my 98 stepside project

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DRAGGIN95

Warranty Killer!
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Sorry to hear about this man, I understand and have been there numerous times myself with my build, I would say press on though, be proud of your work as it held up well. Fix it back and make it even better than you had it before, turn the negative in to a positive. I wish I could help with it!
 
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I'm praying I can get the sport hinges to line up right. Only thing I'll have to go off of is the dimples from where my old studs were drilled out. Seen a forum where someone used a holesaw to drill theirs out and it left the studs sticking out and the new hinges slid right over them. So theoretically, the holes ShOuLd line up.. Fingers crossed
 
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There's a small step just above the hinges I can measure from as a guide. Got one hinge off.. Killed the cord drill. Now waiting on battery drill to charge.. Lol
Also cut the corner off the Sport.
Gonna be fun removing the corner off the 98.. I braced the fudge out of it..
 

GL1500

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I was reading through your "ejecto dooro" and I can't figure out what happened to eject the door. Can you post pics and give a little more detail?
 
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Oh, door is already removed..
I have an electric solenoid that pops the door catch to open the door. The intention of it was for outside access to get in the truck because the handles are shaved.
I had the old switch still inside the truck because I was supposed to disconnect it when I hooked the interior door handle up.
And I accidentally hit it instead of the sunroof button. It popped the door open while I was driving. And suicide doors instantly catch wind, so it bent the half inch thick steel hinges like they were wet noodles.. Lol Door jamb survived, door hinge pockets survived... Creased the cab corner skin where the door edge hit it.. And top half of the door the window sits in got bent.
Me and my wife tried to straighten the hinges with a mallet and I just can't get the original curve part right on them. We got it to where the door would work again and then noticed the top half the door stuck out. Tried to bend it back. Got it pretty close.. Then said screw it. Tired of messing with it. Especially when we got the door to close and latch, I broke off one of the hinge bolts.
Could be fixed. But not worth it to me..
I'm tired of having to spin around to get in the truck. It's neat getting out. But awkward getting in.. Especially in a tight parking spot.
 
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Lol, haven't been able to get photobucket to load on my phone lately. I've stripped the bed to bare metal. Decided to shave the floor access. Put bedliner on the inside of it and a roll pan. It's still sitting on a stand right now. Got a DTM primer on it. Got some fenders stripped down for it also. Gotta weld up the antenna hole then can Prime them. Also ordered a recessed tag bracket, already put it in the tail gate.
I'll try to upload pictures this week.
Been messing with an extended cab the last few days. Thought it needed a head gasket, after getting it all back together.. The head is warped. Freaken #3 & #5 cylinder has water in them.. Lol Sucks.. Just wasted over a hundred bucks on gaskets and new head bolts.. Lol
So we got a engine hoist last night, we decided to take the motor from the Sport and throw it in the extended cab. Hopefully that goes pretty easy. I'm dying to have a vehicle with an interior and mainly a stereo. Haha
Main reason for pushing to get the extended cab on the road is so I can work on the 98 more. It's really hard trying to finish it when it's my only way of getting to work and back. Fingers crossed, if this extended cab will quit fighting me, the 98 will finally be finished soon. Got everything for it to finish it. Just sucks cause you can't really jump into doing anything on it that could chance taking more than a day. Being off work on Wednesday and Sunday makes it even harder.. Lol
Hope to fab up a negative plate of a miata handle recess, and attempt to shape some metal on it for the handles. That's going to be fun.. Not...lol I tried to freehand a small recess on some scrap using a brake caliper from a train as an anvil.. Wasn't perfect but not bad for first try. So, I have a tiny bit of confidence I might be able to pull it off. I have a crappy hammer and dolly set. But, better than nothing I guess. I was able to get a dent out the bed with it and can't even find the spot anymore. Got a few other dings on it Ima try it on too.. The bed had more bondo on it than I'd ever of figured if I hadn't stripped it. Kinda sucks, but I figured there was no way an old Sport would have such a straight body unless sOmEtHiNg was hidden under that respray.. Lol But in all, it's getting there..
I'll definitely try uploading pics this week tho.
 
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Lol, haven't been able to get photobucket to load on my phone lately. I've stripped the bed to bare metal. Decided to shave the floor access. Put bedliner on the inside of it and a roll pan. It's still sitting on a stand right now. Got a DTM primer on it. Got some fenders stripped down for it also. Gotta weld up the antenna hole then can Prime them. Also ordered a recessed tag bracket, already put it in the tail gate.
I'll try to upload pictures this week.
Been messing with an extended cab the last few days. Thought it needed a head gasket, after getting it all back together.. The head is warped. Freaken #3 & #5 cylinder has water in them.. Lol Sucks.. Just wasted over a hundred bucks on gaskets and new head bolts.. Lol
So we got a engine hoist last night, we decided to take the motor from the Sport and throw it in the extended cab. Hopefully that goes pretty easy. I'm dying to have a vehicle with an interior and mainly a stereo. Haha
Main reason for pushing to get the extended cab on the road is so I can work on the 98 more. It's really hard trying to finish it when it's my only way of getting to work and back. Fingers crossed, if this extended cab will quit fighting me, the 98 will finally be finished soon. Got everything for it to finish it. Just sucks cause you can't really jump into doing anything on it that could chance taking more than a day. Being off work on Wednesday and Sunday makes it even harder.. Lol
Hope to fab up a negative plate of a miata handle recess, and attempt to shape some metal on it for the handles. That's going to be fun.. Not...lol I tried to freehand a small recess on some scrap using a brake caliper from a train as an anvil.. Wasn't perfect but not bad for first try. So, I have a tiny bit of confidence I might be able to pull it off. I have a crappy hammer and dolly set. But, better than nothing I guess. I was able to get a dent out the bed with it and can't even find the spot anymore. Got a few other dings on it Ima try it on too.. The bed had more bondo on it than I'd ever of figured if I hadn't stripped it. Kinda sucks, but I figured there was no way an old Sport would have such a straight body unless sOmEtHiNg was hidden under that respray.. Lol But in all, it's getting there..
I'll definitely try uploading pics this week tho.


AWESOME! I got to this point today and I got to your last post and was stuck in a blank stare, haha. Keep up the good work and I'll look forward to more updates! I'm gathering supplies to bag and body my 98 also, so I have learned a lot from you. One thing i would like to see more info on is the body drop, though. You never showed the front frame horns completed. If you don't have any pics I understand, worth a shot though.:headbang:
 
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