1970 M715 Texas build

[dcorey1024]

Jumping right in, this project is two and half years along. Now that I have some attention to give the truck, I'll begin posting my work here so y'all can weigh in on my build. Enjoy! Comments welcomed.

I figured the cab would look more complete with the back cab panels were filled in.

[dcorey1024]

[dcorey1024]

This will be the second attempt at replacing the cab's rear cross member. The first attempt took entirely too long and consisted of cutting wedges out of the square tube and bending it under heat. This proved diffecult to calculate the angles and lengths.
Came back to it recently and had a local water jet company out of Dallas, cut the transmission tunnel face pieces. It took me a while to find the correct corresponding arc lengths. If I only had the time to teach myself how to use even a CAD program. I recently downloaded the free version of DraftSight and hope to use it in the future.

I used a table saw to cut a 1/8" groove to slide the faces next to one another.

Next I will tack in spacers cut to 2 3/4" to weld into my 3" x 2" square tube.

[dcorey1024]

[dcorey1024]

[dcorey1024]

Finished tacking in the braces for the tunnel crossmember. I was also able to cut out the crossmember I had originally plugged in. It took some effort to undo those plug welds.

Overall a productive weekend. This week I will find some 1/8" sheet metal to roll and create the top and bottom panels. Once I have both sides rolled I will Tig it together!