The Truck of Doom: An Occasional Build Thread

[Gary Lewis]

Mama is not pissed her car is out side and she gets wet running to it?

I waited until she'd done her grocery run for the day before taking over the garage. I'll probably catch some heat tomorrow, though, unless it stops raining before we leave for church.

But only a little heat - she's a tolerant and understanding gal. She has friends whose husbands drink too much, or run around on them, or can't seem to hold a job. Me...I occasionally hog the garage for a couple days at a time. I try hard not to take too much advantage of her good nature, and we do just fine.

Now...the test will come in a year or two - in a bid to keep the payments on her needed new car down, I made a deal with her a few years ago to trade in my '09 Infiniti that I didn't drive much, and keep driving her old (but still solid) Lexus...with the understanding that when her new car (the Highlander in the photo) was paid off I would then get to buy and fix up my dream project car.

There's less than a year to go on the Highlander and she's caught me browsing cars on eBay, and has just started questioning me on how we're going to manage four vehicles. Dominic will eventually take the Lexus to college with him, but that's still four years away. It's going to look like a used car lot out there for a while, but I'm sure she'll eventually come to terms with it.

I second the what's-the-problem-with-four-vehicles question:

• Technically the Subie is our daughter's, although she lives in Nicaragua and only uses it when she returns for a few weeks each year.

• Janey has her GLK 250.

• I have Blue for long-distance towing and taking lots of people and luggage to/from the airport, like we'll do tonight when the crew from Nicaragua comes in at midnight.

• Currently Big Blue is running, but his much-awaited transformation is about to start.

• Some year Dad's truck will be done

• The '69 Bee is patiently waiting

• The '50 Chevy is also waiting.

So, what's your dream project?

[Dorsai]

I could probably start painting after dinner if I wanted to.

As it happened, I did want to. The dehumidifier was a great idea - the floor was crispy and warm by about 7pm. So I broke out the POR15 and gave both footwells and door channels a nice heavy coating, and then let it dry overnight.

This morning everything was dry. The driver's side was just how I wanted it, but there were a couple of thin spots on the passenger side. So I touched those up a little while ago, and while that's drying started laying the GTmat on the driver's side:

I probably should have bought more deadener than I did, but everything I've read says you only need about 30% coverage on a panel to get the benefit. So I'm going to cover the footwells and transmission tunnel thoroughly, put the scraps down under the seat, and hope that plus the jute plus the new heavier-than-stock vinyl floor combines to give me a noticeable improvement in sound levels. My only real goals in doing the floor are to stop rust and make the interior look better, so any noise reduction is gravy.

 

[Dorsai]

I second the what's-the-problem-with-four-vehicles question:

Sure. But, like Dave, you're a gentleman of refinement and understand these things. Neither my wife nor my HOA share that understanding.

Now...if we end up retiring to Colorado (around 2035 or so) as I suspect we will (my wife is in charge of our retirement locale, and that's her current thinking), one of my non-negotiables will be that we have a place where I have room for a proper shop/garage along with the necessary number of vehicles to populate it.

So, what's your dream project?

It changes over time. Originally, it was a 1958 Cadillac of some flavor:

Then I got attached to the 1949 Cadillac fastback/sedanette:

But then I realized that I needed to set my sights on something more affordable. So my current (and most likely final) target is the '65 Impala:

A guy on the big Chevy forum I monitor did a beautiful build of a '65 Impala with an LS3-480 swap. Something like that would be just about perfect for me.

[FuzzFace2]

I second the what's-the-problem-with-four-vehicles question:

Sure. But, like Dave, you're a gentleman of refinement and understand these things. Neither my wife nor my HOA share that understanding.

Now...if we end up retiring to Colorado (around 2035 or so) as I suspect we will (my wife is in charge of our retirement locale, and that's her current thinking), one of my non-negotiables will be that we have a place where I have room for a proper shop/garage along with the necessary number of vehicles to populate it.

So, what's your dream project?

It changes over time. Originally, it was a 1958 Cadillac of some flavor:

Then I got attached to the 1949 Cadillac fastback/sedanette:

But then I realized that I needed to set my sights on something more affordable. So my current (and most likely final) target is the '65 Impala:

A guy on the big Chevy forum I monitor did a beautiful build of a '65 Impala with an LS3-480 swap. Something like that would be just about perfect for me.

When the wife and I were looking to move and did moved in 2015, NO HOA and had to have room for or have a garage and land so I could park a trailer truck as that was the job I was looking for.

The more we looked I could see even having the room the garage would not get built. We were lucky to find a house we both liked, ranch so no steps as we are both 60, had the garage I wanted and land so I could park a trailer truck and the big one NO HOA!

Only thing that could have been better with the garage is if it was high enough for a lift inside and had heat & AC but after electrical & lighting upgrade and me piping my air compressor I am happy and was a big upgrade from a small 1 car garage and no land.

I always wanted a 59 Impala as mom & dad said that's what I came home in from the hospital and AC Cobra does not have to be the real deal and a 302 or 351 would be fine with a 5sp.

But need to finish my 70 AMC Javelin before I think of anything else to take on.

It's dreams that keeps us going

Dave ----

[Dorsai]

I probably should have bought more deadener than I did, but everything I've read says you only need about 30% coverage on a panel to get the benefit.

Actually, I take this back...I think I bought the right amount:

The little bit of POR15 I put down this morning dried very quickly, so I was able to put the GTmat down on the rest of the cabin. It looks pretty dopey, but I was able to get plenty of mat where I thought it most important (footwells and transmission hump), plus a good bit of coverage elsewhere. If the objective is to load the floor and break up resonances, I think this will do the trick.

I may get the heat shield material down on the passenger floor tonight, but that'll be about it until Tuesday when I hope to get the jute in and start figuring out how to trim the vinyl. Also, Tuesday is when the seat material arrives, so hopefully I can get the seat to the upholsterer before the end of the week.

One good thing about the floor drying so quickly is that I can move the truck again. I don't have a milk crate, so I have to use my Homer bucket...I have a friend who is 7'2" (yes, he plays basketball, how did you guess?), and now I understand how he feels driving.

And now that I can move the truck:

Julia gets her parking space back. I had originally told her she would most likely get it back on Monday, so she'll be pleasantly surprised when she gets back from today's shopping run. Underpromise and overdeliver, that's a protip for you younger guys.

 

[ArdWrknTrk]

Other do it like the factory did and painted them on with a roller.

Looks like we were typing about the same time...so the letters were painted on. Good to know - that’s another conversation to have with my future paint guy.

The name for this roller is a brayer.

Just a tip to help you find one from a guy who worked in commercial art back in the days before computers changed everything.

[Gary Lewis]

I probably should have bought more deadener than I did, but everything I've read says you only need about 30% coverage on a panel to get the benefit.

Actually, I take this back...I think I bought the right amount:

The little bit of POR15 I put down this morning dried very quickly, so I was able to put the GTmat down on the rest of the cabin. It looks pretty dopey, but I was able to get plenty of mat where I thought it most important (footwells and transmission hump), plus a good bit of coverage elsewhere. If the objective is to load the floor and break up resonances, I think this will do the trick.

I may get the heat shield material down on the passenger floor tonight, but that'll be about it until Tuesday when I hope to get the jute in and start figuring out how to trim the vinyl. Also, Tuesday is when the seat material arrives, so hopefully I can get the seat to the upholsterer before the end of the week.

One good thing about the floor drying so quickly is that I can move the truck again. I don't have a milk crate, so I have to use my Homer bucket...I have a friend who is 7'2" (yes, he plays basketball, how did you guess?), and now I understand how he feels driving.

And now that I can move the truck:

Julia gets her parking space back. I had originally told her she would most likely get it back on Monday, so she'll be pleasantly surprised when she gets back from today's shopping run. Underpromise and overdeliver, that's a protip for you younger guys.

Matthew - I think you've done very well. (I can't help but think of the immortal words of young Mr. Grace: "You've all done very well.") You probably have 60% of the floor covered, and that's about twice the minimum. And, you covered the unsupported areas that are the most likely to vibrate.

On top of that, you got done early. Well done.

[FuzzFace2]

I second the what's-the-problem-with-four-vehicles question:

• Technically the Subie is our daughter's, although she lives in Nicaragua and only uses it when she returns for a few weeks each year.

• Janey has her GLK 250.

• I have Blue for long-distance towing and taking lots of people and luggage to/from the airport, like we'll do tonight when the crew from Nicaragua comes in at midnight.

• Currently Big Blue is running, but his much-awaited transformation is about to start.

• Some year Dad's truck will be done

• The '69 Bee is patiently waiting

• The '50 Chevy is also waiting.

So, what's your dream project?

You may want to put some mat on the back wall and pull the door panels and add some to the outer door skin as they both will be like big drums.

Dave ----

[Dorsai]

The name for this roller is a brayer.

You da man. Looks like this one is the one I'd want? Now that I have a spare tailgate to play with, it's tempting to try my hand at automotive painting.

You probably have 60% of the floor covered, and that's about twice the minimum. And, you covered the unsupported areas that are the most likely to vibrate.

I'm hoping that's enough. I don't listen to the radio (I'm pretty sure it only picks up the Green Country farm report anyway) in the truck, so it's not like noise reduction is a big deal. But if I were to, say, drive the truck 900 miles west over a couple of days, a lot of noise could get tiring.

You may want to put some mat on the back wall and pull the door panels and add some to the outer door skin as they both will be like big drums.

I'm way ahead of you on part of that - I put mat in the doors a couple of years ago when I redid the door panels. I could put some on the back wall I suppose, but that stuff is expensive, ugly, and would just let me more clearly hear my wife complain that her feet are hot. Pass.

Speaking of which, didn't get the heat barrier down tonight; I forgot that Dominic and I had a scheduled viewing of Battlebots...it's robot fighting time! Check back on Tuesday.

 

[ArdWrknTrk]

The name for this roller is a brayer.

You da man. Looks like

is the one I'd want? Now that I have a spare tailgate to play with, it's tempting to try my hand at automotive painting.

Speaking of which, didn't get the heat barrier down tonight; I forgot that Dominic and I had a scheduled viewing of Battlebots...it's robot fighting time! Check back on Tuesday.

Um... lol

A link to a transformers video????

Speedball is a common brand of both block and screen printing supplies.

Maybe something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Speedball-Deluxe-Soft-Rubber-Brayer/dp/B003IFY622