Manky Monkey Motors

"'Ave you got a light boy?"

You've got no idea what I'm talking about have you. Allan Smethurst, 1966, The Singing Postman. Top 10 hit for the benefit of you youngsters. Beats all that hippy hoppy music any day.

Anyway. Tom has indeed got a light. 2 of 'em in fact.
He's a regular visitor to Lunatic's workshop in Basingstoke, Hants & runs a mean n moody black V6 Chevy pick-up truck. He's gradually remodelling it & has already fitted solenoid operated door locks & blanked off the original door handle openings.
This weekend's job is to swap the standard square Chevy tail lights for something a little more stylish. The new door locks came as a kit from the States, where aftermarket parts for this model are obviously more available. As far as I know, the light fitting kit came from the same company. It consists of a pressed steel panel to replace the original light & a "bucket" to recess the new light into the bodywork. It's designed to take 1980s Cadillac light units.
 
 

This is the original light, previously treated with lens tinting paint to make it blend into the bodywork.

And this is the new bit. You can see the replacement patch that wraps around the corner of the bed, to fill the hole where the old light was. Loony's already welded that in place & cut a slot for the new light to fit into.

The Caddy lights are recessed or "frenched" into the reworked body panel, using the shaped housing supplied in the kit.

Once Loony was happy with the positioning, he tacked the unit in place, ground the excess metal off flush, then fully welded it, being careful to use short bursts of weld to avoid building up too much heat, which would distort the panels.
Mr L, a grinderin' & a welderin'

A man in an apron & a funny hat.

Old light. New light.
The opening Loony cut proved too close to the tailgate, meaning the new light unit fouled the captive nuts that hold the tailgate struts, so he widened it a little to move the light outwards by 10mm or so. He'll add a thin fill-in strip down the inside edge of the light to finish it off.

Caddy chrome trim is held with a clip at the bottom & a small screw at the top. These 1980s Cadillac lights suit the Chevy incredibly well. They follow the lines of the body perfectly, with a curved outside edge & a straight inside edge, which runs down the side of the tailgate. So much cooler than the original Chevy items. Very nice.

Tom canabalised an old pair of motorcycle indicators & fitted their LED units inside the caddy housings to give amber indicators as British MOTs require, rather than the American style red ones.
Tomorrow he & Loony will tidy up this side then fit the other one. A fairly simple weekend job, but it's made a huge difference to the look of the truck. So much cooler. Well done guys.  8)
 

looks heaps better! even think it works better, larger light area = higher visibility
must be the first rod-mod to improve safety

Definitely very cool!

The kit's made by an American company called ABS. When Tom had problems with the door solenoids he bought from them, they apologised & sent him a free tailgate latch kit, which consists of a blanking plate for the old latch on the outside of the gate & a recessed panel to refit the handle on the inside for a smoother look. Guess what the next job will be.

Both lights fitted & the bare metal sprayed in zinc primer. A quick tidy up with a skim of body filler & it's ready for paint.
Nice.

Tom was back at the workshop today. He's fitting an aftermarket cab heater as his truck didn't have one when he bought it.
He's just blown the rear lights over with some black "Hammerite" paint for now, to stop the metalwork going rusty. Even without the skim of body filler & a proper spraygun paint finish, they look pretty good. You could be forgiven for thinking these were the standard fitment.

That looks very professional from the photos, Nice work guys.

looks a million times better  ;D ;D

yep looks a lot better, just needs that fog light frenching in to rear valance!!!

looks good. whats the trike thing at the side of the truck in the first photo on the thread?//

That's one of Big Darren's collection of off-road trikes. Honda I think. He's swapping the 70cc engine for a 125cc one. That involves extending the top tube of the frame though cos the cylinder head, which is almost horizontal on the engine, would foul on the front supsension. He's also planning on fitting bigger forks I believe.

if its big D,,s  he has to make it big  ;) ;)

yep its mine its a 1985 honda atc70 fitted with 125pitbike engine, yes i look daft when riding it but thats the point  ;D will post up a few pics later and some more info  ::)

It doesn't matter what you look like Big D as long as you enjoy ridding then that's the main thing
 :) :)