The build has begun.

To catch everybody up, I am reconstructing my show truck that was wrecked about 10 years ago and has been in storage ever since. Originally I had a 89 pickup with an 81 22R. Now, I am building a 94 Pickup, and using all the parts from my old truck to bring this new truck to life.

I bought this truck about 2 weeks ago now. Honestly, I think I over paid for the thing. It was in pretty rough shape when I got it, but I knew that I had built one before from the ground up, so I was more than capable of bringing this one back to life. Plus, the bed and frame where straight, which was the main parts I need for my old truck.

In the past two weeks I have been quite busy. I had to fix a major wiring problem in the engine compartment which required me to splice in about a quarter of the harness going through the engine compartment. replace the rear brakes and fix the e-brake. Also there was a short inside the dash which needed fixing and had to replace some sensors and fine tune everything on the worn out 22R-E that was in it (I need to use it until I can rebuild my original one, being that it has been sitting for over ten years.) But, now most of the "repairs" are done. Now, I can move on to the modifications.

So, the first thing I have done is dismantled the entire interior. Actually, two interiors, seeing as I tore my old one apart too to use some of the components that were broken on the new one. I fixed the short under the dash, and now I am getting ready to do a few different things at the same time.

First, I got a nice mahogany and black Grant steering wheel. It looks sweet, and I ended up getting it brand new for only about $35 because of a "mistake" at the auto parts store! Also, I am getting a new stereo for it and an alarm tomorrow. That way I should not have to take it apart again for a very long time. Finally, I have decided to paint the entire dash gloss black. This is going to take a little while, seeing as I am sanding out all of the grain from the plastic. Oh, and I have also found a free Tacoma bench seat that is like brand new. Thinking about putting it in the truck as it looks like I would only have to drill one hole to make it fit perfectly.

I'll try to take some more pictures tomorrow of the new truck. This is the old one that will be somewhat of what I want the finished product to be when I am done.

 

A man with a plan. Keep the updates coming, sound like its gonna be sweet.

 

nice man! will look forward to see this build come up. good luck!

 

Very nice banana you have there. Do you plan on going lower this time or same color?

 

So far I am planning mostly the same color scheme on the outside, but I am changing the interior around a little. Last time I painted it yellow to match the outside, but what ended up happening was that anytime I drove during the day the entire windshield was tinted yellow from the reflection.

Never really have been part of the crowd that just mods his ride based on what is popular at the time. I had it lowered more for racing than for looks. The yellow is a mustang chrome yellow and the hood scope is also from a 1980 mustang. The original truck was loosely based on a 60's muscle car theme with low back bucket seats, ram air hood, little round mirrors, old school five stars, and of course the paint job.

So the short of it, nope. I am going to bring this new truck to the same height, 5 inches in the front and 7 inches in the back, and most likely put the same paint job back on it. just going to do things right this time. I learned how to work on cars with my old one. Now, It's time to put what I know to good use.

BTW, I have completed sanding about half of the large dash piece tonight. I also got a new head Pioneer head unit, two 4 inch and two 6 1/2 inch Kenwoods, a Viper alarm, internal antenna for the radio, and found my custom made rear bumper that fits under the roll pan (It's illegal to drive without a rear bumper in Florida.) Going to be working on the dash all week, getting it sanded, prepped, painted and reinstalled. Figured I would go ahead and put this stuff in at the same time so I don't have to break it back open for a while.

 

Update: Today I got most of the main dashboard sanded and was able to bondo in the gashes that the previous owner put into it with a knife. Also, I got the bumper on, fixed another short where old trailer wires had been, and wired up the tag lights. Still got to finish sand the dashboard by hand before I primer it, but at least it is 95% done!

Got to work tomorrow, but off Thursday and Friday. Want to get the rest of the dash wired up, paint the main dashboard and have it put back in by the weekend. Have to finish this part soon so I can start on the engine.

"I love the smell of burnt oil in the morning. You know, one time we had a engine that leaked everywhere. Worked on it for 12 days. When it was all over, I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinkin' drip of oil. The smell, you know that caramelized smell, the whole garage. Smelled like... victory. Someday this build's gonna end..."