Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

[68 Stepside]

If I can make it, I'll be driving a Ford, so quit your *****ing!

[Alvin]

Okay, I would have had the bed off by now, but the house had a leaky pipe. Now that I've got that fixed it's raining... maybe tomorrow I can get the bed off and start drilling some holes. Certainly hope so!

[Longhorn Man]

TJ.. you could always drive a longhornjeff truck...he has 3 to pick from. (I say grab the green one)

[67chevemall]

way to go. Your end project looks sweet.
Best of luck

[Alvin]

Well, I was able to get the bed off yesterday! I was looking forward to making some progress this week, but this morning I found another leak in my house. So depending on how big of an ordeal that turns out to be...

Saturday I drove down into Kentucky and met Bill bought a bench seat. So assuming I get this thing together I'll have a decent place to sit!

At any rate, here's some pictures:

[Alvin]

Okay, not much progress lately... indoor plumbing is a slightly higher priority!

This past weekend I did get a couple holes drilled for mounting one of the airbags. I also decided to tear it back down to the frame rails and get it sandblasted. I've tried and tried to clean up the frame with the tools I have, and I'm just not happy with it.

As soon as I can find a place locally, I will be taking the cab off (again), removing the trailing arms and trailing arm crossmember, unbolting the front crossmember (it's done, no reason to take it apart again), and flipping the frame over. Then I'll finish drilling holes for mounting the rear airbags, and rent a plasma cutter for the bag air fitting holes. Then it gets trucked out for sandblasting and hopefully painting at the same place!

When I get it back I should have my new ART tubular trailing arm crossmember (ordered from Porterbuilt street rods last week) and CPP tubular tranny crossmember ready to go in. At that point the assembly process should go in pretty big chunks... I hope!

I also got my rear disc brake brackets from Bob (glock35ipsc) and an edelbrock fuel pump (from pro-touring.com) in the mail. So a couple more parts are on the shelf waiting to go on.

Barring any other big problems with my home, I want to have the cab mounted, and the engine ready for a test fire before March.

[GREASEMONKEY72]

well goodwork so far and i really hope you get it to the board meet under its own power and i just wish i could go myself, maybe one day, anyway i wish you lots of goodluck with the rest of your build and also goodluck with your house..haha

-steven

[wheels67]

Good thread Alvin. We all relate to your project and the" hurry up and stop syndrome" haha

I had a heart attack when i saw your rendering......just like im doing mine. Keeping the moldings and chrome bumpers. Original blue and white top....very cool man.

[Alvin]

Got another piece in the mail today.



Trailing arm crossmember from AirRide Technologies.



What a part! Can't wait to see it bolted up.

And the packaging was incredible as well. High density cardboard box, and about a pound of foam packing! The lid was also glued shut really well. It was tough to get a finger under one corner to start opening it.



This weekend the cab, trailing arms, and front suspension come off so I can finish drilling/cutting holes for the rear airbags!

[1969C/10]

That looks sweet. Can't wait to see it bolted in, everything looks sweet!

[Shane]

You guys have given me an idea ... I may join in on the ol' proverbial "band wagon" and attempt to get mine road worthy by then as well.

479 miles and a little over 5 months ... hmmmmm ... I think I might just be able to do this!

Anyone down here in the South that doesn't want/can't take their truck want to take a road trip with me?

it won't be comfortable ... but it'll be "funner than hell!"

[Alvin]

Thanks 1969C/10!

And Shane, you should. It's not that hard to put one of these things together, the hard part is taking the time to do it!

[Shane]

Roger that Alvin. I have telling myself that for about 5 years now.

I just got to find myself a co-pilot and the time to put it all together. All I really need to do is wire it and re-hang all the sheetmetal. It won't be painted and at this point I don't care, I just want to drive it and have some fun!

Then again, we are talking about July, so I may save the pennies and spring for the AC unit!

[Alvin]

Got some more work done this weekend.

Got the cab off the frame and the trailing arms removed yesterday. Today started with the removal of the front suspension, which left me with this:




So we removed the rivets from the top of the trailing arm crossmember and flipped the frame over to remove the rest.


Next big project is drilling the rest of the holes for the rear airbags. We'll see how that goes .

[LUV2XCLR8]

WOWSERS, Watching your progress gives me no excuses not to drive
the Blammy there, I wish most of my issues were work, mine are mostly $

[Shane]

Got my FatMat and wiring harness ordered on Friday.

[Alvin]

LUV - Luckily I've spent the last few years accumulating parts! I don't have many parts left to buy (okay, so there's more than I hoped), but now I've got to take the time to put them to work.

Shane - Good to hear! Let me know how the FatMat works out, if you don't mind. I'll be needing some sort of sound deadner so my hearing will be intact after my long drive out to the meet.

[Alvin]

Okay, latest news is not so good. I've hit two additional roadblocks trying to figure out the install of the rear airbags.

A few months back I discovered that the thickness of the c-notch in addition to the frame (and shock crossmember) would be too thick for the studs on the top of the airbag to stick through. It wouldn't be possible to secure them. The fix for that was to drill out the frame big enough that the nut and washer on each stud would fit through the frame and the bag would be bolted to the c-notch.

Last week I started drilling the holes in the frame, and found out my step-bit was not up to the task. I ordered a new bit this week and it's designed for material up to 1/2", so it should work.

Today I was measuring to find the location for the air fitting hole. My roommate pointed out that the 90 degree air fittings I have for the top of the bag might not be tall enough to stick up inside the frame rail once everything is bolted together. After a couple quick measurements we both agreed he was right. So instead of the 90 degree elbows, I ordered two 45 degree elbows from ***************** tonight. Hopefully they will give me the extra height I need.

While I was ordering from ***************** I decided to buy a 337 Thomas compressor. I have a york compressor sitting on the shelf, but I'm not sure what shape it's in, and I don't know how big a hassle it will be to get it mounted correctly. So I can buy some time by using the electric compressor for now.

More good news, I got my tubular transmission crossmember, disc/disc prop valve, and trailing arm bushings from CPP. I was hoping the crossmember would be black, so it would match the trailing arm crossmember, but it's silver. I guess it'll do.







Hopefully the 45 degree elbows will show up before the weekend and if they will work I can get something done for a change!

Progress pics sometime this week or next... no matter what it takes!

[Shane]

Hey Alvin ... I had the same problems when I was putting my C-notches in too. We used a 1" hole saw to put the holes in the frame. You can pick one up at Lowes or Home Depot ... make sure you buy a bi-metal saw. Use lots of WD-40 or some equivalent to keep the drill lubricated and cool while doing the drilling. Also remember, a hole saw doesn't need to spin as fast as a twist drill.

By the way, I got my FatMat and wiring harness delivered to me last week ... but it was way too cold to do much in the shop this past weekend. Suppose to be warmer here this weekend and rain, so it will be a good time to be in the shop. Can't do much else with it being so wet.

The thrash continues.

[Longhorn Man]

I wouldn't use WD40, or any other kind of penitrating fluid. Look for something advertised as a foamy cutting oil. THAT is the stuff that makes a cheap cutter seem good, and a good cutter god like.

[GREASEMONKEY72]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

I wouldn't use WD40, or any other kind of penitrating fluid. Look for something advertised as a foamy cutting oil. THAT is the stuff that makes a cheap cutter seem good, and a good cutter god like.

whats wrong wtih using the wd40 or others?


and goodjob on the build so far its looking good and cant wait to see pictures of it together at the board meet even though i wont be there

[centsless]

Keep plugging away!! I look forward to seeing it in July!!!!

[Shane]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

I wouldn't use WD40, or any other kind of penitrating fluid. Look for something advertised as a foamy cutting oil. THAT is the stuff that makes a cheap cutter seem good, and a good cutter god like.

I was advising to use WD-40 only because most folks already have it in the garage. No need to go out and buy some higher priced cutting oil when all he is going to do is drill two holes with a hole saw.

I have been doing machine work for close to twenty years now and have used dang near all of the petroleum and synthetic cutting oils/fluids out there. I can tell you that in the garage, with a hand held drill motor where you have minimum control over the speed or the feed rate, WD-40 will work just fine.

Any oil used in machining metal is for lubricity, cooling the tool and washing the chips out of the path of the cutter. Nothing more. Nothing less. The only difference in cutting oils is some have additives to improve the finish on the workpiece and are mixed to have higher flash points.

[Alvin]

Ok, got the fittings today. Here you can see just how much taller that 45 is compared to the 90.



We're supposed to get some ice/snow/rain fun tonight. Hopefully it doesn't wind up too serious.

[Alvin]

Okay.. not as much progress as I would like to have, but winter has been furious on it's way out. Finally got one rear airbag mounted, all ready to go.



Here you can see how the 45 degree elbow fitting sticks up inside the frame.



And finally, the tool of the trade. I wouldn't want to perform this work with the truck together and sitting upright. It was enough of a pain getting these holes drilled with a bare frame flipped upside down!



I'll take some 'in progress' pics when I get to work on the other side.