Thanks for the encouraging words, and yes I believe I will do a video once it's trundling along with doors, fenders and a hood!
I spent some time cleaning up the shed and then doing a couple of little things. I was tired of looking at the shiny bolts and washers that hold the rear fenders to the bedsides and running boards, so I decided to crud ‘em up a little so that they blend in. First thing I needed to do was remove the coating on all that new hardware so that I could apply a rust accelerator. Over the years I have tried a number of things to remove coatings, and by far the best has been my hillbilly tumbler. Here’s a pic of the tumbler, and a pile of hardware after it has been through the process. The pile of untreated hardware to the right is in the pic just to show how nice a job this gizmo does:
With the hardware down to bare metal, I could put it into the bath of hydrogen peroxide/vinegar/salt and let it sit until I liked what I saw. Next on my list were some reverse lights. These trucks did not come equipped with them, but it’s so dark here that they are really necessary. Because they never came with these trucks, I decided to mount them under the bed, far enough forward that they are not really noticeable in the daytime:
Next came the wiper motors. I had a pair of what I thought were good vacuum wipers, but now that I had a good running engine (with tons of vacuum) I discovered some issues. The passenger side wiper motor had a vacuum leak, and the driver side motor would only do a ½ sweep before locking up. I have been down this road before with vacuum wipers, and the last time I opted for a professional rebuild but still ended up with a system that was pretty crappy. With this in mind I ordered a new universal electric motor kit from Speedway, and I will see how easy it is to fab up something that looks presentable once I get it. If that works out I will order a 2nd kit.
That’s it for now!