SHOP UPDATE: The last couple days in the shop.

Jason finished sand blasting all the parts for Jim's 36 pickup and John's 31 Ford delivery.

 Susi finished the body work on the 2 front fenders of Jim's 36. They look great. They are ready for final wet sand and paint

Susi also got a primer spraying lesson, she primed the 2 front fenders and the hood sides. She is getting ready for more body work.

Of course, since we converted the chassis to air bags. Everything has to be changed. Now that the chassis lays in the dirt, the engine and trans sit to low and hit the ground when aired down. I had to modify the center of the X member again. I raised the engine and trans for clearance today. The transmission mount is done, I will finish the motor mounts on Tuesday.

 I split the drivers fender yesterday. I still need to finish up both ends of the fenders and weld completely but I needed to test fit before I got to far. So far so good, the tires clear when aired down. should work great.

Here is a little sneak peek with the chassis aired down. Its definitely in the dirt, should be a real eye catcher next summer

 We set Susi's cab back on the frame last night. I bolted it down and welded all the nuts inside the frame so we can box it.

 I had to make several trims to get the firewall to clear the bell housing. Between raising the engine and changing the transmission nothing fit. I still have a little cleaning up to do  to the trim and everything fits just right.

 Tonight I tacked in the steering box mount. 

 I assembled and installed the chrome drag link. Unfortunately the tie rod ends don't match so I will have to exchange them.

 I slipped a drive shaft under it so I can figure out the trans tunnel and length for the new drive shaft.

 I test fit the new chrome starter to make sure it fits. You never know when you convert some of this stuff.

SINISTER !

SHOP UPDATE: Susi and I had a little fun messing with some pinstripe brushes

Susi and I had a great time listening to some music and trying our hand at pinstriping. I have mad respect for anybody pulling lines. This is not easy to do. I don't see myself being good at it but it sure is fun messing around. I am sure this wont be the last time we do it.

SHOP UPDATE: More progress in the shop

Well, we had a little clearance issue with the rear fenders when the air is let of of the rear suspension. I decided to widen the rear fenders so they will clear the tires when the bags are dropped.

 I used the widening strip as a locator for the cut line

 Here is the cut line on the fender centered down the middle

 This is the fender split in half down the center

 I mounted the inner half to the bed and tacked the strip to the fender

 Here is the outer half tacked to the strip and the tire installed. The suspension is dropped  and the tires clear very nice. I have a little finish work on both the front and rear of the fender and then I can weld it up and grind it out.

We finished the rebuild on the blast cabinet. It was leaking glass bead from everywhere. We took it apart and sealed it up good this time. We replaced the glass lenses and added a dust collection system. Works like a champ. Better than ever. Susi is ready to blasst a ton of small parts on the next few projects.

 We mocked up the C4 swap an Susi's Y block. The trans is much smaller than the old one.

 We also fabricated new tabs and raised the engine and trans 2 inches for clearance.

 Tonight we fabricated the new trans mount. It is tacked together now. I need to make the gusset for the mounting plate and then remove it for final welding. We are going to have to re-do the drive shaft because the trans is much shorter.

I had a great day steel heading with Susi Sunday

We had a very fun day Spey casting  and swinging flies Sunday in Idaho. We caught 1 fish and saw another. All in all a pretty good day