1948 Chev P/U Extended Cab Build

Hunter said:
boy have you been busy--looking really good:D
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Don't have a choice. There is only 4 1/2 months to go to get the truck together, the Airstream road worthy, house cleaned up and sold, sell 3/4 of our "stuff", pack up and head out for the new place.
 
Looking good Eugene.....mmmm....all that welding experience and I have nothing that need welding. Hopefully you stay with us on your way to New Mexico......OR.....we will just have to visit you 70 miles West of Roswell......right??:)
 
I've been busy cleaning up a lot of loose ends. Also, the metal work and body work on both doors is done and they are ready for primer. I pushed the truck outside in preparation for the final sandblasting of the door jambs, back of the cab and the bed sides as they are 16 gauge.







Let the blasting begin.





The race is on as I want to take it to a large show on August 7th and we hope to leave state the end of September.
 
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The cab, front fenders and hood are blasted and bodywork continues.

Meanwhile I finished the bodywork on the doors and got them in primer.





Once in primer I wanted to see how different they are from a stock one now.









Best guess, I have around 165 hours in each door at this point. I'm a little concerned that if someone runs into me, the insurance company will hand me a stock door and figure they are done.
 
To us guys we can see the work gone in there but as you say the insurance boys might be a bit different, that is looking really great and now you can see the profile etc, a good job done there Eugene.
 
I am doubting being able to make the Aug. 7th together date due to the amount of bodywork still to go and drying times between all the primer / paint coats. Even so, when I dug out my front pan, I remembered Chevy screwed up on the design and I can't stand it. I was going to leave it for now , but just couldn't do it.







No clue why they left the big flat spot on the end of the passenger side. Made a quick pattern of the driver's side, found some metal the right thickness, welded it on and voila. Honest, it was welded all the way around after the photo.



Lookin like it should have from the factory.

 
After a few hours work (about 35) since May 29th, I finished the bodywork on the bed.









I also finished the bodywork on the cab last Saturday morning (about 200 hours) since May 29th and took it into work for primer.















A good friend of mine helped with the cab when he could. When he first walked in and saw it, he said "Wow! Every square inch of this thing has to be worked."
 
It's been quite awhile, but things have been a little crazy since I last posted. I was working full time and then on the truck up to about 1-3 am every day until we left Alaska in October. (That also included packing, selling stuff, repairing the property to sell and finishing the Airstream enough to be roadworthy) After arriving in New Mexico, we started remodeling our new house and then found a 4,000 square foot building Nov. 7th that we remodeled in 5 weeks to open my wife's new quilting store. Prior to leaving AK, my camera died and we finally found the charger and were able to get the pic's downloaded, so here they are.

After blocking out the truck, I*sealed it with DP90 and then sealed all the edges.







Back into primer.



Smoothed the front cross member also.



Smoothed out the stake pockets and joints.



Sandblasted the running boards for primer. They look better than they are due to lots of cracks and about 6 layers of paint.



Sandblasted the hood and shot it with DP40. It doesn't show up well, but the both rear edges of it (right and left) were bent down.



I cut cork gasket material to help fill the gap between the inner support and outer sheet metal after I removed the remaining brittle bonding material that had been there. Then I "glued the cork in with windshield urethane and added an extra bead along both edges of the inner support.



I don't have any pic's, but that really tightened up the outer sheet metal. I then held a heel dolly on the inside of the back lip and beat the heck out of the metal using directional hammer strikes towards the back lip. This slowly straightened up the downward bends it had and kept the metal tight and from stretching and getting floppy again.

Then the whole hood was body worked, including the inside. I hate seeing a nicely finished vehicle and when you look at the inside of the hood, it looks like the surface of the moon.



After the final blocking, I moved the truck out to Brenden's shop. My buddy that I mentioned earlier that helped with the bodywork as I was quickly running out of time to get it in flat black and get out of Alaska before winter hit.











More to come.
 
Certainly moving along there, looks good. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product.
 
The plan when starting the truck was to build a rat rod and save some time and money on bodywork. That quickly changed to making the body smooth, but not super straight and shooting it flat black. Then drive it for awhile, work the bugs out, finish up the loose ends (make the trim around the windows fit, install power window mechanisms, install a hidden gas filler door, fully straighten out the body, etc.) Jackie always hated the flat black plan. One night at Brenden's he over heard her talking about the color she wanted to see it in. Once the truck was in black sealer again, he called and told me he would shoot it any color I wanted, mentioned how close to straight it really was and that he felt black wasn't the right one. He*said he kept envisioning it in the color he heard Jackie mention. I went out, looked at it and*agreed with him. I*then borrowed color books going back into the 60's from another friend, took them home, gave them to Jackie and said pick a color. I had already chosen a dark charcoal for the interior and firewall as I wanted the dash and firewall in finish paint prior to*assembly.









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On went the exterior finish color, 2015 GM Laser blue. Jackie was really stressed and said*she was worried she would not choose a color I would be happy with. I think it looks great.



Doors back on.







Turning blue.







Bed on. It looks like a long bed, but it's a stock length short bed. One person mentioned it looks like a land yacht now. With the back fenders and running boards on, it looks a lot more proportionate.













Just after taking these pic's it started to rain and I couldn't resist the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!

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Got the back fenders on and took it home to install the motor. Then back to Brenden's.

[URL=http://s1123.photobucket.com/user/JLHunter1969/media/Extended%20Pickup/Es%20Camera%20312_zpsvvr7nunn.jpg.html]



Many thanks to Brenden and Tom for all their help!! A truly great couple of guys.





Here is where my camera died. We got the front fenders and hood buffed and installed before the truck went into the trailer two days later to leave Alaska. I need to find the last couple pic's that are on Jackie's camera and then shove it out of the garage and get a few of it together here.
 
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.....this build is just too damn cool. It gives me a new appreciation for stretched cabins, wedge chops, and lots of little details, I love it!
 
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