BK9300

Still one more thing to do before the truck gets up on its tires and that is to hook up the front plow lift cylinder. Managed to get the fittings and lines attached, and had to make a change there, too. Didn't mount the cylinder in place yet, but did get a couple pics of it in place for time being. Had made the lift cylinder some time ago, but needed to add fittings for hydraulic hoses - fittings are from R & B Motion Hoses attached - A couple mock up pics of lift cylinder in place, temporarily (need to change the oversize band holding hoses together) Should be more tomorrow - take care!

It sure would help for me to acquire this skill - great info, Charles - good idea for a build thread!

Very impressive, François, wonderful engineering!

I appreciate the generous comments, Lee! Out of box or detailed build, I’ve listened to you and others talk with easy familiarity, and with authority, about trucks and your experiences with them in your lives. You, and all the others care a great deal about them and your builds show that. I’ve never operated a truck, but do have a different knowledge about them and sure have admired them most of my life. Contributing what I can to a great topic (trucks!) and hobby along the way!

Some more time in at the bench today, carrying on with the front shocks and pass through, brake pot air lines. Front shock(s) and mounts glued in place, with PE bolt heads/ends used to add detail Hose attached to brake pot and to fitting; pass through hole drilled in bracket and frame Pass through fitting(s) glued in place; PE bolt heads added to front plow support bracket Better view of poseable steering linkages Bit hard to tell through all the black paint, but steering arm linkage just passes by lower shock mount, thankfully Thought I would have a roller this past week, but didn't happen - it will for sure early next week! As always, your comments are appreciated!

Thanks very much, Lee, and glad you stopped by - always lots going on! To be fair, about the hubs and wheels, I got them from Jim Russell at M & R Wheels - good selection of machined wheels, hubs, brake drums and might even do a custom set if you're willing to wait in line! I'd include a link to the web page, but I get an error when I try - easy enough to Google them, though.

Thanks Jeff, and I appreciate the back and forth about most appropriate solution for this and thanks for the better pic!

You’re a hard man to keep to, Lee - lots of interesting trucks in your collection!

Those decals would have not been easy, over all that ribbing - dead straight and all tucked in along the edges - perfect!

Geez, ten years in the making - as said before, it must feel good to get some of your backlog cleared up. Great handy work!

Awesome art work, Ian! I'm sure it varies, but how long does it take you to produce an artwork? What software program(s) do you use?

Shocks are out in the shed, primed and drying. While waiting, started another issue that's been holdup part of the build, and that was the front plow push frame. I needed to make a connection between the lifting chains and the lift eyes on the push frame. Bad habit of mine - when I'm not sure, I take far too long to come to a solution. My pictures of the real truck weren't adequate and Jeff gave me one of his showing a better connection using clevises. I had some white metal clevises in the parts bin but needed to manipulate them a bit to get them to work. Problem I wasn't addressing is that I made the lifting eyes a long time ago and didn't think much about a chain connection - I didn't want to cut open the eye put in the clevis and then repair and paint the lifting eye (pic is a little big - I had taken the close up for a different purpose. . .) Clevises from Kit Form Services were also closed So, I drilled out the end of the clevis and part way into the 'bolt' portion, and pinned it, unglued, with 0.5mm brass rod, so I could cut/shear the clevis bolt without collapsing the bolt Was able to roll the blade back and forth, from both sides and make a clean cut through the soft white metal Then just spread the clevises gently, re-pinned them and applied a bit of thin CA glue to the cut portion of the bolt and all turned out well. Chain in background is a military 'tow' chain from AK Interactive - the links were about the right size - that I will make look a bit more new Happy with the result and now maybe I can get out of my own way and finish the front plow assembly, and be ready to attach it to lift group. Thanks for having a look, take care!

Realistic weathering escapes me! Looking forward to learning from your builds, and welcome.

Really interesting project - there may have been problems as you saw it, but sure turned out well!

Took some time off from the bench during the holidays, and was a bit under the weather, but starting back in again. A fair amount of time spent working on front shocks, but now I'm ready to paint them, get them attached to frame and add a couple bolt heads to finish them off. Brass pins will be trimmed flush - lower portion of shock can slide into upper so I can better position lower shock mount on spring once the upper mount is glued in first. Will use some Top Studio bolts and PE bolt heads to tidy everything up, once the shocks are painted. Steering links thankfully clear everything still! Should be able to re-do the front brake pod, pass through air lines and fittings today as well. Wonderful to see all the great 2024 builds in Lee's thread!

Sure is a good feeling when it all comes out as planned! Wonderful modifications, again in such tight space(s).

Your builds are very clean, and detailed, and I agree about the engine - the crossover pipe looks very realistic!

Love the look of your bumper - and like the recessed, reflective light housings!

Good choice for the wheels!

Charles, regarding the ‘how to’ aspect of your new build, you used embossed foil to replicate tread plate in your M-20 build. If you find an opportunity to do that again here, would sure be interested to see that process - will be good to follow, regardless!

Best years of GMC and Chevy pickups ever, in my opinion!

Amazing creativity, Daniel - should look spectacular all put together!

Very cool, Lee - wonderful improvement!

Nice work arounds, Ron.

Going to be fun, though, right??!!