OK.. I may do a lot or writing here to explain what is going on and to also pass along some cost saving info I have found. I'll try my best to keep the pics in line with the explanations.
Doing some re-fab and changes now. I hate this project has taken so long,.. but then that has given me a chance to rethink and revise as I go along.
START HERE - To the right you see 2 pictures when I have put some stuff on to help with heat, and sound issues. MOST folks buy stuff like DynaMat or similar items to do this step with. Through my research and with help of some guys at different Street Rod forums I found out you can get just as good a result with only about 20% of the cost. Last I checked DynaMat cost bout $230 for 36 square feet. (that's almost $6.50 a square foot) What I used is called Peel & Seal. People I spoke with swear it is just as good as DynaMat. It can be found at Lowes, comes in a 25 foot roll, and is six inches wide. It only cost about $1 per square foot. Since it's so cheap I plan on applying two layers most places. This will also help with the hollow sound you get from the doors and other voids. Makes it much nicer acoustically.
Now something else. Many folks also use something called "Lizard Skin" It's a product you spray or brush on to dampen vibration, cut down on noise, and help reduce heat. You can't see under what I have applied, but I used another product that works the SAME, but is much cheaper than Lizard Skin. I'll explain below.
roll of PEEL & SEAL
bag of Ceramic bubbles
gallon of "Oops" Paint
Lizard Skin cost about $110 per gallon, and covers about 20 square feet. (about $5 per square foot) .
WAY WAY more than 20 square feet in my cab when you count the roof; doors and floor. What I found out (heard) that works just as good is a product made in the aviation industry. It comes as a very fine powder that is actually very tiny ceramic balls. It cuts down on heat from getting inside the vehicle. I expect it to be VERY good on the floorboards where the exhaust runs underneath, and also on the inside firewall to prevent a lot of engine heat. Also it should do well cutting down heat coming into the cab from the roof. I got mine from a place called Aircraft Spruce & Speciality.
This is a very fine powder (like talcum powder) but is glass bubbles ,.. so when you mix it you need to use a filtration mask.
This is JUST while you mix it. Once it is mixed it is fine. OH, you mix it with one gallon of premium exterior latex house paint. (make sure it's premium and also latex)
Now the cost for this is very small compared to Lizard Skin. The one pound of bubbles (should be all you need to do two coats) cost only $10. You can use some "oops" paint from Lowes or Home Depot. I got some for about $17; so total cost is about $27.
As you can see with Lizard Skin costing $110 per gallon, the cost of the home made stuff is again WAY cheaper. So by using the 'generic' stuff you can save about $275, (not counting the extra cost for shipping), and have the same effect. Above I have posted the pictures of these items
I have decided I need to shorten my chassis. I added this rear cross member to protect the gas tank in case of a rear collision. I'd found out there was only going to be about three inches between the back of the chassis and rear of the bed. Guess this picture won't show much, but I tried to show what I was going to remove
I am going to put a roll pan on the back, and need some room to mount tail lights, license plate, etc. Maybe you can see on the left rear where I tried to mark what I am removing in red. This is about four inches total, so it should give me the room I need to make my roll pan, and also get the items in need mounted out of sight.
Here is the picture after I cut out the cross member I added. Basically I am back to the way the original chassis was built.
Here is the cross member removed. Going to add a trailer hitch
I carefully measure how much clearance I'd have and welded in the sleeve for the hitch
You can see I added a couple tabs at the bottom for the safety chains, and also added some tabs in the rear for strength
Here is the cross member welded back in. Hard to see but it is shorter than the rear of the bed. Sprayed a little auto primer on what bare metal there was. You can see two 2x4's between the frame and the bed. I decided it looked better with the bed raised six inches.
Here you get a overhead view of the cross member reinstalled. I figured since I was changing lots of other stuff, I'd just raise the bed too. I am looking at raising it about six inches above the originalchassis height. Where the little blue box I drew on is two 2x4's stacked.
Hear you can see I need to make an extension for the end of the bed to sit on. There are two holes (circled in red) that show where this used to bolt together. I'll weld up a riser for the bed to sit on and fasten it to the chassis. This pic was taken before I welded the rear cross member back in.
Well Time for some test fitting again. Have to hang the fenders on it so I'd know what size tires and wheels I could get
I was afraid the fenders might not fit the body lines perfect, (and I guess they won't be "perfect"), but it looks like the fender and wheels will center up well
This picture doesn't show very well how it fits. Looks like it has the wrong angle and also the tire isn't centered - but when looking straight at it; it is right in spot
Dropping the test motor back in. Want to check for header clearance, and where I need to run the steering column
Well, here's a picture. At least it's starting to LOOK like a truck.
Here's a little more of it "looking like a truck". I guess this is the most complete "test fit" I have done to this point.
Dad ran across this little beauty. The guy was going to throw it away. This should make me a nice little trailer to put behind the truck when traveling. Lots to do; but it's a great starting point
