87 K5 Build...Hmmm, whats that Ryoken up to? stay tuned...

[ryoken]

I need some details on how you did those bedsides. Those are on my agenda, especially since I was given some new chrome wheel well inserts for the rears and well let's just say that the screws fell out with a lot of the fender lip.

It's all pretty straight forward... I undo all the bolts (varies depending on year), air hammer with a ripper bit and cut it all the way vertically a couple inches behind the b-pillar and in front of the back post. this allows 95% of the qrter to just fall off.. use the ripper bit and a chisel bit to final trim the front.. the back post is bolted to the tailpan, as well as fillet welded where the post meets the tailpan.. cut off wheel works well for that... mine where so rusted back there, I pretty much just ripped the post off...

the aftermarket qrters fit pretty good, nothing out of the ordinary. execpt the tailpan bolt holes didn't line up.. i suspect the tailpan was punched incorrectly.. no biggie, just drilled new ones...

grind all weld, air hammer boogers off, surrounding area, weldthru primer..

I also douche the posts everywhere except the area I'm welding to, with black paint...

prep qrter, drill leading edge for plugwelds, grind that area and lower rear post... scuff pad and paint all difficult interior parts.. fit qrter, tucking in top forward first...

body clamps are esential for this kinda stuff.. like these...

 

[ryoken]

Sadly I see the same future for myself. Keep at it, won't be long until we're all ooooing and awwwing!

I think the aftermarket qrters are running about 250 these days.. i picked up these from a swapmeet like 3 years ago for $175 each..

wont be much to ooo and ahhh at, just qrters.. But the more important part is, IT'LL BE ONE STEP CLOSER TO ALL COPPER!!!!!

Now the floor, that should be pretty cool, especially in the drivers area...

 

[lectric80]

Do you know what brand they are? I.e LMC, Year One? Just curious as to quality.

 

[ryoken]

aftermarket is aftermarket.. It's either GM or aftermarket... Whether LMC, Year One, etc...

 

[lectric80]

Well, keep us posted. I am looking forward to seeing the floor project. That is my winter project, although mine is going to be pretty much stock.

 

[Blue85]

I also douche the posts everywhere except the area I'm welding to...

Which gives better results?

 

[ryoken]

I'm using 1" x 1" x 1/8" angle iron to frame out the floor.. There are also 2 forward running pieces that run along the inside of the wheelwells... The floor will be plug-welded to the top of the angle iron, then seam sealed around the perimeter... With the frame welded togehter, the floor welded to that, and the angle iron bolted to the qrters and wells, I maintain my ability to replace wheelwells and qrters easily....

 

[NEK5]

Looks good Paul. Coming along quite well. How many days you got left?

 

[ryoken]

I'm gonna work on it thru next weekend.... Monday I'll start DDing it again... It'll take as much time as I can throw at it till then..

Need to finish cutting out that floor section, weld it in, prime, seam seal, paint everything except the outer skins (black Imron)... paint outers copper... maybe paint doors.. Run new wire harness up passenger rail, gas fill, tailights, bumper, etc...

Gotta be somewhat cool with noise, so I only have a few hrs a day for during the week... Hopefully all the black Imron'll be done by friday, and I'll be shooting copper sat... assembly, wiring and such on sunday...

 

[supersize75k5]

vary nice progress!


I like your approach to the rear floor, when I did the floors and bed sides on my 1st k5 I should have done similar..well it all ended up with the before it ever could have rusted again anyways so no worries


the one cool thing I always remember was on a restored 73, the guy put side tanks on it and make his spare in the floor where the gas tank had been..real slick but wont work for anything above a stock tire I would think.

what color are you repainting?

 

[ryoken]

vary nice progress!


I like your approach to the rear floor, when I did the floors and bed sides on my 1st k5 I should have done similar..well it all ended up with the before it ever could have rusted again anyways so no worries


the one cool thing I always remember was on a restored 73, the guy put side tanks on it and make his spare in the floor where the gas tank had been..real slick but wont work for anything above a stock tire I would think.

what color are you repainting?

Thanks Shawn

Yeah, the 1" x 1" is working well.. Should work well with all the joints seam-sealed...

The front section of the cargo area will be done with the same construction... gonna move that leading edge of the cargo area forward 8"s, angle iron for that 90, than down to the floor, another 90, then up to the peddles...

Doing the sliders and all cab supports with 2" x 4".. funny, those cab support areas measure exactly 2"... Should trim a couple inches off the rockers and make it all pretty tough.. Not a boatside, but for a Joysey DDer should work well...

Gonna frame out and build a new removable tranny tunnel too... It's gonna come off the cargo area level... Gonna go for a stealthy f-117 look to it...

All sheetmetal is going the copper.. Gonna black Imron all interior/ floor/underside stuff.. Then when the whole floor is done, Herc everything up to the undersides of the bedrails...

Hopefully with the black softtop, black tube bumpers, black expanded steel grill, the sliders, and all black tires, it'll break up the copper well...

 

[supersize75k5]

Thanks Shawn

Yeah, the 1" x 1" is working well.. Should work well with all the joints seam-sealed...

The front section of the cargo area will be done with the same construction... gonna move that leading edge of the cargo area forward 8"s, angle iron for that 90, than down to the floor, another 90, then up to the peddles...

Doing the sliders and all cab supports with 2" x 4".. funny, those cab support areas measure exactly 2"... Should trim a couple inches off the rockers and make it all pretty tough.. Not a boatside, but for a Joysey DDer should work well...

Gonna frame out and build a new tranny tunnel too... It's gonna come off the cargo area level... Gonna go for a stealthy f-117 look to it...

All sheetmetal is going the copper.. Gonna black Imron all interior/ floor/underside stuff.. Then when the whole floor is done, Herc everything up to the undersides of the bedrails...

Hopefully with the black softtop, black tube bumpers, black expanded steel grill, the sliders, and all black tires, it'll break up the copper well...

i think there is a pic of my tranny cover in my buggy build, I went stealthy too, its easy to make them 1000000x sexier than stock. I used 1/2 inch flat stock for the base to seal or bolt to the floor, then welded the cover to it.

 

[fireplug]

Looking great! Good progress. If you're going to Herc why bother with the black at all? Do you mean you are going to lose the passenger foot well? Any reason if yes?

 

[fireplug]

...the one cool thing I always remember was on a restored 73, the guy put side tanks on it and make his spare in the floor where the gas tank had been..real slick but wont work for anything above a stock tire I would think.

That would make a brilliant lockable storage area though! Hmmmmm

 

[ryoken]

Cool, I'll go look at that... Thanks...

Sad thing is, now that I've got the back coming together, I REALLY want to get to the cab stuff... I have the steel, it's just finding time...

I think the main reason is I'm sick of driving in those busted up stock seats!! Can't wait to get some nice seats...

 

[ryoken]

Looking great! Good progress. If you're going to Herc why bother with the black at all? Do you mean you are going to lose the passenger foot well? Any reason if yes?

Rust prevention... It is a better way to go about it... Doing it once, want it to be a non-issue for a longtime...

And yeah, I'm ditching that back seat footwell.. The cargo area will now come down about 6" behind the seats, not 15"... It's all part of the final plan, the cage..

Also gives me that extra cargo area for sleeping, hauling, etc... Will free up a bunch of space under the truck, including getting rid of those stupid vertical channel pieces that rot on EVERY K5....

 

[ryoken]

Also forgot to mention, I'll be driving it around for awhile before Herc, so I really want everything sealed up well...

 

[fireplug]

Rust prevention... It is a better way to go about it... Doing it once, want it to be a non-issue for a longtime...

Yeah I guess. You'll just have to wait for a good cure before applying it. I've applied bedliner directly to steel with great results though. Oooops you beat me!

Will free up a bunch of space under the truck, including getting rid of those stupid vertical channel pieces that rot on EVERY K5....

How exactly will it do that? I've got a '76 with the full bed (no footwells) and I've still got those vertical pieces. Which somehow, despite all the rot in the bed have remained unscathed . I'll have to crawl underneath to invision that.

 

[ryoken]

Yeah I guess. You'll just have to wait for a good cure before applying it. I've applied bedliner directly to steel with great results though. Oooops you beat me!


How exactly will it do that? I've got a '76 with the full bed (no footwells) and I've still got those vertical pieces. Which somehow, despite all the rot in the bed have remained unscathed . I'll have to crawl underneath to invision that.

like I said, it'll be a bit till I herc.. I'll wait till the front is done...

As for the floor... I don't know what a 76 looks like, but it really doesn't matter what that has.. This is full custom.. I'm changing the configuration of the cab supports...

Just look at it like this, I'll be gaining the 8"s forward, the 6" or so to the floor, the full width of the truck, on the underside of the truck, while losing it in the cab...

 

[supersize75k5]

look into the 95-98 seats, the driver is power and they have flat mounting...I have picked up 3 sets over the last few years for under 250.00

then there is the 00-03 seats, they have the seat belt intergrated..from what I found out some of the full power seats from after those years have a seperate computer to control them that adds issues to the swap.