"FRAME OFF" Has Begun - Wish Me Luck! - Pics

[Rack Man]

Thanks Guys!.....I have been working away trying to get her done....She's close!....Got nearly all of the interior in and done..It looks pretty awesome if I do say so myself ....but now I am having some issues getting the body panels aligned...AARGH!......I'm close but I can't seem to get to get the "gaps" fitted quite right yet!....you adjust one area and it throws off another area.....It's a royal "B"...The "play" in the core support seems to be where the final adjustments are going to come from.

Also, the weatherstripping on the doors has proven to be a real challenge....I have to SLAM the passenger door hard to get it to close....Hopefully it will get better with time!

Should have some more pics posted up real soon!.....She will be going to get a little front end alignment/adjustment work soon, as right now she is all over the road (steering wise) and I have no idea how to fix it!

All in all I'm pretty happy with the resto.....Everyone who see's the truck loves it!...



Dan

[Rack Man]

Originally Posted by Mr-Jack

looks good...even with the dust on the seats did you paint your shift knobs or are those new?

Those are the original shift knobs....I tried to "restore" them but I couldn't find away to make them look new...No matter what I did the "Haziness" always came back...I couldn't find NOS (at a decent price) or Repop knobs so I just decided to live with the old ones!...


Dan

[Rack Man]

Originally Posted by sdailey

Looking good Dan. You're almost there.

Thanks Shannon!.....Your well on your way!...I have been watching your build intently!......Keep up the good work, she's looking Awesome!



Dan

[msgross]

There isn't much alignment work that can be done on these solid axles. You replaced all of the ball joints right? (drag link, tie rod, knuckles etc...) The steering box is new as well? If there is "play" in the system id' have a buddy turn the wheel slightly while you look at all of the components to look for a loose item.

[Rack Man]

Originally Posted by msgross

There isn't much alignment work that can be done on these solid axles. You replaced all of the ball joints right? (drag link, tie rod, knuckles etc...) The steering box is new as well? If there is "play" in the system id' have a buddy turn the wheel slightly while you look at all of the components to look for a loose item.

Yea, I think the "caster" and "Toe" are the only adjustments on the solid axles...And yes I did replace all those parts you mentioned and I even upgraded the steering box to a quick ratio unit!.....I hope betweeen those two adjustments it will fix it.....

[Conroe trucker]

There is a set screw on the steering box with a lock dwon nut on it.
That takes the play out of your steering.
I bet it is set lose from the factory.

[Conroe trucker]

What are you doing for carpet?
That Blue sure looks good!
Let us know how that interior paint holds up.
Have you tried to see if it will flake off or split?

[Rack Man]

Originally Posted by Conroe trucker

What are you doing for carpet?
That Blue sure looks good!
Let us know how that interior paint holds up.
Have you tried to see if it will flake off or split?

I ordered everything from stockinteriors.com.....I got the molded carpet, the gas tank cover and the carpeted kick panels....They had a lot of color and style choices....I went with the 80/20 Loop in medium blue (#552)....All of the carpeting is in and fit really good!

I have handled the dyed interior pieces quite a bit and there has been no flaking whatsoever....The stuff I used really soaked in well, I was pretty amazed to see it work...so I think its going to hold up well!


Here's the lnk to the carpet I got:
http://www.stockinteriors.com/AutoCa...=31&ModelId=88


Oh and thanks Conroe for the steering box tip...I'm sure that is a lot of the problem....I'll keep you posted!



Dan

[Billhilly]

Just wondering how you are getting on with the wheel alignment thing?
One thing I did with mine during the build up of the chassis was snap a centreline lenghtwise under the chassis and then drew lines under where the front and rear diff's sat. I also measured the distance between the two diffs. Turns out both diff's wern't square to the centre line, and not parallel in relation to each other. I sratched my head for a long time and ended up turning one rear leaf end for end, and slotted out the hole in the right side of the front diff to allow the diff to be squared up. Got it 'pretty close' to everything heading in the same direction! Have no idea if any of this made it drive nice. Years away from finishing!
Let us know how you got on.

[1985-GMC]

My axles are the same way, they aren't square or parallel so ill probably end up elongating a couple of the holes in the spring perches to make it right.

[austinleonhardt307]

Damnit! Now it's between three colors that i'm painting my pickup. Excellent truck man

[Rack Man]

Well....I'm almost there!.....Got the interior finished, the grill installed and the front bumper on...Also, I also had the truck wet-sanded and buffed by my painter....a quick $800 down the drain for that!

Still need to do a little fine tuning on the body panels..After installing the grille and hood I found some more gap issues....its close but not perfect and Im not positive that it will ever be 100%....aligning those body panels is probably the hardest thing I have had to do....then again I've never done it before, so I'm sure I'm missing some of the tricks.

Also the bumper is way out of whack....looks like I'm going to have to "slot" the bracket holes....the front part of the frame must be tweaked a little bit from the winch that was on there when I got it....

The truck is currently at a buddy of mines shop getting the brakes power bled, front end & steering box adjusted and getting the AC system evacuated & charged.

Here's a couple pics....I'll post some more later.

[cjohns]

I'll take it!!!!!Looks great RM!!!!!

[Teck]

Congrats on the great work. Truck looks awsome.

[watahyahknow]

that truck will win some prices , its beautyful

[sdailey]

Looking good Dan.

[gcburdic]

freakin' fantastic.....awesome build Rack-Man

[estig70]

can't beat that color blue.

nice truck rackman.

Oh yeah, sweet interior. I use the 72 style door panels in my 70 but I like yours which are what should be in mine. NICE!

Eric

[austinleonhardt307]

I saw that you had to replace a rocker panel. Do you have any pictures of what it looked like before? Mine are pretty bad but i don't know which parts to order because they have parts like inner rocker, outer rocker, rocker extended etc.

[dammitmitchell]

Dang dude!

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Damn that turned out nice..

[0331grunt]

That is a beautiful truck!! Congrats

[bowtieguy79]

Nice Job! Love the color! you can't beat a Blue Chevy with a White top!

[Rack Man]

Originally Posted by cjohns

I'll take it!!!!!Looks great RM!!!!!

Originally Posted by Teck

Congrats on the great work. Truck looks awsome.

Originally Posted by watahyahknow

that truck will win some prices , its beautyful

Originally Posted by sdailey

Looking good Dan.

Originally Posted by gcburdic

freakin' fantastic.....awesome build Rack-Man

Originally Posted by estig70

can't beat that color blue.

nice truck rackman.

Oh yeah, sweet interior. I use the 72 style door panels in my 70 but I like yours which are what should be in mine. NICE!

Eric

Thanks erveryone!.....Its been fun but I'm glad its coming to an end....just need a break to enjoy now!

[Rack Man]

Originally Posted by austinleonhardt307

I saw that you had to replace a rocker panel. Do you have any pictures of what it looked like before? Mine are pretty bad but i don't know which parts to order because they have parts like inner rocker, outer rocker, rocker extended etc.

I don't have any good pics that show that damage....but I only needed to replace the one outer rocker and front pillar patch....You will need to inspect yours to see if there is any other damage.....