Topic: Project Toyzilla

[DeadlyPeace]

Couple small updates. I put a couple coat of paint on the back of the cab of what (I think...) will be the final color. If you look at the front rail of the bed it's a darker green that I was thinking of, but decided to go with a lighter green instead.


Here you can see the color it use to be (or I guess somewhat still is) vs the new color. The old green is actually a satin gloss which is what I used for the new color with some added white primer to lighten it up and get rid of the glossy look.

[DeadlyPeace [OP]]

Been mainly delayed on doing much work cuz I’m waiting for some bump-stops to arrive in the mail.

I coated the diamond plate with bed liner and then painted two coats to the top of the bed. I’ll do a third coat to the whole thing after painting two coats on the front.


Started on making the hold down latch. I was planning on making one like you'd find on an ammo box, but ended up finding an ammo box about a month ago that looks like it got ran over and was crushed pretty bad, but the latch was still in fair shape. I drilled out the spot welds on the front plate on the ammo box and then spot welded it into place on the truck frame.


I then removed the rod that bends through the latch and the lid (I’ll need to make it longer so it wouldn’t work). Then I bent a piece of sheet metal around the new rod I got so it was a U shape with a flat area that I drilled some holes in for spot welding to the bottom of the bed.


Now I just need the bump-stops so I can finish my bed mounts. Then I’ll be able to have the bed at full rest position to finish the hold down latch. I could just finish the latch now, but doing it after the bed mounts I’ll be able to make sure the latch won't be too loose or too tight.

For the bed mounts so for I had some extra 3” body lift spacers that I cold welded a 1/2” bolt into one end and the other end I’ll cold weld a nut for the mounting the bump-stop. For the bolt I ground the head down so that it was a little bigger then the hole then drilled the all, but 1” of the hole to size of the head. Put some cold weld on the bolt and slipped down in the hole and put some cold weld over the top of the head too.


Hopefully within the week I should get the bump stops then I can finish the bed other then adding the lower rails under the bed which as I mentioned above that I’m waiting till I get the actuator for it. Although I have been thinking about making them removable, or at least the left side for making it easier to work on the hinge when needed.

I might start on the rear rail tomorrow or the next day.

[DeadlyPeace [OP]]

Well made the rear rail. The flat meatal strip that's on top of the rail is just tack welded to the rear rail to hold the top of it flush with the sides while I get the hinges on.


Since I shortened the height of the rails I decided to simplify the latching pins. They originally were going to be spring loaded in both top and bottom corners of the tailgate. But instead I hinged it and used 3/8” pins to hold it up.

Making the sleeves for the pins. I started by tack welding a piece of sheet metal to a rod that was a little larger then the 3/8” pin.


I then stuck it in the vice and bent the sheet metal over then turned it 90* and bent it down again and so on till it started to overlap itself. I then cut it and welded it together and grinded the weld down.


The finished sleeve.



For drilling the holes straight through both the side rail and tailgate I used a piece of scrap square tubing and used the drill press to drill a hole the size of the pilot hole I was going to use. I then make where I wanted the hole and lined the hole on the scrap tubing to the mark and clamp it in place. Then drilled away. After the pilot holes was drilled all the way through I was able to drill the size hole I needed for the sleeves and know that they would be straight and level.





I then stuck the sleeves in all the way through and cut off any extra and welded the two ends. Then I used a sawall to cut the sleeves between the side rail and tailgate and grinded the extra off and welded those ends and grinded all the welds down.

Here it is finished, just need to wet sand the primer down and throw a couple coat of paint on it.

[DeadlyPeace [OP]]

Some addition pics










Here an idea of how the lower rails will be when I get around to doing them.

[locked 4x4]

That is the most bad ass flat bead that I have ever seen.

[DeadlyPeace [OP]]

Thanks for the comp. I was looking to do something a little different.

[DeadlyPeace [OP]]

Well I finally received the bump stops for the flatbed so I was able to finish the hold down latch. Here is the one of the bed mounts disassembled. At the top of the 3” body mount I drilled a hole for the nut to the bump stop to go into then used some cold weld to secure it inside.


Installed


Now for the finishing of the hold down latch. As I mentioned above I was using parts off an old ammo box. I decided to weld around the holes on the back of the latch where the rod goes through so that it was a little thicker and also drilled the holes out for a slightly wider rod. I then put the latch on the rod and started by bending the rod into shape around it. After getting it to the right shape I cut the rod and welded the ends together. Here’s the back view of the latch.


Front view


Spot-welded to the bottom of the bed


The latch in the released and latched positions



All that’s left is making a locking pin for it so it doesn’t release on the trails.

[DeadlyPeace [OP]]

I also started on the new nametag. I started with the base coat for the main color of the letters.


Then with I stencil I made out of  8.5”x 14” cardboard matting made a few marks of the general area of where it was going to be.


I then used 2” painter’s masking tape to cover the area then laid the stencil back down and traced out the letters. Then cut and removed all the unwanted tape.


Applied a few coats of the base color of what Toyzilla will be and removed the taped letters.


Next will be a fade to a lighter green at the top of the letters.

[Jud]

[locked 4x4]

Hey just out of curiosity, if the side of the bed with that latch comes down on a rock face or something, wont it rip that latch off and lift up that side of the bed??? 

[86bobbedtoy]

I think his tire would have to go bye bye before a rock could get to there.

[locked 4x4]

yea I just imagine a tire slipping off a big rock or something and the whole truck droppin down and getting an edge of that bed.  even the bed rubbin up next to a tree wrong or something might pop that latch.

[DeadlyPeace [OP]]

Just finished with the latch pin this evening. Used an old wheel stud cut down to size and drilled a hole in the end of it for the pin I picked up on the way home. The ring on the pin is spring loaded so the pin won't be able to wiggle it's way out.


A little cleaning and paint and it's good.

[DeadlyPeace [OP]]

Hey just out of curiosity, if the side of the bed with that latch comes down on a rock face or something, wont it rip that latch off and lift up that side of the bed??? 

I think his tire would have to go bye bye before a rock could get to there.

yea I just imagine a tire slipping off a big rock or something and the whole truck droppin down and getting an edge of that bed.  even the bed rubbin up next to a tree wrong or something might pop that latch.

The bed sticks out 10" past the frame and yeah the tire does give it quite a bit of potection. Plus it now has the pin to help it too. Some time in the future I will be adding side rail under the bed so I don't think it should be a problem.

[DeadlyPeace [OP]]

Just finished with the lettering tonight. Here's a full shot.


And a close up after doing the outline.

[swapped89]

WAY COOL!! good work.

[axled89]

ya i'd like to learn that .

[DeadlyPeace [OP]]

Thanks for the comp

It's not really that hard to do as long as you know how a paint gun works. Although a little practice does helps. The hardest part is the outline. Takes a little time and a good steady hand.

[DeadlyPeace [OP]]

Started working on the grille this past weekend. Got most of it done other then added in the new 5 3/4" round headlights I got and a few small touch up things I need to do.

I look all over for some 5 3/4" headlight buckets and retaining rings, but had no luck other then at a motorcycle recycler, which wanted over $100 for one. I practically felt them ripping my arm off when he told me the price. So I decided to modify some standard 7” ones that I had.

I started by checking to see which two of the indents that holds the headlight in the right position would stay lined up after resizing it. I then cut a section (about 1 1/2") out of the headlight bucket. Making sure that I didn’t remove any of the bolt holes or that the two bolt holes (near the section that I cut out) were going to be too close to each other. I did have to cut out one of the indents for lining up the headlight in that section. I then cut some slits in the top and lower lips of the bucket to make it easier to bend it into its new smaller size. After getting an ideal size I placed the headlight in position and finished shaping the bucket around it and then marking any extra that needed to be cut off. I also checked to make the cut so that the removed indent section would go there. I then cut a small section out of the top lip of each end for the indent to show through. Then spot-welded the section to the back of the bucket with two welds on each side of the cut.

Here is the old bucket and resized bucket side by side.


For the retaining rings I checked for the two tabs with holes that would line up after resizing and removed the third. I then reshaped it around the headlight and marked where to cut it at so that the ends would join together at the location of the third hole. I then spot-welded the removed tab in place at the cut section.


I then tossed them to the side (carefully) for later and started on the grille.

[DeadlyPeace [OP]]

I decided to make the grille in three pieces, two ends and a center section. Starting off with the grille ends I took the usual steps of making a cardboard pattern and cutting it out in metal form. I then worked the metal into it new shape.

For the inside ends of the end sections I folded the end of the sheet metal to make it sifter and to give it a nicer look as it meet up with the center section. This also made it so I didn’t have to make any kind of attachment (screw, bolt, etc) between the two. Also if you look to right side of the pic you can see where I welded a small piece of a rod for a peg to hold the inside end of the section in place. This giving it a nice cleaner look with no screws. 


The top half of the right end section.


After the end sections were in their basic shapes I then made the center section. This one was pretty much just cutting to size and making the two bends at the top half to match the end sections. I also made so that it would lap underneath about 1” under the each end section too. I also made it so the lower half went back a 1/2". For this I cut a piece of 1” x 1/8” square tube at a length of 3/4". I then cut it in half to make two |_| shapes and welded them into place at the lower corners so that they would be behind the bumper. Next was drilling a hole through the bumper and the half square tubes. With the center section in place and using needle nose vise-grips to hold the half square pieces tight to the bumper I drilled the holes so I could thread the half square pieces for a 1/4" bolt. Then redrilled the bumper so the bolt would slide through it. I also folded the bottom edge over to stiffen it up.


Next I put the end sections into place and marked where I was going to bend them at so they went into the center section.


Here how it is as of now. Side view.


Front view. Sorry didn’t realize this one come out so dark. I’ll see about getting a new one before the weekend and I tear into it again.


An idea of the placement of the headlights.



What’s left:
Add headlights
Cut hole for hood latch
Hide half square tube pieces
Make air way for radiator
Paint

[DeadlyPeace [OP]]

Update:

I finished with the center grille section other then cutting out the airway for radiator a while back and was working with a local fab shop on getting the design cut out of it. Meanwhile as it was there I worked on finishing the buckets and the holes in the side grille sections for the headlights.

Here’s one of the new modified round and original rectangle headlight buckets welded together.

I had to remove some of the bottom inside part of the rectangle bucket to make the lights low enough. I then welded them together from the back on the bottom and added a piece of sheet metal that went between the two buckets to support the top half. This made it so that they are still adjustable and if I for some oddball reason decide to go back to the rectangle headlights I just need to replace the buckets.

Here's the full grille with the holes for the headlights. I beveled the holes inward to add a little more of a better look to them.


And then with the headlights


While going through some of the old pics I came across this one and thought maybe I'll leave it like this (just need to put the one light back in) and call him One Eyed Jack ;D

[DeadlyPeace [OP]]

After a couple test runs on the plasma table and a little modifying of the design we finally got the design cut dialed in. Here’s the center section fresh from the shop.


Unfortunately it jumped a little from getting too hot and warping some during the cut process and a few of the letters lost their center section so I had to make new ones. Here's a close up of part of it with the sections missing.


After getting all the letters except the e's (they weren't cooperating) fixed I then attached a piece round mesh like sheet metal to the back. This took a lot of tack welds to hold everything in place. Here it is after getting cleaned up and primed.


After the mesh like sheet metal was all tacked on I went after those damn e's that were being a pain. For them I used some putty type cold weld to fill in the area where the center of the e should be. I also pushed it through the holes and smashed into the back of the mesh to hold it. After it dried I used a dermal to shape them and then sanded them down smooth.  Here's a close up of the same area as before.


This weekend I'll be painting the grille section and installing them. I will also be painting the lettering and flames on the grille, but that will be another weekend.

[DeadlyPeace [OP]]

The grille painted and installed.





An idea for how I'm going to paint the lettering and flames.

[Slolyfe]

I would back light it! that would be sick

[Slolyfe]

We had this one made at work.

[DeadlyPeace [OP]]

Was thinking about painting the front of the radiator red (or a blend from yellow to red) to bring out the lettering and flame some more and then adding one or two red neon lights depending on size and placement of them.

[DeadlyPeace [OP]]

Decided to start the weekend early and started working on the lower rail for the flatbed.

The basic shape of the rear.


Mocking up the corner. I used the magnets to hold the pieces in place instead of tack welding them on so it would come apart easy for using them for patterns for the other side.




I cut a triangle section out of both side of the end of the 1 1/2" tube to slope the top of it down to where it runs into the 1” tube.


This weekend I'll do the other corner and the rest of the rear. Then fully weld it up and moving on to the lower rails in front of the tires  and then sheeting it if I have enough time.

[DeadlyPeace [OP]]

Rear section fully welded, but just tacked at each corner to the bed. I do still need to make a small mod to the left side 1 1/2" corner tube for when the bed lifts up. Also thinking about making the lower rails removable, but not fully sure on that yet.




Got all the pieces cut for the front sections, but debating on how I want to do the front end of it. The lower corner of the 1 1/2" tube sticks out past the body. After running different Ideas through my head I decided on a simple solution that won’t take away from the strength of it. I’m going to just cut a triangle section (red dotted line) out of the bottom of the tube and then bend the side of it in to match the bodyline.