Wow. Cool project.
Wow. Cool project.
There's nothing quite like three weeks of covid to make you want to go out and mow the lawn. Fortunately, I don't have to mow the lawn, but I have been able to get back to Willys things: more cutting, grinding, and welding (and huffing horrifically toxic smoke from who knows how many kinds of substances that have been adhered to this poor thing over the decades).
Tubes and plate, yo: Everything here is 1/8" thick something or other to overbuild to death some seat locating/bracketing things. It's plate, 1x1, and 1.25.
Much like the ridiculous seat belt brackets, I laid down the plate to lay down the tubes. Since old truck cabs are so small, leg room has to come from height above the floor, hence the four-inch rise in the seat holding stuff. I am just under 5'9", but room is still at a premium.
This is way too complicated for mounting some freaking Jeep seats, but I've got an old garbage can full of metal. I've probably had the round tube for like eight years . . .
The seat is pretty comfy. It's very posture-forward as well, which is good, cuz I'm kind of a slouch.
That's pretty much that. There's a bit more welding to do on the passenger side brackets, then maybe a bit of grinding, then it's on to spraying some paint and seam sealer over all this crud. Here's looking forward to fun things like plumbing and wiring soon (and way less covid) . . .
Before the weekend, I managed to slap some appropriately-colored paint inside of this thing, creating happiness to not see bare metal or any of the many odd coating materials that have been applied to the metal of this truck over the decades. Seat brackets are done, and they should hold up under a major girth-quake. The shifter clears the dash quite nicely, and it feels appropriately modern, however much I'm not into manual transmissions. At some point, I will need to cut and re-shape the clutch pedal arm . . .
I am waiting on some sound deadener, which I will slap in some strategically chosen areas, then I'll bolt in the seats for good. Some day, I may seek out some sort of rubber floor covering. Malleable suggestions are welcome.
And yes, it is not the Nikon's fault that I take terrible pictures.
Slowly, things are being done to this truck. I attempted to use the computer that came with the truck, with an eBay harness, and it pretty much only resulted in filling a cylinder with gas. The Gen 3 intake was nasty, and the injectors had been dormant (and used) who knows how much, and I had a Gen 4 unit sitting around. Since I was creating momentum to dump the GM computer, the Gen 4 intake would be easy with a Holley . . .
Gen 4 intakes and EV6 injectors are just better anyway, so there's that. I also bought lovely Chinese throttle body while I was at it. That filter is just a cover, not the future intake setup--not there yet . . .
I also made a battery mount. E36 M3 gets toit when all the stuff needs to happen.
I made a cute bug-like upper radiator holder the other day . . . with metal that's been sitting around . . .
There has been a lot of wiring activity. I am using a $30 or $40 dollar body harness from eBay, lots of wire from Autozone, and trying to fit the Holley harness around that. A ten-pound bag this truck is not.
I made a bracket for the Holley Terminator out of .020 sheet that came from the floor supply, then welded it in on top of the brake or clutch pedal (both?) bracket.
That thing's bolted in with nylock nuts, because only one door can be locked. It is also quite well cushioned, as the bracket is shaped like a wave. They called that crap mountain bike suspension in the 1990s . . .
On an off note, there is a lot going on in my back yard today.
In reply to rustomatic :
You should name this truck Bigfoot depending on the tires you go with
In reply to rustomatic :
A rabbit, a deer, and sus-sqwatch?
The stupid bigfoot thing is my neighbor's. We only have a fake flamingo. All other animals are legit.
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