Some interesting wheelwell work on a truck that is the opposite of yours.
http://www.lateral-g.net/forums/showpost.php4?p=537722&postcount=89
After it is all said and done, I think the wheelwells might be easier to do from scratch. In the attachment, they just raised them, changing the radius would be a lot harder to do starting from the stockers.
Yep.
Raising the arch is childsplay compared to reworking the entire arch to make it larger. I saw another thread on the 67-72 Board: the "No Limits Build" where they basically hand-built brand new arches for an early style (67-72) pickup..... NICE!
The "pizza slice" method I've used before will work again. Admittedly it's a lot of work, but what on this build isn't.....
Anyway... a few more photos and a touch more progress from last night:
Rear Links (as it turns out) were within about 1/2" of falling apart where the threads/heims screw together!
The solution was to give them a stretch and try to keep the strength and straightness of the final product.
That's my 3" extension piece (2" x .500" wall) and a 6" stub of 1" x .185" wall) to internally sleeve the parts together.
I ground a healthy bevel into all the parts before welding....
...then cranked the welder up to 24 volts (which turned out to be too hot), and ultimately settled back down around 22.5 volts where it seemed to prefer.
End Result:
Not the prettiest welds I've ever done, but they are plenty strong and I don't have any concerns about them holding the weight of the truck safely until the final parts arrive.
Here's the look under the truck (facing rearward) to show the new links installed. Center to center length is now 47".....
...... and from the "What Took Me So Long Finally Fix That" segment of our show:
Does anyone else ever get fed up with using that stupid little notched handle-end to relieve pressure cherry picker cylinder? I swear it's so clumsy and inaccurate that sometimes the whole thing drops violently by several inches if I don't crank the handle slowly enough.
A few months ago, I finally had enough and welded a thin triangular tab on that screw so that I didn't have to use the notched-rod anymore. It's long enough that I can move it by hand, and also long enough that I can be VERY accurate with the speed that I use to lower heavy items.
Works like a champ! Well worth the 10-minutes that it takes to build and weld on there..... it's one of those simple things that really makes working in the shop a lot more pleasant and enjoyable.
-G
