71 Cheyenne Build

[Hack71]

Saturday I worked on installing the right side fender, I painted the Cowl area under the fender, the inner rocker and right side floor pan.

[Hack71]

Installing the Fender was a real pain in the ***. I've had the whole truck apart. I replaced Cab Mounts, and Core Support Mounts installed new inner fenders as well. I couldn't get anything to line up! I was pretty sure the cab did not move other than the height difference in the bushings, I ended up taking out the core support mount bolts till I had all the fender bolts in, then installed the mount bolts loosely, started shoving things around and I got it to line up pretty good.

[Hack71]

When I started to adjust the door and trial fit the Outer Rocker I noticed a problem, I couldn't get the door to adjust, I figured out that the cab corner is not installed correctly. I never braced the cab when I welded in the new Door Pillar, Outer Floor Section and Cab Corner. It appears everything is good except the cab corner. This will have to wait for another day Very Frustrating!

[Hack71]

I moved on to a Quick Victory maybe just to make myself feel better, I removed the aftermarket Kenwood radio and installed a AM radio I bought from a member, I was very thankful everything was still there, speaker, wiring and rear mount, Dash was not cut! I repaired the positive wire and the radio went in just as remembered almost 30 years ago Very Tight Fitting! (different truck).
Funny how somethings come back to a guy! Radio Works Good and speaker sounds good. Thanks to HONDAWASKI the member I bought the radio from.

[Hack71]

Last weekend I worked on paint the drivers side cowl, Prepped and painted the back of the cab and floor.

[Hack71]

Installed Fat Mat on the floor, Cab back and corners.

[Hack71]

Installed additional Sound Deadener Carpet Felt and Carpet.

[Hack71]

Time for the Seat and Door Sill Plates.

[Hack71]

Almost forgot to mention cab corner speaker brackets bought from 73-87.com I don't have speakers mounted yet but I thought I would mention them here. Other members have bought them, that is how I found them. They installed easy, fit good and look nice.

[Hack71]

I had a set back, went to install the truck bed and it would not sit down on the frame. I had relocated the gas tank to the rear and now the truck bed is hitting the top of the tank. looks like notching the truck bed cross member is best option.

[Hack71]

Fender, Grill, Bumper are going to need some tweaking to align everything, but its starting to look like a truck again!

[Hack71]

Hood and Truck Bed installed, Finally wow this turned into a much bigger project than I anticipated. Off to the alignment shop to get the front end aligned so I can start driving her around.

[Hack71]

Took her out for a drive today, Cruised thru town went to the a local event called Band Day spent some time at the Classic Car Show put on by the Basin Kruzers Car Club. Awesome Day logged about 75 miles today.

[68350]

Very nice progress. The band day car show was nice. Smaller than usual but still had some nice rides

[Daubs]

Excellent progress.

Question: How has the POR15 held up? Did you prep per directions (marine clean, metal ready)?

[Hack71]

POR has held up good so far, the gloss black finish does fade if exposed to sunlight, I scraped and washed the areas then I used POR-15 Cleaner/Degreaser, then POR-15 Metal Prep and then coated with POR-15 rust preventive coating (Gloss Black). In the conditions I was working it made the most sense, if I had the time and the space I would have had the frame sandblasted primed and coated with a chassis paint. I did the work in steps as I did not do a complete body off restoration, I did the rear frame rails, then the front frame rails then the under the cab and finally the bottom of the bed after some modifications to the cross member for the fuel tank. The rear frame was done in January and then the truck sat outside in the sun until recently (May)the frame rails had faded due to the sunlight but all areas not exposed to sun look like new still. The finish still appears to be very hard and durable. If you use this stuff be advised if you let it dry on your skin, clothes, floor etc. it will not come off, The first time I used it I had it on my arms, face, clothes and shop floor. The paint on my skin after every solvent I could think of using finally wore off after about 10 days!! 5 months later it is still on the shop floor. Be careful if you are recoating or top coating POR-15 follow their instructions otherwise it will peel off. Overall I am very pleased with POR-15.

[Hack71]

Bethel Lutheran Nursing and Rehabilitation Center First Annual Classic Car Show Williston, ND. Proceeds went to Relay For Life. "Spare Change" took 2nd Place, never would have thought being surrounded by all these beautiful Cars and Trucks!

[ltrrtl]

Loved ready and lookin at your progress. Makes me want to tear into my C-20. Mine looks nice from 20 or maybe even 10 feet away. Then when you look closely you see the botched body work PO did. I go back and forth on pulling my crate motor out, selling the sheet and looking for a C-10 better shell and going to town on her. Oh well, I ramble on and need to stop. Love the truck

[72 Super]

Just read through your build, very nice!

Ray

[Hack71]

Cruised to Minot for Motor Magic Car Auction and Show, weather was not so good, but a fun day anyhow. Pulled over and snapped these pics of "Spare Change".

[Hack71]

Its been a while since I posted, but I haven't done much to "Spare Change", I decided to pull the trigger and buy a tachometer conversion kit with vacuum gauge. I pulled the old cluster out cleaned and repainted old gauge needles. and reassembled, I ran out of time so I didn't get it back in the truck. I'll post a pick when it is complete.

[Hack71]

Finished with the gauge install.

[Hack71]

Had a local shop install a new exhaust with Flowmaster 40's exiting behind the rear wheels, got rid of the Glass Packs that were exiting in front of the rear wheels, sounds great! and it doesn't drive you insane going down the highway.
Might even have a conversation with someone @ 65 mph!

[Hack71]

I bought a Secret Audio SRMS radio and installed it under the seat so far I'm not impressed, the remote seems cheap and overly large, I couldn't get it to work properly, I called customer service and they ran me thru a few checks remote still didn't respond correctly, they said to send the remote and antenna to them for service. It took 2 weeks to receive the items back which I thought was pretty fast considering shipping time! They sent me a new remote and antenna but stated they found nothing wrong with the old one! I installed the new remote antenna and could not get it to learn or respond to the main unit, very frustrating I reset and programed it again still nothing. I removed the whole unit and sent it all back now I'm waiting again, I don't know how this will end but I am regretting purchasing this so far. I wanted to keep the original radio and have all modern radio options. I'm thinkin I should have had someone convert my am radio.

[Hack71]

No update on the Radio hoping to hear something soon its been about 2 weeks since I sent it back in. I've been working on buffing out the old paint, attempting to buy a couple more years before a repaint.
I bought a Dewalt 7"/9"Variable speed polisher, I used a wool pad and Wizard"s Mystic Cut compound. I am pleasantly surprised with the results!