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My son's build. '72 Chevy

He said it seems good, but it took a whole can for the radiator, he has a 2nd for the condenser. He had mostly brass showing on the tanks before paint, that's how much he had scrubbed on them.

Pricey paint though..
 
So I finally have an update!!
It doesn't look like much, but it has taken a fair bit to get here.
He didn't get much done this summer. I feel that it was due to working for an orchard , which requires a fair amount in the summer , then helping me with stuff due to my knee problem and I believe that he felt overwhelmed .
We made a mistake starting back together with the floor , which caused a small set back with time and money , but somewhere along the way he flipped the switch in his head.... he is making some progress while staying on top of his college work. He had ignored the truck more than necessary. But great attitude now!

We had to take the back panel of the cab loose from the floor in order to install the rear crossmember under the floor. but
But after a few tests , it is tacked in place!

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I have been trying to get a steering box brace made for him. The ORD one isn't quite perfect for his frame due to the lack of the factory reinforcement not being there.
He also has been working on his fan shroud which has a fairly coarse finish on it , so he wanted to help it out. He fixed a small crack in the lower section too. It's finally close to paint !

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I don't know if I have told you guys this , but I have been feeling a fair amount of pressure with this truck since it was my Dad's . That, combined with hoping to keep my son from losing interest in it has made for some rough spots . ..
So today and last weekend's progress brought a tear of joy from me!
And, a "HELL YEAH!!"
 
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I believe that I am done with the main part of the steering box brace.... FINALLY!
Now for some finish work. I know that my welding isn't great, but I know it will be good. This one clears his brake lines and works with his front crossmember .

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It has a 400 SB. My Dad and I took it out of an Impala years ago in Wyoming, back when the truck was still a C10. That was when the original 350 had 270K on it. The 400 had 72K on it then. I would guess it has about 100K now. It still ran pretty good after my son and I fixed the vacuum leaks that Dad couldn't hear. I told my son (John) that he shouldn't worry about a rebuild on it now since Dad had done a timing set and oil pump before he installed it. And I figured that he had enough to spend money on with just the rust and all. a
At that time, I didn't know how far he was going to take this build ! !!:hack::haha:
 
So there was some progress today,
After buying himself an '03 D-max, I was figuring that this truck would get even LESS attention....
Well he did get some more welding done today, and we got the steering box mounted for the first time! I needed to get the last piece tacked up for the brace pieces. I have given him some crap about not having the box painted on his color before now.
If you zoom in, you can see the main brace bolted in.
I didn't take a picture of the progress on the cab, I will remember to.... it is getting less flimsy!!

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bent72 said:
Hurry up!
Click to expand...
NO KIDDING!!
I don't know how things are going to pan out here, as he already has plans to buy a FASS lift pump and a pump rub kit for the '03. I got his alternator built last week, so he owes me for that.
I am having thoughts that I am going to make some time to go weld on his cab a couple of nights a week. I hope that would light his fire a little. ...
 
I didn't think to post a couple of pics of other progress. The set-up and welding on the cab is a lot of work, but there is some progress! There is a lot that will get done when we can safely set the cab back down. The back wall is completely loose from the floor still.
And the fan shroud is done, just needs the inside cleaned of the dust from sanding.

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So I got the last part of the steering box brace done this week , and I got some welding done on the cab today. My son, his name is John by the way, worked everyday after college, and is at work today. Lots to do in an orchard, especially with the warm weather!!
So I decided to go work on the cab.
I got the floor at the back done enough to go ahead and reattach the back cab wall to it. I tacked a couple of places and stopped, because I thought maybe John would want to be involved in this. I spent some time thinking and measuring to decide if it was right. Then I stopped.
I wanted to keep going.
My wife came home and talked with me, and encouraged me to do more, so I did.
And it is sitting upright for the first time in months!!!
I then worked on some of the spot welds that need put back into the floor at the rear. But now it's a LOT easier!!

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So he has gotten some work done in the last 2 weekends, I helped some , but I am having a hard time staying out of the lead. However, we have had to do some thinking about how to do all if this properly.
The rear floor panels by the cab corners are mostly done, just need to do more from the bottom side. The right inner rocker panel is now in for good, and about 70% done. He started to fit the footwell piece and discovered that the bends don't match , as this still has the original front cab supports, so we know that we haven't messed up the alignment there with the factory footwell. Now we aren't sure if it is worth it to order a different panel, or cut up what he has.
I haven't made time to work on it on my own for him, but he has done well lately without me doing so.
I have to remember to borrow a clamp from work so he can finish the rest of the inner rocker. It doesn't fit as nice to the original stuff, and needs some more persuading.....

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Well another long overdue update.
Both inner rocker panels are in, as well as both footwell pieces. And the driver side floorpan got repaired with a panel that he cut out himself.
Now we are working on the door post pieces that go behind the outer rocker. The rear parts fit horrible, so we have cut them up, and re-did some bends. Also did some blend work since it will be hidden.
The braces are still bolted inside, so more finish work will happen later, when they are out of the way.

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Looking good. Going through the same thing with my son. Gave him my dad's 69 K20 for his high school graduation. He's been working on it here and there. He has decided to pull the 4 speed and go with a 700 r4/208 combo. I wanted him to keep it stock. Still talks about a diesel conversion.
 
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