If I were retired... I'd do just that! I'd happily drive that Perfectly Orchestrated and Shiny CHIEFS-mobile down there and watch my team beat the Texans!
You can have the place to yourself. SWMBO and I will be gone from Saturday morning until early Sunday evening.
Well you know I wouldn't come down if you weren't going to be there! We'd have to drive our leaky, old, GMC trucks over to Ken's and park in his driveway while they piddle on it.
"Get it running and then just drive it!" Well, I absolutely love driving my GMC. Took it for a late night cruise and enjoyed that too! Dash lights, nice bright headlight beams to follow... The one thing that I am having a real problem with is the "no bed" look. So I started working on a bedside last night. It will take a while, but this project needs to be finished.
you know Zig... While I am aware you are on a tight budget... You can buy a COMPLETE bed from Mar-K (made right here in the U S of A, less than 4 hours from where you are reading this in your kitchen) for right around $2,000. Complete as in all hardware, pine boards, a fancy GMC tailgate and all. When I look at Penny's bed (pieces still leaning up against the shed), I realize what a wise move it was to buy all new stuff.
Where's the challenge in that? One of the things I have loved about this journey is how much of my truck was done by me, with a lot of help or advice from you and a bunch others on here~ I just can't scrap almost usable bedsides. Evan gave me some tips on restoring the sides, and that is the direction I will go. I need to go down to Miami OK to get the used fenders, front bed panel, and GMC tailgate, if he has one, and then I plan on bringing them back to as close to "good as new" as I can. Bed wood? My cousin has some hedge wood that will do nicely, and my background has something to do with woodworking so I look forward to that challenge as well. (Plus, the color of the grain in the hedge is perfect for my color scheme...) New pieces would be so much quicker and smoother, but they wouldn't match the front of the truck. Plus, this way the race is still on between us. Who will have their complete truck rolling first?
the RACE! Zig, That's what I like to hear! I wasn't trying to push you ahead to finish first, just letting you know that US-made repops are available for the entire bed. If all you ended up buying new is a tailgate, so be it. And as far as the RACE... have you seen my latest pics? Penny still looks the same (besides all welding done). The sandblaster was down for "service", so a final touch-up before paint is still waiting. Not to mention it has been HOT here (95 degrees is way too hot to sandblast anyway). Even if you finish first, I'll still schedule a stop at your house on the "Victory Tour".
Zig I wish I could have found hedge for my bed. I know you will but shoot pic's. The bed may well out last the rest of the truck. Papy
Mike Maclura Pomifera is the proper name here in the Midwest we know it as hedge or Osage Orange. It has a very very yellow color when cut and mellows to a beautiful brown/yellow color when it seasons. If you are unlucky enough to have to cut one of these trees standing dead take some extra chainsaw chains and a file. I have seen sparks fly off the chain (no metal was cut just hedge). I try to keep some around for hammer handles and knife handles. The farmers cut these for fence posts. The corner post on my dads farm was half rotten when he was a boy... I'm 53 and it is still there about half rotten. Only problem with this wood it can't be milled green it warps badly and a lot of saw mills will not touch it after its dry due to carnage of blades. Papy
Thanks Papy! I have often heard of Osage Orange (but never referred to as "hedge"), mostly in archery, where it's wood is prized for bow-making. I was unaware of its rot-resistance. Some quick research informed me of its many uses, including "treenails" (as a timberframer, I would simply call them "pegs"), but I did not see it in use as a TRUCK BED WOOD. I guess somebody will need to revise the usage definition of "Osage Orange" to include it. Thanks for the education!
Tough as a Kansas Tree The other thing about these trees are they have softball sized "fruit" that is a yellow color. There is a sap like substance inside these that is like Elmer's glue. Late fall these start dropping and if you happen to be underneath one, look out. Where I grew up in Prairie Village, Kansas, I was sitting in my little red wagon eating a carrot when one of these whopped me on top of my noggin. My mom saw the whole thing from the kitchen window. This early incident might explain a few things... One of my cousins that lives in Cuba Kansas has been cutting his own lumber for many, many years. He told me a few years back he could hook me up with the boards needed. I also have a local buddy who does a little bit of everything, including running his own saw mill and has said the same. Believe me, I will post pictures whenever I make it to that point of installing it. So Mike, that's why I think our race to a completed truck might end up closer than imagined.
one question for ya Zig... Have you SEEN my truck? Either you work v e r y slow, or you are under the impression somebody has a blowtorch on my backside... But I can't tell you how much I enjoy the challenge nonetheless... Keep up the good work my friend!
Mike, your frame is primed!!! Come on!!! Now just get that puppy painted and put all he shiny, colorful stuff on it and you'll be rolling down the road soon! But, BTW, I am _that_ slow. It took me 10YEARS to get the front half and frame done, I'm guess the bed is worth at least two more years of my life no matter how much I'm not digging the bob tailed look. A lot of grinding, patching with panel bond, filling slightly, sanding/priming numerous times, painting, assembly, boards cut/grooved/sealed numerous times... Ah hell, maybe I'll just run it without a bed!
Well, I'm still not over that Denver game... What ?!?!???? But I am enjoying making memories with my truck~ Like last night. My wife happily agreed to go to Home Depot with me in the truck. I absolutely LOVE driving that GMC! The starting out in second has completely smoothed out, and now it's just drive it! (Keeping an eye on things of course.) Thanks again for all the advice along the way that got me to this point. It wouldn't be the smooth running/driving truck without it. By the way, the disc brake upgrade with Eaton springs? Absolutely perfect and totally worth the $$$. NO booster and this thing stops like any other vehicle I've ever driven. Bill? As it turns out, I can get my long leg up on top of the brake without any problems. (I thought this would be a problem, given I'm no short person with little legs, and that brake pedal, fully extended, sticks out quiet a ways from the floorboard.) It's all good.
I "LIKE" it! Post a picture then add a line. I always envied those who could post big pictures and all I had were thumbnails you had to click on to enlarge... NO MORE! AND! You can add faces in "edit" mode!
Well, my cousin doesn't mill wood anymore~ Bummer, but completely understandable, considering his age. I have found the ultimate compliment with these trucks has got to be when you come out of a store and see people taking photos of your truck. In my case, I assume they either like it, or they can't believe someone would paint Chiefs arrowheads on the side of their truck! I loved taking my truck for an actual "nighttime" drive last night! Headlights and dash lights! Love it! Oh, BTW, the money/time spent on installing a radio and speakers was probably the least bang for the buck as I just can't bring myself to drown out the sweet sound of that 228 as I'm rolling down the road.
