TA_C10: Stage 1

[SkidmoreGarage]

Yeah, that's a bummer. However, it's not the plastic that likely isn't strong enough. It's that it isn't strongly cross-linked from being squirted out like cake frosting The hard part is the design, you have that nailed. I'd suggest getting it printed by a resin based printer through a service.

You could also print it in metal... But that's expensive and likely not worth it.

Just thinking out loud, but why not just use the outer ball design and create a cavity and some engineered flex to accept the old small metal ball. You could then create a "locking" channel for the stem to prevent the outer ball and socket from moving. Then install it back into the new mirror.

[siggyfreud]

Tough one indeed. I think it's just too small for a FDM printer to print strong enough, at least in the materials I can use. A resin-based printer in one of the stronger materials might do the trick, but given the side and load metal might be the only viable option in this instance.

The alternative approach would be to use the ball it comes with and find another way to connect the mirror to the mounting point/pad.

You've basically created the metal part already. This one would be hard to CNC as one piece unless you either drilled it after, or had a 5 axis. Alternatively I could break up the part into a ball, and then a stem which threads into it, which a 3 axis could do. If I had my 3 axis (still some months out) I could try it.

The only other thing I can think of would be to do a part that was the ball, and a thick stem that went all the way to the old mounting plate.

[TA_C10]

Yeah I do have the steel piece I modified still and it works. The only thing about it would be I need to have it chromed or powder-coated. I'm not sure it would hold up with just paint. Plus, having this 3D printed piece means anybody can do this without going through the crazy modifications I did to make this steel OE piece work.

[SkidmoreGarage]

Did my idea of a plastic ball spacer make sense? It is like in replacement joints, there is a stainless or ti ball in a plastic insert that acts as a bearing that is then in another socket.

You could likely print this ball and socket spacer pretty easily. I don't have access to solid works anymore, or I'd try to draw it.

[TA_C10]

Yeah, makes sense to me. But the ball part is good now. It's the "stem" on the ball that is now crushing. You have to tighten the OE bracket bolt that attaches to the stem to the point where it is "snug" so it holds the mirror up but yet is loose enough it will still pivot. It is currently crushing that stem.

I plan to see if the 3D experts out there have any ideas on this, and if they are willing to try something else. Otherwise I will just use my steel piece I made. Speaking of that, Siggy, how much do you think it would cost to have that piece made in the stronger material you guys are talking about?

Are we talking $10, $50, or $100?

.

[1971Stepside]

My son is a senior at University of Alablama - Huntsville getting his Mechanical Engineering degree. I asked him if he had access to a CNC 5 axis like siggy mentioned. He said he did, but I don't know what to ask him, or provide him, next.

[siggyfreud]

Originally Posted by 1971Stepside

My son is a senior at University of Alablama - Huntsville getting his Mechanical Engineering degree. I asked him if he had access to a CNC 5 axis like siggy mentioned. He said he did, but I don't know what to ask him, or provide him, next.

Ask him if he can use a Fusion360 file. I don't mind sharing so long as he doesn't mass produce it . I'd like to retain the rights to the file for the business I'm building, in case it was something I could sell in the future if that makes sense.

TA_C10 . . . You could print from PEEK for about $20, but many online printing places require a minimum of $100.

I'm toying with a design that replaces the entire chrome stem, which would eliminate the issue of the small stem being squeezed to death.

[TA_C10]

Update - Bodywork - Fenders and Doors

Well, I have many updates, just haven't had time to post them. And I also am wondering how much anyone really wants to see of this stuff too, bodywork and paint is kinda boring until it's installed on the truck...

For the past month I have been hard at it, body-working the doors, inner and outer fenders, cowl, hood. Bed will getting blasted and primed later. That's another story. So here are a few pics. Again, this is gonna be my daily, so I'm not going for perfection, but to be honest, the panels were not as bad as I expected.


You guys remember one of my doors dropped from the hooks on my hanging rack right? I got it fixed. No real bad damage thank goodness. I hammered out the door where it had the worst hit, sanded back down and body-worked it again. I had to re-weld the inner "shelf" where the vent window sits, and I used a piece of wood and mallet to bang the outer door skin back(just a hair), and I also re-whacked the window channel back a bit to re-gap it back in cab. But yeah, other than that no big deal LMAO...

But seriously, here is the amount of filler I needed when all was fixed. Oh, and I seam sealed the outer skin where it meets the window channel, both doors. From factory they have a serious gap that water will just flow right into the door.... Didn't notice that until I examined them closer.








Little glaze.






Here are the outer fenders, they sanded down nicely, did maybe 3 rounds of filler on both fenders and they both came out about the same, very light amount of bodywork left.

[TA_C10]

Update - Bodywork - Hood

The hood was blasted 2 years ago. I used a really nice spray called "Dry Coat". I learned about this spray from someone else and they mentioned it lasts about a year, allowing you to keep bare metal without rusting. Well, I didn't respray after a year, and it actually lasted about 1.5 years before I noticed it started to rust in the pits of the blasting. So I ended up having to re-sand the whole hood. Just whipped out the DA and went to town. Used a wire brush on drill on underneath side to get in all the bracing and etc.

Then after all that I used this Eastwood rust coating stuff inside all the holes and bracing to keep rust away. I used this same stuff in my cab roof skin and pillars when I had it blown apart. Cheap assurance is the way I look at it. Has like a 18" tube and the tip has like 6-7 holes that spray in all directions. Seems to coat really well and gets in all the hard to reach/impossible to reach areas.











Not sure if you can tell, you can see some of the splattering out of the holes, but I hit every hole I could find. Excess just wipes off with paint prep cleaner.
















And she is in primer at the moment.

[1971Stepside]

I appreciate all of the work in the Texas heat. Keep it up and you will have paint before I will

[MDPotter]

I've been wondering what you've been up to...

Bodywork is not be underestimated. On the TV shows, they make it look like it only take a day or two, but it actually takes us several weeks or months. I did all of my bodywork in the warm months so I'm looking forward to doing it all on the next project in the cooler months.

[cornerstone]

Originally Posted by MDPotter

I've been wondering what you've been up to...

Me too.

How did you get the underside of your hood so clean?

[1971Stepside]

My son can't get access to the CNC machine since the COVID has the campus pretty well locked down....plan B, or C, or whatever we are on now.

[Scurry67]

Bodywork is looking great, man! What do you plan on spraying over the filler?

[TA_C10]

Originally Posted by 1971Stepside

I appreciate all of the work in the Texas heat. Keep it up and you will have paint before I will

Originally Posted by MDPotter

I've been wondering what you've been up to...

Bodywork is not be underestimated. On the TV shows, they make it look like it only take a day or two, but it actually takes us several weeks or months. I did all of my bodywork in the warm months so I'm looking forward to doing it all on the next project in the cooler months.

Originally Posted by cornerstone

Me too.

How did you get the underside of your hood so clean?

Well, since you guys are asking......


.

[TA_C10]

Update - Color!!! Fenders, Cowl, Doors

Yeah this is what I've been up to. I took off Friday and Monday last week for a 4 day weekend to get this done. The temps were down to mid 90's so I took advantage. I went over everything again with 220 sandpaper, glazed anything I missed, hung it and sprayed 2 coats black sealer, then everything got 3 coats of color. Reminder this is Hot Rod Flatz, Gun Metal Grey, Metallic, satin sheen. It is sooooo easy to spray. 1.3 tip in my gun. First coat I spray pretty quick passes to put a light coat on first. Then the second/third coats I make slow passes putting it on nice and wet. It comes out sooo deep. I love it. These pics do NOT do it any justice, seeing it in person is so different. I did best I could to get pics with different lighting but my phone camera just didn't capture it great.

I still missed a few little pin holes, but you can't see them unless you use a magnifying glass almost lol. My bodywork payed off. It's not perfect, but it's pretty decent. Everything looks real nice for a daily driver IMO. I just pray it matches the cab lol. The cab is so dirty I can't really tell yet. I am waiting for my new door hinges to show up, otherwise all these pieces would be installed already.

Door pics look blotchy in these photos, but that aint what it looks like in person. The paint layed down so flawlessly I couldn't believe it. No runs. Metallic layed perfect too. Unbelievable how easy it is to spray. If I knew what I was doing, I would spray a clear over these, but they don't make a satin clear, you gotta mix it, and I don't know how to do this. And plus these new technology single stage paints are awesome, they last a lot longer than the old single stage paints of our fathers. Gringoloco used same brand single stage, he says it still looks same as day he sprayed it.

I'm pumped!!

[TA_C10]

Originally Posted by cornerstone

Me too.

How did you get the underside of your hood so clean?

Wire brush on a drill, and a DA with 80 grit. Took forever. And this hood was sandblasted already so that helped. I just had to knock out the rust. Before I primed the metal, I went over everything I wire brushed by hand with 80 grit sandpaper too, I heard wire wheels make the metal too smooth to paint and paint won't get a good enough 'grip'.

Originally Posted by 1971Stepside

My son can't get access to the CNC machine since the COVID has the campus pretty well locked down....plan B, or C, or whatever we are on now.

Bummer man. I can test at anytime really. I plan to use my metal joint(ball) for now until we figure something out. I'm probably just gonna epoxy and paint with a thin black paint of some kind, sanding it nice and smooth to try and make it last in a plastic socket it will live in.

.

[TA_C10]

Originally Posted by Scurry67

Bodywork is looking great, man! What do you plan on spraying over the filler?

I used all Summit Racing and Eastwood products except for final paint.

Eastwood Contour body filler and glaze.
Summit Epoxy primer grey.
Summit High Build 2k black for sanding imperfections.
Summit low voc 2.1 black sealer.
Hot Rod Flatz single stage. Gun Metal Grey. Metallic. Satin.

Everything was really nice to work with. No problems with any of these products.

.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Truck is looking great man! Should be on the road in no time.

[1971Stepside]

Great job! Now get it put together so we can see it!!

[MDPotter]

You're about to reach a milestone - reassembly of all these parts.

So what's going to be Stage 2? You've done a ton of work on this truck in Stage 1.

[TA_C10]

Originally Posted by Kronald_70GMC

Truck is looking great man! Should be on the road in no time.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by 1971Stepside

Great job! Now get it put together so we can see it!!

No kidding! I need hinges... Should be here today or tomorrow I think. I'm rebuilding my vent windows btw. Should finish those soon. I'm thinking however, since the door and vent windows are clean and out of truck, now would be a great time to take them to get tinted. Before I assemble them. But... I am pretty anxious and may not make that lol.

Originally Posted by MDPotter

You're about to reach a milestone - reassembly of all these parts.

So what's going to be Stage 2? You've done a ton of work on this truck in Stage 1.

Thanks man. Funny, I forget the name still says Stage 1 lol. So different what ended up happening... Anyways, Stage 2 will now be speed parts and a few upgrades. Interior may be apart of stage 2 as well, I want bucket seats, console, a-pillars, back side, all that done up with panels. And sound system.

[1971Stepside]

I'm rebuilding my vent windows btw

The extra rivets I ordered came today, so I will finish mine up over the weekend. If you need any "how the heck did you do this" pointers, let me know.

[TA_C10]

Originally Posted by 1971Stepside

The extra rivets I ordered came today, so I will finish mine up over the weekend. If you need any "how the heck did you do this" pointers, let me know.

Yeah let me know your technique, on rivets, what did you use as the "anvil" on backside inside the window channel?

.

[siggyfreud]

What size ball is on the other end of your mirror mount?



What if we just made the ball that goes into the mirror, and this entire chrome stem that mounts into the bracket one piece?

Edit: On second though, perhaps not as it uses that screw the mirror ball goes into to pivot on it appears.

I found a spare mirror in the garage, and as tight as this is it may just not be suited to plastic in these smaller pieces. Adjusting and holding the mirror seems to require a pretty decent amount of force in a small area.

What's interesting is their bracket is plastic, but appears much thicker and only pivots on the ball alone, right?