It also looks like I may be able to fit more rubber in back now :)

In between paint prisons, both self inflicted, I did get to drive it. We raced. We found out that the cog belt drive could rip the alternator right off the truck when the blower kicked in. We found out that Whipple wouldn't support the 18psi of boost we were making with the cog drive at all and we really found out why.

So I talked with Mike at Whipple and Randy at Concept One, and I became a dealer for both. They are awesome.

This is also what we came up with:

Wow quite the adventure. It figures of all the trucks to happen to, its the most important one to you. I'm glad to see you got it back in your hands where it will be safe. It must be quite the ride with that power in there.
Subscribed!

Thanks Wayne.

Spent a bit of time working on it. Got the bed almost ready for paint and then on to final assembly. Also got the hood welded up (more bad glue and short cuts). Got it in paint, now working to wet sand and buff. Looks good, 6 coats of clear going on.

Look, no more trim installation by a blind guy!

I got the hood on, radiator support cut - filled in an painted, fenders buffed and on, along with the inner fenders done.


Had to cut the radiator support to clear the filler panels I made, that cover the top of the radiator support and make the air flow through the intercooler air exchanger.


Bed got painted today.

Bad A$$ man! Love it!

Nice! I love seeing a big blower sitting on top like that. Did you make up the hoses or are they from a kit?

Which hoses? Most are "kit-like"

Radiator plumbing is mostly pre-made aluminum bends with some silicone couplers thrown in. I plan to replace the hose clamps with the Gates shrink to fit clamps. The other plumbing, including the AC stuff is all AN that I assembled. I used the right rated hose for the high pressure lines, etc.

I also thought you might like to see the close off panels I made. I am probably going to re-do the hood latch.

One of the things that we haven't talked about: Interior. I worked on it a bit yesterday. There's more than 3 cow's worth of black, premium, chromium dyed leather for this truck.

I also made a mistake and bought Fesler built door and kick panels that took way too much time to fit and made me swap out the factory AC in the dash, as they would not clear the factory duct work. There was nothing in the instructions or on their web site about this. It's one of the reasons the truck went back to paint and started that cycle. I had to install billet flush mount louvers to clear the door panel stick out.
I also spent forever waiting for them to build items that "were in stock" when I bought them. That would be the arm rests and door handles.

All that said, with a lot more engineering to fit a factory cab and door set up, I like them in the truck. Next time, I will pay the extra 200 for the Marquez panels.

Since I was modding the AC set up, I decided to extend the dash pad all the way to the windshield and get rid of the very ugly plastic defroster vents that you can't redirect. Add more billet vents.

As for seats, I wanted something with good lateral support. I found a nice OEM seat that has air bladders and internal controls to pump and move the support around as needed. It uses a gyroscope and computer to inflate or deflate as needed. I plan to cut down the head rest so it doesn't stick through the rear window as much. Everyone should have AMG seats in their truck :) - I can even hide the seat control module under the seat base.

Finally, since I loved the striped mono color carpet in my 911, I went with more fine German engineering and bought Porsche wool carpet to go over the 6 boxes of sound deadner and temp management we laid down.

Oh and I got to use the Momo wheel my father loved so much. He never put it in a car, but wanted it in a Ferrari we never got to do together.

You can also see a customer's car peeking through the windows of the truck. It's been here for 2 years. Almost done!

This is the part about painting I hate the most... all the sanding. I am lucky that we have a guy that loves it. So he's sanding, wet sanding and buffing all of it. He also sands in between every coat. He's also told me this is the last black paint job he does. He's 78, I think he can say that.

That said, I am pleased. Third paint job on this, not a single ripple, fish eye or defect... even on the underside of the truck. The last paint job was too thick and would crack on the drop of a hat.

The paint looks like very deep glass... and it's the right thickness.

That's a lot of work! I sanded my Z28 with 400 back in the 70's and thought that was a lot of work but this definitely takes the cake. But well worth it.

[QUOTE= Some assembly required :)[/QUOTE]

But still more fun then assembling a kids toy at Christmas.