Spent a little time getting the passenger side headlight bucket and front tube bumper back on the truck today. Also inspected the underside of the center console lid and all that needs to be done is disconnecting the lid from the hinge. It has alignment tabs in the front corners and the seats keep the back part in place along with old man gravity. Easy fix that allows the console to sit snug against the back wall of the cab. Next up was to drill four mounting holes through the console floor and then through the cab floor and set some 6mm Rivnuts. Finally it was then time to mask it off and paint it with some flat back SEM paint. Here are some pics.

6mm Rivnuts installed in the floor to bolt the console to.

Masked off and ready for SEM paint.

Ready to install.

 

The seats and console look good in there.

 

Thanks 81 4 x. Pleasantly surprised at how well the console fits and the storage capacity.

 

Got the sliding window back in today along with most of the instrument panel. Got a couple questions for y’all in the attached photos.

What does the flat rod next to the squirrel cage (upper left hand side) do and should something be attached to it?

Is there supposed to be a piece of flex ductwork from the squirrel cage to the white box on the right hand side? They’re both the same diameter at just a little over 4” and is that all that’s missing?
Thanks for your time.

 

Stripes arrived from James Dean creations with plenty of time to spare.

Silver Metallic hockey stick design

 

Not much progress lately. The paint job had a few small runs due to operator error (not waiting long enough between clear coats) and lots of ‘nibs’ or whatever those small pieces of dust or airborne particles are that land on the wet paint. Tried out the Kovax dry sanding system as opposed to a wet sanding system. Am convinced that Kovax is the highest quality sandpaper ever. It cuts remarkably well and cleans itself pretty well. Forget to get a picture of the blocks and paper but will do that today. Here’s a couple pics. Started with 800, then 1200 and just finished the 1500 grit pass yesterday. The last three passes will be 2000, 2500 and 3,000.

 

Just noticed that the three Kovax blocks from the sanding kit were inadvertently photographed on the hood. The small square block is on the hood in the foreground, while the rectangular block and curved block are also on the hood by the spray can.

 

Finally finished sanding today and got started on the polishing. Here’s a couple pics.

Got started with the polishing on the right front fender.

Here’s the Kovax system. The sanding blocks are very small and the paper is precut to fit each block. There is a small curved block (not shown) and a Tolecard which has the size and flexibility of a playing card so it works best on most of the body panel curves.
Amazingly the Kovax system contains 14 sheets of sandpaper total all the size of the one in the picture and it took about 10 to sand the truck.

 

Decided to try using some 4000 grit paper today on a 6” random orbital sander to see how that would work and the labor savings were huge. Almost every panel is ready for polishing with the exception of the driver side front fender and the hood. Pics attached.

 

Just noticed this carpet sitting on the front porch. Lucky a porch pirate didn’t grab it.

 

Going to be a nice truck when you get it done. Now you'll be afraid to get it dirty.

 

Post up the fitment and quality of the carpet you got, been eyeballing some stuff but I’ve heard positive and negatives of all the kits I look at. Keep on rockin man, can’t wait to see the end result

 

Thanks ‘81 4 x 4! You’re right about not wanting to get it dirty. Poor truck will probably be relegated to hardware store runs.

Will do Disco re the figment. Heard the same stuff with the different carpet retailers. Definitely rolling the dice no matter who you buy from. here’s a couple pics.

 

Looking good! My 81 has a rusty frame that I plan on fixing. I'm torn between leaving the factory paint and patina, or putting a nice paint job on it. Once I fix the frame, I will put it back together with the patina, then decide later on what to do with the paint.

 

That’s a great looking rig! What size are those tires?

That’s a nice patina. If mine had looked like that I think I’d have left it alone.

 

Got the lock mechanisms inside the doors cleaned up and installed along with the windows and regulators. Here’s a pic.

And a Stubby antennae!

 

35x12.5r15

 

Got the carpet and underlayment in today. Hoping to tackle door cards tomorrow. Here’s a pic.

Hey Disco the carpet was oversized about 4” lengthwise and width wise. It went in fairly well with the only problem area being the wrinkle about 6” in front of the shifters. I think the console is going to cover that.

 

Thanks ‘81 4 x 4 for the info. Your truck has a good stance

 

Excellent, did you opt for the extra sound deadening or was that an option? From what I have gathered from here and the net is the oversize and need to cut is expected but as long as the shifter hump and other raised areas of the floor fit doesn’t sound like a big deal I may start a thread or find a thread to add onto when I’m ready to buy.

Looking good though, I bet the carpet smells amazing, I love me some new carpet smell!!!