Bill,
This project started out as a simple camping rig, hunting rig, snow rig, get out of the house and into the beautiful California back yard. I bought the '69 from a nice guy on Ebay that lived up in Weed. I don't know if I was over excited or just naive about the condition of the rig when I first seen it. At that time I really thought that I had a nice rig with very little rust, after all, the paint was shiny.
As you know, once anybody tears into one of these rigs you tend to find a little more work than you had first anticipated. I took on a new hobby at that time about reading a ton about body work, along with all the rest of the "Might as Wells".
Once it came time to start the body work, there is only one way to do stuff in my book. That is to the best of my ability. Some times it works, some times not, but I know, I tried to do the best.
I have always worked with my hands as a carpenter and such. I have always took way too long on projects, but I always knew, at the end, I was happy in what I built. It's about the only true thing that I have going for me over others. There are a ton of things that I can do alright, but when it comes time to use my hands, and build it the way I want, generally things come out pretty nice.
Over the last 5-6 years, I haven't been able to use my hands as much due to starting my company. In the beginning, I carried my tools around in the truck trying to do work that I wouldn't need my guys on. It took me a good year to find out that you can do a lot of stuff ok, but you can only do one thing really good. I stopped carrying my tools and became a really good insurance estimator. Our company has grown by leaps since I made this decision. This new job required a pen, paper, tape measure, ladder, flashlight, cell phone, computer and my past experiences in the building field. With that, I don't think that I've had my bags on in a couple of years. I missed this, as it is a large part in who I am.
This build, as dumb as it may sound, is as much about getting to the back yard as it is spending time in the garage using my hands again. It may take a lot longer for me to complete this build compared to many that do this type of thing everyday, because I'm learning a new and different way to build things. I had never welded, cut patch panels, hung doors, used any kind of body filler, bent tube, ordered parts from summit, pretty much anything that you see here, I have never done before. But, I am learning, with a ton of help from you guys and I'm able to use my hands again.
As for the build direction, I have a picture in my head that I would like to achieve. The fenders that I cut, I put a ton of love into those things and I don't think that they came out bad.
The last thing that I wanted to do, was get everything done, have too big a tire and crunch up all of my work. The best way I seen this was to section it out, but try to keep the same lines as these first gens have. I think that I succeeded in at least gaining a couple of inches with keeping the style lines.
The cage is for my family, friends and passengers. I really don't want too, but If I end up flipping this thing over and killed someone knowing that I possible could have prevented it. I would probably set the thing on fire where it flipped and walk out of the woods.
I know that there may be some dings, scratches, dents, but I'm fine with that. Once that happens, I'll know, at one time I had (hopefully) built a beautiful, capable 1st gen, that I'm proud of. Plus, by that time, I will hopefully have all of these new skills to rebuild it, on my own, if need be.
Sorry, I didn't intend to have a long story, but I feel that It needed to be explained the way that I see it, off of your questions.
