Mr.Dids

It's a medium to dark grey. Between the shop fluorescents, outside light, and random camera flash, it looks about three different colors.

Progress pics. Still needs color sanded and buffed, windshield installed and a few minor water leaks fixed but I'm pretty happy with the old girl considering the boat anchor I started with.

It was only about 1/16 too big but apparently my original was tight to begin with. I don't know if they were tight from the factory, my new windshield rubber is thicker than original, or if my "original" windshield had previously been replaced.

Helpful hint #347a....... If Your Windshield is Too Big, It Will Not Fit! In my rush to get the last of my glass in, I failed to notice my freshly cut windshield glass didn't exactly match the pattern glass I had sent. Not a problem, right? I've always found a square peg will fit a round hole if you apply proper motivation. This leads me to Helpful hint #347b: Glass Breaks. So, I spend part of my morning belt sanding half of my windshield (yes, it works, just don't overheat the glass) and contemplating a half glass/half 1/4 plywood windshield combination. Looks like I'm off to the glass shop again tomorrow. At least it's only money, right?

IT LIVES!!!!!!! Received the final piece to make this beast run on Thursday (hei distributor from Langdon's). Dropped it in, wired it up, dumped gas in the tank, and hit the starter pedal. Spit, spit, nothing. Advanced the distributor a few degrees, hit it again, and no way........it lives! Not bad for an engine which hasn't been so much as turned over in probably 30-40 years. The attached picture is of me being overzealous and taking it on its maiden voyage. It still needs a year of shop dust washed off of it and minor things like a windshield and more than an exhaust manifold for an exhaust system but it runs and drives (and even stops).

Thanks, you're too kind. The seat back is the stock one, just recovered. My seat base though was completely rotted away so I made the entire base with plywood, nylon webbing and high density foam (similar to a restaurant booth). I was self-employed as a cabinet maker for 12 years so I can handle woodworking. This was my first attempt at upholstery though.

Outside pic after paint.

Just realized its been ages since I updated this. Here is a pic of my self-made and upholstered seat. Not too bad for my first ever.

This is, without question, my favorite part of the truck. Something i think we need to see more of.

Purists look away now! These are bolted on and not riveted. lol Tailgate latch brackets. One is original and I made the other. Considering I used only high end metalworking tools, i.e. vice, hammer, and torch, I think it's decent.

I know the above is kind of random but I like how the door turned out considering it was rotted away when I started. Again, just happy with it. This fender was split in two and had a sort of metal bandaid screwing it together. This section of the hood was missing the rear brace so what's another piece to make, right?

Finally some new pics.

Haha, agreed!

As far as color, I've now decided on a sort of charcoal metallic. I'm one of those nuts who enjoy painting (not bodywork though) so I may change it even after it's done.

Thank you. I've been fortunate enough to have some time between jobs and I've been treating this truck like a 40+ hour/week job. I haven't even counted hours because then I might expect to get paid for my time if I ever sell it down the road. lol

Wow! I feel motivated just reading this myself and seeing all the progress. Still behind on pics but let's see.... The doors are attached. The bed is loosely attached and fenders bolted on. The front clip is attached and the tailgate (which I originally thought was destined for the scrap yard) is on. Today I attached the tailgate chain brackets, some "new" (to the truck) chains and hooks (one original and one scavenged). When I got the truck, only the passenger side chain bracket was still in place. Since I had it as a mirror image pattern, I decided to just make the driver side and I think it turned out pretty well. The tailgate needs a bit of body work and the hood needs finished (center section is done but the two "wings" needs attention) but the rest of the body is finished, primed and ready for paint. This part feels never-ending but it is encouraging to see that it's only been a month since I posted the pics of just the cab on the frame. The interior is still blown apart but is mostly painted and the heater box and cowl vent mechanism are in place. The "good" news is I only have a seat base and inside windshield trim to make/rebuild......... oh, and the bed floor. Everything else is here and ready to bolt on or can be purchased easily. Deep sigh.... I think I can, I think I can..... lol More pics forthcoming.

Anyone have thoughts or opinions on laminated versus tempered glass? Some of my door windows are either cracked or broken. They appear to be laminated and I'm debating between replacing them with laminated glass or switching to tempered such as every modern car I'm aware of uses. Aside from originality what are the benefits, if any, to sticking with laminated glass in the side windows? Thoughts???

Finally things are headed in the reconstruction direction instead of deconstruction. Cab is repaired, in primer, and back on the frame. Running boards are repaired and temporarily bolted on. Here I'm checking the fitment of the door before final finishing. I don't proclaim to be a body man but I'm pretty happy with the doors considering the entire bottoms were gone when I started.

Here's a shot of my poor man's rotisserie in action. It may not be the most elegant solution but it made repairs to the floor and top windshield frame (@#$& squirrels!!) much easier.

Engine and trans are mostly finished. Still need water and fuel pumps and a distributor.

Okay, so what was intended to be a mild resto has now become a frame off. The good news is the brakes are completely rebuilt, new seals, gas tank cleaned out, and everything coated in chassis saver.

Thanks, I did as you suggested and there is a lot of great info in the resources section! I found out by sheer dumb luck that the valve guides were oriented differently when I went to install them. Reading this could definitely save someone some trouble though. At the risk of being profound, it's a great resource.

Haha, yeah I was surprised just how tinny they are. To look at them they look like they belong on a log truck but they really aren't that substantial. Apparently when a previous owner hit something, they did work well enough to pivot the bumper upward and make two large dents in the stainless trim. Doh!

Just to make sure I'm following you, do you mean you could hack off the bottom 8-10 inches or so and ship to me? If so, we might work something out. It would save me a tremendous amount of hand work.