September 7, 2003
I have finished painting all areas of the cab (except the interior floor) that are necessary to bolt it back to the frame. In the previous week I ordered the Cab Mounting Kit and some miscellaneous stuff from Chevy Duty. This Friday, with the help of Rich and Jim, I'm going to put the cab back on the frame. My goal is to push the frame out of the garage enough to load the cab from the rear, instead of going over the side. I think this will make it easier, and I also want to station the frame in the center of the garage for easier access.
As a side note: I completed a spreadsheet of parts for price comparison and availability from the major suppliers that I have been using. Check out the LINKS section to see it...
September 12, 2003
Rich beat me home on Friday, and by the time I got there, he had fueled up on some beer and was entertaining Sarah and the dogs with the guitar. I changed clothes, grabbed a power beverage, and out to the garage we went to make room for the nights festivities. Jim and Dorena showed up after we got the cleaning done (good timing Jim!). We let Jim fuel up on some liquid Wheaties while I snapped a couple of pictures of the bare frame - this hadn't been done since finishing the frame.
At this point, the frame has been rolled out in the driveway and the cab is staged at the rear. The idea is to walk the cab from the rear of the frame to it's resting place. If you will remember, Mike and I removed the cab over the side and it sucked! Rich and Jim grabbed the front corners and I took hold under the rear window (the front end is heavier). Piece of cake. We easily walked the cab forward until I bumped into the rear cross-member of the frame. At this point, we are maybe 2 or 3 feet shy of the target. I move over to a rear corner and Sarah and Dorena get the other rear corner and we finished the task.
Although we didn't deplete much effort, we all agreed that we shouldn't take any chances and we hydrated ourselves for the next task.
Of course there are no instructions that come with the cab mounting kit, so we confirmed with the "Factory Assembly Guide" on the mounting process and about 20 minutes later we had the thing all snug on the frame.
Next, we pushed Rusty back into the center of the garage. This way I can work on both sides of her.
About an hour has passed since I got home. As us boys set around over-hydrating ourselves, I kept staring at our accomplishment. I came up with the idea of installing the windshield. This would be another easy task to complete right? Okay, no. To make a long story short - at 1am, and after several attempts, we called it quits. We never could get the bottom corners to completely seal. Once I receive the new rear window glass, I will call out one of those mobile glass installers. I don't need another 6 hours of frustration.
Well, it looks like it took me exactly a month after receiving the cab from the blaster's, to mounting it back on the frame. This looks like a good place to end this chapter. What's in store for us in the next chapter? I have no idea - let's go to the next entry to find out!
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