Hello everyone, just a few pictures to share today. Progress has been a bit slower as of late. Maybe not fair to say slower, but rather that a lot of things being worked on don't really show up that well in pictures. There's been a ton of sheet metal massaging going on to get things to fit just right. As you all know, the sheet metal didn't even fit that great right from the factory! Just the hood to finish up now, and hoping to see some paint prep on the cab soon. In the meantime, here are a few pictures:
Here you can see the work completed on the passenger side for the fit of the running board, running board ;skirt,' and bedside. Wanted this to all go together a little more clean than it was right from the factory, but nothing too radical. I think it turned out as a very nice look.
Here's a close-up view of the same. Still looks a bit gnarly, but once it is finished and painted, it should be pretty smooth! The bottom edge of the bedside stake pocket is extended down to match the curve of the running board skirt, and the bedside itself has been extended to close up the gap between the bed and the cab.
Here's a driver's side view at a different angle. You can also see there's a filler piece welded to the top of the box front panel to fill in the gap between the box and the cab a bit better.
Close up view of the top filler piece. This cleans up this area quite a bit, I think, without looking too wild.
Rear bumper still needs chrome, but have license plate mounting all fabbed up, including the license plate guard off of a 49 chevy car. I think its a really cool piece! Also, as might be evident from the plate, I'll be moving to Iowa soon! So I'd better have a proper plate. Iowa lets you run a vintage plate as long as it is from the same year as your vehicle and you keep a set of "real" plates in the cab to show to law enforcement officers upon request.
Finally, the rebuilt gauges are just about done. I stopped by the other day to pick them up but they juuuuuuust weren't quite done yet. The turn signal LEDs still need to be installed and the gauges need final calibration. I will pick them up for good in a few more days. But I couldn't help taking pictures because these things are absolutely gorgeous. These are the original gauges that have been completely redone by a talented shop here in town. The gauge face color is the same as my wheels (pic below), and the center sections and lettering are done in the same red color that Marvin will be painted. Speedometer was converted to electronic, and the fuel/water/oil gauges were updated to work with the more modern sending units. The battery ammeter was removed and a 70-degree sweep tachometer was put in its place. Simple, but will at least give a rough idea of where the RPMs are. The gauges are beautifully backlit with LEDs. On the gauge on the left in this picture, you can see the four small round holes for LED indicators - turn signals, headlights on, and high-beam indicator. I am so impatient to see these installed in the dash!
'Matching' wheels.
And another shot of the gauges, this time with the steering wheel in the picture. I couldn't resist.
Might be a little while until my next picture update, but should have a lot more progress to report at that time. Can't wait!