Mudbull-68 Gladiator diesel build-need help deciding things...

[Mudbull]

Well it's been a fun weekend, things couldn't be going much smoother: Rocklaurence and I met up at his shop and he showed me his parts inventory. Honestly I think the parts have less rust than the panels that were in the accident. Thanks for helping me out rocky, I'm sure I'll need to get with you for some other odds and ends when I'm further along.



I also picked up a new radiator, as I might have said before, I've never had any overheating issues, never seen the temp gauge go over 185 on the highway pulling a couple thousand pounds. But while I'm in here I want to fix what I see as 'wrong'. The stock cummins ram radiator is 1600cu.in., (amazingly) the old c4 corvette radiator I was using was only 500cu.in. I bought a new radiator meant for a 90's chevy 6.5 diesel truck, it comes in at 1300cu.in.. After looking at things i don't think i need to do any extreme bodywork to make the new radiator fit, so far all I've had to do is notch the frame rails 1.5" down to clear the hood and will have to make my own core support to fill in the rest of the gaps, but I'm amazed how well it fits (I just hope I can still fit a condenser somewhere). There is also some slight rubbing on the valance still to address, so I'm thinking of cutting it on the centerline and accentuating its V shape (when looking overhead) to get the clearance I need.

[Mudbull]

Here is all I had to change the valance angle by

I'm waiting on some tubing to support the inner fenders before doing anymore detailed body work.

I found out today that they totaled the truck because the repair was 65% of replacement value ( 50% is the cutoff). So I need to find a clean title donor now, but still should come out even at the end of the day.

[Carnuck]

Unless it's a resale issue, rebuilt title is easy in most states unless it was written off before?

[DieselSJ]

Unless it's a resale issue, rebuilt title is easy in most states unless it was written off before?

In AZ, it is just a matter of having it inspected and showing receipts for the repairs or materials used for the repairs. They then issue a "Reconstructed" title.

[Mudbull]

That's exactly what it will be, a salvage title that I can show receipts and before/after pics to get it registered again...the insurance lady just didn't mention this over the phone when she told me it was totaled and they were going to give me replacement value. I'd have preferred this didn't happen, but it feel like I was treated fairly, I have all the paperwork finished, it's time to wait for the check and keep moving forward.

[Mudbull]

My dad deemed that the body panels straight enough for the next step, so I trailered the truck down Friday for the bodywork to be done.

With a chunk of the insurance money I put a down payment on an 06 4x4 g56 ram 3500 short bed crew cab. It has 178k miles and isn't without flaw, but it's ran great in the time I've had it. It towed the 8000+lb trailer+ kaiser with little effort (as it should be).

[DieselSJ]

Nice! A new donor for the Gladiator.

[Mudbull]

Not too much new on this thread except that my dad decided to keep the truck, so it won't be going too far. He's stripped the paint off the fenders which are very clean and have gotten them into primer.



I couldn't find a rhino grille in good shape, so I bought a fiberglass replica from a member, were going to massage the new gen hood to fit the contours before we can go further on the bodywork. The goal is to get the truck back on the road in a couple months from now

[Ra`]

What an amazing truck. I don't even know where to begin with my J200 project, LOL.

[Mudbull]

Thanks!

Here's a bit of an update, we just need to put some bezels on and I need to tig a crack shut on the fuel tank...then re-register it with the salvage title.

[rocklaurence]

Far Out! Looks good again!!!

[Ronaldwag]

Mudbull 68 Gladiator diesel build need help deciding things

Hello all, I need to remove the speedo from my 1982 rabbit caddy pickup. I have removed the dash cover by taking off the light knob and cold start knob and the dash is very exposed. I cannot figure out how to get the speedo through the opening in the dash. The opening in the dash seems too small no matter how much I jiggle the speedo and also the speedo has a big ridge on the top that gets in the way of pulling it out. Help?