PilotHouse2500

this weekend's work. I took apart the window top part so I can keep the seam by rewelding it all back together in the order it was first assembled. Please note the welding wasn't done when I took the last 2 pictures.

yes it is. I think I may have gotten impatient in a few spots, I did end up with some warping that I'll have to deal with.

got some work started again finally. Closed up the lower rear cab gap.

I might have a problem... not a diesel (yet)...but I acquired another truck...saved from the crusher.... https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3hv86432yqhontx/AAD1qBzivRBGUq4-7F82BcAVa?dl=0

The shop came "as is" from the previous owner. He repaired exotica (he had a Ferrari) for his business he ran out of the shop. The rear (where my wood shop lives right now) is bare concrete. He used that area as vehicles storage. I found out last night just how dusty wood working will be in there...need to get on better dust collection for my table saw (HUGE contributor to dust last night)! Or every so often I will have to get the leaf blower out and blow the place out!

things have been slow as I sold my old house and moved to a new location, but I've gotten all my toys to my new place and got some decoratin' done! some more shop pictures: For now I'm putting my wood shop in the back of the vehicle shop. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8oivc81863ec3m1/AACTzqUpyf95jM0AmJs8-Ut_a?dl=0

lots of English wheel work and LOTS of tack welding the pieces back together so there is little heat deflection at the joint.

spent some time yesterday building and welding in the top of the door jambs.

yesterday's progress:

cab parts back from blasting...a few spots I knew would be Swiss cheese, but some surprises.....

I'm gonna run air ride any way so I'll have a compressor for that, so maybe just oversize that a little or run a second one for the (normal) semi horns and this monstrosity. I've lined up an old scuba tank for the train horn (good to 3000psi) and will work the kinks out on that set up next month with my buddy who is doing the same thing for his vintage firetruck.

once back from blasting it will start to go back together. My local guy who does paint for me (NOT a paint guy myself) who is mentoring me on this project will get it cleaned back up and reprimed after it's back into one piece. I'm hoping to get primer on it within one month of getting put back together. And you have a very valid point, fresh blasted steel LIKES to rust. meanwhile...something came yesterday for TODD (trucks name if you didn't know)...what do you guys think?

Cab parts off to blasting yesterday...week or so to get them back and the puzzle begins.

a picture of all the parts: and a picture of the final cab size:

spent the day cutting cabs up...now the parts go will go off for blasting prior to puzzling back together. I toyed with the idea of making the rear doors 24" but it seems to stretch the cab too much so I think I'm gonna go with the original 18" size I had planned. I split the cab down the back middle to widen the back to keep the sides of the back angling out as it goes back. The rear of the front cab half I cut the center out to do that. Helping me today (and thru the cab build) is Bob my local paint guy, I'm paying him to help and teach me what to do, especially the cab roof rebuild as it is compound curves all over...I'll get to learn how to English wheel! pictures of the cutting:

well as the site has been saved, I'll keep my progress here up to date. Below is the prep work done to start cutting the front cab up. Fingers crossed! here is a pic of something similar that has been done cabwise at least. This boy has had a TON of other mods done from the original 48-50 model area hood and fender sections and having the cab chopped, but you can see where I'm heading more clearly on the cab section.

Cabs all cleaned out of parts, bare cabs now. Most of the dents pounded out as good as they need to be prior to cutting and welding (which will cause their own issues). I hope to start cutting in Jan.

got a few doors it seems I'll be using to make the rear cab door and windows! I got one cab moved this weekend to my garage and will move the second this Friday. So hopefully you'll see some more movement here finally!

MNTom's buddy showed up Saturday to pull parts from the '94 cab, I hope to get the other cabs to my house early Nov to start the cab production process. Going WAY slower than I wanted to.

all moved...wow, all four wheels had seized and had to be broken loose. 5.5 hour ordeal to get him moved. Below is a link to the album of pics. Of note: headliner looks to be in good shape for anyone wanting to offer a few pennies for it. Driver side seat is "ok" the outside edge is a bit soft, but otherwise ok, Passenger side seems good. Dash is CRACKED! Front to back. Anything else you see you might be interested in let me know and I'll see if it will be available. I hope to start tearing down Friday.

Monday IS pick up day so I can get some pics for you guys! Plans for the engine: it hasn't been run in about 6 years, my friend's brother ran it dry of diesel, so at a minimum it would have to be re-primed. Since it will be "out" of the truck, I'm thinking a tear down to inspect everything and do some upgrades for performance and such will just get done. Then I won't have to even think about doing any engine work for a LONG time. Parts from the old body: anything and everything will be up for sale/donation (depending on condition). I plan on pulling all the climate controls and wiring for the next build, but the dash part itself could go someplace else. Needless to say, I bought this sight unseen from one of my best friends, so I'm REALLY hoping that him and I won't have to have a discussion about the sale price after I get into it.

"good" news tentatively scheduled with another friend for July 14th...sigh, the 14th...to get it moved. Might just take a few days off to tear into it before summer is GONE! I had wanted to get the power train all fixed up, cleaned and repainted this year yet....dunno if that's gonna happen now. Any suggestions as to tear down order, etc?

sadly this summer is not going as planned. I WAS going to pick up the 2500 tonight so I could work on stripping it down this weekend, but it isn't going to work now....drrrr....my friend I bought it from was SUPPOSED to use some of the money from me to fix his clutch so we could trailer it, but oddly his wife spent the money on something else... now I need to search my extended network for a truck big enough to haul the trailer/truck HOPEFULLY the week after the 4th will prove to be the magic week.

Last weekend was MoPaRs in the Park in Minnesota. Saturday started out nice but around 12:30 I bailed when the first drops started to come down. Sunday was a complete bust weatherwise. Adverts said over 3000 MoPaR's registered. Here are a few pics (sorry for the fuzz on the side...fingerprint on the cell..D-oH!) ME: the rest of the trucks (most at least) some cars:

sadly, not having any luck finding a cheap way to get the 2500 from Stillwater to Elko... So I started at least to tear off the future cab parts from the one truck. BEFORE: AFTER: