Project Re-Gen: 1985 D350 Headed to SEMA '15!!

[MMeier]

Only 2 months to go !!

 

[Wayne M.]

Staying tuned in. Curious about the braking system mentioned.

 

[Taquache]

Here are the sculpted half inner fenders. Full removable inner fenders will be built later and will also be sculpted around all of the suspension parts.

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A Mitler Brother's bead roller is used for all of the sheetmetal parts.

 

[Taquache]

Custom door panels were built from scratch:

Initial shape was framed out with round rod.

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The panels were formed from sheetmetal

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The compound corners were hand formed using a shot bag and hammer.

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[Taquache]

The firewall was also beadrolled:

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[Taquache]

Humberto found that the roof skin had some issues so it was removed and replaced with the ridged roof out of a suburban.

Once the outer skin was removed, the inner roof was coated with POR 15:

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A slip roller was used to create bows out of square tube:

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[ENafziger]

Wow...amazing fab work. Has there been any more recent progress? Thanks for all the updates so far!!

--Eric

 

[MMeier]

Hope so SEMA starts Teusday !

 

[Taquache]

Wow...amazing fab work. Has there been any more recent progress? Thanks for all the updates so far!!

--Eric

Hope so SEMA starts Teusday !

I apologize about the delay, I have lots of updates that I will be working on during the next week.

Unfortunately I also have this difficult announcement that came a few weeks ago:

Directly from Humberto:

vulcanspecialties: Well it's been a long road and it seems I've encountered yet another roadblock. I found out this week that I was one of 300 people/vehicles that lost their spot at SEMA. That's right I've been cut short of this goal I set out to achieve early this year. This sucks and is just something out of my control!
Excuses aside its a small blessing in disguise, I am now able to slow down a bit and address a few issues I wasn't happy with and really put the quality finishing touches into this truck that it deserves. Also I can spend more time with the family and enjoy this project a little more. Nothing is changing with the project it will still be completed just a few weeks later than previously scheduled.
I am now in final assembly and can't freakin wait to see this thing together so please don't loose faith and stay tuned for the finale of this SEMA Dodge project ( now not going to SEMA) ��


While this is disappointing, Humberto is not stopping. The truck will be completed soon, everything is coming together and reassembly has already started. He is now able to extend his time frame a little and go back and repair very small custom items that do not sit well with a perfectionist even if the layman would never even notice.

Stay tuned, many more pictures coming!

Thank you all for following along!

 

[ENafziger]

Thanks for the update...I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product!

 

[avvblanc01]

such a cool build, just read through this and I'm amazed at the time invested and the quality of the fab work. This truck is a work of art!

 

[ENafziger]

Still eagerly awaiting updates!

 

[Taquache]

OK, Let's see if we can get this back on track.

I apologize for the delay, it has been a hectic month for me. But that's for a new thread!

It looks like we left off with the suburban skin grafted onto the roof of the crew cab.

Here is some of the custom bed work done:
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The bedsides were skinned and the new bed framed out. Instead of running a through bed notch and losing floor space Humberto rebuilt the bed with a raised floor. The original design of the frame and bed mounts meant that with the new raised frame rails the truck only lost a few inches of bed depth.

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Note the gooseneck ball in the truck, this dually was built for work!

The bed is also setup for an integrated track tie down system for securing motorcycles and what ever else might be hauled.

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[Taquache]

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New wheel tubs were hand formed from sheet metal, the best way to start this process is with cardboard.

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Making sure to have the correct contour:

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[ENafziger]

Yes! More, more! I love seeing one-off ingenuity and quality fab work...

 

[avvblanc01]

this build is so awesome. Wish the factory dodge hood hinges looked half as good as the ones you guys used! any updates?