1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

And so it begins. A picture of this truck was texted to my wife around Christmas 2019 from her step-dad with a message that said Merry Christmas. We didn't get to pick it up from Arkansas until last October. This gave me some time to do some research and formulate a plan.

Sorry about the matchbox car looking photos from the side. I scaled the hi-res pics to meet the size limits and that's what happens.

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

So what's the plan?

- 6.2L and 6L80
- TCI Frame
- Must be "Red" according to the boss
- Power windows (removing the vent window)
- Power door locks
- Power seats
- A/C
- Dakota Digital gauges
- Wheels and tires TBD, but probably 18s or 19s and as wide as I can go in the back w/o interference
- Gas tank under the bed with a behind the license plate access to filler cap

It took about 6 months, but I picked up a 2008 Escalade donor from auction for slightly more than the price of a used engine and tranny from one of the wrecking yards. These pics are after giving it a good cleaning inside and out before I started taking it apart. Since it was going to sit in my driveway for several weeks, I needed the HOA to think all was well while I pulled everything from under the hood and all of the front seats, electronics, and misc parts. Then over one weekend, I stripped the hood, front bumper, fenders, a couple of doors, HLs, mirrors, etc for sale on Craigslist before hauling to the Pick and Pull.

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

I pulled everything that I thought might be of value. I wish I had a place to "park" it out of sight as there were a few more items I would like to have had after the fact. I could have sold a few more parts also. Oh well. That's how you roll in the land of HOAs. :cuss:

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While all of this was going on and still a couple months from going to pick up the truck in Arkansas, I got the frame ordered and started putting it together to transfer the body parts to the new frame. This thought process is all about the limited space. Once the truck arrived, and I started dismantling it, I would only have a few days before the HOA would start complaining about a junk vehicle sitting in the driveway.

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

Next I tore the engine down and inspected it as it had a "tic" in the valvetrain that I heard when I did a preauction inspection. I knew something wasn't right, but wasn't as concerned as I knew I would be doing a basic rebuild anyway. I sent the block and crank out to the machinist and the tranny to the tranny shop to get new clutches and the tail converted to 2WD from the tail and housing for AWD.

Sorry no pics of the tear down as I was in a hurry to get it to the machinist. The tic was from a lifter that looked like it wasn't pumping up fully and was galling the lobe. But, all is not lost. I promised the boss it would go back stock. No wild or loud engine with an aggressive cam. This gave the excuse I needed to put a mild cam in it form Texas Speed. A win for the little man!:metal:

You can't really see it in the picture behind the engine, but that is the radiator from the caddy. I built a rolling test stand for the engine/tranny/radiator/exhaust so that I can hook the ECU and harness to it and check the initial fire up and tune without it being in the truck.

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

NICE!!!!!..i like it ..

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

About now, it's October and time to make a trip to Arkansas and pick up the truck. For once, with COVID in full swing and going stir crazy at home, I was looking forward to the 13 hr drive back. We have made this trip many times through the years, with and without kids and it gets old so we generally fly when given the option. The weather was good so we picked up the trailer and headed out. We only stayed for the weekend as we were expecting our first major snow storm in Colorado and got back just in time. The next weekend was nice so I started pulling it apart and determining how much rust I was going to have to deal with.

An interesting note, the tires were certainly from back in the day. They actually held air. Wow.

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

More tear down. It has rust in the usual spots: lower cowl, front half of floor, cab corners, radiator support, lower doors, but for the most part everything else seems to be solid enough to take through media blasting.

I sold the old rolling chassis to a nice guy in the Springs. He was restoring his back to stock. Said he had it since HS. That's cool. I delivered as part of the arrangement.

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

Ok. Last post for tonight. Here are a few pics of things sitting on the frame. The crappy wheels and tires look ok in the picture, but are bald and flaking the chrome and one doesn't hold air more than 48 hrs. That's ok as I picked them up off Craigslist for rollers and to estimate the size I might want to go with. These are 20 inch rims. Dropped the engine block and tranny in because, well, I couldn't help myself. Also set the seats in from the escalade for giggles.

I'll move to the rust work next. Thanks. ;)

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

Thanks. It's going to be a long journey. :)

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

I’m in for the build.

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

Nice. Going to follow your progress.

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

dude, playing the full HOA game on a top-down build, well played! awesome start to the build too.

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

As said before, nice start to the build.

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

I'll hang around for this build, nice job on everything so far...Jim

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

Thanks everyone for the kind words and encouragement.

I started next on the floors. I ended up replacing the sub-floor supports, front floor pans, inner kick panels, re-working the existing inner cowl braces and part of the bottom of the right door post. I'm waiting to weld the outer cowls until it's media blasted. At that point, I will do final welding of all the panels and filling the extra holes in the floor and cowl. I also want to do some additional bracing underneath across the floor to each door and around the tranny cover. The stock seat frame provided a lot of the floors rigidity. I'll try to use the braces for the seat mounting points also. Debating on Epoxy Primer at that point.

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

More pics of flooring and cowl work.

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

More pics... Everyone likes pics right...:lol:

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Now the passenger side. Step and repeat with additional work on the door post.

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

More of the same.... :smoke:

The black shiny appearance of the cowl braces is due to rust treatment and a rust encapsulator. At the time, I wasn't thinking about leaving that are open for blasting.

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

More pics.

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

At this point, I started working on the door bottoms. But then I started thinking that I should do a number of things while I had open access through the door bottoms. I decided to combine a number of objectives that were intertwined. I started adding the electric door locks out of the caddy along with Miata door handles and Specialty Power Windows. Doing it this way will also give me access to do a better job of rust treatment inside where media blasting won't be able to get to.

Needless to say, things turned to a snails pace as I problem solved each aspect as it relates to the other. I've currently got the passenger door mocked up, functional, and hung. I need to do final welding and complete the door bottom. Now I'm in the process of stepping and repeating the driver door. When I get this done, I'll post all the details.

More to come. Thanks

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

I like that door bottom brace, wish I'd seen/thought of it last year.

You are making great progress.

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

Looks great your making good progress...

Marc

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

Everything is lookin real good.

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

nice repair work..
question...whered you get the knurled magnets...those look nice...the ones i have are aggravating at times

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

Sorry, I don't know. They were tossed into a box of taps that I bought at auction. They are very strong. Thanks.

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

Ok. Let me catch up to where I'm at. I've got the fab work done for the Miata handles, Escalade electric door locks/latches, and electric windows. To be honest, I didn't expect this phase of the project to take so long. But, I was trying to make sure the windows, locks and handles would all work together so I spent A Lot of time bouncing back and forth, measuring, and studying things, before I made major cuts.

I found one link online where a guy did the Miata handles and Toyota door latches so that gave me hope there was room to do what I wanted.

I started with the door latches first. I made a cut about 9.5"s top to bottom to remove the stock latch.

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

Next I started the fab work for the extension pocket to hold the latch. This only added about half and inch beyond the original width of the stock latch. I made sure I didn't go beyond the lip that rises to form the side of the door. That's an important limit. This gives the Minimum depth to keep the window tracks in the stock location. There are a couple "issues" that have to be overcome for what I'm doing and I will get to in a bit.

I found a half inch bar made the correct radius.

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

I'll have some pictures for the finished pocked before being welded to the door in a bit.

One thing I struggled with was getting the three holes lined up for a nice tight fit to the top radius and the opening for the latch. It needs to be solid without movement so it doesn't loosen up over time from all the opening and closing. I didn't have any transfer punches the size I needed, so I made some. This is just one more thing that adds time with the first door.

Of course I could have ordered some, but I do most of the work on the weekends, and I didn't want to waste a weekend. And there is the fact that when I bought the lathe and mill I told the Boss they were for exactly these occasions. She asked how many "special parts" will it take to pay for themselves. I said a lot, but that's not the point. ;)

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

With the pocket mocked up and latch situated, I moved to the windows. I don't have a lot of pictures for the window work. I followed this thread for the most part. It's well documented for what has to be done for a '53 and removing the vent window for a one piece window.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...-truck.522236/

One thing I liked about their approach was ordering the window felt as 96" long and having once continuous channel.

A long drill bit is handy to get to the screw that holds the upper channel that
needs to be added. Here are some pics.

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

More pics.

The rod in the pictures at the bottom of the tracks is to set the proper width for the window. The bracket was made to be removed if needed.

Also, before I forget. It is a great help to have the bottom of the doors open. I needed to cut them open anyway to remove the rust, so I used it to my advantage. All of the work I'm doing can be done with the door bottoms on, but you better be a very patient person.

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

I would suggest that anyone doing this, should make templates along the way as it speeds things up on the second door, and provides a uniform look. I know you can only see one door at a time, but my OCD wants pairs to look the same. :sumo:

Here are a few pictures of the templates I made and used on the second door. Also, I highly recommend you take the time to make a metal template for the Miata handles if you aren't trying to weld in a sheet metal patch for the handles from the door vehicle.

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

At this point, I had the latch mocked up and working with the window rail so I started on the handles. Once I made the metal template that fit the handles I used it to carefully mark the cut lines. I place the left radius where the factory hole was for the handle. this places everything perfectly. After asking my kids and wife several times if it looked level, I made the cut. I cut just inside of the scribe line and used a Dremel to get the final fitment. You really need this to be a snug fit so there isn't movement. It fits the contour of the door well.

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

At this point, a few modifications need to be made to the Miata handle.

The push rod that attaches to the latch, needs to be extended about 1". Cutting just above the threads (or the other end) at the last straight section and welding in another piece does the job. Also, some final "tweaking/bending" gets a good and solid stroke.

The locking cylinder needs to be rotated 180 degrees to put the lever arm to the outside of the window track. This is easily done, but removing the spring lock and rotating it and replacing.

The attachment point for the push rod needs to be removed from the top of the lever arm to the bottom. It is nearly touching the glass. I didn't want to take a chance of hitting a harsh bump and it cracking the glass. Take the lever arm off, sand the rivet press on the back and punch it out. Re-drill the hole to the diameter of the pin, press it in and drop a spot weld on the back to hold it. Now is also the time to fix any broke nylon washers like I had on the passenger side.

Finally, I had to drill out and re-tap the yellow plastic connector that screws the the bottom of the push rod and attaches to the latches.

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

I figured if I was going to go through all of this, I'd add a channel for the rubber wiper to extend across the area where the vent window was. I figured a little more time here will maybe stop one more rattle or scratch on the window.

It a tedious job because it's tight working, but you can cut the remaining metal inside the door, prep it for welding and tack weld a channel in. Since this isn't structural, I was able to get enough tack welds to hold it securely that should hold up over time.

I actually got the channel from Specialty Power Windows where I bought the electric window kit. I noticed the channel they use for the spring track was a perfect size to fit the wiper. I needed to place an order anyway for the door jam conduit, so I asked them to toss in a couple 1' pieces and they did. They seem to have a quality product and want to please their customers.

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

At this point, the Miata handles were mounted, the windows were in and working, so I needed to fab something for the inside connection. I wanted to keep the stock handles inside. I'm not sure if the Boss wants the full door to be upholstered or more like stock with they trim covering the top section. So I wanted to keep my options open. Also, I'm not sure where I will place the door switch and master lock/unlock. These might go on the door or in the console. TBD.

I used the stock cable and modified it to connect to the stock handle. I removed the latch bar, and put a pin in the same hole it attached to the lever for the cable. I turned a metal sleeve to welded to the lever bracket to hold and orientate the cable.

It has a good feel and positive engagement.

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

Here are a couple pics of the door jamb, striker and a couple misc views. Right now, the jambs are just tacked in until I get the door hinges rebuilt and set the gaps properly. I will allow for final adjustments for the striker, but want to be as close as I can now. Also, you can't see it in the pics, but I took the time to hand form a half inch lip that matches the cab skin contour for spot weld seam. I don't have a lot of sheet metal working tools and simply don't have the room either, so it takes a lot of time doing it by hand. :waah:

Also, I can't find my driver striker, so I think I need to go to the Pick and Pull next weekend.

After looking for over and hour, I decided it was time to clean up the garage this weekend and reacquaint myself to my parts and put all my tools back where they belong. Bad news, I didn't find the striker. Good news, everything else is in the garage is order. :ito:

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

One last note on the Miata handle. I didn't have a key, but needed to test the swing of the cylinder. I was able to take it apart and reduce the "keys" from 8 to 4 and make it fit my Bronco glove box key. I've already ordered the new cylinder for the driver side with keys and will re-key the passenger to match. I just needed it functional for mockup.

At this point I should mention that you have to custom bend an attachment rod from the lock cylinder to the latch. Holy crap. This is very tedious and time consuming. But, when done right it gives a very positive feel for both lock and unlock. The passenger latch didn't have an extra attachment point like the driver did because the Escalade only had key access on the driver side so you have to fab both doors the same. I tried doing the driver side with the stock attachment point, but after several hours, used the method I used on the passenger side. Good news, both doors will lock and unlock with the same key even with a dead battery!

Also, careful not to lose the little springs or very small ball bearing indent if you tear into your cylinder to clean it and lube it.

Some pics.

Re: 1953 3100 "Honey-do"
 

Ok, final post for tonight I think.

This weekend was supposed to be final fitment and mockup of both doors and move to the rust repair at the bottoms. Well, I had some issues with the fitment of the driver door. So, instead of fighting several issues, I decided to rebuild the hinges. It was on the list anyway, so why not right?

The first one, I drilled off center. How I got that far off and didn't notice, I don't have a clue. Probably rushing. Well, that sent me down a path that took a day and half of my weekend! :devil:

I ended up drilling/milling both out in the end because I could not press or drive them out even with getting them cherry red with the torch. You can see the steps I went through to maintain the bore geometry of both parts of the hinge to do the final drilling to size. At one point, I had broke 2 drill bits, a third one broke off in the original pin and broke a carbide end mill milling the pin out with a hardened drill bit in it!

Boy, did it suck to be me that day. I've found it's best to just shut it down for the day and start fresh the next day when things happen like this. I go inside, sulk and the Boss says things will be better tomorrow. And, they usually are. I was lucky to get both on the driver side done and salvage the hinges. I used brass rod to keep the boar.