Recent content by JimC2

I had to cut the 12ga reflector mounts with a dremel cutoff wheel. Steel was too tough for the saw blade.

Sounds more like something wrong with the steering box.

78°F here yesterday. 35° now. Snowing in nearby Memphis. Going to 22° tonight. I'm not gonna work on the truck today.

Saw blades are Hercules 48 tooth. Now about $30 each. Quality seems spotty. Some last pretty well; others not. I'll probably go through $180-$210 of them before completing the tailgate. They will not cut the 12ga I'm using to make the reflector standoffs. I'm having to do them with a dremel...

Cut 3×3 rectangular tube today to make 3×2.5 U- channel for top crossbrace. Started cutting standoffs for tailgate reflectors. Hope to be ready to do some assembly and welding Monday.

Darned if I know the brand. Whatever Harbor Freight had. Holding up better than I expected, but at $18 apiece if I use several, so be it. I've got about 37 feet of cut to make, and I've done 7 feet so far. Still on the first blade. I'm just using the led beam on the front of the saw to guide...

7 1/4" metal cutting blade on a circular saw. Same for making longitudinal cuts in the rectangular steel tubing I'm using to form the top, bottom, and side braces.

On one this rare, I don't feel that way about it.

The tailgate reflector standoffs were 12ga. Think anyone would notice if I made them out of 8ga? I don't have any 12ga - I've got 8ga running out my ears.

I cut the tailgate to size today (8ga instead of 10ga)

Sometimes serendipity happens. The 8 ga steel sheet that I'm using to make the tailgate is 4'x8' and weighs 230 pounds. I needed to move it 180 feet across a gravel parking lot to get it to a location where I could cut it to size. Nobody was at the site when I arrived, so I started moving it by...

More time on the hood and the dump bed side rails today. Making progress I think, maybe.

New windshield/hood holddown latches and hood bumpers arrived today. I painted the latches with 24087. Repaired two bends in the top left rail of the dump bed. Lower right rail is bent far worse where some idiot (not me) appears to have hooked a chain on it and attempted to drag the truck...

Notice the circular hole in the vertical tailgate brace. Anyone know what its purpose is?

Spent six hours on the hood today. Good progress; I think I'll have it ready to reinstall next weekend. Removed the steering wheel nut and took measurements to make a puller. From memory, I think the spring loaded latches that hold the windshield down on the hood are shorter than the ones that...