Thread: Project $ 3 K Is Underway

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What are Batman seats?? Yeah, we hid our money so well we can't find it any more.


Speaking of seats, yesterday I finished webbing the seat bottoms to my T and took them to the upholstery shop. I used a yellow tow strap and cut it up and stapled it over the cutouts, interweaving it like a basket. The upholsterer has made some progress on my interior and has the foam all cut and in place. The vinyl is supposed to show up today he says, and said by Friday or Saturday it should all be done. I got to sit in it to check the comfort of the foam, and it is fine.

Don

Nice. What color vinyl did you go for? I know you were thinking old baseball glove leather. Clever idea for the use of tow straps, they'll never break!
Dan's seats look very modern with sort of the bat mobile front cut out shape where your legs go.

Originally Posted by stovens

Nice. What color vinyl did you go for? I know you were thinking old baseball glove leather. Clever idea for the use of tow straps, they'll never break!
Dan's seats look very modern with sort of the bat mobile front cut out shape where your legs go.

Oh yeah, he has bomber seats in it........I see what you mean.

The closest I could find to the baseball glove thing was a color called "saddle." The upholsterer gave me several sample books that I took to the shop and Dan and I picked that one because it seemed to go well with the Fusion Orange suspension and engine color. There were a few that fit that need, but it seemed to be the closest. He also found matching carpet.

He made one change in my interior that at first I didn't think I would like, but after thinking about it have to agree it will be better. I originally planned on him just gluing carpet to the inside firewall and leaving my underdash roll bar exposed, kinda like bare bones of the car. Instead, he is making a starboard upholstery board panel that covers all of it and is going to notch it so my gas pedal comes out through it. Then he will carpet it all. I have to agree it will be cleaner looking that way.

I'm anxious to see the interior done.

Don

We're all anxious to see it done. You guys having been moving very fast with your deadline ahead, it seems great motivation.
I'm stalled on the truck. I have been working on sanding the rust off the body, but the whole process is slow. I also can't decide where to start or what to do next. My gut instinct says, get it running, braking and street legal, drive it an figure out if the engine and tranny are good , then take the bed off, clean as much of the frame as I can get too and can see, then, do the paint, or interior. With all the above choices and the need to save towards the bigger money items, primmering and sanding seems the way to go for now. I'm putting off the brakes from fear of fabrication/new brake lines, and rerouting some zirk fittins, for the front disc conversion, requiring drilling and tapping(probably not as bad as I imagine). So I guess it is refreshing seeing you guys jump in without hessitation, and all the progress you make so quickly. For my project, I'd like the body to look good when done, but I'm not looking to enter it in shows, so I'm hessitant to do a frame off number. However, if a few extra hours are involved to do the right thing, I'm inclined to go that route. My biggest limitation, is no welder or welding experience, and lack of covered space to take the whole body off.
Any suggestions would be welcome.

Tough call on the right way for you to proceed. I guess the thing you need to answer is do you need to drive the truck now, or can you wait until it is gone through more thoroughly and more finished?

The older I get the more I am a fan of doing it all up front and making it right the first time. When I was younger I usually didn't have the luxury of having a car sitting around for months or years because I had to get it fixed over the weekend to be able to get to work on Monday with the same car.

If you can wait, I think it would be in your long term best interest to at least get it torn down to the point where you can clean up the frame and running gear, replace worn parts, and maybe leave the cosmetics for later on. As for welding, you could do what I always did. I bought a Lincoln 220 volt arc welder and spot welded stuff then had someone who knew how to really weld finish it up. You can pick these up all day long for $ 100 up used, and once you own one you will be surprised how often you use it.

Building or rebuilding a car is always full of confusion and indecision regarding the right way to proceed, but the best method seems to be to decide what you ultimately want the car to end up being. If a cleaned up but not necessarily show quality car is what you desire, just wirebrushing the frame and suspension and brushing or spraying on some rustoleum gives you a nice clean slate to start with. Then you can attack the front and rear suspension, brakes, steering, etc and change out worn parts and clean up good old parts. Same goes for the engine and transmission.

It is no fun driving a car that you are constantly worrying about, so some extra time and money up front will let you do what these things are meant to do.............enjoy driving them.

Sounds like you are thinking the right way though, keep us posted on what you decide and what you are doing on it.

Don

Thanks. I decided to dive into the brakes and deal with the devil I know. I tried to bleed the old master cylinder which was bone dry, that was a waste of 1 hour. So I jacked it up , took off the passenger front wheel, brake drum and bearings to the spindle. I couldn't get the old flex line off, so I cut it, since my conversion kits to disc front brakes comes with new lines. Then I went inside to go on line to classic performance products, only to find the internet down!
Anyway keeping to your advice I'd rather do it right the first time, I don't need to use the truck, so time is my friend. As I get older, the patience and payoff lesson is easier to listen to. But thanks for the thoughts, and your hard work, you shamed me to dive in, and I'll start a new post called Project Special K, to detail my bumbles ahead. I'm actually relieved to get going on this. I was also relieved to find out I didn't need to relocate my zerk fitting in the king pin. Steve