My J-4500

[Crankyolman]

Today I managed to get the extra headlights in and the bezels on Over my weekend I got the older style hood latch installed and the rhino grill back on. The small headlights aren't clocked quite perfectly but I can live with the little bit they are off.

Here are some pix


I ordered the bezels for the big headlights today, they should be in tomorrow. I also ordered some headlight wiring pigtails for the little ones because when I was at the junkyard the other week I forgot to get them off the '66 comet and they were about to send it to the crusher. It was actually less money to get them on Amazon than it would have cost in gas to go back to the junkyard. They should be in the day after tomorrow. I'm planning on making some covers for the brackets between turn signals and grill but I may just grind them off.

I'm very happy with my progress on the front end but getting kind of exasperated and bummed over trying to find someone to do the rust repair on the bed. I really don't see it as all that bad and don't think it would be all that difficult to do, I just don't have all that much time to work on it but I can't find anybody even willing to work on it, much less at a reasonable price. So i may just have to go ahead and buy an air compressor, welder and a few tools and see about tackling that myself even though I really don't want to. My wife said she is willing to learn to weld and take a stab at it, gotta love that. She spent a week in ICU and almost died on me 3 or 4 months ago and now she is all ready to get busy working on the truck. We just have so many other things to do. It might just be a long slow drawn out process to get this thing back to perfect.

[SOLSAKS]

hello cranky old man,

that front end and grille look awesome !!!

you are giving drivers that meet you something cool to look at,....

it must look mean coming down the road,...(nothing looks like a rhino grille)

and i love the lights you added and the custom work you did to achieve it.

much more fun to drive a cool old classic than a cookie cutter new car.

dave in NC

[Crankyolman]

hello cranky old man,

that front end and grille look awesome !!!

you are giving drivers that meet you something cool to look at,....

it must look mean coming down the road,...(nothing looks like a rhino grille)

and i love the lights you added and the custom work you did to achieve it.

much more fun to drive a cool old classic than a cookie cutter new car.

dave in NC

Thank you. It is much more fun to drive an old classic, especially one that you don't see every day and many people have never seen. I know the C10 and some of the other late 60's early 70's trucks made by the big 3 are hot right now but really those are quite common compared to an old Gladiator and the rhino really makes a statement. You know when you see a rhino grill coming at you that you are not looking at some old boring Chevy or Ford.

[Crankyolman]

The other day I got some headlight bezels from BJ's Offroad and they didn't have the shoulders for the screws so they are completely unusable So now I'm stuck waiting to hear from them before I know if they have something usable or if I have to go some other route. I'm actually considering some CJ bezels from Summit Racing or some early 50's Chevy bezels, either one looks like I can make them work but until I hear from BJ's the bezels are on hold. In the mean time I have been working on fabricating some cover plates for the lower razor grill mounts. Today I fabbed up some covers out of stainless steel for the brackets at the bottom of the header panel.

I started by making a paper template.


Once I got that how I thought it should be I cut and bent one out of aluminum.

After confirming the aluminum one fit I fabbed some out of some stainless steel I have.

One of the guys I work with is really good with a Tig welder so I got him to Tig weld them for me.


Then I ground and smoothed the welds to form corners and have begun polishing them.



Final fitment and polishing is going to take a while and I still haven't decided I want to keep the brackets they were made to cover but I'll finish them up, install them and see how I feel about it over time.

Here is what they look like at the moment


They need a bit more trimming, fitting and polishing but I kind of like them at the moment.

[Heavy_Metal_Thunder_81]

I think the bezels that BJ's sell are in fact CJ bezels.

Truck looks great! The quad headlights really make the look.

[rang-a-stang]

Truck looks great! The quad headlights really make the look.

I agree! When you first headed down this path I was thinking "I don't know man, may look awkward" but after seeing it with the 4 head lights installed, it really looks nice. Well done!

[Crankyolman]

Personally, I really like the quad headlights. To me they look like what was originally intended whereas the pie plates never really looked like they belong. Finding those New Yorker headlight mounts made installation really easy and the Newport headlight bezels make it look like it has always been that way.

I'm very disappointed in the bezels from BJ's but do hope they have a set that isn't bad. Since I don't have rhino headlight mounting plates I already know a certain amount of adapting will be requires so I have been considering some stainless steel CJ bezels Summit sells or even some early 50s Chevy pickup bezels that cost a lot less than anything for a Jeep. Of course all that is pure speculation until I hear from BJ's who still haven't gotten back to me but I expect they will tomorrow.

[Frank Ziebert]

You guys really need to quit giving me ideas. My resto is going to cost a fortune the way it is. But, dang I like those quads!

[rang-a-stang]

You guys really need to quit giving me ideas. My resto is going to cost a fortune the way it is. But, dang I like those quads!

HAHAHAHAHAHAAH!!!!!! SO TRUE!!! HAHAHAHAHAH!!!

[Crankyolman]

I'm spending way more more on mine than I intended to. My wife and I were just discussing this year's budget to try to get the body work and paint done. She is dead set against me doing the paint myself but is coming around on the bodywork since we can't seem to find anybody willing to do the rust repair. If I had a proper shop she would be OK with it but there is so much else that needs done around the house. It has been many many years since I have done a paint job and if I wind up doing it myself I am going to do some weird complicated things like I used to do because I won't be able to help myself.

The rhino conversion in itself has been a bit pricey but the extra headlights were really quite reasonable when you get down to the actual parts used. The buckets and backing plates were $2.50 each, the chrome light bulb retaining rings were also $2.50 each, the bezels from the '68 Newport were kind of pricey at $40.75 delivered for 4 of them. I could have gotten some bezels off something else at the junkyard for $10.50 each but I think these were the best option. Wiring pigtails at the junyard are $2.75 but I got mine from Amazon for $7.98. Add in a couple dollars for hardware and wire splices and I got about $60 in them. I'm pretty sure that's close to what a decent set of pie pans will sell for on eBay so it could potentially be a wash. I could also have saves around $20 if I were more organized on my junkyard trips and gotten it done for around $40. I'm a cheap bastard but I think that was money well spent.

[JPSwapMohn]

Here is what they look like at the moment


They need a bit more trimming, fitting and polishing but I kind of like them at the moment.

I dig the headlights and actually like the covers that you made for the grill mounting tabs...but... All I think about when I look at these pictures is the fact that they are going to catch and hold water, leading to rust. Or worse, leading to hidden rust that you only find later after it has eaten away your header/valence underneath.

But they sure are creative. If you don’t imagine going back to the original grill (and why would you after the quad lights and rhino?) I would recommend just grinding the mounting tabs off and welding up the little holes that will be left.

[Crankyolman]

I dig the headlights and actually like the covers that you made for the grill mounting tabs...but... All I think about when I look at these pictures is the fact that they are going to catch and hold water, leading to rust. Or worse, leading to hidden rust that you only find later after it has eaten away your header/valence underneath.

But they sure are creative. If you don’t imagine going back to the original grill (and why would you after the quad lights and rhino?) I would recommend just grinding the mounting tabs off and welding up the little holes that will be left.

In truth I doubt I will ever want to reinstall the razor grill and may just grind the tabs off as we get nearer to paint. I have considered the possibility of moisture, you can't really see it in the pictures but I have designed it with clearance so moisture shouldn't be an issue, at least no more than it had when the razor was attached to it.

[SOLSAKS]

the covers look nice....good job.

again,...nothing like a rhino coming at you on the road, GRRRRRRR !!!

way cool man.

dave in NC

[j10jim]

Get a spot welder bit and drill the spot welds off those brackets. Then a bit of welding to close the holes up, grind it smooth and then prime. When you paint the truck you will be glad you got rid of the brackets and did it right. Those quad headlights look great!

Mine are slightly different

[j10jim]

here is mine