Spinnin' wheel got to go 'round! Russ, Did you pinstripe them on the truck or off? It seems like the hubs would be perfect to spin the wheel, but the paint would have to fight gravity to keep from running. I made a motorized turntable, but the difficulty was centering the wheel... That and my shaky hands! I even tried paint pens, but there is just too much wobble in my turntable. It has a gear motor, so I can control the speed. Maybe a Valium would help?.. Greg
So, here is the truck on the lift getting fit for a trans. Hopefully the last time I will see it on a lift. While it was up there, we RnR'd the trans, adjusted the clutch, and nut and bolted everything. I also pinstriped the wheels. First off, you should learn the basics of freehand pinstriping. Check some sites like www.pinheadlounge.com for some beginner tips. I tried many different ways to stripe them, but in the end, I held the brush in my right hand, braced off the hubcap, and spun the wheel clockwise slowly and (attempted) steadily with my right. Mark off with a Stabilo pencil (kinda like a water based china marker...available from sign supply companies) where the lines need to be on the rim. I used the end of a flexible drafting ruler and trnsferred the marks about every 15 degrees around the wheel. After palleting the brush, shown previously, I lined up my hand on the marks, steadied on the hubcap and bgan turning the wheel. You must turn slowly, the paint won't flow fast enough to spin it fast. After a thin line is laid down, go around again and fatten it up, the line should be about 3/16th of an inch, a pretty wide line. There are 2, with about 3/16"between them. Don't worry, the 1shot dried fairly slowly, so a mistake can be carefully wiped to correct it, or the whole thing can be wiped off and started over. Don't feel bad about this, I started over 3-5 times per wheel before I got something I was happy with. There is also a line around the inner rim, straddling the hole for the tire fill, but this truck has beauty rings that cover them.
I grabbed a shift box from a 48 at B.J's. The arms are a little different, but look and work much better. We dissasembled it and cleaned the 62 years of grease....who knew it could harden that much????, then re packed it and installed it. It has a very crisp shift gate to it, and made all the difference in the world. The trans. rebuild quietened it down and tightened it up considerably. I re-re-reinstalled a temp guage that I had adjusted, and it seems to be working. Tomorrow morning- Muffler shop! Then back to the hideout to finish touching up, leveling the bed, final checkout and windshield sealing, then it gets detailed and buffed. If anyone needs any additional pic.s of any assemblies or sectionsfor reference, let me know.
Here is the shift box.... After 3 muffler shops couldn't get to it today, Mienekie did it for me. Turned out very nice... Got the latch plates painted... I sealed up the windsheild myself, no glass companies wanted to call me back about it. It wasn't that bad, just very messy. Nice shot.... I leveled out the bed and finished touching up the interior and exterior. A friend is clay bar-ing it tonight, then buffing it tommorrow.
Wow!!! I could look at the pictures of your work all day Russ!!! Thanks for all the pics! Great amazing work
Time for that big ol' rubber stamp 'cause it is DONE! It goes in the trailer in the morning for a road trip! By the way, the paint we used is Spies Hecker, series 293, code 6294, ref#69907 Color: Moosgruen. Apparently it is a Mercedes truck color. It is just a shade lighter than the Juniper Green. I changed the oil, put another coat of tung oil on the bed, sealed the windshield again, Detailed the interior and engine bay, cleaned off all the tung residue from the bed sides. A friend clay bar-ed it last night, then buffed and waxed it today.......DAMN that thing is shiny. Too late for pictures, I'll take and post some in the AM. Man, I hate to see it go. 3 1/2 years in that thing. I'm not into restored cars that much, but this is one beautiful truck. I wish I could keep it around a little while to show it off. What a long strange trip it has been. Glad y'all were along for the ride. Edit: Here she is loaded up and ready to go!
Now wait just a DING DANG MINUTE! I've been hanging around here to see the page that will blow this one AWAY! How bout that GMC??? I can't wait to see what you do to that! Come on, Russ~ Ratrod, Ratrod, ratrod, Ratrod!!!
I delivered the truck yesterday afternoon. He was extatic. This was the first time he has seen the truck. He jumped in to take his wife to dinner, she had no idea he even had it! I have to make a few adjustments today, and am going to take some good shots. I'll post later.
Well, he showed up for dinner, parked the truck out front, went inside and told her he had a surprise....she said" Dammit, I was looking for one of those for you for our anniversary." She loved it. We tweaked on it a little, road tested it extensively and showed it off around the square in The Villages, the retirement center it will be living in. Everyone was stopping and asking questions and commenting on it. We took it out and did a photo shoot of it around the farm and the polo fields. Here are some teasers.... I got home today about 5:30. Sad to see it go, but glad for my garage back. For now.
Oh Yeah! Happy campers in Florida! Thanks for the awesome thread! Drum roll!... My next project is...
http://picasaweb.google.com/rpettycustommurals/JimS53# I just updated the photos to include ALL of them throughout the build. There are lots of photos of the work done before the paint and re assembly.
I just uploaded the photo shoot pic.s here: http://picasaweb.google.com/rpettycustommurals/53PhotoShoot#
Tits! Russ, my man~ That is SWEET! I have no doubt there is a happy man (and wife) in Florida because of the hard work and attention to detail you poured into that rig. Just think if it was a GMC... Now *PLEASE* get going on that GMC ratrod~ K?
I'm missing that truck. It really drove nice. Replicating a much earlier shot of the 2 together...Right before we left to load it up for the trip.
