My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”

[chewychevy67]

Glad it works for you!

[Kronald_70GMC]

Woo hoo! Milestone reached! It is officially a complete cab again with no more rust (or so I hope) Feels like I am actually accomplishing something now.

[Kronald_70GMC]

I took a break from all the welding and grinding tonight to try and work out an idea that a friend gave me. I was planning to remove my ashtray and smooth out the dash there and he gave me a better idea. Why not remove all the inner workings of the ashtray and have the door hinge down to house some aftermarket switches and stuff. I figured that was a pretty cool idea and I've been brainstorming for a few days to figure out what sort of hinge would work for this. Today I went to visit my dad and he had an extra glove box hinge for his 58 impala. Looked perfect for the job, it even has an offset so that the door swings out and down instead of just straight down, giving me a ton of clearance between the bottom of the door and the dash. After some modifications to the ashtray door and shortening the hinge to fit, it looks like its going to work perfect. The only thing I have to figure out now is how to keep the hinge from swinging past 90°, how to keep the door from just falling open and how to attach the hinge to the very shallow door.

[TA_C10]

Cool idea

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by TA_C10

Cool idea

Thanks man

[Kronald_70GMC]

Ok so I'm finally finished the tedious task of welding that plate into the back of the ashtray door. It is quite thin so I had plenty of down time while waiting for tacks to cool. Once that was done, I had to weld all of the random holes in the hinge shut and drill proper ones. I made the mounting holes slotted to allow for adjustment depending how thick the ashtray bumpers are. I have yet to weld the hinge to the ashtray door because after alot of consideration, I have decide that if I can spring load the hinge, that would be the best option. I am bringing the hinge with me to work tomorrow to see if I can find something that will work for me.

The last picture shows the access hole I choose to cut so that I could drill the holes for mounting the hinge. I was planning to remove the speaker grill anyway and smooth out that section of the dash.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Well the spring loaded hinge is a bust. I found some springs that I thought would work but they just bent when I tested them. On the plan B I guess.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Got the small slice that I had made in the ashtray hinge for the spring to sit in welded shut. I then welded the hinge to the door and put it in. Super happy with how it turned out. I still have to make the stopper/latch so that it doesn't just fall open while driving. Dare I even say that the hinge looks factory under there.

[TA_C10]

What will the aftermarket switches control?

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by TA_C10

What will the aftermarket switches control?

I plan to run some lighting in the engine bay and possibly the undercarriage for when I have it at a show. I'd also like to put a neutral safety kill switch as well for an added level of security. Im sure there will be some other ideas that come up as well as the build progresses. I was originally going to have them hidden under the dash but when I thought about it, I wanted them to be easy to access and since the ashtray does nothing for me, it seemed like the perfect place.

[Kronald_70GMC]

I made the arm that I needed to keep the ashtray latched and from opening too far tonight. It was alot of trial and error. The arm looks bad in the picture but with a bit of refining and once it's all black, I think it will look just fine.

If you look closely, you can see a magnet tucked under the corner of the hinge. That is what keeps it from coming open. I will need to get a smaller magnet though as that one partially covers a hole that I will need when I build the switch mounting plate.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Tonight I made the mounting surface for the switches. I will not drill the holes for them until I actually get the switches which won't be until I'm into wiring, so that is the end of that mod for the time being. I plan to use a push button style switch. I should have room for 4 switches which should cover anything aftermarket I plan to add. Now it's back to filling my door jambs smooth and smoothing out the rocker.

[cj847]

Originally Posted by Kronald_70GMC

I plan to run some lighting in the engine bay and possibly the undercarriage for when I have it at a show. I'd also like to put a neutral safety kill switch as well for an added level of security. Im sure there will be some other ideas that come up as well as the build progresses. I was originally going to have them hidden under the dash but when I thought about it, I wanted them to be easy to access and since the ashtray does nothing for me, it seemed like the perfect place.

Would be a great spot for a Zoomie button for exhaust cut outs. I like the idea of some type of kill switch also.

[TA_C10]

Looks great, nice mod.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by cj847

Would be a great spot for a Zoomie button for exhaust cut outs. I like the idea of some type of kill switch also.

Originally Posted by TA_C10

Looks great, nice mod.

Thanks guys! Exhaust cutouts would be wicked

[Kronald_70GMC]

Well working with the ashtray mod was a nice break from all the extreme welding and grinding. Now that I've taken a bit of a break on all that, I'm feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the rest of this door jamb!

[Kronald_70GMC]

My door jamb is now finish welded as well as the rocker. I have started the long process of the good ol 80 grit rub down in preparation for primer. There will be a few spots to pull with the pinner yet but maybe if all goes well, I can prime next weekend.

[May70]

80 grit sounds really rough. I use SPI and I think they call for 220-320 grit scratch. Truck is looking good

[TA_C10]

Will the speaker box be elevated? When your seats go in you won't have much room going up so.....

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by TA_C10

Will the speaker box be elevated? When your seats go in you won't have much room going up so.....

I haven't quite figured that part out yet. I just figured this way I have a few more options as far as mounting it goes. I'll have to get my seats all figured out and fitting first to see how much room is available back there.

[Kronald_70GMC]

I got some more body work in on the cab today. I have almost got all the marglass down in the drivers side door jamb. I also hit a few other spots like my gas hole that was welded shut and a large stretched out dent in one of the recesses at the back of the cab. Pictures are going to be a little boring for a while as body work is not overly exciting. If you guys get too overly bored of my pictures just let me know. Thanks for following along! It is a huge motivation to see the view counter climb.

[72 tigger]

Really nice progress! Your mods are well thought out

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by 72 tigger

Really nice progress! Your mods are well thought out

Thank you. I have been on this forum for quite a while and I'm sure that most of my ideas come from something I've seen somewhere else on here. I appreciate the compliments.

[gmc684x4]

Your truck is looking good
Nice your showing the fixes you have to do to fix poor fitting panels

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by gmc684x4

Your truck is looking good
Nice your showing the fixes you have to do to fix poor fitting panels

Thanks man. I was hoping to help out some other guys in the same boat as me. It can be discouraging to have such problems but I find that anything is fixable if a guy can just think outside the box a little bit.