75 Dually Project - 22s and stylin

Went out this afternoon and measured the dash in both the 61 and the 75 Dually. They both match, and the centerline in the steering wheel is the same as well! Thank you GM! I also went and measured the gauge area and I think I can make the original 75 gauges work behind the 61 dash panel. Because the 75 gauge pack was modular I can move the smaller gauges closer to fit in the space of the 61. Yes I will have to fab up a bunch of new mounting points for the gauges, but I think I can get it to work even with the old printed circuit board. Very interesting, and the factory harness will bolt right up! The only other considerations are the movement of the AC/Heater controls and where to place the vents? I am sure there are a ton of other items to address, but I am leaning more and more to this idea.

An further thoughts from the crowd?

He'll yea, I would like to see that swap.

make the '61 gauges work, that would be my vote. Looking good!

During the Christmas break I have started working on a new metal working table. My idea came to me when I was in Sears doing some Christmas shopping and I came across a 26" 5 drawer box that was on clearance. Mega good deal!! I already had an older 40" box of the same height. I have had this 40" box for a very long time. So I joined the two together tonight and made one very long box.

I could have done the standard 4 leg table with casters build, but I wanted a large drawer system below the table. So my plan is to build an exoskeleton around these boxes (and try not to make it look hideous!). I will also update the casters as well. The top will be 2'x8'.

Seeing that I have a lot of family over at my house for the Christmas break I am going to put the guys to work in the shop building this beast. As I progress I will post some pics.

Here is the backbone that the cabinets and the caster wheels will be attached to. This will be on the underside of the cabinets. I will attach the upper structure to this backbone as well. It is made out of 3"x5" 1/4 wall box tubing. Super heavy stuff let me tell you!

Tomorrow I will drill and tap the holes for the casters and get the cabinets mounted to it. Should be something fun to do on Christmas afternoon!

I know this is not working on my Dually stuff, but...

So the table build is moving along . With my son's help we got all the holes drilled to mount the backbone to the boxes and the casters. My son got to use the tap set for the first time tonight. "Dad this is easy", that is until you try to do it by yourself... Then he got a quick lesson and he was off to the races!

After all the drilling and tapping we had a completed backbone, well almost... The underside got a good coat of Rustoleum black, and tomorrow night the topside will get it's coat as well. Then we can get it bolted back to the boxes for the final time.

Once that all gets completed I can move on to the top frame portion of the build and move closer to having this table up and working. And I need it soon because my dually needs a lot of work still.

That's a sweet cabinet. Hopefully the truck bed goes well. I was also thinking about a wood bed. I was a carpenter a few years back and I am fairly used to working with wood. Plus I had a wood bed in my old 55 3100 Apache that I loved. Thanks for sharing the bed structuring, I'm going to have to copy some of it.

Ryridesmotox - I dig that user name! I ride/race off road dirt bikes. Enduro and some XC stuff.

As soon as I can get this table done I will get back on the bed and finish up the frame work and the many items on the check list... Lots to do!

My Husky is laid up right now with a busted lower end. I have the parts and stuff to fix it but I have too many other things going on right now. I gotta put new valves springs and a new water pump in the V this weekend. Then after that I'm getting a dually. Breaking bones and getting concussions has lost its appeal for me since I have a house and a kid. I can't afford to be laid up for weeks on end and not able to clock in to make that money

I hear you brother! My bike stuff is waiting until I get some of the dually items checked off. Never enough money for all the projects... Oh well that is why we go to work...