Thread: Shop Truck (True Spirit) Project

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Mike truck is rolling along . That coating is great protection if that truck ever got parked again it will take along time to go away . In 50 yrs it will be here for some one else if there is any gas left .

With the bed back I could get the new tailgate fitted prior doing the final prep work before paint. I hate what chains (even when covered with a sleeve) do to tail gate paint. I’m also planning putting a bed cover on and want the gate to be locked from the inside. The first thing was cut off the loops for the chain. I left the majority of the bracket as this is where I drilled the hole for the cable attachment, and one of the holes for the inside latches. I like the extra metal there to spread the load on the sheetmetal.

I decided to go with cables on the inside of the box. Rather than just drilling thru the stake pocket I built a reinforcing brace to go on the inside. I tacked a self locking nut for the stud for the cable and then 4 more to secure it to the stake pocket. The washer was tacked on to fill the gap as where the cable attaches is in a recessed portion of the box.

The inside latches took a little time but are pretty straight forward. The pin also goes thru the reinforcing bar I put in.

So this is what it looks like open.

And closed. The latches and reinforcement may be a little overkill but I tend to do that sometimes.

Besides taking parts to Tucson to be chromed Friday, I also got around to the pie tin. The only color you can get the 440 Four Barrel lids in is orange. The more I looked at the orange tin on the blue engine, the less I liked it. A bit of time with masking film and an Exato knife and it is now a Blue lid.

Looks real nice Mike!!! The cables look about 200% better then the old nasty looking chains!!!! I don't suppose the purists will like the blue lid, but hey, they'll either get over it or die mad!!!!!! Can't see where the orange would have fit in with anything else on the truck.....

".....I don't suppose the purists will like the blue lid, but hey, they'll either get over it or die mad!!!!!!....."

I don't suppose the purists will like much about what I'm doing with the truck (short of saving it from the crusher). As I mentioned early in the thread I actually thought about a full blown restoration.......just couldn't bring myself to build a truck that I couldn't use as a truck/toy.

It will still be a super low production truck just one that's a lot more fun.

My experience with most of these purists who come around after the fact to criticize all the departures from stock on my stuff is that very few of them have done much themselves nor are they willing to spend the money to build a project.... But man, they can sure talk a good restoration!!!!!!

Guess thats why we're on a Hot Rod forum .

Most of the restorers would pass on a lot of the stuff that we start with as being too rough anyway.

I often find it amusing when you when you talk to or read what a lot of the wanna be purists say and write. You know the type, the ones who believe that they "are just the current custodians of the car".

A LOT of times their cars not as virgin as they would have you believe. They have been changed to dual exhasut (often times stainless) from a 2 to a 4 BBl (date coded of course) a little hotter cam, hardened valve seats, front disc brakes (the small ones so they can run the original wheels and hub caps) and on and on. Of course on their cars these are "upgrades" not modifications.

One of the forums I'm a regular on had a new member join right after Tulsa last year. From the pictures posted of the event he was picking apart any car he saw that was not stock ......on and on about what a shame it was and how horrible the people were who could do such a thing (he had a field day on my 57 and when into shock when I posted the shorty Plymouth that started life as a 4 door with the Hemi and 4 speed).

Well turns out he dosen't own a car (especially the one he was using as an avatar). He is currently in the process of saving the money to pay for a 55 Chrysler 4 door builder (yeah that's high on every bodys want list). Of course he doesn't have the ability to do the work himself so that will be farmed out (to the lowest bidder of course). He's planning on adding aftermarket AC, Aluminum radiator, elecronic iginition, disc brakes, alternator etc etc......you know "upgrades"

Well I guess I don't know that guy Mike, but I sure do know a bunch of guys just like him!!!! Guy here locally is so proud of his "correct Camaro", stopped by one day to put the bad mouth on the revisions I've made to mine....Then took me out to show me his, with the new polished aluminum heads, intake, and air cleaner, but assured me the stock parts were on the shelf in his garage so he could put it all back to stock!!!!!! Maybe if you keep the stock stuff it's ok???????

Guys, I think that is a combination of ignorance, envy, and jealousy and a little bit of stupid thrown in for good measure.
While I might not agree with color, wheel, engine choice, etc., I would never bad mouth someone's build. It's his or her baby and they should be rightly proud of what they have accomplished whether they built it or had it built. Sure, I, like many others would love to have an all steel car, but most of the time it's just not feasible or affordable.
What I really enjoy is looking for and finding all of the little things in the build that made the car more functional and better engineered.

We have paint.

I got the bed parts painted this morning. I picked up a new gun a while ago and was really happy with the way it laid the paint on.

I could let the paint go the way it is but I’ll probably buff it out after it has set up a little bit.

I’ll likely assemble the bed this week and move it into the back shed so I can get started getting the front sheetmetal ready for paint.

Looks great Mike!!! Good to see someone is getting something done this weekend.

I like the exposed bolts vs. the ones that are burried in the tailgate! Mine currently has seat belt clips somebody welded on the bed to keep the tail gate up. It doesn't look pretty, but I have to admit, it works!
I also like the cables to support the gate instead of chains, Nice job! Rain or shine you've motivated me again, even with my Chief Finanial Officer(wife) cutting me off from funding too much right now!

Thanks Dave.


I thought about building them into the top channel on the tailgate, but that would have put them trying to go thru a pinch weld and half the bolt would have been outside the bed.

I've seen the seat belt buckle trick in the past but I just don't trust them in case a heavy load shifts and hits the tailgate. Done right they can be made to look pretty good.

That is a really beautiful paint job Mike. That truck is going to look fantastic. Love the ideas that you came up with for the tailgate. very creative and appealing.

Thanks Barb. All that white is screaming at me to get it all painted and put together so I can get the red pin stripes on it to break it up a little.