now that's a bit of a stretch...

[gwaii]

well,work has been progressing on this thing,and the deadline is nearing(the deadline on this project is real,not just an arbitrarilly chosen date)although i haven't taken any photos of the progress.

the roof is all blended in,and about 80% of the truck is blue now.a lot of the loose stuff has been secured so almost all the annoying rattles are gone,and electrical gremlins are being excorciced from this trucks soul.

i'm at the point where i'm planning the exterior graphics.i've decided to go with 'contemporary paint effects meets traditional haida design' as my theme.
my wife is tsimshian/haida by heritage,and has always wanted a killer whale design on the truck,as this is her clan totem.the proportions of the truck lend themselves well to this design.

my plan is to make the design somewhat oversize,so it will over-extend the limits of the truck itself.in this way the forms of haida art will be expressed,and what those forms represent will take a little more investigation.

i'm starting out with a scale drawing,in this case 1/12(1''=1')and am reviewing much of my literature on the subject.
when a white man in the heart of haida territory dabbles in haida art and culture,to the point of creating a 25' long moving billboard of this subject,he must be carefull.people here take their culture very seriously,and some of the top haida artists in the world are my friends and customers.fortunately,this will not be my first foray into the subject,and my past attempts were well recieved.

in the photo above,the rectangle represents the outside dimentions of the truck,the arc is a guide to the shape of the design.
the design itself will be painted in a green pearl over the blue background,with some blue flake thrown in for extra flash.

 

[countryboy]

just read the whole tread all i can say is awesome

 

[gwaii]

just read the whole tread all i can say is awesome

thanks...that's my everyday driver/schoolbus,so it has to be done before the kids go back to school.there's a lot of stuff to get fixed up before that time comes around.

got started sketching,there's a ways to go but the basic layout is starting to take shape.

once the design is done,i'll enlarge it onto a piece of poly sheeting full size,then use this to transfer it to the truck.

 

[Colin]

very cool

 

[COPPERHEAD85]

Awesome Doc.

 

[gwaii]

Awesome Doc.

thanks,bro.

although it's not quite done in the paint department,i figured i'd throw in a photo of how the roof is looking.

it's like it belongs there,but i'll have a few minor challenges with the headliner.hard to believe,but the explorer actually has about 1 1/2'' more space between the sheet metal and the headliner than the f 350,so fitting all the sunroof stuff in and making it look good on the inside is more of a challenge than the exterior.

along with the sunroof,the overhead console and auto mirror from the explorer will be used as well as the two-way visors.

i expect to have the base paint complete by monday,and will do the graphics tues/wed.i decided i needed some copper highlights in the design,and the copper pearl will be here on tuesday,we only get two deliveries a week and i was too late to make the friday one.

 

[countryboy]

hav u ever thought of a diesel for that beast..that has to be the only thing i would consider it missing..but on a island i certain gas is cheaper than diesel.

 

[gwaii]

hav u ever thought of a diesel for that beast..that has to be the only thing i would consider it missing..but on a island i certain gas is cheaper than diesel.

i have given it some thought,and if one landed in my hands for the right price i just might go for it.
gas is a bit cheaper than diesel here,but neither is 'cheap' by any stretch of the imagination.one thing i still like about gas is being able to turn the key and be rolling before the starter's barely stopped turning.passing with the 5.8 screaming at 5500rpm can have some satisfaction as well,though when pulling a heavy trailer on the highway it would be nice to have a diesel or a big block.

this engine's so reliable i can't see it being changed out any time soon,though.

 

[compaqeo]

7.3 turbo diesel would be a great replacement when one of our heavy rains causes a hydro-lock lol

 

[gwaii]

now i've got the design almost where i want it.there's been a few revisions,and i really don't like the area of the eye,so there'll be a bit more work yet...

note the grid behind the drawing.
this is to help scale it up to this;

i had to move some furniture around to find a spot big enough(barely) to fit the poly.the grid is laid out with masking tape at 1' squares,equivelant to the 1'' grid on the drawing.

other work that's been going on,

the roof's done,racks are on and the sunroof is functional.it tilts up like this or slides back.i really like it,when at highway speeds with it open(slid back wide open) there's no wind or noise,but there is air circulation.and the dog likes to stick her head out it and catch the wind.

on the inside there's still the headliner to do,but other things are coming together.

the little overhead console is wired up,and most of the wiring for the autolamp mirror is complete.this requires running the lights through a set of relays,which is actually good because the headlight switches on these things are problematic,and mine sometimes kicks out when on high beam.the relays will take the load off the switch.

this is the autolamp mirror...i still have to swap the mirror mounts on the windshield from the explorer to mount it.while none of this stuff is too fancy compared to whats out today,it's still better than anything ever available on the mid 90's f 350.and it's from a vehicle that's of the same era.

these are some of the wiring diagrams i had to refer to for the console and auto lamps.so far everything's working well.

 

[bobbywalter]

damn....never ends with you....

 

[gwaii]

damn....never ends with you....

not till i'm dead,anyway

 

[Sunk]

I love that color!

 

[gwaii]

I love that color!

when i started mixing all the dregs together i wasn't certain if it would result in anything i could use or not.
turns out it was a good gamble.

 

[gwaii]

it took a few hours to do,but i got the design scaled up.the poly will be taped to the truck and used as a guide to mask the design.since it's on clear plastic it can be flipped to do the other side-no mirror image has to be made.

the last panel to get paint.it'll be nice to finally have the damage on this corner gone.just waiting for the primer to dry so i can sand it out and shoot it.