Project : BluePrint

[R32SilviaTech]

Truck looks clean. That fitment looks great with the stock flares. Looks like some kinda factory sport edition. Good work!

[P78]

i wasn't sure about those wheels, so i waited till you got the mounted

looks good!

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Appreciate the comments. Surprisingly the ride is friggin awesome as it sits. Able to hit bumps and still have a lot of room for suspension travel. Stiff enough to be responsive, smooth enough to forget you are that close to the road.

I have a few plans for the next month to get this thing looking right as rain in my eyes but as it sits right now, I fall in love with it each time I see it, which was the goal all along.

there is something about those front lights that hurt my eyes :P but i like what youve done with this!

The projector retrofit? There is a trick with them, but I have to rework the entire light to get it to actually work. A close friend passed away and the headlights were on his truck. I was very lucky to get them when the truck was sold. Have to pull it all apart and replace the lens at least to something new since they are pretty beat up, same with the DRLs up top...

[theseeker411]

Nice little truck you got there dude.

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Finally got the TPMS bullshit fixed. :gd:

And just a couple shots because it was neat and I was on my way home. Shows what the setup looks like after it has settled to where it should be...

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Okay, so I have been tossing this idea around for a very long time. I have always loved how some of the cars that float around here look with a roof rack. I also fell in love the first time I saw the wood rack that the infamous Rusty had mounted on his.





So, I took my talents and put them to the test...

10/29/2013

Started with this: some black walnut and steel slats


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10/30/2013

Alright, so the cat is out of the bag... I decided (last minute) to build a roof rack out of some black walnut that I have had sitting in the garage for a very long time.

The parts, I have some Thule feet from a friend.

I picked up some steel slats and cut out my load bars. The steel slats are bolted to the top of the load bars, this gives it a lot more strength.




The runners that I cut out are simply bolted there for aesthetics really, and to hold the back bar in place, but as you can see, it can still hold a load that I would be willing to put up top. Will probably end up getting some steel slats for those as well.







And finally, I bent some steel to make my brackets and cut out a front fairing. I attempted to bend the wood into a curved shape, but that didn't work. So I sanded the shit out of it and gave it a bit of a curve/rounded appearance.








And finally, everything is drying from being painted or cleared..



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10/31/2013

clearing the fairing...


back together and a couple shots.






these be some terrible photos but you get the idea... Should be able to get some much better ones over the next couple days... maybe.

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and a couple decent shots of how the truck sits right now.

[DutchStance]

Roofrack looks nice, but kinda unnessacery on a truck. With having a ton of space in the back, you know?
Maybe put sum lighter color slats between the darker on, would look cool?

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Yeah, it is a bit redundant, but the bed on this truck is pretty small. I have run out of room several times back there.

Plus, it's more of a form over function thing, though can be used if need be.

I like the idea of lighter slats in the middle. Plan to tie the wood further by building a matching wood floor for the bed.

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Holding out for a modification update, but here are a few rolling shots from a couple months ago.

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Alright, much over-due update is necessary since these are some old-ish photos.

11/08/13

Lucked out and caught a great deal on an all LED OEM red 3rd brake light... Now to get the tails to match.





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11/23/13

Doin some work to prepare for this cold shit they call winter. :gd:






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11/24/13

The wheel color is graphite. It's that VHT wheel paint. :shrug: Figured it would look better than the crappy looking white, plus I had two cans of it sitting from about a year ago. Works well for a set of winter wheels.




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11/26/13

And a sad sad update. I **** these months with a passion.
Time for winter mode.. damn.





And I have a full inch and a half between the tire and the flare. :lol: I could run the same size spacer as the one I had in my old truck.














And that is how the truck sat the rest of 2013...

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It's a fresh new year and I am finally able to start updating and working on the truck.

2/23/14

And next thing I will be working on is installing a full set of GTO seats in the truck. Picked up a red set locally thanks to a friend. Obviously I have to be different with this even though others have installed them. I will be swapping for black covers, removing the GTO print on the front seats and modifying the rear bench so that the two back seats are incorporated into it.

This will help me give the interior a clean, custom look with half the work. Disappointed the I won't be running the tan theme I had in mind, but I feel this is a fair compromise.

Will have actual photos of the seats shortly but for those not sure what they look like...




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228/14

First, I found the seats listed above. Full set of Pontiac GTO red leather seats in great condition other than the driver's side front seat. That seats has the inside of the bolster that needs replaced as well as a whole in the lower seat. You can see them in the pictures below.



Passenger



Driver



Rear seats




David, 07Colorado4Dr, picked these up from the guy since I was delayed a couple times on my flight home. Then he held onto them and I drove down there on the 28th to grab them off him.

The plan is to replace the damaged parts and then trade for a set of black leather seats.

Then, I plan to cut up the rear bench and get the rear "bucket" seats to fit into it like it was from the factory.

Right now, the seats are stripped down and just waiting to make it over to the upholstery shop.


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3/5/14

Soooooo, we got ice. Then we got more ice and more ice then more ice. Then we got some snow. After a few days the roads were clear and we actually had work. So, the morning of the 5th, I got the truck out of the garage and drove it into work.

Just so happens that the city still doesn't know how to use the plows apparently. I was driving in the outermost of the 3 lane road, all of which had been cleared by the plows. I was coming up to where my favorite coffee shop sits so I slowed down to about 25 or 30 to see if they had plowed their drive/parking lot so I could get some deliciousness... Well, they didn't plow it out. Anyway, back to the story.

I didn't notice until too late that the plows had left a section that was about 10-15' long of unplowed snow. Attempted to shift lanes and caught some of the snow/slush with my back end, which kicked the truck sideways.

I went through the intersection (which was right after the unplowed section) and went up into the pile of snow on the side of the road that was left by the plows. Oh, the lane was now plowed again. Well, I slid sideways into a large pile of snow which lodged my door closed. Had to step roll the window down and step out onto the snow to assess how stuck I was.

I wasn't really stuck. There were a couple guys that stopped to help, pushed a little on the front and I backed right out of the "drift"

Unfortunately, I finished screwing up my front bumper. The center grille is toast, the bracket on the inside of the bumper is gone, you can see the make-shift grille is trashed and the most damage is the front bumper, which is now dented in one place and has several large cracks, all of which you can see...






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3/7/14

After discussing things with the wife, I have decided to put the seats on hold and fix the bumper.

With my plans of making my own, and an offer that someone made to me, I have decided on a bumper.

This morning, I ordered this:



Yes, I have taken over where a friend left off with his build and I am going to do the SS bumper, but with a slight twist.

I will be piecing this together as I need the parts, but the plan is to cut up the broken bumper so that the SS bumper fits on it.

Also going to remove the dip in the center section for two reasons. 1. I have Forrest's (friend that passed a few years ago) old grille and still plan to modify that and run it and 2. I don't want to modify the metal bumper due to not being able to weld.

If the weather warms up nicely (as it shows) I should be able to start working on this next weekend, after the bumper arrives sometime next week.


I will also be picking up some fender flares tomorrow morning, so I might just start the flared Xtreme kit along with the bumper. :naughty:

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3/8/14

Picked these up from a guy for free. Now to start working on the wide flare conversion...




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3/14/14

right-o.. might as well push an update since I have been on instagram and facebook already.

Yesterday, this box showed up and my son had to help me carry it inside:



Then the box turned into a house.



but then, I woke up this morning. And the house-box was still there.

And I was able to get out into the garage.

Started with this:


and this



Made some cuts and beat the hell out of the bumper for because reasons.



Then I stopped and looked around. began to think "What the fuck am I doing?!?!"


Well, no turning back now... back to work!

Gotta line it all up now.


Test fit



And another test fit



Then, the final test fits. I was done for the night as I ran out of time...





Next time I am able to work on this, need to finish welding up the top passenger cut, strengthen the cuts more with some of Todd's secret sauce, maybe even the front. Then fix the lower cross bar and fab up some brackets. Then chop off the sides and weld those into the stock Xtreme cover sides so I can mount it up to the bumper.

So... that's all for now folks.

Thanks for stopping by and looking. And thanks for commenting as well if you do so.

[Nick475]

New bumper looks awesome. I can't wait to see the flares mounted

[rice4life]

Wow, that's a lot of updates. Will the rear seats fit as well as they do in that picture? I think it would be awesome if the interior looked exactly like a GTO inside hahaha.