41 chevy 1/2 ton project Fenix

thanks!
finished (mostly) the bed floor, came out nicer than I expected. I may dump some water seal on it, or maybe some used motor oil. I should have made two boards 6" and the center board 5", but hindsight is 20/20. I like the mini board actually. it was 2" before I rabbited it haha.

IMG_6888 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_6890 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

got more little stuff done, cleaned out and blew out the garage, it was getting claustrophobic with all the stuff around. the headlight is in, the headliner is finished, all the wheel trim rings are trimmed for the wheel weights. I have a decision to make, I have 2 pairs of caps, a 62-63 pair and a 64 pair. do I get two more, and of which? do I leave it different on each side?
IMG_6891 (1) by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_6892 (1) by Joe Doh, on Flickr

As Von Dutch used to say, "They can only look at one side at a time."

Lookin' good.[cl

Like it a lot. [cl

so in perfect form the truck decided to be a problem. again. The screws that held the cowl vent linkage to the dash were rusty and I wasnt very patient taking it apart, so I just buzzed the heads off. but to put it back together I needed the rest of the screws out. I cut them flush and used vice grips, penetrant, and some heat and got them almost all the way out. and the spotweld holding the linkage to the cowl broke. *sigh*
IMG_6894 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
quickly fixed.
IMG_6895 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

dash reassembled
IMG_6896 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

I thought maybe the Vintage Air controls would fit the two center dash holes and sure enough they did. I peeled the lables off the control panel and stuck em on
IMG_6898 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

cleaned up
IMG_6902 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

I dont think I like the hubcaps. I think on really narrow wheels that stick out in the center a bit they would be perfect, but not these wider wheels, they look like passenger car wheels.
IMG_6903 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_6904 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

I dont even much like these either. I think the bare center with rings is in the future
IMG_6914 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_6921 by Joe Doh, on Flickr


and because photerberkert got rid of the rest, here is a reminder from whence we came

IMG_1765_zpsey8zgpvk by Joe Doh, on Flickr

The truck rocks

How about some original style hubcaps.

I like the earlier caps. I have some of those 64 ones around. Pretty sure there is one we scoop chicken feed with.
I'm just a dog dish sort of guy, have been since I was a kid.
The modern column/steering wheel doesn't really blow my hair back. Maybe a cut down 61 impala wheel or a Crestiliner wheel. Other than that, I love where you're going with this sweet truck!!

How about ditch the hubcaps, keep the beauty rings, and use chrome lug nuts to accent the center of the wheels?

yep I think you are right

cant drive much without taillights. didnt have any mounts on this bed though, so I popped a couple out with the plasma
IMG_6926 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_6927 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_6928 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_6943 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

took the caps off, I like this look the best
IMG_6937 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

interior looks exactly like I thought it would back in feb
IMG_6942 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

washed off some of the lichen, the blue on the front tires said "hell no" to just about everything I threw at it, and went to my favorite picture spot at golden hour
IMG_6944 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_6945 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_6946 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_6948 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

IMG_6949 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_6963 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_6980 by Joe Doh, on Flickr


it took me longer than I wanted to get out of that spot, our state plant is an orange barrel and our state bird is the bird. I was trying to get to a second spot before the sun fell behind the hill, but didnt make it in time, you can see the sun JUST over where I was. oh twell. tomorrow maybe I will scrub off the blue and try again.
IMG_6983 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_6985 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_6986 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_6988 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_6989 by Joe Doh, on Flickr



drove it all over hell and creation most of the day, my impressions are:

the oil pressure gauge quit between when I first got the truck started and now, I think from when I tried to take the cluster apart. I could not figure out how it was suppose to come apart so I quit

the temp gauge goes up and down, I think I have a big air bubble in the system, I havent been able to hook up the heater valve yet so I think the heater is the culprit. I got some vacuum lines and tees today.

the poor running at idle WAS the bad gas. I put 8 gallons in it first thing and it runs amazing now.

the overdrive works! when I drove the truck home as an s10 I never heard it drop into overdrive. I figured out that with the broken brake switch it would never go into overdrive. with the new brake switch it hits 4th gear around 40mph and locks up the torque converter shortly after.

the brake lights get stuck on, I need to adjust the switch to pedal distance.

the right front turn signal is very weak. I checked my wiring today, everything is good, so its either the bulb or the truck wiring.

I dont know how anyone with a crank out front windshield would ever need air conditioning. that breeze is freaking GLORIOUS

I need to get the rear fenders tied to the running boards. right now driving with the gap it is a bit like shaking a bag of hammers, very noisy.

everyone loves it. I put gas in it and barely escaped the gas station. if I had a nickel for every thumbs up I would have 50 cents. :lol:

Learned a bunch on this one, lesson number one is never look a gift donor in the mouth. replacing literally every fastener was devastating to my motivation. :lol:

Holy cow! This came out amazing. [cl
Everything is on point. Great job!

You be styling now., Nice job. [cl[cl[cl[cl

thanks!

the wood settled down on the shine, I like it
IMG_7136 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

attached the running boards to the rear fenders, needed a 2" slice from my spare long bed running boards for project hannah
IMG_7137 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_7138 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_7140 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_7141 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_7144 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_7147 by Joe Doh, on Flickr


It is deliriously quiet on the drive now.


decided to install the front bumper, and I have a spare front bumper I might put on the back. in process today, mounts made and drilled but beeps is in half day pre-k so I am assuredly done for the day haha.
IMG_7152 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

the joedoh rule struck again. I think if something is a giant pain in the rear to install, I will get to experience that posterior pain over and over and over. like the shocks. the little captured nut thingys were rusted and broke when I took the shocks off. I got some more from the auto parts store but they were clearly more universal. when I tried to put them in it was a process of trying to get the bolt started without bending the captured nut part, took an hour for that side that was broken. then in great cosmic hilarity I thought I had the wrong shocks, so off they came again for some new shocks, that had the same problem, turned out the sway bar was upside down. so even though it took an hour to get the new shocks in, I still opted to put the original new shocks BACK in, another hour.

fast forward, wife drives it and says the front is banging more than she thinks it should, I pooh-pooh her obviously neophyte critique. when I jacked it up to put the bumper on, of course the lower bushing of both shocks is GONE. after apologizing (it was that really cold day in someplace hot) I replaced the new shocks AGAIN. an hour for the passenger side. sigh. rides better though.

here is the worms eye view of the *******o clip.
IMG_7190 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

I didnt show my neighbors gargantuan a frame. he says he has pulled more iron on that thing than I will in a lifetime. I believe him!
IMG_7163 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

bumper mounts welded in and job complete. I dont want to talk about it. ever. sure looks nice with the bumper though.
IMG_7195 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

Your build is a pleasure to read. Well done! [cl

Just curious, how many floor jacks do you have? [S

.

thanks!

Dr Crankenstein said:

Just curious, how many floor jacks do you have? [S

.

Click to expand...

those arent jacks those are my stepsons. my daughters wouldnt touch a truck if it was pumpkin spice so I need all the extra hands I can get. I have high hopes for beepers, she loves me and looooves trucks

I had to replace the brake switch a second time, the brake lights were sticking on and I had to keep my foot under it to get the TCC to engage. I fiddled with it a bit but honestly, a $15 dollar switch, there are bigger things to be worried about, $15 isnt going to hurt the over/under haha.

I also noticed the front was a little crooked, looking at the headlights the drivers side was 3/8" higher, I measured on the frame and the frame and cab were straight, just the front clip was a little crooked even though the core support was cut exactly right and the front clip mounts are level. either the frame is slightly different side to side or more likely the front fenders have a different curve from years of bumping fences. I made some body shims and moved on with life.
IMG_7230 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

cleaned up all the wiring and hooked up the vacuum lines to the VA setup, boy is that a purchase I am going to make again soon, just a great piece of equipment.
IMG_7229 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_7227 by Joe Doh, on Flickr


made the trip I was planning to make, these guys sold me the truck superbowl weekend of 2016, it was their dads truck and they remember driving it in the 70s. they were really happy to see it again, the older brother had lots of stories.
IMG_7224.JPG by Joe Doh, on Flickr

you can see i finally got the blue schmutz off, I am going to wash it and hit golden hour again today, then aside from the kick panels and fixing the oil pressure gauge I am calling this one done. thanks for following along!

Nice job Joe! I bet the brothers got a kick out of that...[cl

Great looking truck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I forgot a story, the crank open windshield is a GLORIOUS invention, what a breeze! I wondered why they got rid of it... until today! I was driving and watched a yellow jacket bounce right off the hood. It came in the open windshield and the airflow was such that he flew up and bounced off the wiper cowl inside, then he fell on my shirt! he was coming out of his daze when I pulled over and was waving his front legs at me when I got out and shook him off.

here are the golden hour pics

IMG_7266 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_7285 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_7288 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
Screen Shot 2017-09-19 at 8.37.27 PM by Joe Doh, on Flickr

Nice.