Hands down the best looking flatbed i've seen yet on a 1gen

 

Thanks buddy! I am really happy with how it's turning out.

 

Are you sure when you put some weight on the bed and go over bumps the fenders on the bed arn't gonna contact the tires ? Just thought of it looks kinda close

 

There is about 3.5"-4" between the tire and the top of the fender. The truck has 1 ton springs with helpers on it, so I don't think it will meet. The heaviest I plan to load the truck is having a car in/on a trailer on the back of it, I would say 5k lbs max, so I don't see it squatting too much. But who knows, I have been wrong before and I am sure it will happen again!

Today I have been working on the side skirts for the bed some more. Making real good progress, hoping to lay a thin coat of bondo by the end of the night.

Since I got them formed the other day, it was time to weld all of the corners and the radius together.

First I tacked them together so that it would not warp as easily. I found through this that tacking on the very inside ended up being better so that when I was working the weld down the cut, it wouldn't be as prone to blowing out (still did in a few places):
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From there I finished up the welds. These were tricky since I was using 22ga steel, by far the thinnest steel I have welded:
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After that I ground the welds and cut the pieces to size. After this is done I will throw it back on the forms and hammer them a little more to make sure they are flat and in the right shape.
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After the parts are thrown back on the forms and hammered back out, I will weld on the bracing and mounting points. After that, I will work on creating the step for the front parts and then bondo up the pieces. I have a long afternoon ahead of me, but it'll be fun!

 

This is how I left the project for the weekend, won't be back to the shop til Tuesday, when I will be rewiring the back end of the truck and installing the lights to make the trip to the paint shop.

I applied some bondo (looks thick in the pictures) to the rear side skirts, welded the mounting bracket to the back, too:
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Will be working on the front skirts and on the sanding next week as well.

And, the ricer side of me came out and I bought projector headlights. Dad dropped one that I had in the truck and it shattered so I needed to buy new ones. Not expecting them to be mind blowing, but I thought they kinda looked nice and they have a black housing, which I prefer:
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Really planning to have the truck at the paint shop by next Thursday. Hope this time I can actually meet the deadline. Figure a week at the paint shop, then it will have to go back to the original shop for some touch ups on the cab; they had some adherence issues so the paint is peeling in the rocker and by the drip rails. From there, we have to do a brake job, U-joints, ball joints, install the halfshaft, pull the hubs and paint them, rebuild or replace the PS pump, and possibly it will be on the road! Such a long road yet, but it's coming down to the final stretch!

 

I like the first gen trucks i have 3 of them all 12 valvae auto 4x4 s i want to build a daullly out of them hopefully in the summer if time permit love the pictures keep up the progress it motivates me

 

Thanks man. Sometimes I wonder what I got myself into but I do love these trucks. This has drained me financially and emotionally, but I think it was all worth it.

 

It just takes time... but constant effort as well! I completely redid my 2nd gen inside and out and it's worth every bit you put into it. I gotta ask what roof console cluster you sourced for your headliner? I'm about to do mine and I would prefer to have the one like yours.. my stock unit is cracking from age of course. Nice build.

 

Thanks man. That overhead console is from a durango. I painted it black, of course.

 

So... this is what 600 feet of wire looks like... I was expecting much more, haha.

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Will be rewiring the rear end of the truck with the intention of driving it to the paint shop on Thursday. We'll see how this goes.

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Welp, turns out all of the wiring on the back of the truck was just fine. Tested all of the wire and it was fine. Not sure what the issue was but I am relieved to know there are no issues. I will be soldering the brake/taillights in tomorrow morning and should have the truck to the body shop tomorrow afternoon

Hood's held down with a ratchet strap at the moment, it has a broken head light, and is ALMOST legal to be on the road

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Well, got the tail lights installed and got her on the maiden voyage. This is a pretty bittersweet time for me. The truck drives surprisingly well. The turbo worked, but didn't work as intended (which was expected), but she scoots for only making a max of 25 lbs. Still alot of pump tuning and VGT work to be done.

Got it down to the paint shop and the owner said he will have it done before the next time I come down (which is in 10 days). From there, still a long road, but getting more into the mechanical realm, which I am excited for.

Here are a few pics from the day...

Warming up before the maiden voyage:
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And I really do enjoy this view, I love how the truck drives!
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