64 project "Money Pit"

Obsa · Post by **Obsa** » February 17, 2010, 7:38 pm

Or you can buy basically the same equipment from Eastwood for a few dollars more. quite a few IIRC

Reds Rod Shop · Post by **Reds Rod Shop** » February 17, 2010, 9:26 pm

Jason, Greg is correct. The shrinker / strecher combo that I have is a harbor freight setup. The stand came with an old shrinker /strecher that I purchased used. I got the new from harbor freight when I broke a die set in the old ones and priced a new die set. I would recommend getting the stand with the foot pedal though. Much easier to use. As far as the floor of the bed goes, I'm leaning towards a wood floor in the center and metal in front and rear of the fender wells. Whatever I use for the center, it will slide in/out and raise up. Already got my slides and cam follower bearings for this. Hopefully I'll get to work on this and the rear storage compartments over the weekend. Red

Trav_450R · Post by **Trav_450R** » February 18, 2010, 11:11 am

The Torqu Thrust II's looks awesome, what power plant you using??

jwh f-100 · Post by **jwh f-100** » February 18, 2010, 7:09 pm

Red & Greg, Thanks for the info.. I will own one,, Oh yes,,, I will.. I already have a project in mind for the truck..

Reds Rod Shop · Post by **Reds Rod Shop** » February 19, 2010, 8:51 pm

Trav_450R wrote:The Torqu Thrust II's looks awesome, what power plant you using??

Its a 460 that a friend of mine built for one of his trucks. Has a wild cam, solid lifters, cobra jet heads that have over 100 hrs of porting and polishing on them, weiland intake and a holly 1150cfm Dominator carb. It dyno'd in his truck just shy of 600hp. Should be a fun ride.

Trav_450R · Post by **Trav_450R** » February 19, 2010, 9:26 pm

nice!!!!!

tschmitt · Post by **tschmitt** » February 21, 2010, 1:19 pm

Nice work man keep it up, looks very solid.

Reds Rod Shop · Post by **Reds Rod Shop** » February 27, 2010, 10:22 pm

Well, I finally got back over to the shop today and got some work done. Finished fabbing up the storage compartment fthat goes under the rear of the bed. Got it installed with about 75% of the welding that holds it to the bed frame. Also finished welding up all of the bed frame and got the rear bed quarter supports connected while I had the bed off the frame. My 5x10 sheet of 18 ga stainless arrived yesterday for the the fuel tank. They think a lot of that stuff, $250 a sheet. I finished laying it out and it's now ready to program on the plasma table to get it cut out. Hopefully Palmetto Rod Worx will get this programmed the beginning of next week. It'll be 2 seperate 16 gallon tanks. They'll fit under the front of the bed. Still debating the location of the filler for the tank. KStone still isn't mass producing his tail light fillers yet. (lol) Here are some pics of the storage compartment.

The Battery will be located in the lower center section.

Alan Mclennan · Post by **Alan Mclennan** » February 27, 2010, 11:39 pm

Filled with ice and beer, your tail gate is going to be the best seat in the car park!

Rusty 63 · Post by **Rusty 63** » February 28, 2010, 8:12 am

Red: That is cool! Loving the workmanship!

UNIFAN · Post by **UNIFAN** » February 28, 2010, 11:14 am

Looking good and a cool project! Looks like weld and grind time.

Power by Ford · Post by **Power by Ford** » February 28, 2010, 7:14 pm

Red I have been following your project and your workmanship and plan are right on in my opinion. Im planning something similar for my Uni. What size square tubing did you use to build the frame work in the bed? Im also going with 1x8 wood in between my tubs and 3/16 x 21/2 powder coated metal strips. I welded the bolts on for a clean look.

Reds Rod Shop · Post by **Reds Rod Shop** » February 28, 2010, 7:26 pm

Power by Ford wrote:Red I have been following your project and your workmanship and plan are right on in my opinion. Im planning something similar for my Uni. What size square tubing did you use to build the frame work in the bed? Im also going with 1x8 wood in between my tubs and 3/16 x 21/2 powder coated metal strips. I welded the bolts on for a clean look.

I used 1 1/2" tubing for all of it. I could have probably went smaller but I want it to be sturdy. I'm working on a design that will make the center section between the tubs raise up with an electric motor for access to the storage compartment. Still got a few details to work out but so far it is looking good in the CAD model. We'll see how it all works when I start cutting and fitting the pieces.

Reds Rod Shop · Post by **Reds Rod Shop** » March 21, 2010, 9:34 am

Man, time flies. Been doing the family thing the past few weeks with trips to the beach and all but finally made it back to the shop yesterday. Finished welding and grinding on the under bed storage compartment. Built the bed floor corners that go in front and behind the fenderwell. (still have to install the bolts and dritt the tubing so they can be fastened to the truck) and cut up an old tail gate to make a roll pan out of. Still waiting on Rod Worx to cut out and my fuel tanks. they are pretty busy right now. Here are some pictures of the progress.

Anthony · Post by **Anthony** » March 21, 2010, 12:58 pm

Man, I love watching these builds. The Slick is looking great Red. Are you going to leave the front bumper or make a roll pan for the front also?? Your fabricating skills are just awesome to look at in the pics, would sure like to see it in person. Keep us all posted on progress and keep up the great work!!!

Reds Rod Shop · Post by **Reds Rod Shop** » March 21, 2010, 1:55 pm

Anthony wrote:Man, I love watching these builds. The Slick is looking great Red. Are you going to leave the front bumper or make a roll pan for the front also?? Your fabricating skills are just awesome to look at in the pics, would sure like to see it in person. Keep us all posted on progress and keep up the great work!!!

Thanks for the compliments. I'm planning on keeping the front bumper. If you are ever down this way, give me a yell, I'd be happy to give you a tour of the project and the shop.

1965fordf100 · Post by **1965fordf100** » March 21, 2010, 5:12 pm

Red, you have inspired me to do something similar when I replace my bed floor...Thanks for the inspiration! Keep up the good work!

Reds Rod Shop · Post by **Reds Rod Shop** » March 26, 2010, 4:15 pm

Well I took the day off f work to get some stuff done around the house but ended up over at the shop. Working on my slick is just more fun than the honey do list that I had. I finished fitting the roll pan and cut in a tagholder. Got everything welded up and installed. Also, modified the pass side tail gate holder and the tail gate so I can remove the gate without removing the piviot hinge. Like a late model truck. Here is a pic of the finished roll pan. I guess I'll start working on the tail gate next. Its pretty rough but its the only one that i have. I wish that I could find a better one to start with cause this one has quite a few spots of cancer in it. Oh well, its nothing but time, right???

Reds Rod Shop · Post by **Reds Rod Shop** » April 23, 2010, 5:07 pm

Ok, I figure I'd better hold off on the honey do list and get back to work on the truck. Its been almost a month since I even touched it. The Ididit tilt column and all the goodies to connect it to the rack came in yesterday. Made a sleeve to weld into the firewall for the column to go through this afternoon. Hopefully, tomorrow will be full of accomplishments. Got an appointment next week to get the 3" exhaust with Magna Flow mufflers installed. After that, It's disassembly time so I can get a coat of paint on the chassis. This is where everything starts coming together and looking like something. Can't wait.

Reds Rod Shop · Post by **Reds Rod Shop** » April 25, 2010, 5:45 pm

Had a pretty decent weekend on the truck. I got the tilt column in. For anyone interested, a 28" column is plenty. I went with a 30" and it was a tad long. I finished welding and grinding the roll pan on the rear. Fabricated and installed a cover for the rear of the bed to fill in where I raised the floor up 4". I hope to get the bed bolted down either tomorrow or Tuesday evening, going to the muffler shop on Wednesday morning. As soon as it gets back it'll be disassembly time to finish up the chassis.