty penny, much less than replacement metal and consumables.

But I did pull the cab off today, and it looks like all 4 cab supports, the rear floor, front floor corners, kick panels and rockers all need replacing! YIKES!!!
And there is a good bit of concern about the A-pillar where the drip rail is, all I know is I can cut off 4 to 6" pieces until I get to clean metal and replace it...

I guess that until I get it blasted I won't really know what I have to work with!
At least the frame is in pretty good shape!
But yeah, gonna be a good bit of work.

[Mordachai]

Well, Got the cab off and Pulled every little thing off the cab, and pulled all the wiring off the frame to get ready for blasting this weekend.

With the cab tipped up, I have a bit more of an idea how much work I have in front of me...




The rear floor was only held together with a few pieces of 3" channel and Lots and lots of bondo....



This is what the driver's corner above looked like before I pulled the channel and 'support' off.




Am I right that this 'cab support' is actually only a cab support cover? It doesn't look like the factory support for sure.

|M|