1976 Chevy Truck 3/4 ton 4x4 - 2nd rebuild

[johnhood]

Beautiful Firefighter Love the color, i had a 76 at one time that color but it was two it had a 468 big block th250 with a gear driven np 208 transfer case any ways keep it up cant wait to see how she looks done!!

[firefighter]

Well things have slowed down just a little bit. It seems you get a bunch done in one week, and then it takes you a week to get done what you think you should have done in a day. Oh well, I'm on no time schedule.

Last weekend I thought I'd have the fenders bolted on for good. I've now been putting that off a bit because I'm waiting for my glass guy to come put the windshield in. I figured it may be a bit easier for him (and maybe a little less stressful for me) to install it without having to lean over the fenders on a taller truck.
So anyway, this past weekend I ended up tying up some loose ends on the cab install. I hooked up the tranny linkage, the speedo cable, tie strapped up some loose wiring, buttoned up the windshield wiper mechanism, installed front shocks, etc....
The big thing I got done (which took me way longer than I thought it would) was to take all the guts out of my old doors and install it into my new door shells.
This consists of the door latch and lock mechanism, window and manual cranking assy, and wing vent assy.
It all takes time because I wanted to degrease, wirebrush and generally clean up everything, then relubricate  before putting it back in. I also had new felts and seals to put in.
Now for those of you that have done this before, I bow to you.
I had no idea of the best way to remove or reinstall the window or wing vent assy. so I dd an internet search. I found a YouTube video and it really did help, but mine wasn't quite as easy as they show.
The door lock and latch mechanism is really straight forward if you understand how those little locking clips work. If you've dealt with them before, you know exactly what I'm talking about.   
To remove the window glass (after you remove the wing vent), the video showed to roll the window all the way up, tip the glass outward and then you can slide the glass rearward off the rollers. It actually worked pretty good on the first door.
On door #2, this was not going to happen for some reason. It wouldn't roll up high enough. I ended up having to get the glass off the track down inside the door shell. Real pain!!
I told myself I was going to do something different when I went to reinstall it in the new door. Long story short, that did not happen and I ended up having to get the glass back on track back inside the new door shell. A real pain again, but I got it !!
Anyway, the doors now have operating windows and latches. It's great to shut the doors and have them latch tightly and all the body lines look straight and lined up. I hired this job out when I rebuilt the truck the last time so it was good to learn how to do it myself.

Sorry this is so lengthy. I think I just get excited about any little progress being made.

[thirsty]

So this runs, the majority of the loose ends are buttoned up, sounds like all the stuff that is a real pain to do is done, you just have to wait on the windshield before you install the fenders...You are getting real close to the end! That's exciting.

What's left? Just the hood, box, tail gate, and some assembly?

[firefighter]

Yes thirsty,
I feel like I'm somewhat working toward the home stretch.
After the windshield goes in, I'll be able to button up the whole front end. Fenders, inner fenders, hood, grille, bumper, etc....
I've been waiting for the windshield guy before I finished off the interior too I guess. I just have to put in the instrument cluster cover and dash pad, carpeting and seat.
Heck, I haven't even started on the box and tailgate yet. No rust on it but it will have to be sanded, primed and painted
Well, I guess I still do have a lot to do!!
That's Ok, it's winter. It gives me something to do and I'm enjoying myself.

[fitz]

Firefighter,
Always look forward to checking out your progress, this is a great build.
Seems like a friendly competition between you & Thirsty to see which truck gets done first.

[firefighter]

Thanks fitz. I appreciate you keeping up with me and my build.

As far as any competition with thirsty.... we compete to see who can answer each other questions the quickest. He's been a great source of information for me, and is an awesome guy.
Every build is different and I suppose everyone has their own timeline and speed.
I told myself I'd be done in two months and it's already been 7. Ha Ha !!   

More updates coming soon I hope !!

[firefighter]

Ok, had a few hours here and there over the last 3 or 4 days.
Wednesday night a few buddies came over and we put the rear slider window in.  We used the ole' rope trick, put a little soapy water on the seal, and it worked great. The one video I found on the internet is a good visual but in our application, I think you want to leave the ends of the rope on the top and then start from there. Since the window is tapered narrower on the top, my one buddy slid the window and seal up onto the top pinch weld and centered the window. He just kept upward / inward pressure on the window and I began pulling on the rope which pulled the lip of the seal into the cab side of the pinch weld. I'd just do a bit on the left side and then the same on the right, working my way slowly around until the last little bit popped in, then we were done. It took like 5 minutes.
Thursday evening I put a few coats of fresh black paint on my door panels, visors, arms rests and dash pad.
Friday evening I put the new fuel pump in and now have the fuel pump return line hooked up the way it was designed to be.
This morning the glass guy came over and installed my windshield. He only charged me $40 to professionally install it and I figured that was pretty reasonable so I didn't have to deal with it. I must say, he did have to fight with it a bit and had a few specialty tools that I did not have. For this task, I was happy to pay someone else to do it.
This afternoon was spent at a local gun show.   
For a few hours this evening I finished the inside of one door. I put some self adhesive sound deadening material on the inside of the outer door skin and then put the freshly painted door panel, arm rest in place along with the new door pull strap and window felt.
Every little bit brings me another step closer......

Rear window back in


Windshield is now back in. Yahoo !!!   


All the guts and sound deadening material are in, but needs to be finished


One down and one to go....

[87454westernhauler]

wow! that is rilly turning out nice!!

[bake74]

     Nice going, at this rate you should be able to fire her up soon.

[beastie_3]

I have those same door panels. Do the inserts come off? I dont remember what the backsides look like. Also, did you have sun rot on the top of your panels? What prep and paint did you do to paint them?

[firefighter]

I have those same door panels. Do the inserts come off? I dont remember what the backsides look like. Also, did you have sun rot on the top of your panels? What prep and paint did you do to paint them?

@bake74, Oh I've already got it running    That was the first thing I did after getting all the electrical back in the dash. It purrs like a kitten.

@beastie_3, The inserts do come off. From the back there is the special nuts that screw onto the plastic nipples that come off of the inserts. During the last rebuild I had quite a few of the plastic nipples break off so I just drilled small holes in the inserts and ran silver screws all the way through and then nutted them on the back. You can see the screw heads but I don't care on this project. No one has ever mentioned them.
I have minor sun rot on the rear corners. If I found some new ones, I'd most likely replace them, but I'm not that worried about it yet.
This time I just tried some SEM prep and spray paint from my local CarQuest. I'll see how it holds up. Last time I used some prep and spray from an automotive painting supplier. It was quite a bit more expensive but it did hold up good. I just had chips from the seat belt metal buckle and who knows what else over the last 15 years.

This truck will never win any show awards, nor am I building it that way. I had a show car for over 20 years and I got tired of babying it, and trying to keep people from leaning up against it.
I call this truck my 20 footer. From 20 feet away it looks awesome!!!   

My main goal was to have it rust free, reliable, and to do as much as I could myself (without hiring someone). Sooooooo.....
Rust Free.... check !
Reliable.... It sure will be, so check !
Have done all the work myself besides recently paying my windshield guy $40 bucks.

So far, so good.

[bake74]

This truck will never win any show awards, nor am I building it that way. I had a show car for over 20 years and I got tired of babying it, and trying to keep people from leaning up against it.

     Man do I know how you feel, you have to practically put a glass box around it to keep people from touching, leaning against, or even trying to get inside them.  I guess people just don't much respect anymore for other peoples stuff.  ( which I totally blame parents for not taking enough interest in the children's upbringing ).

[firefighter]

     Man do I know how you feel, you have to practically put a glass box around it to keep people from touching, leaning against, or even trying to get inside them.  I guess people just don't much respect anymore for other peoples stuff.  ( which I totally blame parents for not taking enough interest in the children's upbringing ).

I know so well what you mean.
One time I parked it locally and came back 10 minutes later to find two guys by my car having a casual conversation. One guy was leaning up against it wearing those jeans with the rivets on the pockets. Him and I shared a few words about respect. I won the discussion.
Once at a car show I came back to the car to witness some younger kid with his hands up on the window ledge with his feet trying to crawl up the side of the door so he could see in. His dad was just standing there watching.
Another conversation was had.
Heck, people with backpacks or something like that would walk by and plop it down on the truck lid while they tied their shoe or got something out of their pocket.
No respect or comprehension of the time and money someone spent on a project.
I'd had the car since 1986 and built every inch of it from the ground up. I just sold it a little over a year ago.
I just got tired of having to watch over the thing like a hawk when I had it out in public and it started being more in my way than anything. I didn't drive it much anymore and it just sat most of the time.
I guess my interests in life just changed directions over the years.
Man I did some great smoke shows and power shifts with that car. It was talked about by all the motorheads around here.
But now I have my truck, and I'm a happy guy.   

1963 Chevy II Nova


350 CI +.030, 7:1 base comp. supercharged & nitrous injected

[slammed79]

Truck is comin along great Firefighter! That Nova looks like a blast, probably for the best to sell her off though, with the truck you have something you don't have to worry about every five seconds. Good Call!

[bake74]

     Firefighter, that is so funny.  The 2 vehicles in my life that I always wanted to build (and never got around to) was a old Chevy k10 step side, which I am doing now.  The second one is a 64 Chevy nova II.  Such a small world. 
     Yea, if that was my car, I would be having "words" with those people too.  (not so much words as actions I guess)