TA_C10: Stage 1

[TA_C10]

Originally Posted by 1971Stepside

I wasn't trying to be negative. I saw it and went "doh" because I did the same thing, but luckily caught it after only one rivet was in. I then about installed the pivot rivet before I put all the washers on the post.

I'm with you. I've learned a lot doing this. Don't think I will ever do another frame off.

I took your comments as constructive Yeah when my truck is done, I'm moving into new house with a shop. I will be building a custom chopper/bobber next. I think it will be much easier than this big box of metal

Originally Posted by MDPotter

What did you use for setting the rivets? The tool that comes with the kit? I used the cheap little rivet setting tool on mine. It seems to last just long enough for one set. The rivet tools are nice, but I couldn't justify the cost for one set of windows.

I also had the help of my dad doing mine, but it looks like you did it single-handedly so good work on the positioning and tools.

They look great, good job and nice writeup!

I did all but 2 rivets on my own, my wife held the setup on those 2. And I used the rivet setting punch tool from rivet kit. I didn't hit very hard with hammer, I went slow like brotherstrucks guy mentioned and the punch seems to be fine to be used again. I got the kit from LMC. Everybody else I looked at was out of stock of some part of that kit.

.

[TA_C10]

Forgot a pic. Here is the new tint. I wish it were a little lighter, it's 32%, but it's not bad. I fear the whole truck done in this tint will be darker than I really wanted but we shall see.




.

[TA_C10]

I got my headlights completed too. I never went back and painted the bare metal after modifying my buckets. Little rust showed up so I sanded everything, finished welding up the drivers side, cleaned up all the welds and back side of buckets, shot it all with few light coats of matte black.

For my under-hood black I chose Eastwood Black Matte. It's a nice under-hood color IMO, easy to touch up down the road. But I chose this before I ended up painting everything with gun metal color lol. My inner fenders and outer fenders(back side) were gonna get this matte black but I ended up just painting them all gun metal. The thought originally was daily driver, who cares, and it would be easy to touch up down the road... So I think when I finish the bed, hoping I have some gun metal paint left over, I will put some in a couple of small containers that seal really good and use them for touch ups. No hardener in paint of course. Hopefully that will work. I would like to find those nice touch up containers with the brush in them. We will see.

So core support is the only thing in Matte Black now... But I am not removing it to paint it gun metal, It will be fine the way it is IMO.

[siggyfreud]

Looking great!

[cornerstone]

Nice progress man

[TA_C10]

Bed ripped back off, off to sandblaster for blasting and primer. It's next on the chopping block for bodywork and paint. Need to clean up everything it's dirty.

[TA_C10]

Need to raise my battery drop box. It's too low, hangs below the bedside too much for my taste. I will raise it up to the bed rail brackets you see in the pic. I also included a few pics of my ground cable going through the frame. Battery feeds it. Then it goes up to the PDU on core support and directly to engine. I need to clean up and secure all those cables as well .

[cornerstone]

You've come a long way man! All of the fine details add up to one heck of a truck. I went and changed my mind again and now have the same drop down battery box as you do. I plan on being in the weeds on occasion so I'm wondering how much higher can you mount the box and it will still function? Were you concerned it may hit a speed bump or just didn't like he looks of it?

[TA_C10]

Originally Posted by cornerstone

You've come a long way man! All of the fine details add up to one heck of a truck. I went and changed my mind again and now have the same drop down battery box as you do. I plan on being in the weeds on occasion so I'm wondering how much higher can you mount the box and it will still function? Were you concerned it may hit a speed bump or just didn't like he looks of it?

Didn't like the looks. It hung low enough that if you stood 20 feet back you could see the shiny SS box hanging below the bedside. It was above the other components like axle and front cross-member, so no issue with it dragging, but moving it up just helps that out even more.

It will get moved up another 2-3 inches with a mounting plate. That's my thought anyways. Plan to use the existing holes I already drilled in frame.

.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by TA_C10

Didn't like the looks. It hung low enough that if you stood 20 feet back you could see the shiny SS box hanging below the bedside. It was above the other components like axle and front cross-member, so no issue with it dragging, but moving it up just helps that out even more.

It will get moved up another 2-3 inches with a mounting plate. That's my thought anyways. Plan to use the existing holes I already drilled in frame.

.

Since you're going through the effort.... Black the exterior surface of the box out. Doing so will definitely hide it better.

[TA_C10]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

Since you're going through the effort.... Black the exterior surface of the box out. Doing so will definitely hide it better.

I may still black it out, good idea. Same reason I blacked out the gas tank.



.

[TA_C10]

Update - Battery Drop Box moved

The box comes with 6 holes for mounting. I didn't need the top row of holes. So I just slid the box up and mounted using the bottom 2 sets of holes. Gained a full 2 inches more clearance.



Before I moved anything. This is the box fully up. Only got 6.5" of clearance.





Removed the bolts.





And slid the box up and re-mounted. Top set of holes in box were not the same distance apart as the bottom 2 sets so I had to modify the box holes just a little with die grinder. But if your starting from scratch you won't have this issue(@cornerstone) And FYI, I drilled and tapped the frame for these bolts.





Gained 2" of clearance, should be enough to tuck the box behind the bed side.





Box is fully up here:





Box is all the way down here:







Side view with box up:

[TA_C10]

Update - Doors and Fenders installed

It's easy to mock old parts up, but putting the newly painted and fresh parts together takes twice as long trying to be careful... I bought new window setting rubber from LMC and it worked great. Other than that, just pics really. I'm still wiring the doors, getting all the Power Windows and Power Locks installed. I also bought new mirrors with LED signals in them, got the passenger side installed. Oh yeah, and 71StepSide, yeah man, the chrome pieces on my vent windows are definitely backwards, and I had no idea they would be off like they are, they don't go all the way up to top of door. SMH..... So I went ahead and installed them as they are with the intention of going with 1 piece windows later on..... Whatever. I will own it.

















I drilled new mirror holes before paint. But forgot the wire had to pass through the middle so I had to drill that after paint. I ended up using a grommet, and I put just a little dab of black silicone around the lip of grommet and it sealed up real nice. Should be cool.














Did any of you notice the color difference between door and front fender? Yeah, I gotta repaint my front fenders. They don't match. I know what I did so it won't be a hard fix. I have never painted a vehicle before so again, I will own this. The cab is dirty in these pics so it looks lighter too but it's not. Fenders I made quicker/faster passes with paint gun and with doors and cab I went slower and got that nice deep color on them.

[MDPotter]

It's really coming down the home stretch now!

It is hard to get colors like that to match when you paint panels on different days. I look at my dad's 64 that is a metallic blue and I painted it in pieces on different days and it bothers me all the time. Number of coats is what got me on that one.

[TA_C10]

Forgot another pic. Both doors installed and fenders. Headlights re-installed as well. I really like the new tint. It's not too dark. But back window hasn't been tinted yet either so we will see. But right now it's not bad. I think the shade works well with the gun metal grey too.

[1971Stepside]

It's easy to mock old parts up, but putting the newly painted and fresh parts together takes twice as long trying to be careful... I bought new window setting rubber from LMC and it worked great. Other than that, just pics really. I'm still wiring the doors, getting all the Power Windows and Power Locks installed. I also bought new mirrors with LED signals in them, got the passenger side installed. Oh yeah, and 71StepSide, yeah man, the chrome pieces on my vent windows are definitely backwards, and I had no idea they would be off like they are, they don't go all the way up to top of door. SMH..... So I went ahead and installed them as they are with the intention of going with 1 piece windows later on..... Whatever. I will own it.

First off, truck is looking great. I'm glad to hear the LMC window setting rubber works. I can't find the metal track at the moment, but I know I restored it and put it somewhere safe.

No worries on the vent windows!! I'm glad I caught that before I had all the rivets in. Don't blame you for waiting.

[TA_C10]

Originally Posted by MDPotter

It's really coming down the home stretch now!

It is hard to get colors like that to match when you paint panels on different days. I look at my dad's 64 that is a metallic blue and I painted it in pieces on different days and it bothers me all the time. Number of coats is what got me on that one.

I'm anxious, and thanks. It IS tough. And I thought the paint went on so easy . I should have put them next to each other before I installed them... Duh.. I am NOT and paint and body guy.... I put 3 coats on everything, 16psi in my HVLP, but it's all about my gun speed this time.

Originally Posted by 1971Stepside

First off, truck is looking great. I'm glad to hear the LMC window setting rubber works. I can't find the metal track at the moment, but I know I restored it and put it somewhere safe.

No worries on the vent windows!! I'm glad I caught that before I had all the rivets in. Don't blame you for waiting.

Thanks man, I'm so close I can taste it. I'm not building show like you guys so a few dings and screw-ups don't stop me from moving forward And yeah man, your truck, I'm glad you caught that too. I research the heck out of everything, but I got in a big hurry that day and this is what happens...

Keep on building fellas!

.

[TA_C10]

Got a question. Is this normal? Notice my window rolled all the way up is "TOO" far up? The window channel is past the rubber.... Why is that?





Another question, I am installing the door switches for courtesy lights. Are those supposed to be threaded in the door jam or you guys putting a nut behind it? They didn't come with a nut but the metal is so thin it seems weird to just try and thread it...






And some other things I have going on from the weekend project. I finished wiring all the PW and PL. They all work. The PW need a little extra boost of power in the passenger door but a relay and larger gauge wiring should fix that no prob. When the truck is running it has zero problems. You can see my mess of wiring right now. I barely got all that wiring fed through those 1/2" door looms. And I forgot one, mirror still needs its wire snaked through. It's pretty tight in there... My access panels on the kick panel make it really nice to work in, but I should have moved them a big higher. Still not sure if I want to make a hinged door for them or just leave them open behind the kick panels....

I got all my bed panels and small parts back from sandblast and the primer he uses is nice. I scuffed several of the small parts and painted them with rattle can matte black from Eastwood, and I guess I didn't wait long enough for the paint to dry, I already rubbed a couple spots on BOTH striker plates in door jambs, wrench hit when tightening bolts.... Easy fix later.


More pics:











The PO had already painted over the VIN plate on door. When I tried to remove the paint it was in bad shape, so I just painted over it again. Sucks....

[MDPotter]

That is weird. I haven't seen that on my 68 or 69. You have your window channel strip installed in the door, right? I don't know what else would let you window glass run up that far.

Are you gonna get your bed all bodyworked and painted soon?

All of a sudden it's fall/winter in Colorado and I haven't gotten anything even in primer on the 69 yet.

[TA_C10]

Originally Posted by MDPotter

That is weird. I haven't seen that on my 68 or 69. You have your window channel strip installed in the door, right? I don't know what else would let you window glass run up that far.

Are you gonna get your bed all bodyworked and painted soon?

All of a sudden it's fall/winter in Colorado and I haven't gotten anything even in primer on the 69 yet.

Yeah man all the weatherstripping and rubbers are in place so I'm not sure what's going on. Driver side isn't that bad. I will take a closer look this weekend.

Yeah I plan on doing bodywork in a couple weeks, gonna be out of town for a bit. I'm ready to get this thing done.

My buddy lives in Westminster, they were posting pics of snow already. Better get on that primer!

.

[TA_C10]

Few small updates

Spent Saturday mowing our new property for the first time. Rented a 52" Toro Titan from Ace(PowerUp rental) for $175 24 hours. Not bad. It's only $110 for 4 hours. I would like to find another rental place and try different mowers if I can find another rental company... 4.5 acres we are wanting a 60+ inch deck when we purchase. Took 2 hours with the 52" deck. Not bad.


Friday night I fought the drivers side mirror install with the wife. That backside bracket gave us trouble but we finally conquered. Sunday I did some cleaning up of wiring. Installed the new dash speaker and Custom Audio radio. It's not wired yet, and the dash speaker is the only speaker I have so far so no review on the radio just yet. But it looks good. Installed super easy. I only had to adjust the mounting nuts once and it was just right. And the dash speaker I had to modify the bracket a little, and because of the VA middle dash vent, that speaker is really squeezed in there...

I also put my intake back on again, used zip ties to hold it in the 2 places I plan to make brackets to hold it on. I tried this with the hood on a while back and it had plenty of clearance. With the zip ties holding it there was a good 1/4" or more around the upper radiator hose all the way around so I am happy with that. The only thing I am not happy about is the location of the MAF sensor. I have stock style so it will need another boot to install. I want to put it after the 90 from intake halfway to the 45 bend over the rad hose, but that part of the pipe is slick, no mounting bumps. So I guess I will have to mount it further back between the 45 at rad hose and 45 at fender. There are mounting locations in the pipe there. But I will have a lot of silicone sleeves in this dang thing...... Not sure I am going to like it but maybe it will be ok....

[derotoreut]

Originally Posted by TA_C10

Few small updates

Spent Saturday mowing our new property for the first time. Rented a 52" Toro Titan from Ace(PowerUp rental) for $175 24 hours. Not bad. It's only $110 for 4 hours. I would like to find another rental place and try different mowers if I can find another rental company... 4.5 acres we are wanting a 60+ inch deck when we purchase. Took 2 hours with the 52" deck. Not bad.

I have a commercial grade John Deere Zero turn and man can it chew up some grass fast! I also have a 72" finish mower that I pull behind my JD tractor. We have 9 acres at our house (cut about 4 acres). We also have 68 acres that we use for camping, hunting and ATV's. We don't cut all of that, but we do cut some some.

Originally Posted by TA_C10

I also put my intake back on again, used zip ties to hold it in the 2 places I plan to make brackets to hold it on. I tried this with the hood on a while back and it had plenty of clearance. With the zip ties holding it there was a good 1/4" or more around the upper radiator hose all the way around so I am happy with that. The only thing I am not happy about is the location of the MAF sensor. I have stock style so it will need another boot to install. I want to put it after the 90 from intake halfway to the 45 bend over the rad hose, but that part of the pipe is slick, no mounting bumps. So I guess I will have to mount it further back between the 45 at rad hose and 45 at fender. There are mounting locations in the pipe there. But I will have a lot of silicone sleeves in this dang thing...... Not sure I am going to like it but maybe it will be ok....

Is there a reason you went with your intake set up to the passenger side? I can't recall unless I go back and read through the build thread again. I am real happy with the one I used. It puts the intake to the driver side and allows me to keep the stock battery tray. You can see it in my build thread.

[SkidmoreGarage]

Looks like good progress. Getting closer.

You didn't ask for advice on the intake, but I see an opportunity to offer some motivation. I see a lot of trucks that are super nice with LS swaps and the intake tube is a compromise. They have couplers, bends, and an awkward look. My suggestion is to take your time, and maybe even weld up what you want. Once it runs- you may not get back to it for a while.

When you say it's smooth, you mean it doesn't have the bead for the couplers? For N/A you can get by without a bead on an intake tube. You can even get away without a bead on 2.5" intercooler piping at 7 psi.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by SkidmoreGarage

Looks like good progress. Getting closer.

You didn't ask for advice on the intake, but I see an opportunity to offer some motivation. I see a lot of trucks that are super nice with LS swaps and the intake tube is a compromise. They have couplers, bends, and an awkward look. My suggestion is to take your time, and maybe even weld up what you want. Once it runs- you may not get back to it for a while.

When you say it's smooth, you mean it doesn't have the bead for the couplers? For N/A you can get by without a bead on an intake tube. You can even get away without a bead on 2.5" intercooler piping at 7 psi.

Ditto and I'll add.... Use what you have to get what your set-up needs as far as the length, bends, & the position of the specific parts. Then find a shop to build a single tube from aluminum (or whatever) based on your mock-up stuff. It would look much cleaner.

[TA_C10]

Originally Posted by derotoreut

I have a commercial grade John Deere Zero turn and man can it chew up some grass fast! I also have a 72" finish mower that I pull behind my JD tractor. We have 9 acres at our house (cut about 4 acres). We also have 68 acres that we use for camping, hunting and ATV's. We don't cut all of that, but we do cut some some.

I would love to test out a JD....


Is there a reason you went with your intake set up to the passenger side? I can't recall unless I go back and read through the build thread again. I am real happy with the one I used. It puts the intake to the driver side and allows me to keep the stock battery tray. You can see it in my build thread.

I chose the passenger side because I built my PDU panel on drivers side. I also relocated my battery to frame rail and that left a huge ton of "nothing-ness" on the passenger side so it was the logical place. And logical as well because I wanted to build a box or block off plate in the fender area.

Originally Posted by SkidmoreGarage

Looks like good progress. Getting closer.

You didn't ask for advice on the intake, but I see an opportunity to offer some motivation. I see a lot of trucks that are super nice with LS swaps and the intake tube is a compromise. They have couplers, bends, and an awkward look. My suggestion is to take your time, and maybe even weld up what you want. Once it runs- you may not get back to it for a while.

When you say it's smooth, you mean it doesn't have the bead for the couplers? For N/A you can get by without a bead on an intake tube. You can even get away without a bead on 2.5" intercooler piping at 7 psi.

This is good to know, yes I meant the beads. If I don't need those I may have another option here. More on this in a minute.

Originally Posted by SCOTI

Ditto and I'll add.... Use what you have to get what your set-up needs as far as the length, bends, & the position of the specific parts. Then find a shop to build a single tube from aluminum (or whatever) based on your mock-up stuff. It would look much cleaner.

Thanks for the options fellas. I would much rather do a short run to a filter with a smooth pipe because of looks for the most part. But I see time and time again factory setups going to a box or block off plate(essentially a box) to the fender side away from heat. And we all know here by now I am no expert at any of this business. My father owned a mechanic shop for years so I have more of a mechanical set of skills and knowledge than anything else. So I understand the cooler air intakes. This is ALL I was trying to achieve here. My brain said let's get cooler air, and left out the good looking part... If I had it to do all over again, I would have put the PDU on passenger side, and then ran intake to drivers side not competing with rad hoses. Or different radiator with upper on the drivers side.... But I am at most things here, a newb when it comes to ground up builds. This is my first.

I purchased this expensive kit almost a year ago now, I should have waited.
But the decision behind that was I can't weld aluminum because I don't have the tools for that. This is also going to only be a daily driver, so looks weren't at the top of my priority list. But then that's a lie, I still want it to look good, I just made a hasty decision and now I gotta live with it.

However, I think I still have a small option for better looking, if my idea works out. I am really hoping to be able to hot weld this plastic together in the middle joint removing that sleeve completely. I also plan to smooth all the unnecessary beads if I can do that and paint it perhaps, I dunno. But I will still entertain any ideas from you guys. I will look into the aluminum route and see what it will cost me on top of the expensive kit I have now