Re: Halfbreed - GMC Z71 + IH Extd Cab
 

Nice progress, and congrats on getting it on the road!

Re: Halfbreed - GMC Z71 + IH Extd Cab
 

Happy birthday! and congrats on the maiden voyage!

Sweet... spare parts mean your doing it right! :lol:

Re: Halfbreed - GMC Z71 + IH Extd Cab
 

Awesome! I always think about my route, is the cell phone charged?
How long till AAA can get me? :lol:

Nice work and its looking real good in that picture!

Re: Halfbreed - GMC Z71 + IH Extd Cab
 

If you mean the main bolts then no, thank goodness the big 2 are in and the starter isn't going to fall out!

But maybe they hold that heat shield over the top of the start solenoid?? I don't know man - it is bugging the crap out of me...

Halfbreed Jr.
 

Friday I drove the truck some more. Gradually gaining more confidence in the running gear... I even broke the wheels loose a couple of times. I took a buddy for a joy ride and we managed to break the back of the bench seat loose under a high-G hole shot. So Fri afternoon I repaired and reinforced the IH bench seat structure.

On Sat the weather was rainy so I did a fun little project - transplanting my MIG from the cheapo cart that came with it over to a chopped, channeled and highly customized new cart. Another half-breed?

Re: Halfbreed - GMC Z71 + IH Extd Cab
 

Nice :lol:

Re: Halfbreed - GMC Z71 + IH Extd Cab
 

Somewhere there is a poor old bag lady without her cart. Shame on you :lol:


Nice looking halfbreed cart too!! :metal:

Re: Halfbreed - GMC Z71 + IH Extd Cab
 

I let the chicken do the shady stuff. She almost fought him off. Surprisingly tough for her size.

Re: Halfbreed - GMC Z71 + IH Extd Cab
 

Another rainy morning so I surfed the internet looking at various OEM wheel options and started getting into the 17" 5x5's off 96 Impalas. This somehow led to an urge to photoshop so I took a fresh side shot of the truck. I believe that what you see in this photo is do-able. It has the 3" nose job, 17" wheels with 275/60's (about 30" diameter), the rear lowered about 4" and both front and rear fender openings moved a little.

Doing this photo was like Viagra for my project. I instantly went out in the shop and started working and didn't stop for 17 hours....:smoke:

Re: Halfbreed - GMC Z71 + IH Extd Cab
 

Halfbreed's got some rumble now!!

The funny thing was that once I started driving it - the factory muffler was too good. It felt surreal to be inside this cobbled up truck body and have the thing drive so smooth and not make any noise.

So today I took care of that "problem" by transplanting a nice 2 into 1 stainless performance muffler. Now I have a legit project truck with just the right amount of rumble to it. :metal:

Re: Halfbreed - GMC Z71 + IH Extd Cab
 

After I got the new muffler in I put a warm jacket on and took the truck out to the coast and down PCH while the sun set. If I get hit by a bus tomorrow I will have made my basic goal of building a one-off truck and cruised in it.

... but here's hoping that I live long enough to finish off a few dozen more tasks of the punch list on this project!

PS: I noticed that the rear tires seemed to break loose a lot more with the new muffler on. It must be lighter or something.

Re: Halfbreed - GMC Z71 + IH Extd Cab
 

Hmmmmm.......I never thought of the weight reduction. All mine tend to have that EXACT same problem. :lol:

Re: Halfbreed - GMC Z71 + IH Extd Cab
 

You're supposed to call the doc if it lasts more than 4hrs dude! :lol:

Not sold on the Impala wheels. But I think it will look good modern or old skool.

Re: Halfbreed - GMC Z71 + IH Extd Cab
 

Id like to see it with some white steel wheels and IH hubcaps.

Re: Halfbreed - GMC Z71 + IH Extd Cab
 

Just got in from driving her at night for the first time. I had to hold off until I replaced the broken haz switch so I could get functional turn signals.

215 miles so far! Schwing! Oh yeah I've been doing 70+ mph on the freeway and I had to verify w/GPS because it felt like 60.

Here's another set of wheels I'm interested in.

Re: Halfbreed - GMC Z71 + IH Extd Cab
 

OK I will mock it up on a photo and check it out.

Re: Halfbreed - GMC Z71 + IH Extd Cab
 

Truth be told these are the wheels I REALLY want to use. But I don't want to spend the time and $ right now to dork around converting the lug pattern.

Back when Sparky was a wee lad riding around on a Schwinn stingray and getting sunburned because sunscreen had not been invented yet, I thought these Olds rallye II's were the baddest wheel on the planet.

Re: Halfbreed - GMC Z71 + IH Extd Cab
 

TTII style eagles?

Re: Halfbreed - GMC Z71 + IH Extd Cab
 

Id like it kinda like this:

Re: Halfbreed - GMC Z71 + IH Extd Cab
 

They are J**p factory wheels off 2002/3/4 Grand Cherokees. Not so easy to find but they are affordable. 17 x ?? with 5x5 lugs.

Got any of them stacked in the corner of your shop, Frizz??;)

Re: Halfbreed - GMC Z71 + IH Extd Cab
 

Nice Welder Stand
Heres Mine!

Re: Halfbreed - GMC Z71 + IH Extd Cab
 

this is a cool build

Re: Halfbreed - GMC Z71 + IH Extd Cab
 

I have parted a few 88-98 GM trucks. Possibly crossmember bolts (?)

Re: Halfbreed - GMC Z71 + IH Extd Cab
 

Thanks - I still haven't figured it out.
I keep thinking they were holding a heat shield onto the tranny cross member. They are the same style as the other bolts around the engine bay that hold heat tin on. But I can't see where I missed anything.... and I don't have an extra heat shield left over.

Re: Halfbreed - GMC Z71 + IH Extd Cab
 

I just weighed my truck today. I came in at 4080# curb weight and I'm only missing about 200# of gear to take it to completely rigged out.

The info I have on the stock GM X-cab seems to indicate official curb weight was either 4140 or 4526#.

So my rig is either right at or just barely lighter than a stock GM X-cab. :metal: This is good because it means that using a 1/2T chassis ended up being the right move. There were some comments on the IH web where they predicted my IH body metal was going weigh so much more than the GM body that I would overload my 1/2T frame.

My front wheels are taking 2530# so my weight ratio is 62% to 38% front/rear.