I'm a new in this forym i had following slammed379's thread since the beginning and in June 2014 i purchased a 1998 379 and i absolutely fell in love with it. I worked the truck for a while and on October 18 , my birthday i decided i was parking the truck and painting the frame. Well its almost a year and I still haven't finished the truck to the point where I can say it's completed, but I hope to get back on the road in the next few months. I make this thread with the hopes of sharing my experiences,obstacles, and achievents so far and learn and share opinions and advice with other fellow members.
this is the day after I purchased the truck
Lookin' good! :thumbsup
Keep taking care of it like that you'll see another 2 mil.
Thanks DoyleX I hope to get to 3 million without major work. Truck was 200k on a cat overhaul next inframe I'd like to convert to an acert or modern 3406e block and start from scratch.
I wouldn't worry about the components much at 30 yrs old. The frame after 30 yrs of northern corrosion takes a toll on every crossmember, bracket and body panel. Nowadays with all the fancy ice chemicals I'd be thinking 20yrs...
Yeah Wisconsin winters give the trucks a beating. I sand blasted the frame epoxy primer and chassis saver. The chassis saver fades in the sun and I was ok with that. My plan originally was to give it a freshening to go back trucking and take the cab and sleeper later to have more room to paint the entire frame cream color after stretching.
looking good buddy nice truck though keep taking care of it
Funny how a smaller project like painting the frame can get out of hand in a hurry ain't it? What have you been driving in the meantime?
absolutely and the budget gets out of hand pretty quick. I own a small trucking company I haven't been out in the road since March. I reorganized business early this year and didn't lease any drivers out to my company since it's hard to find honest hard working individuals. So right now I have two drivers that stay busy and earn their money and allow me to put food on the table and keep the business running. I havent made no real progress on the truck since i bought a house with 4 acres in june and a moved out of the building I was leasing in July. I can honestly say that you don't know how much stuff you got until you have to move I spent most of my summer organizing and sorting through my junk and listing on ebay and Craigslist.
These are some toolbox covers that slip over and give the truck a nice smooth look. I had a local machine shop make me some aluminum steps.
Im not planning on keeping the fenders, I just got a great deal on them. Once I start hauling I'm planning on getting a 5" drop beam and get in touch with horse to bag the axle. Then I will get some original fenders local parts house quoted me 890 for a set with liners
old style Peterbilt logo After hitting many dead ends I found Don Ridzon from OH a day he made me this emblem that he had powder coated a perfect shade of red. A couple weeks after receiving the emblem from Don my buddy in California hit gold and found 3 original emblems off old logging trucks at a state sale
Polished the door frames
Tripac painted to match
finish after completing primary cutting step of the the grill
Looks great. You are doing a lot of work there. It's so much work to go all out like that. Nice polishing. I hate polishing now and have to force myself to do it. I'll be checking back.
Thank you Fastdirt it's a lot of work but I've learned a lot. Its not an excuse but not having access to all the neccesary equipment and space kept me from doing things the way I wanted to. I can tell you the next one I build I will be stripping it down to the bare rails but first I need to get back on the road to earn some money to start construction of my building next year.
Got the hood back on and fenders mounted
Ordered this seat but ended up not liking the high back so I used it on one of the other trucks. I'm planning on getting the same seat but tan and midback
Single square headlights have been my favorite and after trying them on I didn't like the turn signals so I bought some united pacific covers didn't like the finish so I went with Rockwood but the seam bothered me so I had Carl from Rockwood tig the covers on and grind the welds smooth. The engraving on the caps added a nice touch and I'm very happy with the results
I love the front fenders and battery/tool box covers very nice. Keep up the great work!
Thank you slammed I like them as well and think they add a nice smooth round look that blends in with the shape of the fuel tanks
I tore all the interior apart to cover it completly with hushmat. Upholstery is out of the budget for now but I will getting all the upholstery done vit kenworth style
stainless exhaust pipe for the muffler
Sleeper back together and dash panels getting assembled back
Getting ready to start mocking up the mirror brackets
I can't wait to see that. That Kdub VIT is beyond old skool cool!!!! I just never understood why Pete has always had such cheap looking interior panels. You've got the burl wood door panels and dash with toggles and then panels that look like they ought to be in a 1978 single wide.
pretty
Great job and hope if i buy the 1994 379 EXD looks the same as yours. It turns out as nice as yours. Pete
Thanks Pete
I contemplated getting all the interior in 359 style but I decided that the tufting and buttons fits the truck much better. Right now the budget is very tight so interior is on hold
Well let me know when you get the truck done. If you find some business in or around SC I'd be happy to drive it for you haha.