Thelonerifes 72 stepper

[thelonerife]

Some new parts and some used. ECE 2 1/2'' drop spindles, 5'' rear drop springs, cleaned and painted my ramhorns.

[thelonerife]

forgot to mention I also painted the spindles with the same paint as the manifolds. duplicolor engine enamal cast color.

[thelonerife]

started puting the lower outer skin on. not done welding it though.

[mas09ts]

Originally Posted by thelonerife

Okay, Got a little work done. I got the passenger front support in and the patch for the floor over it. I got the topside painted and the bottom, I still have to clean and paint. I hung a door on to line up the outer rocker but I still have to adjust the door too get it just right. its going slow I know, but i am slowly getting this side done.

Are those cab supports hard to replace, I was wondering because I'm going to replace all of mine on my 1970 GMC ShortStep?

[thelonerife]

Their not easy. You have to clean the area and find all the spotwelds. Get a spotweld cutting drill bit or use a drill bit but be careful not to go through. An air hammer helps too. Depending on the condition of your supports of corse, they make slip ons for supports that are not totally rusted. I used 3 lower halfs from another floor and one full one. I only did it to this cab because the ac worked. Just my opinion but I wouldn't have gone to all this trouble if it were not an ac truck. If you know someone with experience try to get them to help you with one and you can do the rest. If your paying someone, it could get expensive. You've probably heard the term ''the more you dig the more you find''. well its true. hope i answered your question and didn't discourage you.

[thelonerife]

Oh yeah welcome to the board. My family is from Grundy VA.btw

[mas09ts]

Originally Posted by thelonerife

Their not easy. You have to clean the area and find all the spotwelds. Get a spotweld cutting drill bit or use a drill bit but be careful not to go through. An air hammer helps too. Depending on the condition of your supports of corse, they make slip ons for supports that are not totally rusted. I used 3 lower halfs from another floor and one full one. I only did it to this cab because the ac worked. Just my opinion but I wouldn't have gone to all this trouble if it were not an ac truck. If you know someone with experience try to get them to help you with one and you can do the rest. If your paying someone, it could get expensive. You've probably heard the term ''the more you dig the more you find''. well its true. hope i answered your question and didn't discourage you.

Thanks, yeah my supports are pretty much completely gone, do you know if you can buy the whole back piece, thats including the piece that goes across the center rear of the cab, that piece is fine , but i figured if you could buy that whole piece it would make the whole process a little easier.

[thelonerife]

I don't know if I've ever seen that whole rear support section as a replacement panel. If mine were in that condition i would look for another cab. but thats just me. You might post a wanted ad on this site in the parts section and see if anyone has one they can cut out of a cab for you or sell you a good cab.

[mas09ts]

Originally Posted by thelonerife

I don't know if I've ever seen that whole rear support section as a replacement panel. If mine were in that condition i would look for another cab. but thats just me. You might post a wanted ad on this site in the parts section and see if anyone has one they can cut out of a cab for you or sell you a good cab.

I was just wondering, but my middle section is fine, I just thought it would;d be easier to replace the whole thing, all it really needs is both rear supports and both fronts.

Thanks

[thelonerife]

if the middle is fine i would leave it alone and just replace whats rusted.

[mas09ts]

Originally Posted by thelonerife

if the middle is fine i would leave it alone and just replace whats rusted.

Yeah thats what I'm going to do, thanks

[tdave00]

Looking good Chuck. Maybe I can make it up that way some time.

[5150]

Looks good Chuck!

[thelonerife]

Thanks guys. Come on up and I'll give you the grand tour.

[BACKYARD88]

Looks good

[thelonerife]

thanks by88.

[thelonerife]

I got a steering wheel to go on my project. Its kinda old school looking and I think it will go good with my seat.The flash on the camera makes it whiter than it is. It actually matches the parchment well.

[thelonerife]

I got some stepside bed pillars from backyard88 (thanks a lot!!). I still owe you for the shipping. my plan is to cut these along the line and put that part onto the existing pillars so the lights will fit correctly. I got some l.e.d. lights and I want to make them work. The tailgate hardware is coming off. I'm going with the hidden latches but I don't have them yet.

[BACKYARD88]

I can't wait to see how those lights look finished! Don't worry about the shipping

[Blue'72]

I'm surprised to see that I hadn't posted anything on your build thread yet.. It's looking great! Keep it up!!

[thelonerife]

Thanks a lot by88. I'll remember if you need something.


thanks blue 72. your avatars cool.

[killthewabbit]

Oh man, that's my idea with the stepside LEDs too. I gotta keep tabs on this thread and see how you do that.

Impressive rust repair, hoss.

[thirdstreettito]

Nice looking truck! Where did you get those awesome LED's?

[thelonerife]

I got them on eblay. They are actually trailer lights.I just did a search on trailer led lights and all kinds came up.

[tdave00]

Originally Posted by thelonerife

Thanks guys. Come on up and I'll give you the grand tour.

Will do. I wanna come up and check out the one man cab and bed lift you built. Gonna be needing something like that pretty soon. Maybe you can give me a few pointers on welding too. I am fixing to take the plunge and buy one.