I think my attempts at puns in my post titles are getting worse as this project goes on...

Not only has the diff not come back yet, but I'm told work has yet to commence. I feel a long wait coming.

In the meantime, I've finished fibreglassing and painting the fascia parts and today I've loosely installed them back in the cab with the rest of the dash. It'll need some more work on the wiring but I'm reasonably happy how this came out, considering it's all my own handiwork on this job.

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tags:  dash, fibreglass, gauges

...but the diff isn't, so my concerns regarding more delays have eventuated and there's no further progress on the rear end.

The engine mounts were completed in the meantime, and the engine dropped back into the open bay. The engine is mounted similar to factory, with the offset to the right hand side of the car, but now sits a tad higher to clear to shallower cross member. Everything will still fit neatly under the bonnet.

The steering linkage is also connected and now turning the wheels. Even without the power steering plumbed up, the steering feels solid but easy to turn.

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tags:  engine mounts, power steering

Another quick visit to the shop to how things were progressing, and sure enough, the notch work has started. The laser cut notch plates finally arrived yesterday, and this is the result a day later. As you can see from the second pic, the laser cut sides maintain the 5" height of the chassis rails, unlike off-the-shelf stuff that's around. There's a bit more boxing to do, but otherwise it'll be left in this state for a bit to ensure the engineer is happy with the work before cleaning up the welds and painting.

Hopefully the diff doesn't take half as long to come back, and the rear end can progress towards completion.

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tags:  c notch, chassis rails

No real progress to report this week, as the laser cutter has still not sent the notch plates back yet. The diff has been cleaned up of all the previous mounts, and the new 4-link mounts were tack welded in place before they remembered that the diff was going to be narrowed. They do this from the inside of the axle tubes, so the mounts needed to be permanently welded in place after that's done.

It will be narrowed to accommodate moderately larger wheels, although I do have space to go up to 15" in width. 10" and over requires full floating hubs, and since that's a bit above my budget at the moment I'll pass for now - that's perhaps something I'll consider down the track, along with a new diff housing and 31 spline axles.

Instead, I'll keep the enginer happy and stick to 9". I'll also get the rear hubs to suit the same pattern as the front end, and upgrade to disc brakes using Hoppers own kit.

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tags:  axles, differential, disc brakes, four link

There's a little more to report on the front end, with the shock towers now fitted, and the shocks in. The shocks are stiffened version usually fitted to Valiants. The rest of the brake kit has been fitted, and the steering linkage mocked up ready for completion.

The larger diameter truck tyres have been fitted to the chevy wheels, which has given the truck that extra lift to keep it safe should any part of the air bag system fail. However, as you can see from the photo, the tyre now makes contact with the master cylinder, which will require relocation.

The second photo shows how low the truck does sit to the ground without air. I'm really looking forward to seeing this same profile, but with all the panels and the tub refitted to the truck.

Progress has unfortunately stalled on the rear, as the notch plates have not yet returned from the laser cutters. The chassis is now dyna-bolted to the floor, ready to go.

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tags:  airbags, master cylinder, shocks, slammed

I called into Hoppers on the way home from work, and was greeted with more progress to report on the truck. The Jaguar front end has been fitted and fully welded into place, with the air bags fitted. The new hubs that form part of Hoppers own brake upgrade have also been added. As it sits, it's currently laying on the frame rails, so nice and low.

There's still a bit more work to do, with the shock towers to be fabricated and welded on, the rest of the brake kit fitted and the steering linkage to be completed.

The wheels are standard chevy/jag pattern steel wheels with regular car sized tyres, so when the truck tyres are fitted the chassis will sit off the ground, not quite 'laying rail' as the minitruckers would say.

The rear is has also been stripped of the diff and remaining suspension, leaving fresh chassis rails ready for notching. The templates for the notch plates have been sent to the laser cutters, and it's a decent sized notch.

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tags:  airbags, c notch, chev pattern, IFS, Jaguar

As part of my dash mods, I've been fibreglassing the old instrument and radio fascias, filling in the old holes ready for new gauge, head units, etc. Once I've got these properly filled and sanded, I'll do them in the same black paint as the dash. I've used epoxy fibreglass instead of polyester for this, for a better bond with the plastic.

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tags:  dash, epoxy, fibreglass

I've been keen to turf the bench seat for a pair of buckets, and found a pair of XR seats pulled from a BA XR8 ute. They were frame-less unfortunately, and it took some time before I found another set of seats come up for sale.

I took the frames from the second pair, which include power seats for the drivers side, and attached them to my original pair which were in much better condition. The frames will need some modifications to fit the cab's floor, but should be fairly easy to do.

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tags:  bucket seats

After a delayed start due to some other projects at the shop, (including another F100 having some rear end work done,) work was finally underway on my beast. The Jag front end will go in first, followed by work on the rear.

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After a chat with the guys from Hoppers Stoppers about brake upgrades for the Jag front end, I've decided to give them the whole truck to do. The guys had already stuck a Jag front end into a dent side (73-80) F-Truck but the owner wanted to keep the original ride height - nutter! But they showed me the work and I was confident they'd do a good job on my truck.

I made sure I got as much of the re-wiring done to be able to drive the truck there, which included ensuring the new gauges were all working and that i hadn't broken anything else. I also took off the front bumper, as the front valance was the last part that needed removal before it can be dropped.

I also spent some time working on the interior, filling holes and repainting the dash and other parts ready for installation back into the truck.

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tags:  dash, fibreglass, gauges