1965 J200 Build, Need an Assist

[kam0327]

Hi guys.

I'm working on my 65 J200 and have been pushing hard for the past several weeks to get parts re-installed on the truck. I feel like I'm good at looking at a part and figuring out where it needs to go. I also took lots of pics (not enough) as I was tearing things down. Anyway, I'm down to just a handful of parts and I have a mounting hole on the firewall that I don't seem to have a part for.

I did a bit of searching on-line for pictures that might give me a clue and found one that looks like there's some sort of a vacuum line interconnect in that spot. Another picture (different truck) shows a grommet with some wires routing through. I also have a shop manual for this and have looked through it to no avail.

My picture is below and it appears that there was a hard part of some sort mounted there. Can someone please look at their rig and tell me what is in this spot? The spot in question is the (as I'm looking at the front of the truck), hole that is to the right of and slightly higher than the holes for the brake master cylinder and clutch master cylinder. I have a new "Painless" wiring harness that I plan on installing. I need to mount the fuse block and the logical place is over that hole. It would be a great spot to route the wiring harness through and (as I'm posting this I'm wondering) the dark shadow on the picture makes me think that's what was routed there. I'll run out to the shop and look at the old harness to see if there's a mounting flange of some sort.

Well.......As my son would say, "Boom". I went out the shop and checked the old harness. I've answered my own question. Sorry for the question but at least there are some pictures to check out




A couple of before and after pictures:



New version, painted and a little dusty.



This was my starting point.



And this is where I am now.

[rang-a-stang]

Wow! You do great work! it looks really nice! How much time has passed between your starting point and where you are now?

[kam0327]

Thanks rang-a-stang.

I actually bought the truck about five years ago and started a tear down. Unfortunately, Mom was diagnosed with Stage 4 cervical cancer about four months after I bought the truck. I did a bit of work here and there, as I could, while my sister and I cared for Mom. Sis took Monday through Friday (I work full time) and I took the weekends. Mom lasted about eleven months and then went to heaven.

My biggest problem is that I have too many hobbies Fall is my favorite time of year, as I like to hunt. So, I normally spend the summers working on the truck and set the project aside around the end of September. I also don't have any heat in my workshop, other than space heaters, so that slows things down in the winter (I'm in northern Indiana).

I actually made more progress last weekend. I was able to mount the steering column and fuse block for the new wiring harness. I also mounted the driver side inner and outer front quarter panels. I'll take some pics in the next day or two and post.

My hope for this weekend is to get the tailgate primed and painted. Body work sucks, I have a hard time reaching the point where I'm satisfied with it. I'm close on the tailgate.

Lastly, before I set it aside for the summer I'd like to get the hood painted. It's in great shape, except for a bit of a blemish. I need to try to work that out with a hammer and dolly.

Thanks.

[SOLSAKS]

I agree with Rang,....

nice truck, nice work ( nice shop too )

we don't see a lot of those trucks on here,...rare.

glad you found out where the part(s) go....

dave in NC

[kam0327]

Thanks Dave.

I've attached a few other pictures. It's certainly far from perfect but I'm pretty happy with these repairs.

The bed, before:



And after:



While working on the cab, I found pin holes all along both drip rails. I cut out all of the bad and replaced with new strip on both sides.

This pic of the driver's side. The passenger side had holes extending further back.



Cutting under way.



And



Finally, cut out (sorry, I'm bouncing from one side of the cab to the other).



Final product.



I also had some repairs on the front clip.



During repair.



Final Result (I need to buff).



Last picture is of the dash. Steering column was installed last weekend, after this pic. The instrument cluster was very dirty and the paint was in bad shape. I basically rebuilt and re-painted it. If anyone needs some flourescent orange needle paint, let me know. I'll be happy to mail you a fingernail polish-sized bottle that I used a couple of drops from



Thanks to everyone on the site, inspiring me to keep pushing forward on this project. When I hit a lull, I pull up a build thread and read through it for motivation.

[Rusty76]

wow love those old dashes. Keep at it!

[69project]

Looking clean brother. Restoring a 65 gladiator dash as well