The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Tons 'o Fun New 9ft bed progress!! & 1ton GMC build

Thanks fellas for the warm wishes. She's overdue now so we are playing the waiting game. Hopefully soon so they don't have to induce her. She's getting about just fine but she's done with being pregnant she says!

She went to visit her sister and so I tinkered in the garage. Today's updates:
Installed some rubber for floor mats, but I ran out. Will complete once I purchase some more.
Installed column.
Centered steering wheel, but I'll need to adjust the box still.
Installed seat belts.
Half assembled the front clip later on.

https://goo.gl/photos/fRGmvDqPNLDTazeY6

Fox,
Any new's??????????

They welcomed a junior apprentice into the world. Check the spoon.

Thanks, Leo!!

Thanks for the well wishes everyone from the other forums too. It has been an exciting week! My little boy arrived safe and sound. 8lb 6oz! 20.5". Mom is doing well and we are adjusting and settling into family life quite smoothly.

Back to school has started and it's busy. I have 31 rascals this year in grade 4! Last year my grade 2 class pushed me hard to get the truck painted. We set goals together and unfortunately I was unable to complete the paint by the end of June. Despite being 2 months late I created a link and sent it to their new grade 3 teacher and asked her to share it with them. It was nice to have them come and visit with me about it! "You did it Mr. J!" "I like the black paint!" "Will you bring it to school?"

-This year's goal: drive it to school before the end of the year.

Well it's been super busy, but I still managed to find some time to do some wrenching...but I had some help 😉.

Floor mats are complete. I made them in 3 pieces and have them overlapping. They just need a wash and a final clip down. I am very happy with how they turned out. I can easily get access to the battery, master cylinder and transmission if need be.

I also installed a few more pieces on the clip. Inner braces, light terminals, front pan supports.
Installed the hood latch piece into the hood.

The progress:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/NSEKDlFzMZrbJ2K03

Floor finished up. I installed the pedals, throttle and stomp starter. I used flat fender washers over top of the old "mat stumps" and then put c clips under the washer to hold the mat down. It works really well despite being very hard to do by myself.

I pulled the generator and got the alternator in. Now to get a different pulley and the new harness.

Also put on the outside mirrors and adjusted the emergency brake.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/G56Su8ab41yxyOGE2

Tore into my speedometer this evening while I was parenting! My little wrencher was asleep in his little swing so I quietly took apart my speedo and odometer for a clean and rebuild. Took me a lot longer than anticipated because of the tumblers. I got them "refigured" out and new numbers and MPH put on. Turned out nicely.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/eGPgIv7KTKarlX542

Now I have to test the other gauges to make sure they all work before doing a refresh on them and then discovering they don't work.
Anybody have any tips or advice before I do?

Speedo completed. I just had to set it in place momentarily to see how it looked!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/YEOFa2AbSgJQURDt2

Grill surround installed. Hood latch panel in as well. Speedo and gauge cluster completed. Gauges tested out ok.
I have one photo that is a before/after that compares what my cluster used to look like.

I'm very happy with how they look:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/8v79mihLhjbzySZh2

Next up, glass installation all around!

Your definitely gaining on it. Nice work.

Thanks Alvin. I have a few hurdles to go, but I see the light at the end of the tunnel and I realize that I'M GOING TO FINISH THIS TRUCK SOON! Awesome! I'm super pumped. My wife doesn't say much about the truck but the other night she made my day. She came home and entered via the garage. "Hi love" small talk ensued and then as she left the room she said, "That old truck looks really good. It's crazy where it started and where it is now. I can't wait for a drive." 😃

Today I installed the rubber inside the door that "sweeps" the glass as it moves up and down. What a tricky buggar. I used a water based lube to aid sliding it in. Trimmed off the excess and viola!
I began to lay out the vent windows and associated parts and doodads. But I forgot to buy glass setting tape! So the vent windows and door windows are momentarily on hold. I also need to get some string for the back and front windows.

So instead of glass, I installed the duals, glovebox, and swapped/mixed parts out of the new radio grill for a parts one that I had painted to match the truck.

Not much interesting in terms of photos for door rubbers and grill insert(as it's not installed), but the duals look pretty sweet.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/UCNzsBu7x2PahjZq2

Last weekend my wife and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary. We planned to go to the city, have supper, enjoy a park and the sunshine with our son, do a few truck errands, buy groceries and then come home. Well the little fella squashed those plans after we dropped off the grill and hood pieces at the chrome shop. He had a little "freak out" and was extremely difficult to calm. My wife nursed him in a parking lot. Then we had to change him. So into Walmart we went to make it easier. Attempted to go to the park, he was unsettled again. I asked my wife should we just go straight to supper...yes she said. To McDonald's!!!! WHAT?! Then we got groceries and came home.
Yes, spent the day in the car with our upset little baby boy, our gourmet supper was McDonalds and no time at the park! 😂 What a day!

But some stuff has happened with the truck in the meantime.

Ordered some pieces for the 1/2 ton- new tailgate, angle strips, bolt kit.
Ordered a bunch of finishing touches for the 1 ton.
Grill and hood pieces are being rechromed.
Ordered 5/8" pulley for the alternator.
Removed, adjusted, and reinstalled steering box as per manual. Removed headlight buckets from my parts truck as the trim retaining screw tab was broken on the original.

Resurfaced my throttle pedal. I bought a reproduction and unfortunately with the original throttle linkage it didn't line up worth a toot. The linkage hit the floor, a very steep angle to insert the ball into the rubber socket. So I used the old one. Sandblasted it clean after removing the rubber, painted it black, cut rubber to fit, sprayed super adhesive onto pedal and rubber, mated them and then bolted the rubber down. It doesn't match the clutch and brake, but matches the floor. Plus, my throttle works as smooth as silk once more. I also got some gmc floor mats that look pretty sharp.

Throttle pedal- easily replace rubber if need be, works well and doesn't look too bad.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/vVSCtpmQ22XlLAQG2

Windshield in! Pa and I put it in this afternoon. It took us about 2 hours to do all told. Went well and wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. We would definitely be faster & more efficient next time, but it is in. Awaiting rivets for side vent glass and tool to help with rear bead lock, then those windows will be in.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/IJUxiRqPaCfFChO33

Looking very good Fox.
The biggest PITA I found was aligning up the center bright work with the holes in the new rubber. I ended up having to gently massage the bottom hole with drill and bit!

Thanks Doyle. That's definitely one spot where we could improve next time. I would use "drift" pins to help align it as the rope is removed.

Fox, I'll bet you have a sign in your shop that says "genius at work".

Nice job, thanks for keeping us posted and updated.

Truck looks killer

Like Wile E. Coyote! Genius! Hahaha! Well, back to the drawing board. Hopefully nothing blows up when I begin using it, but thanks guys, I appreciate it.

Today I cleaned up the tank and shot it in primer. I blasted and primed the front bumper mount as well. More importantly, I cleaned the shop and garage. It's funny how, as you do one little job here, one little job there, soon you have every tool in the shop out! The shop was a disaster and was in desperate need of a tidy. I feel much better now.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Oby34wtEv9vv7IpI2

Slowly things are still progressing.
Tank cleaned up and painted.
Fuel filler spout, blasted, primed, painted.
Tank straps ready to go.
Alternator installed with 5/8 pulley.
Headlight buckets blasted, primed, painted.

Still awaiting my harness and final part shipment and hopefully I can make the final push on this old girl.
When the parts come in I would like to get the glass installation finished. I need those little crush rivets for the vent windows and I also ordered a bead lock install tool.

Pretty excited! 😃
https://photos.app.goo.gl/2gSe4EortB3YmEQM2

Gas tank installed.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/EfsSiIpdAtQAI1vx1

I worked on the vent windows today. I have everything assembled but only took one picture! Those bloody rivets for the vertical rubber seal on the vent window were a bugger. I wrecked a few (thanks CP for supplying extras) and then I got smart and welded the rivet set tool and a "drift guide" to my vice. Place rivets, line em up, squeeze, check, good. After this, it went very smoothly...
Except for when I dropped a wavy pivot spring under my bench!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/IrG0dKGFTwF5aLTf1

Hopefully I can get the vent assemblies and side glass installed in the next few days and then the back glass. I will make my goal of having all the glass done by November's end!

Next up,
Wiring and fuel lines. Probably. We will see if I get side tracked...

Progress for sure, with the little one and school there are other priorities.
A couple of hrs here and there and with your dedication to building a concourse quality truck it'll get done.
20c up here yesterday and going to drop to -10 by mid week. I'm thinking I had my last drive yesterday, time to put it up on blocks and get my winter work scheduled for it, I have a line on 4/10 gears for a swap out this winter.

Awesome Doyle! Hopefully you can nail down that 4.10. I'm still looking. A few of my leads didn't pan out. One was wrong rear end, one had gears gone, the other the hoarder wouldn't part with. I took out my motorcycle for one last cruise the other day. Pretty chilly on the way home as the sun set. I'm looking forward to driving my one ton this summer and catching up with ya!

Here are pictures of a completed vent and the window roller replaced with a CP plastic roller bushing.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/MVF2EGfBGbNooF7s1

Tonight's work on install of vents. I placed them in to cut down the felt channel, chase threads, and see if it will all line up fine. Looks good so far. I will pull the vents next and install the glass and regulator before permanently installing the vents. It is going well so far.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/hrL4zdO5yaMRn5sl2

I did.notice one potential future annoyance. I did measure and tried my best but I pushed the vent glass in a smidge too far into its triangle frame on the right side. I have a slight gap between the glass and the rubber. I may install a tiny gasket to make up this gap to help combat the dreaded road whistles! We will see later however as I'm sure the old girl will whistle regardless in other places!

Most of the old trucks and their owners have a lot of whistles, creaks and groans regardless of the rebuild that's been done to either! LOL

So Halloween! I didn't work on the truck tonight obviously, but as kids trickled in and out I was quite happy about the interest that some of the kids took in the project, as they keep me on track time wise for certain goals I've set.

"Mr. J? Can we see your old truck?"
I happily obliged.

"Neat!"
"It's huge! It doesn't look that big in the pictures!"
"Look at how long the box is!" (Parent)

Being a small town and knowing parents, the kids got candies, and their parents and I had a brew and talked trucks in the garage! Pretty neat night.

One door, vent and window complete. It was a pain for a first timer. The second one is going to go so much quicker. Next up: Rear window, then fuel lines, wiring. Just keep chipping away at it. Plus now school report cards are due in 2 weeks. Bah humbug! I'd rather be wrenching!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/0ybqJYOTbyBnPeV32

Rear window in...my fingers hurt. It was a real chore doing this by myself. My son, Everett, was supervising again (by hanging out in his little swing chair on the bed wood behind me) but offered little help and just babbles! 😎😃

https://photos.app.goo.gl/RV9lb6goGUAUqVg32

I've made my goal! I installed all the glass by end of November! Next goal: I'd like to have the truck wired before school is back in session after New Year's.

The chrome shop called and hoooooo doggy, the chrome grille, hood emblems and call outs are done!

My signal lights arrived from Arizona. Thanks Simplex. I look forward to blasting and painting them up.

Good work and a good plan. Thanks for sharing.

...a picture of your helper, Everett, would certainly be appropriate!!!!

Here's my supervisor:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/DbBzIhlYysvliW2K2

Now that's a happy boy! But then again, he is in a 1-ton!!!

Parking lamps refurbished and ready for a rewire for signal lights.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/bi1HMj1lAy03gI543

I started putting fittings together for the gas line tonight as well.

Floats adjusted, body cleaned up, carb rebuilt.

My wife went to a farmers' market today with the little guy so I had the shop to myself. I was able to work on the truck steady for a bit. I got the fuel line plumbed in, vacuum line plumbed in, and the air cleaner bolted down. It was a pretty good day once I found my tubing bender and flare set. I moved it months ago while cleaning shop and couldn't find it!

Tomorrow I will hook up the carb and linkages permanently, hopefully, and then begin to lay out the wiring harness.

On Friday, we went to the city but my chrome hadn't been shipped up from Calgary. The chrome shop usually waits for a pile to accumulate before the make a delivery run to Edmonton. Good thing I'm not in a hurry for it. 😜

I also still have to get my heater core repaired or simply not run the heater ever. But I do think I'd like to drive it in fall when it can be quite cool.

Today's work:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/RmgSxN2thZKhd8OU2

I hooked up the carb linkages this morning. Layed out the harness, cleaned the old switches up, installed the speedometer and gauges, throttle and chuckle cables, installed the felt rings in the pedals and throttle and installed the speedo cable grommet and throttle/choke grommet. Pretty good day. Looking forward to getting wires layed in. But I'd better clean up the shop first to keep things organized.

Good work Fox, Just remember where things get put after the clean up.

I also need a heater core for the 55 and tried to re solder it but to no luck. We are in our Ca. winter home and even down here things are pricy.
The new core is close to $200 US bucks but like you I want a heater for the cool days. I did drive part of the last season without
the core in place and it is needed. Or else the air intake passageway needs to be sealed up. But then no fresh air or a defroster for
the cool mornings.
I do not drive it very much or for any distance since the rear pinion seal is leaking quite a lot of oil. I need to get a larger impact wrench
to remove the nut as I broke mine last summer trying to do the repair.
I enjoy reading your truck adventures this last couple of years and hopefully we will finally meet up next June at the Reynolds.
Work safe.
Howie

I'm looking forward to driving it next summer and especially taking it to its first show completed and meeting up with you guys. Hopefully nothing goes BAM! My grade 4 class is keeping me on it. Glass, fuel lines/system, now the harness! My wife is also getting excited as she can see the end, too. She keeps asking little questions about it that she never did before.

"Will you drive it in winter?" -yes, if it's nice out and the roads are clean. Heater core anyone?

"Where will we go for the first time?" - most likely just down the back road VERY slowly.

I do have an extra core in another truck so maybe I'll get lucky and it might still be ok. More than likely though it's probably toast too. These old girls were worked hard and put away wet.

That's crazy that you broke your impact on that nut! Yeesh! Who torqued that down?

Today I cleaned out the cab and I laid out the new harness beside the truck. It was all wrapped up so unwrapped it, zip tied all the bundles together according to location and called it a night. The new headlight switch that's included is very nice but I'd have to modify the dash hole to accommodate it! I don't want to wreck paint, enlarge holes, or mess with it. I'm using the old switch instead. Tomorrow's goal: mount the fuse panel on the inner firewall and rough in those bundles.

Here is the final list of tasks as far as I can see.
1. Rewire and hook up various bits.
2. Reassemble grille.
3. Run/test engine once again. Tune.
4. Get seat & door panels recovered and install.
5. Get and install new hubcaps and used clips on rims.
6. Install front clip. Hook up wires, etc.
7. Install grille and hood.
8. Tighten all hardware.
9. Get front end aligned.
10. Close hood, cross fingers, and hopefully...
I have 7 months to finish.

I’m getting closer...

😎

I also updated my pictures at the bottom of my User signature. A lot of the pictures during the build are there. Not all but most. Click on my profile and then look for "more pictures."
I'm quite proud of myself for figuring this out actually!

Awesome pictures Fox, looking forward to seeing it and of course you and Howie at Reynolds.
Take care.
Doyle

Christmas came early and the new shiny pieces need to be assembled. I have my wife's permission to place this up above the Tv area for the holidays! 😎

Wiring can wait for a little bit.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/qtuC56wJqWLOSSWR2