Now it was time to add some new looks to the fresh painted hood. The Stainless steel center strip and new front molding were not that bad of a project except that the holes on the new front molding were not a perfect match and I had to make some of the holes bigger. The center strip was a bit of a pain to bend it to the correct shape as the original to make for an easier install.
I was a bit confused on how to rebuild the upper shift column, so with some research on this forum, I was able to find some more detailed pictures. I didn't realize that there are two pins that hold on the shifter and simply need to be depressed which in turn removes the arm. After the arm was removed, then I was able to install the new spring that helps the arm return back to its normal position after shifting. However, during install of the upper shift bracket, it didn't have the right mounting holes and I had to modify the bracket by drilling out the two holes bigger just in order to be able to screw down the bracket. Hopefully this reproduction mold will be fixed soon it really sucks to have to modify a brand new piece to make it work.
Once again with the help of this forum, most specifically Ol Chebby. The recommendation of applying the fender welting was an awesome idea and worked great.
A real bonus about doing it yourself (and you did it WELL) is that if in Podunk and something goes south you don't have to guess what it is---you know.
Wow!!! I am impressed with what you are doing! I love the effort that you went through to bring that old seat back to life! You will have a truck to be very proud of, for sure!
Move over Flava Flave and Nelly this is what a real grille looks like. We really enjoyed the look this bumper guard gave the truck so I had it rechromed and it sure makes the front look great.
When I was putting doors together, I wanted a way to secure the felt kit to the interior glass moldings like they were from the factory. And not having the option of companies selling the staples that they originally used. So I got the new felt and molded it to the interior frame. With a small drill bit that fits into original holes the old staples came out of, I lined up the felt where it was meant to be and drilled new holes into the felt. Next, I used some 18 gauge bailing wire and made makeshift staples and placed them into the holes through the felt and used needle nose pliers to grab the wire sticking through the frame and turned/pulled the staple tight so it was below the level of the felt so there was no way to damage the glass when the window was rolled up/down. And if I can remember right, the final result almost resembled the way it looked when I removed the old ones. Hope this helps
now putting the front clip on was not as easy as it was to remove. I followed the suggestions of Ol' Chebby and attached the fender wells to the fender prior to installing and it worked great for us. Now the grille was very frustrating due to the fact that it seemed to be a simple install with on 3 bolts on each side and a few on top and bottom. Who know how they did these at the factory when first make but I'm sure it was not the way I did it. But after all said and done it was very rewarding to see it in place.
once again I got ahead of my self and forgot to take pictures before I restored the heater. I disassembled the entire unit and sandblasted everything then premiered it. Next I was able to get some paint from the paint shop that matches the dark paint on the truck and was able to Base Coat/Clear coat the heater to make a perfect match inside the truck.
