cartronicshn
I wanna be Dave
:shock: Dave, your rig only keeps getting better, thanks for the tip you pm'd me btw"thumbsup"
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Petaluma F350 Build High Lift
- Thread starter FodigoDave
- Start date
No problem Dave. I may not have all the answers, and I wouldn't say I've been up against the same things you have, but your scale work certainly has been eclipsing mine. Also, I just noticed that NObama08 sticker. :lol: Nice detailed touch!
nice Dave, the one on the right looks sweet!
are you going to polish the cap to or just leave it the satin finish?
are you going to polish the cap to or just leave it the satin finish?
Now you can really see the difference.
FodigoDave
Quarry Creeper
I kinda like the contrast between the satin finish mounting bracket and mirror finish of the shock tower. I think I'll leave it looking that way - after the other parts are assembled and I redo the oil resevior, it'll look totally awesome.
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slither302
Rock Crawler
as far as your driver; try boiling him in water, bend him into position and cool him so it stays. And yes i've tried it and it does work:lol:
bigdodge88
RCC Addict
Those shocks turned our really cool Dave.
FodigoDave
Quarry Creeper
Val was right - getting the old man in the cab was an undertaking I didn't expect, especially with the MFC-02 unit in the cab already. And that's not to mention the receiver. Lets just say space in the cab was pretty tight.
Figure "John" had a bit of bowel and bladder surgery over the last few days as well as a complete pelvic-ectomy (If there's such a word). His backpack was removed (also in the cab - now covering the interior's MFC wire harness) and portions of his back and right shoulder were ground down to accept the MFC heat sink better. His arms were ultimately removed at the shoulders and currently, the right has been relocated with some major customizing. I was going to try the route of boiling him to mold it but after measuring, and the fixed location of this right sleeve, it just wouldn't measure out right for him to be holding the steering wheel.
After his arms were seperated at the shoulders, Working with the right arm, the sleeve was ground down to accept the new position and his shoulder was relocated once again to its anatomically correct position. A bit of new molding was done to make the sleeve look right, grooves added in the shirt after grinding.
I was so busy (and worried during this point) I didn't stop to take pics.
I had to repaint most everything (the molded resin is white after grinding), and completed the job by adding the same type of stains on his shirt it had before (although you can't see it here). The paint had to be mixed to get the right colors and now you can hardly tell all this work was done. It looks pretty natural. The dash had to be modified and adjusted to match wheel with his hand. In all - lets just say i was scared I would not be able to make it work - but persistance won over.
His left arm isn't completed yet and I'm thinking I'll have him either hold on to a grab bar inside the cab or have him hold on to the door frame.
Either way - the steering wheel and everything else from this point has to be done through that little crack in his window. (Note to self, if making a window look like it's rolled down, make sure it's down enough to at least get a finger through it instead of tweezers).
Once the truck is finished - I'll have more pics and will post it in the 1.9 photo section so everything can be seen better. Taking pics inside the house - just doesn't work out as good.
Currently inside the cab is the MFC-02 unit, the radio's receiver (that I hope never malfunctions), the driver, his backpack, a sleeping bag, his buck knife, a blue tool box, one of my 1 1/2 inch fire extinguishers, a diamond plated floor board, new dash and steering wheel, and an overhead dome light. I might add his water bottle later.
I also decided to do the shocks just a little bit differently but I think the final result gives a clean look to the truck. I Mirror polished the main shock cans - drilled the upper mounting brackets (left satin sandblasted finished) to thread some cord'age for the resevior, and used brass tubing instead of the aluminum ones earlier. A little putty in the ends of the brass closed the holes up and that can now be written off my list of things to do.
Although - I have to add back on the list the fender wells again because the job of getting John in the cab required A LOT of de-construction. The fender wells were sacrificed. I still have most of the parts from where I tore the wells apart so I should be able to fabricate them back a little easier than before. After working with construction paper molds, the styrene mold will make for a better template. I just need to get more of the stuff.
Figure "John" had a bit of bowel and bladder surgery over the last few days as well as a complete pelvic-ectomy (If there's such a word). His backpack was removed (also in the cab - now covering the interior's MFC wire harness) and portions of his back and right shoulder were ground down to accept the MFC heat sink better. His arms were ultimately removed at the shoulders and currently, the right has been relocated with some major customizing. I was going to try the route of boiling him to mold it but after measuring, and the fixed location of this right sleeve, it just wouldn't measure out right for him to be holding the steering wheel.
After his arms were seperated at the shoulders, Working with the right arm, the sleeve was ground down to accept the new position and his shoulder was relocated once again to its anatomically correct position. A bit of new molding was done to make the sleeve look right, grooves added in the shirt after grinding.
I was so busy (and worried during this point) I didn't stop to take pics.
I had to repaint most everything (the molded resin is white after grinding), and completed the job by adding the same type of stains on his shirt it had before (although you can't see it here). The paint had to be mixed to get the right colors and now you can hardly tell all this work was done. It looks pretty natural. The dash had to be modified and adjusted to match wheel with his hand. In all - lets just say i was scared I would not be able to make it work - but persistance won over.
His left arm isn't completed yet and I'm thinking I'll have him either hold on to a grab bar inside the cab or have him hold on to the door frame.
Either way - the steering wheel and everything else from this point has to be done through that little crack in his window. (Note to self, if making a window look like it's rolled down, make sure it's down enough to at least get a finger through it instead of tweezers).
Once the truck is finished - I'll have more pics and will post it in the 1.9 photo section so everything can be seen better. Taking pics inside the house - just doesn't work out as good.
Currently inside the cab is the MFC-02 unit, the radio's receiver (that I hope never malfunctions), the driver, his backpack, a sleeping bag, his buck knife, a blue tool box, one of my 1 1/2 inch fire extinguishers, a diamond plated floor board, new dash and steering wheel, and an overhead dome light. I might add his water bottle later.
I also decided to do the shocks just a little bit differently but I think the final result gives a clean look to the truck. I Mirror polished the main shock cans - drilled the upper mounting brackets (left satin sandblasted finished) to thread some cord'age for the resevior, and used brass tubing instead of the aluminum ones earlier. A little putty in the ends of the brass closed the holes up and that can now be written off my list of things to do.
Although - I have to add back on the list the fender wells again because the job of getting John in the cab required A LOT of de-construction. The fender wells were sacrificed. I still have most of the parts from where I tore the wells apart so I should be able to fabricate them back a little easier than before. After working with construction paper molds, the styrene mold will make for a better template. I just need to get more of the stuff.
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LAV25
Quarry Creeper
Would it be easier to have him hold his water bottle in the left hand? A man does get thirsty, and John Locke is tough, might not need to hold onto anything while the truck is bouncing and tilting...
-val
FodigoDave
Quarry Creeper
April 4 update
LOL - Great idea val but his shoulder still needs to be readjusted. Maybe, I'll make a water bottle holder in the cab!
New honey-do list on the truck that remains:
license plate (in progress)
winch hook (ordered) tried to make but failed miserably
rear bumper guard (and tow hitch (?))
differential rear skid pans
nerf bars to replace running boards
mud flaps
Added back on.. Fender wells
LOL - Great idea val but his shoulder still needs to be readjusted. Maybe, I'll make a water bottle holder in the cab!
New honey-do list on the truck that remains:
license plate (in progress)
winch hook (ordered) tried to make but failed miserably
rear bumper guard (and tow hitch (?))
differential rear skid pans
nerf bars to replace running boards
mud flaps
Added back on.. Fender wells
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FodigoDave
Quarry Creeper
update 4-14
I screwed up the rear bumper guard twice now (what a pain in the butt that is turning out to be) but the day was just too good to pass up.
And since I haven't road tested yet... Here's a few pics outside before returning back to the shop.
I screwed up the rear bumper guard twice now (what a pain in the butt that is turning out to be) but the day was just too good to pass up.
And since I haven't road tested yet... Here's a few pics outside before returning back to the shop.
bigdodge88
RCC Addict
Sweet, glad to see it "done"."thumbsup"
Great photos, and great truck, Dave! It's really sharp with the beefy brush guard in the front. I see you even have the front windshield with the wiper clean streaks. Nice attention to the details. The only little thing I would suggest is that you lift the rear of the pick-up box, at the hinges, to level the box out. Make a couple little shims out of 1/8" thick aluminum and drill the holes out so they match the holes in the hinge. I had to do that with my High-Lift, after raising the body and trans. It's a minor little thing. I like how your truck turned out.
FodigoDave
Quarry Creeper
Radio Testing TOPLESS
Thanks BD - Like a faucet slowing it's drip, I'm finding tiny things here and there that I overlooked or forgot about until I'll be finished. But - what the heck - it's finished as far as everything else goes. ;-)
Your SOO right - I've been racking my head to figure out a straighter approach for the BED. I recently took the pin posts and ground them down to lower it from the cab and was thinking to take the whole mounting system off and make my own so it would sit better - but after your idea - I'm thinking - might be a an easy fix to just shim up the rear of the bed. Thanks for the idea! "thumbsup"
LOL - It does look similar, fancy that!
Thanks for the kudo's everyone. This has been a fun and painful build all at the same time.
Today - was the radio test. I picked up a 6 channel from e-bay. It works good (except for reverse - seems to be tempermental) but I can ddeal with it's little quirks. The MFC unit helps to overcome any problems the radio has and it all works good. even get to run the winch with the controller. Everything is done from the radio which is nice.
Radio Testing: No more having to pose this turkey. 8) Took the bed rack off in case of any accidents during testing. Going TOPLESS."thumbsup"
Beafy Front End With Attitude !
Gatta shim that bed!
This thing articulates like a lunar rover.
Climbs like a champ and the extra ground clearance from the trannie lift make a huge difference.
Testing the lights
(LOL) Rock taking a free ride on the diff skid pan. Didn't notice till I got back to check the pics..:lol: It's light outside but needed to test the lights anyway.
Thanks BD - Like a faucet slowing it's drip, I'm finding tiny things here and there that I overlooked or forgot about until I'll be finished. But - what the heck - it's finished as far as everything else goes. ;-)
Your SOO right - I've been racking my head to figure out a straighter approach for the BED. I recently took the pin posts and ground them down to lower it from the cab and was thinking to take the whole mounting system off and make my own so it would sit better - but after your idea - I'm thinking - might be a an easy fix to just shim up the rear of the bed. Thanks for the idea! "thumbsup"
LOL - It does look similar, fancy that!
Thanks for the kudo's everyone. This has been a fun and painful build all at the same time.
Today - was the radio test. I picked up a 6 channel from e-bay. It works good (except for reverse - seems to be tempermental) but I can ddeal with it's little quirks. The MFC unit helps to overcome any problems the radio has and it all works good. even get to run the winch with the controller. Everything is done from the radio which is nice.
Radio Testing: No more having to pose this turkey. 8) Took the bed rack off in case of any accidents during testing. Going TOPLESS."thumbsup"
Beafy Front End With Attitude !
Gatta shim that bed!
This thing articulates like a lunar rover.
Climbs like a champ and the extra ground clearance from the trannie lift make a huge difference.
Testing the lights
(LOL) Rock taking a free ride on the diff skid pan. Didn't notice till I got back to check the pics..:lol: It's light outside but needed to test the lights anyway.
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Nice photos of the truck in it's natural enviorment, Dave! It's looking a little naked without the soft top on the box. Funny how the human brain gets so used to seeing things a certain way and then the change suddendly so apparent.
FodigoDave
Quarry Creeper
mid may 09
First time out - blew 2nd and 3rd gear - who needs those anyway! Right?
Roll Over test: check!
Back in the garage, needs a little tune up, then back out for round #2.
Ps. espeefan: I raised the back of the bed using the left over brass bushings after I replaced with sealed bearings. Thanks for the suggestion.
I THINK IT'S TIME TO START RIG #2 NOW!
First time out - blew 2nd and 3rd gear - who needs those anyway! Right?
Roll Over test: check!
Back in the garage, needs a little tune up, then back out for round #2.
Ps. espeefan: I raised the back of the bed using the left over brass bushings after I replaced with sealed bearings. Thanks for the suggestion.
I THINK IT'S TIME TO START RIG #2 NOW!
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slither302
Rock Crawler
those are decals;; The truck looks great but it almost seems like it needs a bigger tire to fill in that wheel well a bit. Maybe something in the 4-4.25 range. Nice work"thumbsup"
FodigoDave
Quarry Creeper
I picked up an off road decal sheet at my local hobby shop. All I really wanted it for was the KONI sticker but seemed a waste $5 just for that - so I checked to see if anything else might work. 1 Trail Master suspension, 2 KC lights, and 1 stinkin Koni. Maybe I can use the others for another project. Oh well.
The rest of the decals - I made using my printer - paint shop pro - and some clear skotch tape. My ravorite - the "USA" area tag on the tailgate. And the license plate didn't turn out that bad either.
I would like to get some taller tires (YES!) Funny, I was comparing the stock tamiya's today and even those look a tad bigger. However, small or not -I'm going to use the crap out of these tires until they're nubs!
Any suggestions on taller tires without going 2.2's? Where to get and so on...
Maybe they just need more foam!
The rest of the decals - I made using my printer - paint shop pro - and some clear skotch tape. My ravorite - the "USA" area tag on the tailgate. And the license plate didn't turn out that bad either.
I would like to get some taller tires (YES!) Funny, I was comparing the stock tamiya's today and even those look a tad bigger. However, small or not -I'm going to use the crap out of these tires until they're nubs!
Any suggestions on taller tires without going 2.2's? Where to get and so on...
Maybe they just need more foam!
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