In my 55 all steel pickup, the fender welt was to keep the muddy water from coming through the cracks between fender and body. I didn’t particularly like the hassle of putting them in place nor the finished look. You mention fiberglass to fiberglass contact. What does this cause? Squeaks, rubbing, powder, paint damage?  Or is it just cosmetic?

I have one guess: Holds license plate and light?

I found this in the pile of stuff that came with the kit. What is it? Does it even belong in the kit? There’s only one.

Was the Allison available based on a Chevette donor? One of the engines available in the Chevette was an infamously bad diesel. This may be that diesel and that would explain the 25mpg.

Drove to Baltimore today to get a custom driveshaft made. Told them I have an 85 mile drive and they made one from scratch in one hour. Place is called A-1 Driveshafts and I can definitely recommend them. All new except for my front transmission shaft, included new U-joints, all done for $200. Not bad.

When I first cut it, it looked like a mistake, but after the second slice (now in five parts) it just fell into place and looks like it’ll end up like it was meant to be that shape all along. The one negative with this is that it will be nearly impossible to remove trannie without pulling it all out along with the engine. But the front clip is so…[Read more]

I once had to repair a small rust hole in steel gas tank. Here’s how I did it.: empty the tank completely, remove, flush out with soapy water. Make sure tank does not smell like gas, because if there’s any fumes still inside then you could have a small explosion. Sand area around pinhole until shiny metal. Use plumber flux and tin the area with…[Read more]

OK, finally got enough nerve to cut the old hump out and start with fiberglass surgery. This is the pan without the hump. I’m going to get a few inches back next to the seat also. Notice how lost a standard trannie looks in a place where an auto was meant to be.Ready for my first cutCut into three slices, eventually I’ll have five pieces.Here’s my…[Read more]

If you are going from Drum/Drum setup to Disk/Drum in front/back then you will need a proportioning valve made for a disk/drum setup. This is to balance the rear drum, which is less efficient, with the front disks, which are more efficient so the fronts don’t lock before the rears.

Mine was just as bad. Mount the radiator shroud to the bonnet side panels so that they wil l hold the side panels at the proper angle and distance apart. Then the bottom of the front wings will be properly spaced apart. After that the angle of the wings will be drooping a bit. This droop will be held up when you mount the headlight mounting arms.…[Read more]

Is it acceptable to be envious? A hardy congratulations to all of the work and accomplishments; work which I am at the bottom of the mountain and looking up at right now.

Allen: How about a few pictures?

I bought barrel nuts and glassed them in place on the hinge screws, the latch strike plate and on the nuts that hold the hood side panels in place. Also using all stainless for the screws. These are the places that will be hard to reach once everything is together. Should never go bad.

In the photo of my feet, I’m sitting on the kit’s seat platform and there are a few inches between my soles and the firewall. There is maybe 1  1/2 inches of space to the left of the transmission. Just enough to install a skinny gas pedal. I’m also going to move the left side panel out by about 1/2 inch towards the double wall. Every little bit…[Read more]

It must feel great to take that first legal drive. Congrats. It seems so far in the future for me.

Room for two, now I need to make room for the gas pedal.Where does the wok go?

Have considered just taking a slice out. Also considered taking some flexible poster board and creating a form to glass over. I have plenty of glass mat available since I bought one 50′ roll on-line for same price as two lousy packages at my local boat store.

I really want to use a manual shift trannie instead of an automatic. As you all know, there is not enough room in these kits for three pedals (and my size 11’s). I’m strongly considering cutting out the entire transmission hump, just like in an original T, and building a smaller hump. I don’t know if I want a removable hump or not but I definitely…[Read more]

Great idea! I think I’ll use that one for some of my fiberglass surgery.

My floor pan would fit in between the two sections of the main body only if I pried the body inward. I ended up recutting the pan so that I could bond the pan and body into one seamless unit, but I don’t recommend such a drastic solution to others.