Changes

It has been a while..... more than a while being on here and will have to post pictures of what has become of the 66 and what has changed. I know there will be some laughing and I told you so, but life is not complete if we do not change with the changes.

More to follow

Spring 2011

 Record Snow fall in Feb 2011 for NW AR, 24" at our house in 5-6 hours... the truck was gone!

With help from Dad we managed to get the cab out of the garage and on the frame, the bed off the ground and on the frame as well. Nothing is bolted down yet, I want to be able to still weld and grind on it.

                                                Ugly welds and a lot of grinding and filling in!

What has been done over the winter? Well, it was in my garage a lot and tried to find the best way to weld it back togeather without spending a million bucks. Guess what, so far it is the old fashion way with Oxy/act and steel rods. The 20 gage metal is to thin for any other type of welding I can afford at this time and it will be slow going with all the cutting I did.

Pre Christmas

Loaded the bed and cab up on a Uhaul truck and small trailer...... don't ask how this old man go it on them. I was fortunate enough to have friends willing to help out with Mig welders and show up to their shop during their days off for the holidays. I forgot how long it really takes to weld something! As I was driving away from the house and had already turned onto the fog filled main street, I remembered I forgot the camera to document the event, oh well.

Growing up I always thought that the older cars and trucks were made of thick steel that could take a hit and show little damage. I learned that the outer skin of the truck had only 20 gage metal and the inner bracing in the bed as well as the wheel wells are 18 gage. If you are not familiar with gage thickness, I can bend and mold the 20 gage (The higher the number the thinner it is) with some effort with my hands.

After feeding everyone home made breakfast burritos, no Lisa did not make them, we spent 3 hours welding on the bed. I didn't want to take more of their time away from their family and opted out of doing any welding on the cab. Thanks Jim and Bill for all your help.

I was given good ideas about the cab and adding a hidden roll bar system that would add strength to the cab while bracing the new add on of the roof. I noticed I had trouble trying to keep it from buckling so by adding the small bracing system will help strengthen the cab and fix the roof issues. I try to add my ideas down here or on paper because I know it is going to be a long process, especially without a Mig Welder (Yet). So I will continue to do what I can, and boy is there a lot to do on replacing bad or rusted metal and even fabricationg peices to last through the winter. I am hoping that the up coming classes and hopfully teaching position still allow me the time to spend on it and continue to be creative.

To all, have a great Holiday season!

Cab Extension Pictures

I should have taken a few before I did some tack welding to the main cab, but what can I say. Funny story how I got the cab from the back yard to the garage, maybe I should have gotten a picture of that because you wouldn't believe a word of it if I said a riding mower, hand truck, tie down straps and a lot of patients!

 I also meet a guy when I was coming out of the auto parts store who was driving a very nice 56 Chevy SWB Step Side. We of course spoke and was excited to show and tell about his truck. I told him what I was doing and he gave me a card for his tiling business and I gave him one of my newly printed cards I plan to use for job hunting. Anyway, he had a friend paint his truck and it looked better than what I seen the other day at a shop in town. However, I will be picky when it comes down to the finish detailing and painting.

 Oh, found a great place to shop for metal for the truck just down the road from me. I have been meaning to go in but always had something else going on. Now that I really needed something, I stopped in. I meet a Guy named Jimmy at Mayo Custom Metal Fabrications yesterday and told him what I was doing and he said he could help with the metal but wasn't really set up for automotive custom work. I rough measured some of the peaces I knew I would need after getting the cab tacked, took the two sizes of metal samples I needed and was just going to have him gage them and put the order in and maybe get it next week. He took me back to the shop where he had one of his employees start chopping the sizes I gave him. He even looked for peaces that were extra and not from a whole sheet to lower the cost. Man I am glad I went there and what a price. Although, I would like to be locked up in there for a weekend with the truck, I would get a lot done.

 This will be the outside top and will finish all the interiors metal work later. I also thought of sliding the foam insulation in between the cab roof and inside metal liner to help with noise reduction, heat and cold on the old bald head....... Any thoughts? I will also cover the side of the cab where I am going to put the window, but cut it out once I have the size of the set that will be going in.

 I think there is enough room below the old window to cut a hole and make an access panel cover, and then mount the electric motor and mechanical arm to make the rear original window go up and down like my Tundra had. Challenging but the two doors will get them as well. Oh, did I mention the gas tank not going back in the same place to make room? Not really decided where it will end up yet. Also priced a Long Block today at Oreillys Auto parts, did you know that a 327 is about $500 more than a 350? Hummmmm

Also got the 20 gage metal for the floor board, its heavier than what is being used on the roof and other parts and I think I can still bend and shape it as needed without to much of an issue. No I dont have all the tools I need, so it will be a lot of shaping using my imagination and the tools I do have. Wish me luck!