Woo Hoo It's Started!

[ccracin]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

EEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAA

That's a real welder!

Sweet!

See, I try to pay attention when this stuff is discussed!

Can't say enough for the folks at Lincoln. We started looking in Columbus since they had a truck there. When we decided what we liked, they hooked us up with a great deal. There were a couple hic-ups in the order process, so they sent us some tungsten and filler material for the trouble. Very good customer service in my opinion.

[waynieZ]

Sweet!

[ccracin]

It may be hard to tell from the previous pictures but we have made official progress ON the truck. The stretched wheel tubs are finally fit. I will get the bare metal on the bed sides painted and then get the tubs welded in. After that I will finish off the welds from the sectioning of the bed sides as well as the stretching of the tubs. Not much, but we are further ahead! Enjoy:













Thanks for looking!

[HWY Nova]

Chad,

I'm glad you are back on your project....... Now I just have to get my butt in gear and work on mine.

Keep the pics coming.



--Eric

[ironworks]

Originally Posted by HWY Nova

Chad,

I'm glad you are back on your project....... Now I just have to get my butt in gear and work on mine.

Keep the pics coming.



--Eric

Yes you do. Come on, your fans are waiting

[HWY Nova]

Originally Posted by ironworks

Yes you do. Come on, your fans are waiting

Rodger,

I knew you'd see my response..... Always lurking!



--Eric

[ccracin]

Do you guys have phones? LOL It is good to back at it. The summer was rough. My girls have social lives at 6 that I never would have imagined. My Dad also has rental properties that allows him to do this project. Unfortunately he had some less than desirable renters recently and had to spend a lot of time remodeling them. Anyway, back at it. Is your car home? Get on that thing and post some pictures.

Later,

[tones2SS]

Looking good Chad. Glad to see you back at it.

[ccracin]

Have you guys ever wondered why it doesn't look like more has been made when you have spent countless hours working at it? I'll bet you there is 60 hours in the pictures I am about to post. It sure doesn't look like it to me, but hey it's progress. I guess it takes time to try and do it right.

So, we put the tailgate on to see if everything fits and to check the rolled pan fit before we take the bed back apart to weld it all up. Sounds easy, right? WRONG New bed sides, new tail gate, new tail gate hinges well it didn't even close. When I did get it to close after tweaking some holes the top of the tail gate ended up 3/8" below the top of the bed sides. That's right 3/8". You can't slot holes that much, plus the holes in the bed sides had nuts welded to the back. Well, here is what I did to fix it. I used a hole saw to cut the old hole and nut away but on center for the new hinge location. I then welded a flange nut to the back of a heavy washer. I then tacked the washer into the hole. I did it for both holes that mount the hinge to move it up 3/8". I will finish weld and grind it down when I take the bed sides back off for welding. Here is what I ended up with.



After this was done the tailgate still would not close. On these old trucks there are two tabs, one on each side of the top of the tail gate. They engage slots in the bed sides to keep the tail gate centered and support the bed sides when the gate is closed. These are now guess what, yep 3/8" to high. So I had to cut them off and move them up. Geez! I bet I have 20 hours just getting the tail gate to close and get roughly aligned.

After that we moved onto making the mounts for the chassis to bolt the bed to. I think we came up with a clean/strong solution that matches the style of the chassis. We set them up to have 3/16" shim on them right now so that we have room to align everything later down the road. Here is what they look like.









By the way, I welded these brackets. I'm not as good as my welder, Harry but I am getting better. I just need to learn how to use that TIG now! Anyway, a couple more hours and the bed will officially bolt to the chassis.

Now that the bed is mounted and I know what kind of space I have, it is about time to design the gas tank. After that it is off to the front of the truck. Progress, love it. Thanks for looking. As always, feel free to comment. Good or bad, I want it right.

[GregWeld]

Looks great Chad!

A little here - a little there - next thing you know - you're doing doughnut burnouts!