Builds New 80 In Virginia (3 Viewers)

[Luke111]

White Roof on the 80

These are better pictures of the white roof on the 80...I'm liking it a lot and it's easily 20 to 30 degree's cooler to the touch.....Mission Accomplished

 

[John Smith]

You certainly aren't wasting any time with the 80. Did the 55 you sold stay local? I always wanted to see that truck in person.

 

[Luke111]

The 80 is so easy to mod in comparision to the 55, the resources are endless. After picking up the 80 from the painter I headed to work and had new front rotors and pads installed so the truck now passes Va state inspection and it gave me time to install the rack.

John the 55 did not stay local...the first owner garaged it in Long Island...and now it's out west somewhere

 

[Blushin]

good lookin truck lou

 

[Luke111]

Added the front and short side rails this evening .

 

[Luke111]

Subwoofer Enclosure

The trucks headed to IPOR for a few days and I was looking for something to keep me busy. Following what others have done I built a enclosure for the Alpine 10' Shallow mount subwoofer. Got this to fit behind the panel but will most likely mount the sub on the outside of the panel.
The back of the enclosure will be fiberglass


Lou

 

[Luke111]

This sub's mounting depth is about 3 1/2 inches

 

[Luke111]

Sub Enclosure

With the advise of a fellow mudder. I taped tin foil to the back of the enclosure placed it in the cargo area and stuffed it with styrofoam peanuts to get the right shape.. stretched and stapled cloth over the shape and applied the resin..then fiberglass cloth and another coat of resin. The resin soaked cloth did not stick to the foil.. Its a bit lumpy but for my first time working with fiberglass its just fine..

Lou

 

[mickeyt]

I like the white roof. What is the mfg/color type etc?

 

[Luke111]

I like the white roof. What is the mfg/color type etc?

Good question!! I asked him to paint it white..I really didn't think about it...the only thing I know is it's not pearl..

 

[MARKTLC80]

Great looking truck, like the roof rack and whit roof. Best luck.

 

[Luke111]

Great looking truck, like the roof rack and whit roof. Best luck.

Thanks... its coming along.

Tonight I worked on a panel that will cover the storage box door and the factory subwoofer opening...considering the factory panel has i small 1/8 inch lip.. i glued a piece of 1/8 inch plywood to the back of the top panel...which is also 1/8 inch plywood.
Headed out to find vinyl to match the factory panel but couldn't find anything close so I bought brown..

In the photo's I've mocked up two version...one with the brown vinyl and the other with this black woven vinyl....this stuff is pretty tuff and very durable
Any thought's? Should I keep looking for a matching vinyl?

Lou

 

[Luke111]

Finished examples

 

[yohavos]

^Between those two, I think I'd pick the top one. I remember the work you did on your 55 with the woven, though, so it's a tough call.

Do you have any plans for a non-color-matching set of drawers or anything else in the cargo area?


Everything's looking great!

 

[Luke111]

^Between those two, I think I'd pick the top one. I remember the work you did on your 55 with the woven, though, so it's a tough call.

Do you have any plans for a non-color-matching set of drawers or anything else in the cargo area?


Everything's looking great!

Thanks, yeah I have quite a bit of the woven left... I need to see both during the day in the truck

Yes non matching drawers are in the future....I guess one could always paint the factory vinyl panels if you end up with two many colors
We have a guy who repairs leather on our used cars ...Im going to cheack with him... I think he can mix paint to match that will stick to vinyl

Lou

 

[jmvar]

Hey Lou, looks great. Looks like you have the whole fiberglass thing down.

In the future if you find yourself working with more fiberglass you may want to look into getting some quality resin from US Composites. It is much easier to work with than the auto parts store resin we talked about. Difference is you have to buy a gallon of the good stuff so that is why I suggested you get the other stuff first, to get you feet wet.

One suggestion I have is that if you throw a lot of stuff in the back of the cruiser you may want to consider using carpet to wrap the cover. I was going to use vinyl for mine but went with carpet due to availability. A week later I had a piece of steel that was in the back of the truck hit the cover and crack the fiberglass and plastic. Since it is wrapped in carpet you cant even tell. VInyl would have a big gash in it. Just something to think about.

 

[Luke111]

Hey Lou, looks great. Looks like you have the whole fiberglass thing down.

In the future if you find yourself working with more fiberglass you may want to look into getting some quality resin from US Composites. It is much easier to work with than the auto parts store resin we talked about. Difference is you have to buy a gallon of the good stuff so that is why I suggested you get the other stuff first, to get you feet wet.

One suggestion I have is that if you throw a lot of stuff in the back of the cruiser you may want to consider using carpet to wrap the cover. I was going to use vinyl for mine but went with carpet due to availability. A week later I had a piece of steel that was in the back of the truck hit the cover and crack the fiberglass and plastic. Since it is wrapped in carpet you cant even tell. VInyl would have a big gash in it. Just something to think about.

Julio, thanks for schooling me on the use of fiberglass, you took the mystery out of it.
I have a roll of the thin fuzzy carpet stuff and have thought about the pros and cons of both and should have it figured out today. Thanks agian for your help

Lou

 

[Cruiser804]

Looks great. Who did the body work for you? I am in NoVa as well and want to have this done also.

Mind if I ask what it set you back?

 

[Luke111]

Looks great. Who did the body work for you? I am in NoVa as well and want to have this done also.

Mind if I ask what it set you back?

I used Excel Autobody in Springfield Va. ( Owners name is Sean 703-912-6600) It set me back about $1K. I could have cut this down by $300 to $400 by doing the prep work... Removing the rack and headliner...run bolts back into the nutserts, grinding them off and just leave the welding and paint work to the shop.
They are a quality shop and the owner touches every job..they primed the roof and shot two coats of paint and clear... this price also included painting the two front fender flairs. I didn't really know what was involved in getting this done... if I had to do it again I would prep the truck....heck maybe sand the top and give them a clean sheet to paint...


Lou

 

[PEGUSAS]

33s run great

Good looking truck. I just purchased the same lift for my LX. This gives me a good idea as to how its gonna look. I think im gonna run bigger tires though. Looks good.

I just bought the 33" BFG A/T on a OME 2.5 lift - they run great. I have heard other have regretting going larger because it has effected street performance and they had to change speedometer gears etc.