Classy Shak

[Dreamweaver]

Well this has been a eventful day to say the least.

First I got my custom made visor from Brian (Brian in PA) today. He did a perfect job. It turned out exactly like I wanted.





It came in the mail and like a flash I was all over installing it. I had already taken the truck apart AGAIN...(Boy if I had a buck for every time I took this thing apart and put it back together, I'd just about be able to pay for it...


Well that's when the crap started...

I made a king size DUMB *** mistake today. I went to move the axles forward and cut the frame as discussed earlier. Well I did not mark my reference point for where to move the axles up to BEFORE I took the truck apart. I did mark it, just after I had it was stripped. Well long story SHORT I marked the wrong place. Did not even notice it till I was almost done putting it back together, when I noticed that the axles were quite close to the rear sleeper Mounts... Well to say the least I think I got just about every cuss word known to man out at least twice.






Well I thought about leaving it like this, after all it is REAL 1:1 accurate now. But I just could not deal with it. I have a specific look I want for this truck and have already shortened it once, I was not going to try to live with it.

So I ordered another set of frame rails from Freddy.

Well I got a big box of much needed stuff from Tower today. In it I have a crap load or tubing for the shocks, I have some big tube that I use in the making of my stacks, I got the styrene I am going to use for my diamond tuck interior, I got some long .080" styrene so that I can complete the running boards in one piece, I got some much needed taps, and last but not least I got most of the stuff I need to build my drive lines. What I mean by most is some of the parts were to small so I have to send them back and get more of the other ones...(another lesson learned)

I also got the brass I needed to make my fender mounts for the fenders that I got from John (Stylin-N-Profilin). Then I got my visor from Brian of course, and I also got a small package from Bob at Scale Hardware... Yup, I went against what I first had planned and ALL BECAUSE OF BRIAN I had to get some rivets. I got the 1mm heads though my personal opinion is they are closer to stock size, and of course they are smaller which equals harder to handle..

Oh well not like I haven't drilled a million holes on this thing already what is a few extra. Ya know the bad part is with my OCD. No matter how much I tell myself not to, I can pretty much guarantee that come Monday at work I will be going over to one of the Pete's in the trucking company's yard next door and be counting the rivets on the hood....

Ok on to the fender mounts.

I used 1/8" square brass tube for these. along with a little angle and some 1/2" flat.

I built these almost exactly like the real 1:1 hangers are built.





Now the good thing about the frame screw up is I am just that much ahead on my next truck... It looks like it will have a 329 wheel base... Anyway I figured that the truck that gets these frames will have these fenders on them as well so I went ahead and partially mounted them.



My initial intent was to NOT have the bolts go all the way through. I took some 1/4 x .080 styrene strips and epoxied them on the inside of the fender knowing that the CA glue would not stick to the material they are made out of... Well neither does the epoxy.. So in interest of having a good strong connection I had to go through the fender. This is actually done on the real ones, they usually have a SS strip kinda like a top weight for mud flaps and then some SS carriage bolts.










Then I made a home made fifth wheel mount, These large sleeper truck's usually have fixed fifth wheels because they have more than enough weight on the steers and there is no need to add more.



I know that the stock set up for these have a bolt that goes all the way through from one side to the other on the 5th wheel. I did not want that so I used two separate bolts. Now if you just bolt the platform to the 5th wheel then you either get a tight 5th wheel or you get loose bolts. I took a piece of copper tube and cut it long enough to go through the mounting holes on the 5ht wheel and the platform that I made. This allows me to tighten the bolts while keeping completely free movement of the 5th wheel..



Well that's all the fun for today, so here is some pictures of the truck put back together in it's short version that WILL NOT be staying.





















~Mike~

[Dreamweaver]

I spent the day working on my cab interior.

First I did the dash.








Then I figured that the stock steering column just was not going to cut it, so I made a Pete one.









I also made up some peddles out of brass and I added temporary gear shifts. The balls on the top of the pins will be painted purple and then mounted to a slightly larger diameter SS tube.










While I could not figure out how to make the steering wheel telescopic... I did make it so it tilts.







~Mike~

[Dreamweaver]

Now for the upholstery..

Diamond tuck all the way.



Boy those ugly screw heads.... What can I do about them.

Well even though sun visors don't do a dang thing for the lowrider driver.. They hide screws good.



And of course it would not be like me not to make them functional.








Well then I moved on to the rear cab corners.






Then finally the door panels.





Know my plan right now, this might change when the amount of work and the stupidity of doing it hits me, is to take a 1mm rivet and put them in each corner of each diamond, like buttons. The diamond tuck will be white and the buttons will be purple.

I still have not made up my mind on what will be what color on everything else, although I can say that what ever I paint one color or the other it will be the white or the purple...

The design on the doors will be purple. As for the rest. I think the seats will be white in the center with the purple on the sides. The dash I am thinking of leaving the bulk of it white with the dash face purple and then the brass part of the column also purple. The brake pulls and shift knobs will be purple.

Well I am almost done with the building part of the cab interior, all I have left is the CB.

I am also thinking of changing from the black marble floor to a white marble floor... What ya think of that?

~Mike~

[Dreamweaver]

Ok Gents...

Here it is... A working steering gear box.

To bad it is a bad gear ratio, this would be cool if it worked when driving... Oh well at least I did it and now ya all know it works..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp49CupXi4Y

~Mike~

[Dreamweaver]

Got the new frame rails on it again, and this is perfect I am real happy with the length now. Comes out to a 371" WB





As the video I posted yesterday shows, I got the steering hooked up, well all but the drag link.





The second u-joint under the dash.



I also got the shocks on and the fenders mounted.







And last but not least I got my inter-axle drive line in.



So that's it for now.

~Mike~

[Dreamweaver]

Well got one of the running boards completely finished tonight.

I started with making a piece to cover the fender mount and the gap between the fenders and the frame.



Then I just added the steps.








Now the fun part will be making the other side match.

~Mike~

[Dreamweaver]

Well after 5.5 months around 300-350 hrs. I am DONE with the styrene work.

Now all that is left is the body work, electronics, painting and chroming, and lots of details.






















~Mike~