1968 m715

[66stepside]

I opted to work inside today due to the downpour of rain.

The grey canvas door panels turned out pretty good. I’ll cover the top of the center console and even redo the seat upholstery with this stuff.



Edit:

The rain stopped soon enough so the brick could dry out:

Cut off the column ignition switch and auto tranny shifter, fiberglassed the innards, layed down a coat of filler to smooth it out two, or three days ago, then sanded her this afternoon, then applied another thin coat of filler to get the imperfections.



More sanding to come.

[66stepside]

Whew... a busy few months. I made some progress- fab’d brackets, welded up and mounted the front bumper.



Painted and installed the modified caddy tilt - telescoping steering column with a custom bracket (similar to a mod I did on my 66 J300):



Installed the seats and the passenger side door panel:





I bought the metal to make the brackets to mount it all to the Chevy frame, but those plans were canceled due to rain. So maybe next weekend?

I centered the bed on the rear axle and came up with 6.5” of space in-between the bed and cab. So I’ll be making a covered storage-tool box-thingy and mounting it to the bed.



But for now, I’m more interested in getting the rear bumper figured out.

The original M715 front bumper was hidden within the giant front bumper on it and when I cut that bumper down, the stock one was there. So, I might be reusing it on the back after cleaning it up of the excess metal and repairing stress cracks:



It might be too far gone, so time will tell.

EDIT:

The stock front bumper is too far gone to reuse. So a trip to the recycling yard was in order today.



The plasma cutter whittled it down to the correct length, and sliced off come excess metal, too. I skimmed over the fuglies with the grinder for a bit, then did the initial mock up, but didn’t snap pics.

The plan is to build a M series version of the civilian Gladiator’s Den Hunt style bumper so it will wrap around to the rear of the bed’s fenders.

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[glenn]

Sent you a pm.

[66stepside]

While rapping up a resto on a Commando 1/2 cab, I painted the Gladiator Grill Support I swapped in to match the base Snow Cammo theme I’m going for:



Installation of the body mounts is up next, and, of course completing the snow cammo paint.


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Edit:




Yet another edit:

A bit of bling:




They’re in need of a thorough cleaning and polishing as they’ve been in storage for awhile, but for a late night mock up, it’ll do for now.

I gotta do something about that bumper, though.

[66stepside]

I’ve been tinkering with the m715. The hydro boost is in and plumbed, I need to instal the connecting rod from the pedal to the brake booster, though.

The wiring harness is cleaned up and mounted to the firewall in the engine bay. I had to instal the Chevy K30 steering column as the caddy tilt telescoping one wouldn’t work. The column is mounted to the steering box.

The radiator fan has been moved back 1” to allow for better clearance on the aluminum radiator that came today.









The radiator is 1/4” too big for the space. So mods will have to be made for it to fit. [emoji57]


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Edit:

That wasn’t too bad:







Next up, brackets to hold it and the fan shroud together.

[glenn]

Looking good. I'm hoping this next weekend to spend some quality time with one of mine.

[66stepside]

Looking good. I'm hoping this next weekend to spend some quality time with one of mine.

Thanks!


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Edit:

The radiator is in and plumbed, I had to rework the steering column as the key wouldn’t turn due to clearance issues with the M series mounting. What a er to mod! But I’ve got the firewall collar ready to weld up, key turns just fine; so close to firing her up.



Edit:

She might end up satin black:

[66stepside]

I’m working outside, wrapping up the brake booster to pedal linkage and the steering column, and the pines are shedding their usual crap and so I popped on an LJ Wrangler Bimini/Bikini top just to catch a break from the misc pine debris.








I figure with the right amount of welding to the existing top cross braces, it might work out. It’s obviously too long, but I’m thinking of giving it a shot when I get to that point.


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[glenn]

Looking good.

[66stepside]

I’m ready to mount the M715 cab, front clip and bed to the K30 frame- the wiring harness is done, and plumbed to run; she started up! Haha, the turn signals work, too.

I took a video of the fire up, but can’t post it here- it’s a big relief to have it running. Once the body/bed are securely mounted, I’ll get the gas filler lines plumbed, and see what I can do to get the clutch linkage operational

Edit:

The cab is bolted down, so naturally I driver her out of the garage! Whew.
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