falconvan
Well-known member
I really did give chopping it some serious thought. But since it's going to be used for a shop truck and I wanted it done and on the road by spring; I decided against it. Cool picture, though.
And now for something completely different.....
- Thread starter falconvan
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falconvan
Well-known member
I'm down to the last door and I used up my 100 sheet roll of DA paper. Being out of sandpaper sounded like the perfect reason to be sick from work today so I took the day off. Here's where we are; the side of the hood is going to need some hammer and dolly work which I'm NOT very good at. I guess I'll pull out my Ron Covell video and give it a shot. I've got the block and heads loaded and I'm going to drop them off at the machine shop on the trip to get more sandpaper today.
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CR55
It's just a little surface rust!
Makin some great progress
..CR
..CR
rustbuilder
Active member
AH priorities,I got of cause of a blizzard in oklahoma who knew?????!!
falconvan
Well-known member
Thats the nice thing about being salaried; the boss gets to take a garage day!
Thunder1
Well-known member
falconvan
Well-known member
That's cool!!!! Buy it; that'd make a great tow rig for your shop.
I started putting the new front clip together. I fitted the side and front pieces, marked the headlight and grille location and got those cut. the headlight assemblies are a little narrower than the trim rings so I split them, made some simple angle brackets for mounting, and screwed them to those. I think it came out good; I still need to make a bracket for the bottom but it should be plent sturdy. Spent a lot of time on little stuff; the hood hinges were pop riveted on before but I took some small pieces if steel plate and drilled and tapped them to make an adjustable hood hinge. My wife has been taking some online classes for her degree so I've had a lot of time to kick butt on this lately.
I started putting the new front clip together. I fitted the side and front pieces, marked the headlight and grille location and got those cut. the headlight assemblies are a little narrower than the trim rings so I split them, made some simple angle brackets for mounting, and screwed them to those. I think it came out good; I still need to make a bracket for the bottom but it should be plent sturdy. Spent a lot of time on little stuff; the hood hinges were pop riveted on before but I took some small pieces if steel plate and drilled and tapped them to make an adjustable hood hinge. My wife has been taking some online classes for her degree so I've had a lot of time to kick butt on this lately.
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falconvan
Well-known member
falconvan
Well-known member
falconvan
Well-known member
Got the lights on the other side mounted today. I made some braces to go around the perimeter of the grill opening and will hopefully get the grill made this week. Also started putting some angle braces on the hood mating surface; just drilled some holes and plug welded them in. I got these parking lights from a big rig place; they're Kenworth marker lights. I had all the inner panels sandblasted a while back and decided to just take some Rustoleum industrial enamel to paint the back side of them so they wont rust. the side that will show is going to get painted white like the rest of the truck. Here's my son and his "friend who is a girl but not his girlfriend" helping me out. She's got it bad for him but he's not seeing it.
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falconvan
Well-known member
falconvan
Well-known member
I threw a grill together from 1/2" square tubing tonight after work. It's a little plain looking but I think if I put an expanded metal backer behind it it'll look decent enough. Also put some more angle braces along the upper edge where the hood rests. It's starting to feel pretty solid; maybe some lower braces when I'm putting it together for the final time. Here's a shot of the old front for comparison.
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bob w
Still crazy after all these years!
It looks greatly improved from the front. Have you thought about a visor?
falconvan
Well-known member
That's a thought, Bob. I'll have to see if I can sketch something to get some ideas. Thanks!
falconvan
Well-known member
Got the motor back from the machine shop tonight so now I just need to order parts. Everything turned out standard; this thing was in great shape inside. I decided just to make another panel for the side of the hood. With everything being flat and bent at straight angles on this thing; it's been great practice for making panels. I drilled out the spotwelds, cut a new piece and after a few trial and errors on the brake, it came out pretty decent.
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tw7256
Well-known member
Love them olds motors!
falconvan
Well-known member
Me, too! Loads of torque in the low RPM range; perfect for this kind of build.
riverrat44
Well-known member
Lookin' good, like the way the headlights came out... Hope to see ya on May 8th at the Lowry City car show and street fair.........(earlier post)
Corsair
Well-known member
I also love those Olds engines. What is the letter embossed on those heads? (B,C,E,G's are quite common).
I've got an E-head 455 in my truck with a th400.
Ian
I've got an E-head 455 in my truck with a th400.
Ian
falconvan
Well-known member
They're J heads; probably the least desirable. But they were in great shape so we just shaved them and did a 3 angle valve job. I'm going to use them along with the stock pistons. I've got an Edlebrock Performer + cam, Performer intake, a Holley 750, and a set of headers. I've also got a TH 400; it wont win any drag races but should be respectable and have good street manners. I'll post some pics when I put it together. Still hopin to make that show, RR.
