Thread: Project Special K

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That is great news Steve! Getting back to work on the truck is definitely a milestone that I'm certain you're happy to see.

Yep. the truck has always taken back seat to whatever is a immediate concern. I think I'm at a place to focus on it now. The irony is I have a years worth of parts to be installed, just waiting to get front clip back on before proceeding!
I was taught to live in my means, so the truck is like an exotic vacation in that you dream about the day you can take it!
I've got new glass and window gaskets, new running boards, gauges, wiring harness, etc...., but all waiting to get the front frame secure before going back into the truck.

It will also be nice to get the body pieces out of the attic, rafters, shelves and floor of my small garage.

Originally Posted by stovens

I was taught to live in my means, so the truck is like an exotic vacation in that you dream about the day you can take it!
I've got new glass and window gaskets, new running boards, gauges, wiring harness, etc...., but all waiting to get the front frame secure before going back into the truck.

We all have to live within a budget, and you've been here long enough to know what it takes and the steps to get through the build. So just focus on the step in front of you and you'll be surprised how fast it all comes together..

Of course we'll be whining if we don't get a good quota of pics along the way!

I'm sure you are excited to have it in your to do list now a days. You can look at it this way too... At least you were able to keep it through all of it and you have a good place to keep it. You've made good progress on that front for sure. I'm excited for ya!

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It .right be time to inventory. I'll bet you have stuff you don't even remember!

Yup Once the parts start going on I have room to get to the shelves that hold all the boxes of body parts, new window rubber, gauges, electronics, trim, hinges, and most importantly old body parts to the hood latch mechanism, which I took copious pictures of while I was disassembling, since there are no good diagrams to show how they all fit together and go back in! Some things I know I've bought multiple sets of over the years because I couldn't find the parts when I needed them, so inventory is an excellent idea, as well as repackaging with easy to read labels! One of the first things for the interior is to coat the sheet metal floor panels with anti-rust/rust converter Por-15 paint, they start bundling all the loose wiring and permanently routing them in a professional way(which I will have to study up on!)

Finally something to update about! Frame welder came yesterday did a very nice structural patch wgere the exhaust gy=uy notched the frame. He was here for three and a half hours yesterday, and did a nice engineered weld to the cut out area. Today i was able to top coat the welded area with Por-!5 over fresh metal and weld areas, and then reattach the header loosely while the paint cures.

Shame the "exhaust guys" hacked it up like they did, but it is all better now and you're ready for some progress I'll bet. 8-)

there was already a notch by a previous owner there to clear an old exhaust system, the muffler guy just added to it! In a big way!
Anyway it is good I did this because I also found a exhaust manifold gasket under the headers which I specifically didn't install because Sanderson's is quite specific about this is their instructions instead you are suppose to install the header with a 1/8"-1/4" bead of black RTV silicone. I looked on the drivers side and yup no gasket, so I'm guessing when Kelley chopped the frame he must of had to take header off and then just automatically put a gasket on not knowing sanderson's thing. So after cleaning off both surfaces I got a new bead of rtv on and let it set 24 hours per instructions, which allowed me to paint por-15 over the exposed metal on the frame.Also time to remember I need to add washers or spacers to the engine mounts to get read of the free space between the sides of the mount where the thru bolt goes. I also decided to make a build binder with all the loose papers, amd part numbers for anything not stock for reference down the line vs. loose piles everywhere!

Yep, keeping track of all those random part numbers is an excellent idea. It saves hours of time and aggravation down the road.

I'm sure it feels good to have that fixed! Does sanderson say to use a high temp gasket maker? Or maybe a copper based one?

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High temp which they have rebranded to Ultra Black maximum oil resistance same part number 82180. Turns out all silicone has the same heat range according to my welder, he says they use high heat to increase price, but all is the same, maybe thats why permatex took that name off. I spent quite a bit of time researching this! Everywhere that sells Ultra Black now if they have new stock, it doesn't say high heat. Pretty confusing!

Quick up date after reinstalling the header, I found there was no way to tighten the lower connect flange bolt to the back of the header, now that the weld patch is in place without triming some overlaping excess metal (not structural) just sticking out past the new boxed in patch. So off with the header again(Sounds like Alice in Wonderland!) I need to crawl under the truck today to see if this will work before any metal trimming takes place. Right now there is no clearance for getting a good bight on the nut or bolt! I can also put a new gasket in while I'm at it! Measure once cut a million times, whoops thats measure twice cut once

If you only need a CH... um.. a little hair of room a BFH, that's a Big F_ _ _'n Hammer can sometimes sneak out just enough space to get the socket or wrench onto the fastener.

But you knew that already, didn't you?