Project D350 Build Thread

Damn this bitch is looking good. I can't wait to get started on mine!

love your truck! keep up the good work!

I just wanted to stop in and say "wassup!" to everyone.  Times have been really hard lately.  The truck really hasn't changed much with the exception of a few more layers of body filler and part of a tailgate skin.   I'm a photographer by trade, specializing in weddings...  and the wedding industry has taken a shit.  Unfortunately that's my truck project money!   I'm also a Toyota / Lexus service tech during the day which covers my bills and food but not much more.  I'm sure I'm not the only one struggling.   Just a quick note to the rest of you... Hang in there!  Things will pick up sometime.  Right?       I talked to the guys at Grant Kustoms and they told me they could make a one off tailgate skin to accommodate my widened body for a little extra.  That total was $375.  Needless to say, that's a little too much to swallow right now.  So I went to the junkyard and cut the bed side off of another truck and welded it to the rear.  $50.  I can curve my own roll pan as soon as I can afford the tail light fillers from Grant.  Those will give me something to help match up body lines.  Who knows when that'll be!    

Edited: 5/31/2009 9:41:43 PM by Dejavu

not sure if this has been covered but for the backglass you can have a piece of plate glass cut and then tempered ... for the windsheild i would just use the stock windsheild... just bring the sides back to stock location and fill the gap in the pillars... that would certainly be your easiest option

since you basically made your own watts link, how much do you think all the parts needed cost you?

--------------------------------------------- Originally posted by NOTLONUF since you basically made your own watts link, how much do you think all the parts needed cost you? --------------------------------------------- For the watts link itself?  Unsure, brother... each adjustable link bar was $10 a piece from the junk yard.  The prop is a Camry rear wheel bearing assembly.  That was free.  The bearings in it are no good for it's intended use any more (humming at high speed) but the integrity is good enough for a watts.  The mandrel bent steel tubing cost me about $75 and miscellaneous hardware like bolts, nuts, and threaded rod another $20.  So to copy mine using all junk yard parts I'd estimate about $150 total to copy what I built.  Much better than the $400-600 that I've seen elsewhere.

--------------------------------------------- Originally posted by Dejavu Edited: 5/31/2009 9:41:43 PM by Dejavu not sure if this has been covered but for the backglass you can have a piece of plate glass cut and then tempered ... for the windsheild i would just use the stock windsheild... just bring the sides back to stock location and fill the gap in the pillars... that would certainly be your easiest option --------------------------------------------- I'll keep that in mind for the rear.  I'm going to slap a piece of Lexan in there for West Coast Nats.  I hear that scratches though.  As for the front window... only as a last resort if I can't find a larger window that's similar in size.   Maybe not even then.  I extended the pillars in Photoshop when I first split the truck to see how it looked.  It doesn't sound like much but adding 2" inches to the girth of the pillars made it look REALLY odd.  No bueno!  If nothing else works I'm just going to split two windshields down the center and cover the seam with an aluminum trim piece.

Again, I'm making updates that really aren't updates at all just to update.  Still involving project D350 of course...   The Las Vegas Chapter Freaks of Nature printed up new T shirts for 2009.  The artwork being used was kept a secret until the shirts arrived.  I nearly cried when I first saw the shirts and noticed they had chosen to include my truck.  It may not seem like a big deal to many, but after all the time and energy I've dumped into this project, it's really nice to know that my fellow club members took notice even so early in the project.   From my understanding, the theme of the shirt this year was "Freak Built" rides.  D350 appears on the lift in the background, built by Yours Truly.  Also on the shirt is one of the baddest toe crushing VW Carmen Ghia's you will ever see, built by owner Richard Jones, aka Dick Danger, and one of my favorite minis, an old school body dropped Isuzu built by owner Mark Johnson.   Thanks again guys.  Love you all.  FREAKS!     

looking awesome man! id try anything you can for the windshield like you said. maybe you could get a template of the cruve and everything youd need and go to a junk yard and start laying it on diffrent ones till you find one that is close. were doing a 57 at the shop, chopped about 1 3/4" and flush fit the glass in it all. needless to say the dude has got about 9 grand in us making the bucks and having the windshield and rear glass made...

this is one of my favorite builds in awhile. i love those wheels. at that price you stole them lol