Tami's 51 build

[youngrodder]

Skip- The cab looks great. What a difference a little primer makes huh..
Keep up the good work.
Best of luck with the blower..lord knoes that ther is enough room under the hood on these AD trucks.

As a side note, I was able to put 50 miles on my truck last weekend...It felt awesome.....


Marc

[Vic45]

from one FF to another that is one nice looking build you have going there

[Spackle100]

Any updates?

[skip99]

It's been a while since I got to work on the 51, had to paint a few money makers !!
The plan was to convert the 2 piece to 1 piece window..the initial info I got was that it was pretty easy, you just needed the 49 type mechanism..WRONG, WRONG WRONG !!!!lol..
I was already committed with these doors( chopped, bear claws)
and couldnt find 49 doors here in ohio anyway..so....here is what I hope is a very comprehensive how to..
(ps..finding 1 piece doors is by far the easiest, if you know ahead of time..)
here we go !!

starting with the original 51..you see the single arm regulator..

this is the mechanism you will need, along with some extra track.

i used the track from one of the original pieces, and cut it in half.

you will also need to build a front glass run channel,( or as I found after I built mine, they now make a repro. that is narrow 5/8 just for this..$25 ea. just buy it !!

if you want to make your own..just copy the rear, and make a extension to mount it to the door. the new front track stans out about 3 1/2 inch from the door jamb. use 22 gauge steel, bend to 5/8 inside for 5/8 felt WITHOUT the metal around the glass.

here's something you never read...to get the rubber in place for the outside wiper, you need to extend the channel, luckily I had an extra old door and so I separated the 2 pieces of metal, welded on an extension and the tacked it back in the door, I have read where some have simply used fuzzies that fit and glued or dbl, side tape them in.. you cannot screw or rivet like on later cars,
welded in new extension




close ups of where to drill



track cut from original 2 pc

templates make it a little easier


small track added.. when Installing.. I screwed one side and the pivot the other until the track is level. at the time of install, I'll probably tack it in place.but dont weld it first..

almost there

you'll need to fill in this notch, or use 49 style.

welded up..

with garnish in place...5/8 wide for glass WITHOUT metal trim around it

also have to bend up the area where the vent went.

finished ....I ordered new regulators.. these had busted springs and rollers, but worked for mock up..


I borrowed this pic, it helped a lot.thanks!!



Now I see why most just went with a power option!!..
also, if you want the metal trim glass, use wider glass run, and felt from a 49.original stuff should work, but again, we chose the hard route, but glass run was easy to find. cr lawrence? has it my local glass guy has it..

hope this helps!!

[skip99]

got a little done...




going to add an eaton posi unit with 342 gears.


trying to decide where to weld this..

[skip99]

working on adding the e brake...

[youngrodder]

Skip-

The progress looks good..
Keep it up.

Marc

[skip99]

truck on hold ..again...doing a restore on a black 79 trans am...to sell and spend $$$ on the truck !!lol

[skip99]

alrighty...sold the black TA, paid the bills and pulled the truck out and started welding again !! will post some pics in a day or two...here's the TA ...turned out pretty nice...
got strange reactions from the trans am crowd....they would say."you're selling this , to work on that"? lol!! Tami loves her truck !!

[mknittle]

Looking forward to seeing how the bed comes out.I was thinking about doing the same thing with the rails.

T/A came out nice.

[skip99]

I'll get pics posted monday. of the bed. she's roughed in..lol

[mknittle]

Cool, I was looking through your thread again{it's been a while} and getting some ideas
I like the A/C vent idea! and looking at your bear claw linkage gave me an idea that may solve a problem with mine with the turn down handles.{one of thoce the same but different}sort of things.

[67_ShortFleet]

Nice build! Can't wait for more progress.

[skip99]

time to catch up !
playing with hood alignment and fit...


almost done with the bed...took an s-10 roll pan, cut off the flange at top and the sides, then welded it in. didnt want a heavy look to the rear, then fit and trim the original pockets to contour to the new pan,





in the next day or two...gonna put a 48" flush mount 200 led light across the pan, just above the plate square. also putting a 6" flush 3rd brake light under rear window. STAY TUNED !!

you'll also notice that I reworked the tailgate hinges .we plan on using a net, so you can see the custom, black carbon fiber bed planks that we designed..

[mknittle]

That looks way more better Ilike it

[skip99]

A little progress...the bed is done..the cab and hood are done,,,I have blocked til my arms are noodles !!
slot cut for LED lites.


epoxied in place..



did a small led below window..


bodywork done and a coat of featherfill






hood smoothed...



gaps close..


getting ready to build the running boards,,,

[youngrodder]

Skip-

It's looking more and more like a truck. Nice progress.
Keep it up. I agree sanding does suck. Your hood/gaps look great. That is where most AD trucks show there age.

Marc

[skip99]

Getting closer....today is the first time it's seen daylight in 2 years!
I think ..hope...all the bodywork is finally done, gonna spend the next month or so sitting out on sunny days.....
Gonna get the ac stuff ordered, and see how all that goes in !



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[skip99]

Running boards and front bumper are done too!
Boards were made in a few pieces, because we wanted smooth boards but still have the original curves on the inside and edge, so there was a lot of cutting and welding..front bumper was smoothed and studded, then reworked the bumper brackets so bumper is about 1 inch from grille, then just made a filler panel and welded it to bumper..



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[mknittle]

Funny how much the primer changes the whole look of the truck. Or any color for that matter. looking great!!!

[youngrodder]

Skip -

Nice progress. All of your gaps look great.

Marc
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[solidaxel]

So if you had a competent shop follow your instructions, how many hours would they charge you to put the truck in that stage?

[skip99]

Originally Posted by solidaxel

So if you had a competent shop follow your instructions, how many hours would they charge you to put the truck in that stage?

Sounds like a rhetorical question ! I quit even trying to keep track, I do know I could have built maybe 3 cars in the time it's taken me to do this...but close guess, 500 hrs so far...
If I were paying for it, would have been much cheaper to just buy rear fenders
, but wanted to use original pieces...running boards, just another example of our depravity..lol....probably have 40 to 50 hours in those...
Tami sat in it yesterday pretending to drive, you know... Vroom vroom, sckeeerrch ! Smiles are worth it all...
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[solidaxel]

That is the part most folks do NOT see when they look a high price FINISHED truck.
Nice job, you will enjoy all of those hours when you are driving HER truck!!

[skip99]

That's a fact. This is the day I brought it home....other that the chop, looks like all I did was spray primer, huh.?

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