Welding, Grinding, and Finish Work on the Box

 Got the call that are center caps were done. These are the tooling that were used to cast the parts. After casting was done they were machine for the lug nuts holes.

 Here is the part on the truck before it went to the polisher. We almost went with the cast parts because it looks very vintage, but in the end decided to go with the polished to match the beauty rings that will go on.

  

 The stock front on the motorhome had only 5 lug bolts but still use a 10 hole rim. We had the hub machined to add 5 more studs to make it match the rear 10 bolt that was stock.

 This is rear hub in its cast before polishing and before the chrome lug caps were put on. Well nine of them anyway.

 We had a extra cap made and had it sent out to be polished to see the outcome before we had the rest done. We were very pleased with the out come and the cost of the finished product. Haven't put on a trim ring yet to see the final look. Going to wait for the last moment of the build to give me that wow factor. Gives me something to look forward to.

  

 Chris started to weld all the panels together while I followed behind with the grinder.

 Chris used a spool gun and went thorough about ten spools. It took about two weeks to get the seams all welded and finished. Still have some spots that need grinding but for the most part it is done.

 After some grinding work.

 Made some scaffolding to make it easier to do the work on the top. That's Chris doing some finishing work on the welds.

 How that we have the panels all welded in place we can finish out the door opening.

These are the side panels for the door openings that will be welded in.

 The bottom and top door opening were formed in the panels that we have already installed.

 A close look on the door side panels welded in.

We have all the door opening welded in and almost have them finished out. This week we will be able to get final measurements for the doors and be able to draw them out. We will then send out the parts that will make up the doors to be formed. We are making final adjustments in the door hinges to make sure we have a good fit. The doors will have shaved handle and gas shocks to assist with the door opening. Our plan is to start on the rear steps and taillight panel while we wait for parts for the doors.

Okay Its Been a While

Okay I know it's been three mouths since the last post. I promise that we have been working on it in that time frame. Chris and I took off over a little more then a month to take care of some personal project that needed done and took some vacation time. It was nice to step back and take a break and work on some other things other then the truck. Not a lot of exciting things on the truck to post that we have accomplished in the last three months, but we have been able to button up the odd and ends that needed to be done. 

 Finished up the rear gas cap and filler. This will also be where one of the propane tanks will be placed.

 We used a pop-up gas cap that you see used on motorcycle tanks.

 A look at the custom filler from the bottom that goes to the tank.

 All installed and ready for some gas.

 Getting ready to finish up on the body lines on the lower panel.

 Making the transition from the two body lines to single a one.

 Welded up and ready to be finished.

Getting ready to piece in the new part.

 It's in 

 Well this side is done one more to go.

 We wanted the rear lip to look like the front fender lip. Chris used 5/8 rod and shaped it to the opening.

 Chris doing his magic.

 The return detail that the inter fender will attach to.

 The finish product that makes it look more ridged.

 Well if you haven't notice the cab has gone missing. We needed to remove it so that we could finish up the rest of the metal work on the box. Have the center and top cap done.

 Chris making the final adjustment to the corners to fit up with the rest of the body panels. If your wondering why the body line doesn't go all the way through to the other side it's because the cab was to close to box. I took the measurement at the bottom and didn't count that the cabs widest point is the center where the body line is. Lucky you will never see it because the stacks cover the space between the cab and box.

The front parts fabricated and in place.

The last panel being fitted was the 12' long panel. After we were satisfied on all the panels and how all the body lines lined up we went through and fasten the panels down with screws and washers. We decided to weld and use a auto grade aluminium epoxy glue between the welds. Where the screws were is where we plugged welded to the frame. Most of where the seams come together are on a frame structure and are fused just with the weld and not the epoxy. So now Chris is welding up the box and next up will be to make the cargo doors.

 I wasn't real pleased with the Alcoa center caps and decided to look into having some custom center caps made. This is what we came up with for a replacement. It should give the wheels more of the vintage look that I'm looking for.

 If your looking for a great casting manufacturing company you should give Jessie a call at Meticulous Detail MFG. in Portland. These still need to be machined and polished but I,m pretty excited about how there turning out so far.

The ones in the front are for the front and the tall one will be for the rear. Hope your enjoying the progress of the project. I will try and not let three months past without a post and thanks for watching.

Finishing Up on Body Lines and Hanging the Stacks and (Some Bathroom Work?)

Even though we been making progress on the truck we took some time off the truck to help my mom with a remodel on her bathroom. They have two bathtubs with built in showers and with their aging it has become hard for them to maneuver around while taking showers. So Chris and I removed the old tub and shower and put in a walk in shower for them. Which actual turned into a full re-do on the bathroom. About one more week of work and we will be back on the truck.

Okay I know that they are not pictures of the truck but it is proof that we have been working.

 Finishing up the last of the lower body lines. Need to complete the lower end of the back panel that will need to be hand formed. We also need to add a rolled lip on the wheel well before we can start to weld it to the truck.

 The panels have lined up very nicely. Just need to work on the top panels and we will be done with the body lines.

 The exhaust pipes came in and now it time to make some brackets for the truck. We are using the stock brackets from the pipes, but need to make custom ones for them to mount to the truck box.

They have a slight curve in them to match up with the truck box.

  

 All finished up and ready to be mounted to the truck. These will be chrome plated to match the stock brackets.

 Used the frame tubing and added some plating for the bracket to mount to.

 Top bracket mounting structure.

 Skins back on with the bracket attached.

 Top and bottom brackets. Next up is to locate and cut the holes that the pipes will go thru.

 Front view of the pipes installed.

 We used 7" exhaust for are set up. Here you can see the hole that we cut out of the lower panel.

The exhaust will be used for the pizza ovens. I can smell pizza already.

  

 Man I cant wait to see this thing all together. It's looking pretty tough even with out all the parts on it.

 The last of the body lines will run the length of a 12' panel. We came up with a make shift table to hold the sheet while we fed it thru the Pullmax. It sounded like this would be the easiest panel to do, well not so much.

 It takes about twenty runs though the Pullmax to get the final profile. Moving a 5 x 12 sheet of .08 aluminum is not a easy task. The first panel we did we had three people and by the time we were done we were done.   

 The second panel we enlisted one more helper which help out, but was still a workout.

The top part of the panel has part of the 20" radius in it. Since we don't have a 12' brake we had it sourced out to be bump around to the shape that we need.

 While we wait till the panels get done we moved on to the gas fillers.

 We started out with some 90 degree mandrel bent tubing, 5/8 tubing, and a pop-up gas filler. One of the pop-up gas filler will be welded into back panel for the back gas tank and the other will be welded up front for the side gas tank.

This is the back panel where the gas cap will be added. It's also where one of propane tank will be mounted.

Filler in place and is ready to be welded in. Will update with the finished part.