41 chevy 1/2 ton project Fenix

[joedoh]

thanks!

got the bed standing on its own. looks nice! after these pictures I added a third cross bar at the rear.
IMG_6722873 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_67672 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_6665 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

I had bought a set of bolts and nuts thinking I would slot the rectangle tube for the bolts and weld them in pointing down, so that the studs would find the holes instead of the bed slithering around trying to line everything up. well I couldnt find the bolts but I DID find the 1/2" all thread I bought when doing the motor move. I cut some chunks and drilled the bottom hole big enough for the all thread and the top hole just a 1/4" hole, then I tacked the all thread on the bottom and welded up the hole to the all thread on top. works perfect and this way I dont worry about the slots weakening the tube.

I also raised the seat risers (rised the risers..) in the front two inches. now the seats are more comfortable.

 

[joedoh]

the seat riser risers worked well, as a mock up. unfortunately welding an 18" long butt joint turns metal into a pretzel no matter how careful you are.

so I popped out some new fronts
IMG_6669 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_6670 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_6675 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

and because I raised the front I needed to raise the back, so a couple more plasma cuts and
IMG_6676 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

I like using the box break method a lot now, makes it super easy instead of joining small pieces but needs a bit of forethought

IMG_6677 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

bed is ready for wood, but I need to roll it out and cut down the filler neck, now that I know the max height of the filler. maybe tomorrow I will stick the seats in too.

 

[forbigpicture]

Lookin' good Joe......[P[P

 

[Skip]

Nice lookin' riser risers. It's fun just sayin' that.

 

[smallfoot]

Even with the seats in as poor a condition as mine are in, they do seem to be kinda level front to rear. Tipping them up will be an improvement![cl

 

[joedoh]

yeah the front of these is supposed to be a bit higher than the rear, plus it really felt like you were sitting on the floor before the risers.

got the bed ready for wood, added the very front wood support and used my 6ft level to make sure it was all lined up.
52313029358__7DB9A46B-4581-47C9-94FC-B1D8D8F88C36 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

did the filler too
IMG_6695 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
52314288215__D517347D-75C7-4488-B028-B49B348403A9 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

seats are in. the passenger side seatback sits 1/4" higher than the drivers because these are 30 year old seats no matter how nice the new upholstery. I can live with it
IMG_6689 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_6691 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

my brother gave me a heat buster, I like it, works great.
IMG_6690 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

I think after dinner maybe I will take the seats out and finish welding the risers in, then bolt down the trans cover and lay some sound deadener, and maybe start a carpet party

 

[joedoh]

I decided I had enough with the seats for the day and wanted to tackle the fender rust.

a little history: when I saw a 41 for parts on the meadville pa craigslist, I called my brother who lives up there. I made a deal for the rear fenders and my brother shipped them to me in a giant box. I got this truck and it had a 47-55 bed and rear fenders so I was glad to find some rear fenders, even though one had a watermelon sized hole in it.
IMG_3177 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

I picked up another passenger rear fender the next week but it is black, plus I hate borrowing from future projects (now haha, wasnt always that way). I found a bed that had a scrap of a drivers fender left on it and postulated that, properly trimmed, this scrap could fill the hole.
IMG_3772 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

time to test that theory. I was tired of bending over so I tackled the fender. I used my air nibbler to trim the rust on the fender only enough to get back to good metal.
IMG_6698 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

then I roughed in the chunk. this might work!
IMG_6697 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

using an ancient and super secret method of marking the cut exactly (I held the chunk over the hole then used spray paint from the back side) I trimmed it and whadayaknow
IMG_6699 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

tacking sheetmetal is not much fun especially stuff this thin, but I got a lot of the way before stopping for the night.
IMG_6700 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

I need to rebuild the inner mounting lip too but the scrap fender had a good amount of that part too, so I might just get this done tomorrow! no plans for body work, this is just the kind of patch that would have been done in the life of the truck and so I will just grind the welds, protect the bare steel, and be done with it.

 

[akatao]

no its not fun its looking good

 

[Burgerman]

Patch work

Nice touch with the thin metal Joe. A pleasure to see your work.

 

[bob w]

Good save on the fender.

 

[joedoh]

got the fender done, but not much else. I got the old headliner out and a new one picked up and I guess the dust of mouse guts past gave me some kind of sickness. I will wear a mask next time

52322472188__3DE53FDC-BCE7-4DC8-BBE2-4B105C3973DC by Joe Doh, on Flickr
52322473075__B3D736F1-CF19-47EC-AF4D-18BE1A4A439F by Joe Doh, on Flickr

 

[Old Iron]

Good job on the fender [cl
Animal feces dried out, is a recipe for a lot of illnesses

 

[joedoh]

yeah I washed out the truck pretty good, I guess there was a nest over the room pad which I didnt take out. cest la vie

ts sunday sunday sunday you pay for the whole seat but only need the edge

I used the caulking gun on the seat risers and got em burned in good now. squirt of paint means no more work needed. plugged the few remaining holes in the floor, got the removable piece screwed in again and covered it all with some sound deadening material (peel and seal)
IMG_6718 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_6720 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

we have a giant dining room, when we bought this old craftsman split level the kitchen was small, the dining room was small, and the living room was a good size. we opened the wall to the dining room and now thats the kitchen, and its open to the new dining room. I found some tables for auction at my old alma mater, we were looking at a new trestle table but these two were 18ft together and perfect for the big family parties we love to have. turns out they are edward wormley in walnut and the classic trapezoidal shape. perfect for doing carpet layout (we place them side by side so we can use the room as a sitting area to look out on the park and lake)
IMG_6721 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

ready to trim, tomorrow mornings work
IMG_6722 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

picked up the bed wood too, went with a treated board this time, no coloring for me. need a router to put the rabbit in the edge and I have the orginal strips. I measured twice but I still think there is too much gap and not enough board. we will see!
IMG_6719 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

tomorrow I have some help coming to empty my trailer. there is a fair chance I may need it soon... muahahahaha....

 

[lowbudget50]

Looking good!

 

[TruckRat]

Looking good. Can't wait till I get that far along

 

[joedoh]

thanks!

today I had a helper so I tackled a project I have been putting off. backstory: I found a 41 on craigslist last may that had good rear fenders, and a price so enticing that I drove an hour in a hailstorm (not kidding!) to pay for it an hour after it listed. when I got there he had a whole farm of treasures so I bought and bought, the complete 41, 3 more cabs on half frames, 7 beds (no extra rear fenders though). when it came time to haul them home though my "deal" with the local tow company was flag retail both directions even though they coincided it with a pickup on the return. when I bellyached about it, the farmer sold me his steel deck car trailer for a pittance. I brought everything including the trailer home last november for less than the tow company wanted to charge.

but I never unloaded the trailer, mostly because there were two half trucks on it and I didnt have a forklift or anything suitable. today though, I came up with a plan. I have the next donor longbed S10 already so I got permission from my neighbor to drive on his lawn and chain the back half truck to the S10 through the fence. then I just drove the trailer forward till the half truck fell off.
IMG_6730 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

IMG_6725 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

the back truck though is a 48-49 GMC and the frame does not go to the back of the cab, I would have ruined the cab dragging it off the same way, so we popped off the front clip, disconnected the pedals and cut the steering column on the "martin" line.

IMG_6724 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

ALMOST got the cab picked off with my lifting frame but got attacked by wasps that were a little irritated at us beating on their home.
check out this rust, weird that the kicks are gone but the floor is almost perfect!
IMG_6723 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

I was going to work on the 41 some more but was pretty wiped with all the heavy work and of course all the running and screaming. that stuff really takes it out of you.

he is coming back tomorrow to help put nuts on bolts on the 41, so I should have a lot of progress to show by the evening.

 

[Skip]

Wow! What a treasure trove. [dr

 

[TruckRat]

Getting jealous

 

[joedoh]

thanks!

johnny was late but we still got a lot done. I worked interior and bed and he worked nuts and bolts, the cab hasnt been mounted in the sense of having the bolts and nuts tightened. so he did the hood mount, the core support mounts, the 4 cab mounts, the six bed mounts, and changed the front wheels and added spacers.

carpet laid and almost complete.
IMG_6745 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

I used an old stainless bed strip as a hold down for the sill, I figure add a chevy emblem and no one will know!
IMG_6746 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_6747 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

windshield ready to go back in, gasket installed. in fact I may do that after dinner.
IMG_6748 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

hood shuts! but the 2 inch spacers are too much, when the truck is down it looks amazing but the wheels wont turn without rubbing
IMG_6749 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

picked up some real cedar planks and still need one more, but I wanted to see how wide the center one needed to be before buying. I did get a router and a rabbiting bit, let me tell you, it is a thousand times easier to just rabbit it than it is to run it trough a saw a couple hundred times. set the depth with the boards I bought the other day and then started whacking them out
IMG_6751 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_6752 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_6753 by Joe Doh, on Flickr


more to come!

 

[Old Iron]

"hood shuts! but the 2 inch spacers are too much, when the truck is down it looks amazing but the wheels wont turn without rubbing"
I used 2" spacers on the first 52 AD S10 I built and found the same thing you did. The 1" work well and look good too.