The Truck Project Thread

That was a very good idea. Steady and slow so everything goes in properly without any damage. Lookin good

 

Progress continues. Thursday 3-30-2017...got the visor mounted and the bunk windshields in. Had them coated in a reflective mirrored vinyl material...

 

Good! She looked naked without a visor!

 

I had my doubts thinking that it would look a bit goofy with the aerodyne sleeper on it, but I'll admit it, that truck looks good with it on there.

 

As much work as that turned out to be with doing the Peterbilt Unibilt walk-through and all that, I'd have just kept the 36" bunk on...but I never know where life takes me on these walk-abouts I go on. By the time I packed enough clothes, tools, supplies, etc. in a 36" sleeper, it'd be so full there'd be no room to get in it. Work/loads take me from one to the next place and before I know it the week is shot and I lived in it the entire time, so I need the extra square footage to feel human myself anyways.

This thing has ample room, good stand up space, storage... has it all now. If I was still in my 20's and had tribal tatoos, wore a flat brimmed ball cap sideways and made YouTube videos on how to educate everybody on this lifestyle, how to shift a 10 speed, etc., maybe that 36" would have sufficed. I ain't that guy, lol.

The key to making an Aero II look decent on these A's is getting the height right. I took special care and attention to detail to make sure that was right, or it could have ended up being goofy looking for sure if it was too high. I think it looks like it belongs on it.

Don't get me wrong, I'd have preferred a VIT, but I tried finding one decent and reasonable, in the time allotted...couldn't make it happen. Now that I'm done, 25 of them will be up for sale I bet, in a barn wrapped in plastic since new...story of my life.

Painted the grill yesterday...couldn't take that flat black that was on it from the previous owner another second. Now she looks like she should.

This coming week is exhaust manifold studs, gaskets, water pump replacement, Jake installation. Then hook to the lowbed and go see if I can make a living again for a change.

 

It's definitely the thrill of the hunt NM...finding parts is a challenge depending on what you need. KW still has some stuff, but the prices are screwed. Aftermarket stuff is around, Ebay I find a lot of stuff like stainless grill surrounds, the headlight buckets (which I am about to order another set myself here,) are also on Ebay, but 4 States Trucks (Chrome Shop Mafia) in Joplin, Mo. actually has the assembly to hold the bulbs in without having to buy everything which is what I need...just the tin cups to hold the bulbs cuz I'm upgrading to LED round bulbs. These online chrome and accessory places sell some of the stuff, but it's limited. Salvage yards around the land have stuff too.

I get the stainless fuel tank straps made by Alumitank in Illinois. Bar none, they are the absolute best place to buy or have them make...anything related to fuel tanks and straps. KW wanted $219.00 a piece for a stainless strap for a 24.5" tank. Alumitank built/shipped the things for $62.00 each and they're the ones that supply Paccar and all the truck mfgers with tanks and parts anyways. I had them build the split hydro/fuel tank last year that's on the drivers side...KW was $2200.00...Alumitank built it from scratch and delivered it to my porch for $1,200.00 and it's perfect. They make every shape and size for everything you can imagine, all tested and DOT approved, outstanding service from them, and I like that. There's certainly enough of the opposite dealers nowadays that they make me happy to deal with them.

Your friendly neighborhood sheet metal and/or machine shop can also be your best friends when it comes to making stuff. I did my other A Model over 2 years ago and tried to get air cleaner straps from Donaldson. They were not available in shiny, only black, and they wanted $1,000.00 for 4 little straps. I found an old farmer-turned-machine shop in the puckerbrush here locally that built me 4 new ones, better than anything you could buy, for $200.00 for all four and they're beautiful. He is going to come in handy when I start wrapping the diamond plate aluminum steps and boxes in stainless so I don't have to polish them.

Interior: Hold onto yer wallet. I had a local upholstery woman do the headliner in my other (rollback) truck and it's very nice, 1/2 price of an OEM one but different material and look. If you want OEM look, there's a place out in Washington State called "Two Bees Upholstery"

https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=two bee's upholstery

that's on Facebook and online that has all of the KW interior patterns, so they make you all you need out there. There's an aftermarket molded one piece headliner a guy I know just got that looks cool...around $1,200.00. I am lucky, I got a brand new OEM KW headliner from the guy I bought the truck from waiting to go in mine.

A/C; there's a lot of options this day and age. I'm not a purist restoration guy, I want old-school but practical / functional upgraded stuff that works myself. I am headed down to Philadelphia, Mississippi to Vintage Air to have them install an aftermarket a/c unit in mine in a couple months. Remember, these A Model's don't over-supply you with vents that blow heat or air at you either, lol. They pull the existing one out and fit this new unit in it's place that is the way to go, compressor, evaporator, dryer, venting for $1,500.00 and I won't even have to get my hands dirty. High output, high velocity heater-a/c unit with dedicated defroster vents isolated from the heater side. They'll sell it to you and you can DIY, but I'm gonna act dumb when the time comes. I had enough engineering/wrenching for a while after this project, time to be a dumb truck driver for a while, lol.

You might want to re-think the rooftop mounted a/c unit honestly. I was looking at that option HARD because I love the look, but in all honesty that fiberglass roof cap is pretty darned thin, and it's not really all that strong and capable of staying dry inside if you start punching too many more holes in it than are already there. I'd reconsider it.

There's a TON of options for condensers that you can make a bracket for and mount right out in front of the radiator. They ain't as big as they used to be either with this 134a gas. My buddy's got two 1930's vintage hot rods that the condenser is mounted underneath the body, I thought they were transmission coolers but he told me they were a/c.

So after all my babbling on about everything, to recap...lots of parts like some chrome, grill, headlights on Ebay and 4 States Trucks in Joplin, Mo. Headlight buckets are all the same for 4 bulb dual round setups on KW, Pete, Freightliner...

Two Bee's Upholstery in Washington State (see them on Facebook a lot.)

Alumitank in Illinois for fuel tanks and straps.

I just got home from a chrome shop run, or as I like to affectionately refer to it as a "money dump". I got these cool chrome plastic defroster vents that rotate 360* to replace the dingy black ones. The stainless power divider and 5th wheel lock switch guards also. These are unnecessary items but they make me feel warm and fuzzy inside. I'm trying to refrain from the warm and fuzzy, and concentrate on the sensible and practical as much as I can...but these things are like women (some women anyways,) unavoidable.

 

them W9's are still my fav.....