Latest photos, 10/9/11

Here's the truck as it's sitting now... it will look a little lower with the rest of the body parts (running boards, tailgate, etc) on and a full tank of gas in back. We all agree the stance looks pretty good!


My favorite part of the truck is the dashboard and instruments... classy!


Engine compartment and firewall. Great job of wiring by Jerry Hackett, thanks Jerry!

Bed with wood kit installed. Thanks to Dean Peterson for doing the wood finishing!

8/5/11... she returns home for the final time!

7/29/11 updates

7/13/11 updates

7/8/11 updates

The following are photos from 7/8/11:

Updates 6/5/11 -- Cab is painted!!!

WOW! Well, I think we got the color right!! : ) Thanks so much to Troy and John and Hot Rod Alley... they're doing KILLER work on this truck, we can't thank them enough. True professionals that accept nothing less than the best!

Some "Before-and-After" photos to show how far we've come...


The cab now:
And the cab then (notice all the holes in the firewall that had to be filled):

The cab now:

And then!

More shots of the cab now:


These are more miscellaneous parts... the valance (under-dash) that houses the A/C vents; the steering column and bracket; and the air intake vent. The hood is next to the parts (only the underside of the hood is painted at the moment).

Here's some of the rest of the body parts (bed, fenders, etc), waiting for their turn to head into the paint booth!

Updates 5/29/11

Updates... the boys at Hot Rod Alley have been working on the body and paint. Here's the inside of the hood, and the inside of the cab. It's coming along!

And this is the seat we took out of a '65 Cadillac... not pretty to look at now, but once it's re-upholstered with new padding and tan leather and stitching, it'll look great (and have 6-way power to boot)!! It fits perfectly inside the cab.

Engine start!

Wow... after 15 years of silence, the engine was started for the first time on 3/30/11... and man, does it sound GREAT! Just the right blend of aggressive power, without being too loud (and annoying!). Thanks to Jerry and Jim for help on getting all the wiring figured out. The truck has power, the chassis is pretty close to finished, the body is at the paint shop... it's coming together quickly now! Next project will be moving on to the interior! My first time turning the key... wow, what a great feeling to hear that engine roar to life!

Exhaust system/mufflers installed

Flowmaster mufflers/exhaust system installed... the project is moving QUICK now, almost time to start getting ready for interior work!

Photos of rolling chassis (with new wheels/tires!)

Rolling chassis, with the Billet Specialties wheels and Yokohama tires. Thanks to Howard at Community Tire & Auto (51st/Cactus) for the help with the tires!

The guys at Billet told us that we were the first customers in the country to have the new "Anthem" series wheels!

Updates from 1/14/11

Some more exciting updates... man, is this thing coming together fast or what? What are all you retired guys going to do when the truck is all done?!? In any case, here's some photos of the wheels, brake and fuel lines, the rear bumper (tucked in toward the frame), etc.

Polishing already? Didn't they just come out of the box?!? : )

Updates from 1/5/11

More updates... these are from the trip to the sandblaster. This first one is the cab, after being blasted and getting loaded up to head back to the shop.

There were lots of old, rusty, "project cars" laying around!

The fuel and brake lines are now mounted inside the frame (very cleanly done by Troy!).

Updates 1/1/11

Wow... is it really 2011 already?!? Well, the great thing about that is that THIS IS THE YEAR THIS TRUCK GETS FINISHED! It was purchased in '93, so this project has taken approximately 18 years to complete! It's been a long journey, but we're nearing the finish line!

These are some of the updated photos over the last month or two... enjoy!

Troy has been working on the brake and fuel lines:

This is a picture of the custom fabricated bumper--completely original!

This is a photo of the truck with a wheel from one of Troy's hot rods on the back (this is a 17-inch rim). The truck will sit lower when it's finished...

This is a photo of the tilt hood bracket:

This is the tailgate latch. We'll try to replace the red plastic knob with a steel or aluminum piece. We're also working on some type of tailgate bracket... more on that later.

These are the wheels we ordered, which should be in any day now (the 1st week of January). 18's on the back, 17's on the front.