Big Bertha build thread

[Luther Grimace]

You are extremely talented. Keep up the good work.

[mknittle]

Originally Posted by buggy5872

Now its March 2012 and I have to pick the camper up from storage by the end of April. I was starting to get nervous but did not panic yet. I focused on getting the door's body work finished next. A friend that owns a body shop suggested I use Z-chrome primer on the doors since there was so much work done on them. I had never heard of the stuff but it is like sprayable body filler with zinc to control any rust. He offered to spray them for me so I dropped them off at his shop. Here is what they looked like after being sprayed.

I block sanded them down and I am hooked on the stuff. I have two brothers, one that owns a body shop and one that works for a body shop, they are both hooked on it too now. I then shot some more primer and cut in the edges so i could assemble the doors.


Somehow I do not have any pics of the other doors but they looked the same.
Check out my alcoa wheels in the background of the one pic. Alcoa had not made the wheels since the 80's and I knew they were out there somewhere. I had been looking since I bought the truck and finally got a set. had to lay down 2 grand for 6 of them but I had to have them.

My dad just bought 6 24.5s just for that reason.

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by buggy5872

Ogre, I need to learn some fiberglass skills like you have. I have looked through your interior build thread and it has given me some ideas for this winter on my interior....

thanks, no skill, just unlimited tenacity

everything i know about fiberglass was learned on that fiberglassforums.com site
good site, lots of information to digest (like this one)
fiberglass does make it easy to fill an area or make a free form without the constrains of flat metal

be warned: start reading that site will suck up a lot of your time
i spent over a year on the interior, it sort of snowballed

[JRANGER]

He speaks the truth...I did a few fiberglass projects for car systems a few years back...Wow did it take over lol

[buggy5872]

We took a 10 day trip to Ocean City MD the last 2 weeks. My goal before going was to get the gauges figured out, ac working, and a stereo system. At some point someone hacked into the wiring harness and made some adjustments to the wiring. Not sure why but there were 6 wires soldered together just before the fuse box. Power was not getting to where it should and some were getting power all the time. Once I had that all sorted out, All kinds of things worked that did not before. It even cured my AC problem. I spent 4 days working on getting the stereo in. amps , subs, speakers, tweeters and about 200 feet of wire. Lucky I stuffed most of it in under the carpet before. It sounds fantastic. Sorry no pics. Tonight I worked on the power windows. I bought a switch kit that had 8 switches and about 50 wires. It also came with some wiring diagrams that looked like an 8 year old made. I figured it out and tomorrow night I will get all the switches mounted and wiring tucked away neatly. All that's left on the inside are door panels and console. I will get some pics posted once I get it all buttoned up.

[mknittle]

I thought I was the only one that got the aftermath of electrical wizards!

[buggy5872]

last thing will be the bed. I already started on it and have about 50% of the fab work done. I took a 58 fleetside bed and molded stretched stepside fenders into it. The sides were too high so I cut them down to the factory seam just above the rocket on the sides. Those pieces will be able to be put back on when not towing the camper. The tailgate will hinge open like a door and lift off when towing also. Here is how far I am with it now.


the drivers side is not quite as far along but it wont take long to finish it. That is where I am at this point and will update this as I progress along. I am hoping to have the bed done and on by mid September but we will see. I have 3 more camping trips before then.

As soon as this one is done, I can get back on my NAPCO that got put on hold until this gets done.


I will do a build thread on it when I start back on it. I do not have a lot of pics of it in progress to this point but will take more as I go. The wife also said something about wanting a Task force Burb so my projects will never end but I am running out of room!!!! Hopefully the kids will be big enough soon to help rather than slow me down. They are fun to have in the garage helping though

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by buggy5872

the drivers side is not quite as far along but it wont take long to finish it.

i'm liking the bed
i do the opposite, i do the drivers side first.
2 weeks of engineering and do-overs on the drivers side to get it half right.
and then 2 days of zip zip fab work on the passenger side for a perfect piece.
my drivers door doesn't work as well as the pass door, driver window as well as the pass window,
drivers wire harness as well as the pass harness, drivers door panel... you get the idea

you cannot say no trucks were harmed in making your truck
i'm counting 2 cabs, 3 roofs, 6 doors, 3 rear fenders and a fleetside bed so far.
probably more

hugger orange napco looks good too...
definitely needs a build thread

[buggy5872]

Your math is a little off on the doors and rear fenders. Door count was 10 and rear fenders 4 but I'll give you a pass since your are just looking at pictures. For some reason I do always start with the passenger side of things...never thought about it before....What's that saying about myself....now you got me off on a tanget.

[RINC]

Wow !

Your truck has me grinning ear to ear

[Ben IV]

Truck looks killer, chevy should have offerd somthing like that back in the day. way cooler and im sure cheaper than the modern equivelent. Now all you have to do is talk the wife into buying a goosneck trailer to tow your other trucks to shows...lol

[_Ogre]

i saw this on the power tour in dallas
well done from suburban parts
it had a goose neck ball in the bed

[IMG][/IMG]

[beanyard]

Originally Posted by buggy5872

Not bad for an Accountant....just think if I did this full time......

So since I am an accountant too there is hope for me to do fab work. I am talented with wood so hopefully that can transfer to metal.
Posted via Mobile Device

[cAlvis165]

Wow. Just read through the whole build. You, sir, have done a great job. I've always loved the big trucks. Your build has just deepened my love...


Chad

[mknittle]

Originally Posted by beanyard

So since I am an accountant too there is hope for me to do fab work. I am talented with wood so hopefully that can transfer to metal.
Posted via Mobile Device

That could present some very interesting possabilitys.

[jbailly]

Two very cool trucks. Hopefully I will get a chance to see them in person as I am only about an hour away from you.

[buggy5872]

Originally Posted by jbailly

Two very cool trucks. Hopefully I will get a chance to see them in person as I am only about an hour away from you.

I usuallly only hit a couple cruises by my house. They are every other wednesday at the Willows in Industry PA. If you ever decide you are headed that way, let me know and I will try to stop down. Funny thing happened yesterday. There was a rep at work yesterday to work on some equipment from Tulsa OK and turns out he knew of my truck from seeing it on the internet. He came over and checked it out and we went down to he Willows and checked out some more rides.....Small world......Big Bertha is famous....

[buggy5872]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

i saw this on the power tour in dallas
well done from suburban parts
it had a goose neck ball in the bed

[IMG][/IMG]

Thats cool. did it have any rear doors?

[buggy5872]

Just found out GM did make a crewcab LCF truck. It was just on auction and I really wanted to get it but space at home and distance held me back. It was a 1956 GMC crew made for the the public library of DC. 1 of 1 made by GMC coach divison as a mobile library. the owner had all the documentation on it too. He even had the custom trailer GMC built for it.



So one did exist but it was a 3 door and I was not real excited about how the door looked. If I would of bought it....would of went back to all original along with the trailer.

[dug224]

I'm hooked! Well done.

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by buggy5872

Thats cool. did it have any rear doors?

no rear door.

[n2billet]

Your "vision and execution" is spot on! Very cool project.

[99 to Life]

awesome truck, love the creativity and actual execution of build that has looks and purpose. All show and go. I like the color scheme and can't wait to see that finished bed.

[hp1957]

Big Bertha looks Awesome!!

Harvey

1957 Chevy Stepside
1958 GMC Fleetside C4 project build thread:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...65#post5510465

[buggy5872]

Worked on the bed this weekend. Most of the fab work is done at this point. Need to put it on the truck to figure out a couple more things. Still have two more camping trips so its tough to find time to put the bed on and take it back off in between trips.