Still making progress and trying to get 15 minutes in a day. Had the local glass shop that cut my glass come out and install the front and rear glass. I haven’t installed much glass and what I have done didn’t always go well so decided this was something I would have done. I’m happy with the results and was able to install the inside window trim. It’s starting to come together and that is keeping me motivated.
On to the front end and that’s where things started going backwards. First issue is the upper hood hinge mount hole threads stripped out on the passenger side. Before and after painting the inside of the hood I chased the threads with a tap in hopes this wouldn’t happen. Without this being fixed the hood alignment is near impossible. I bought some Helicoil and drill/tapped the hole. There’s not a lot of threads so I put lock tight on the threads and letting it cure. Fingers crossed this works or I’ll have to figure something else out.
My second issue is the front radiator support is too high, not allowing the hood to close properly. I used the EZSwap kit and followed the instructions and cut below the cage nuts and bolted the the lowest hole as instructions specified. I called Ed at EZSwap and he said some trucks need to be cut further done and possibly shimmed. That was frustrating news because it will cause me to have to redesigned multiple things. I should have done a fit up prior (my fault) to making the radiator mounts and painting everything up.
My plan is to get the hood fitment right so I can properly measure where to cut the radiator support for proper height. This should provide the correct hood to fender fitment and then I can either make new radiator mounts or fix the ones I already made.
Doing a frame swap is not the easiest even with a kit and has taken more time then I initially thought it would but… I’m learning new skills, making friends and making a truck the way I want it!
