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6/18/26: I wanted to give you a quick update on the progress I’ve been making on the truck as I’ve been able to squeeze some time in.

I’ve been spending a lot of time on the seat frame, which had some significant rust issues. It looked like there had been a previous, poorly executed attempt to weld the holes shut, which really compromised the structural integrity of the frame. The only real solution was to cut out the bad metal and fabricate a replacement section specifically where the rear driver’s seat frame bolts to the slides. I forgot to take an as found photo so I placed the piece I cut out over the new patch and took a picture to show the carnage. The new patch is in, and it’s solid now. I’ve applied some Bondo to smooth everything out. There are still lots of little rust holes, but not anything that compromises the structural integrity of the frame so I’m going to let it go. Stripping the entire frame down to bare metal has been quite a chore and I’m still working my way through it.

I ended up changing course due to allot of rain. I didn’t want to deal with any more sanding dust around the garage, so I switched gears and started working on the wiring. I’ve been applying fabric loom to the wire runs. Since it’s split loom, getting it seated over the wires was a bit of a challenge, but I finished it off by securing everything with fabric tape and clamps. To get those clamps mounted securely to the firewall without requiring a second person under the dash to screw the nut on the bolts, I used rivet nuts, which worked out really well.

I love the old time look of the fabric loom and happy with the results. It’s slow going, but it’s definitely coming together.