9/2021
I decided to do the passenger side cargo area differently. I used a wire cup brush on it, and then ospho, cleaner degreaser, and then the two coats of grey. I then painted the strip at the front of the bed wood, and the rear threshold. Then it was time to install the wood. I started at the sides and placed bolts finger tight. I had to modify a few holes that were mis aligned, and drill some holes that were missing. I got all the bed wood and bolts in from above until the last plank. I went below and put on the nuts and washers for the last plank, then tightened everything up. It was nice to use painted bolts, the job was done once the wood was installed. Three planks have a T-nut at the front end, maybe for attaching something across the floor? I replaced one T-nut that was missing and installed bolts in the three places.
9/2021
I had to make some plow bolts for the strip that goes across the rear of the bed wood. I could not locate the ¼” size. These are called Countersunk carriage bolts aka 114 deg countersunk square neck bolts aka Flat square neck plow bolts. This is a ¼” bolt maybe ¼-20, and about 1 ¼” long. I got elevator bolts and ground them down to size and profile. Here is a post I started:
https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthread...i-get-rear-endcap-bolts.html#Post1416343It got cold and rainy here, so I moved on from paining for a few days before I could complete bed assembly, but finally had a couple nice days to get it done. In the mean time, I mangled up the power steering lines to clear the inner fender.
This weekend was a good time to go to the pick it yard. There was only one Chevy truck, but it was a ’89. I got the A/C bracket. My ’90 k1500 has cast brackets, but the ’88 k2500 has pressed steel brackets. The ’89 also has the pressed steel brackets, so it will bolt right on. I also found another DRAC from an Astro van, I’ll use that for my speedometer drive project for a bench setup. I had previously purchased seats from an Astro, but they don’t clear the storage cover in the seat riser. I found a ’99 Honda CRV and the seats look good and fit. I crawled all over the seats when removing and they were dry, then put the driver seat on it’s side in the back of my truck. When I unloaded it there was a wet spot that smelled like a dead animal. I dumped some cat spray cleaner on it and have a fan blowing, so I hope I can freshen it up. I’ll modify the mounting brackets and get them bolted in. I like that they are narrow and leave some room to access the cargo area.
I also got the steering sector shaft from the ’89 chevy. I dismantled it to see how it goes together. I’m looking for a clean way to extend the steering shaft. I can get a ¾”dd shaft and machine it to replace the stock length with a longer one. I had thought about adding a length of shaft, but it looks easy enough to just put a longer one in there.
