Project: No Name
 

Well I've had my '69 for a little over 3 years, and I've been a member here for almost 3. So I decided to start a build thread. (kind of) Progress goes REAL slow in my garage, my wife has been in and out of jobs for the last 4 years or so. I'll try to post up as many pics as I can, but they might not be too pretty. I am still having a hard time with the new digital camera I got for X-mas last year so they are cell phone pics. Now on the the good parts, the pics.......

Here are a few pics of the day I picked it up. Actually these are the pics from the craigslist add.
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...d39c10a51c.jpg

http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...e06462b210.jpg

http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...9c767d4d1c.jpg

Re: Project: No Name
 

As you can see from the first pics(sort of), the exhaust was hanging low, held up with wire and had some nasty leaks. And sounded like poo! So first up was a call to Jegs or Summit, i forget, to order up some new pieces. 3" cut-outs, bolt on header turndown kit which included an 18" extension and a 13.5" long turndown. And to quiet things down, not really, supper 44 Flowmasters. Here's how the kit looks laid out next to the truck....I'll try to get installed pics up soon.

http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...424091318a.jpg

The truck had a pair of bucket seats out of god knows what. they had no foam in them and they were bolted straight to the floor. And by bolted i mean 1 bolt, too small for the threads and no nut on the bottom. So I guess you could say they were just sitting in there. So I hit up this board in search for a seat. I found one Lolife99 (Keith) had for an 88-94 Chevy. The wife and i drove to Fulton, Mo. to pick it up, and made a weekend out of it by going a little farther to St. Louis. I can't find any pics of the seat, but I'll get those up soon too. Just to prove what a stand up guy Keith really is, we were talking about my truck a little. I mentioned the P.O. heated the springs to lower it and it didn't sit even and rode like crap and that i need to find some to replace them while i saved up for lowering springs. Well low and behold he just so happened to have taken the stock one out of No-Life a few days before. He told me to just take 'em. :metal: Which I still owe you a cold 6 pack of Bud's for that, Keith.

Re: Project: No Name
 

Fast forward to a few months later, maybe longer, it's all been a blur. A friend of my wife's has a '72 that he just put bags on. He had a set of 3"/5" springs that he wanted to get rid of. So I took them off his hands for really cheap. I bought a set of stock height spindles off the board, and started saving up time and money to piece together all the parts I needed to convert to 71-72 front disks. I went back and forth 9 or 10 times trying to decide between 5 or 6 lug. Time and money said 6 lug since I was having no luck finding a 5 lug rear in my price range. So i ordered up the 6 lug disk brake hardware kit from CPPJEFF. I worked out perfectly.:smoke:

I got everything up to the spindles on and ran in to a snag. For some reason, and I still don't know why, the spindles and lower A-arms would interfere at the steering stop. And not is a good way. I would have to make a 5 point turn just to turn a street corner.

http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...1106101826.jpg


So it was time for the grinder to come out, and a little help from the welder at work. I chopped down the steering stop and moved it in just to box up the bump stop bracket. Here's a few pics of the before and after..

before..
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...0318001319.jpg

after..(not really this is the opposite side of the other pic)
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...318001319a.jpg

Re: Project: No Name
 

After I got all that squared away, I ran in to another problem. The calipers that came in the CPP disk kit were different.

http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...1106101643.jpg

http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...1106101644.jpg

http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...1106101645.jpg

http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...106101645a.jpg

Not too worry I called up CPPJEFF and explained the issue I was having. They sent out a new caliper and by time the weekend rolled in it was here and waiting for me to install.

I got everything installed and brakes bleed, for now, and sitting back all fours after 2 years of sitting in the garage on jack stands. I told you things move slow at the Thomsen reidents.:lol: Well took it for a short drive just to test everything out and it rode and drove great. It needs an alignment and shocks up front, but hey, for no shocks or alignment it drove great. Here'a a pic after a drove it out of the driveway and around the corner for a photo op. The front has the 3" springs and the rear has the stock springs I got from Lolofe99.


http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...409111259a.jpg

And tucked back in, to wait for another day.

http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...0409111448.jpg

And here's a better comparison front to rear. 15x7 rims and 235/75/15 all the way around. I'd say there's a lot of real estate in those fenders.:lol:

Front..
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...0813111947.jpg

Rear..
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...813111947a.jpg

Re: Project: No Name
 

Now for the rally's i have for it. I found a set of 4 15x8's on craigslist for $20. 30 minute drive and I brought them home. I didn't like how wide they were on front so I had a decision to make. After heading to a swap meet with 68C10HotRod we found the pot of gold the end of the swap meet. We were gonna by pass this section completely but thought, "We have time let's take a look." And I'm glad we did. I got a set of 4 15x7 rallys. Not just a painted old set these were chromed. I bartered for a few minutes and ended up bringing them home for $75. Since I only have a need for 2 and these 15x7 6 luggers are hard to find already I decided to hang on to them as well. So I guess I actually have 2 sets of rims.

4 15x7's...
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...1005101541.jpg

closer shot of one...
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...1003101548.jpg

And with the caps I'm gonna run..
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...1003101547.jpg

And in the sun shine...
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...1005101544.jpg

Re: Project: No Name
 

And a shot of the stamping on the hoop....
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...1005101542.jpg

They are a little rusty but nothing a wire wheel/brush and some elbow grease can't fix. Oh and these.....
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...0805111848.jpg

http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...805111848a.jpg

Now for that pesky chrome. I was always told by my grandfather, "Chrome won't get you home!" I know cheesy but I've kinda lived that way. Anyway, I had a few good pics of the clean up but I think I forgot to save them on my phone. I read a little online about muratic acid working to etch chrome for paint. So i gave it a shot. By the way, I've used it before so I knew I needed GOOD gloves and other equipment, so I took the necessary precautions. Here's a pic during the acid bath.

http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...0501111506.jpg

It turned green right from the start. I'm told that's good, it means it's working on the chrome. I wasn't trying to strip them, just etch them enough for some paint to stick. Only time will tell it it does. If not, oh well, I'm only out time and $25-30 in materials, no biggie.

Then it was back to the old trusty tools again. Look familiar?
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...0805111848.jpg

Cleaning up the 15x 8's..
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...0805111847.jpg

And after a quick shot of this to finish off all the hard to reach spots.. Again WEAR GOOD GLOVES. This stuff works great.
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...0806111840.jpg

Re: Project: No Name
 

Then it was time for some etching primer, primer, color and clear...
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...0806111837.jpg

One down three to go..
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...813111948a.jpg

Two down two to go..:metal:
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...0813111948.jpg

That's all I have for pics of the wheels right now. The last of the batch is drying in the garage as we speak. I'll get out and get some good daylight shots of them tomorrow.

Re: Project: No Name
 

While I was out today I did get a few other things done while waiting for paint to dry. I pulled the cluster to hammer out some electrical gremlins, and got a new coat of paint on the needles and the housing. And I painted the tins the same silver as the wheels so the lights would reflect better. And dumby me forgot to take during pics. Only before and after.

Before..
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...0814111732.jpg

After 2 hours of taping, and cleaning, and retaping, then finally paint...
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...0815111240.jpg

It looks alot better in person then it does in the pics.

Re: Project: No Name
 

I also got my Bumper guards installed today too. But I'm not sure if they'll stay. they don't quite fit the aftermarket bumper right. Better pics of that tomorrow also. Sorry. I slacked a lot on the picture taking.

Before..
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...0815111022.jpg

And now the front is all guarded up...
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...0815111123.jpg

And the last shot from today, before I left for work.
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...0813111946.jpg

I also found out a few other things this weekend.
#1 working in a small 2 car garage is not fun or easy.
#2 the front corner of my bumper is tougher then me.

So take #1 and add #2 guess what you get.....


A big a$$ bruise on my shin that smelled out 1" seconds after I hit it, then went down. For some reason it still hurts alot though. Here's a pic for you to enjoy my pain.

http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...0814112223.jpg

Re: Project: No Name
 

By the way a lot of the work on the wheels was done at work. They have a WAY better air compressor then me. Plus they have high pressure wash stations through out the plant, so that worked great the clean up parts. That's the best part about working 3rd shift. But sadly that may end. I got a "promotion" and I'm getting bumped up to 2nd shift. No raise just a better shift in my opinion.

Re: Project: No Name
 

Nice work so far! Looking forward to following along!!!

Re: Project: No Name
 

thats a good lookin truck and a bad looking bruise :lol: so what are you plans for it? we need more pictures!

Re: Project: No Name
 

Signing up for this one.
Keep up the good work!

Re: Project: No Name
 

Thanks, pics can be a little deceiving though. It's got some bad rust spots, bad paint inside and out, and some crappy previous owner body work. In the long run I wanna have a nice looking, great running, daily/weekend cruiser.

Thanks Keith. To be honest with you, your truck builds and your recent progress has been motivating the heck out of me. When I log on I still spend a lot of time going back over your builds and getting more and more ideas for mine. Right now I'm at a stand still with it till I save up some scratch for parts and a trip to the exhaust shop so I can get the rear dropped down where it should be.

Re: Project: No Name
 

Well I got a few little things done this weekend. To start with, a guy from work gave me a few pointers on tuning my carb and timing, and thanks to him it runs way better now. And by that I mean, It'll stay running with out having to have the idle @ 1500, and it doesn't back fire through the carb any more.

I also spent most of the day Sunday cleaning the garage and putting together a work bench of old conveyor parts from work, and some 2x6's my stepdad gave me. So far I have about $0.00 invested in it. Not to mention it's 100% stainless steel and wood, and it all bolts together. So if I move later on in life I can break it down for easy transport. :metal:

On to the truck related parts. I decided it was time to S- or get off the pot. In other words stop procrastinating. I started the process of installing all the parts to get the back out of the clouds and into the weeds. Unfortunately, my little 25 gallon air compressor wouldn't power my impact enough to remove the U-bolts o the track bar. So all I really got accomplished in that aspect was, bolting on the 5" springs and spring cups. :waah: Not to mention I found the HARD end of a 15/16's wrench when it slipped off the track bar mount and hit me right on the bridge of my nose. And yes I cried. Not because it hurt, which it did, but because it hit just right to make my eyes water. At least that's the story I'm going with.

Attachment 799584
Out with the old, in with the new.

Attachment 799585
For some reason, someone drilled holes around the bottom of the lower driver side spring cup.

Attachment 799586

Attachment 799587

Attachment 799588
This ought to ensure things don't come loose.


While cleaning up the garage I found the spider gears I pulled out about 3 years ago to install the mini-spool. Well after driving it that long and changing directions with my truck, I decided it was time to go from "posi" back to peg leg. So out came the mini-spool and back in went the spider gears. And it was a bigger pain removing then installing the MS. But it all came out and in went the spider gears. Sorry I forgot pics.



Any way I snapped up a few pics with the camera my wife got me for X-mas or my b-day, I forget which. Here they are....

Re: Project: No Name
 

Attachment 799589
This is one of my favorite pics I took tonight.


These I was playing with the settings on my camera.
Attachment 799591

Attachment 799592

Attachment 799593

Attachment 799590
This one turned out the best. Unfortunately this camera is a pile and all the pics it takes are grainy. I guess it'll have to go on craigslist and buy one like my wifes that I know take good pics.

Re: Project: No Name
 

And a few random and some rusty shots....


Attachment 799594

Attachment 799595

Attachment 799596
Here's a shot of the exhaust that's on it now. It'll have to go. After I lowered the rear the muffler is only about 1/2" off the ground.
Attachment 799597

Attachment 799598
And a few of the the rusty drivers cab corner.

Re: Project: No Name
 

Attachment 799599
Rusty floor supports.
Attachment 799600
And a bad pic of the rusty rockers
Attachment 799601
A quick dash shot.
Attachment 799602
And all tucked in.

Re: Project: No Name
 

Here's a shot of the low buck "Frenched" side marker mod.
before:
Attachment 799604
after:
Attachment 799603


And a few shots of the seat I got from Keith (lolife99):metal:
Attachment 799605

Attachment 799606

Re: Project: No Name
 

Nice truck and nice progress on it
Posted via Mobile Device

Re: Project: No Name
 

Thanks, I'm hoping sometime in the next 2-3 years we can move in to our own house and my own garage. Maybe then I'll be able to tear her down to the bare bones and get it all straightened out.

Re: Project: No Name
 

I'm right their with you, we currently live in a townhouse with no garage. My truck is at my brothers house. If it wasn't for the fact that my brother has a 3 car garage I wouldn't be able to build this truck. I'm hoping that by the time it is done I will have a garage to put her in.

Re: Project: No Name
 

We too are in a townhouse with a VERY small 2 car garage. My wife TB parks in one side, and my '69 in the other. When ever I tear in to anything I get my a__ chewed out because she has to walk over and around stuff. :waah: All this week she decided she needed to drive my car to work, so her's never gets put back in the garage when I get home. :lol:

Re: Project: No Name
 

On a side note, I have been getting quite a bit accomplished on this old turd. Over the weekend the axle U-bolts were fighting me to come off. Well a few shot's of some penetration oil I got from board member 67C10HotRod (I forget what it's called, it's in an orange can) and a couple of big wrenches, they came loose. So off with the old lower shock mounts and on with the new. The original track bar is still fighting me to come off though, so I think tomorrow it's time to break out the cut off wheel and zip through some bolts. And while I'm throwing sparks, I might as well cut off the upper shock mounts and get the upper ECE mounts bolted in. That or the one's I made at work out of 1/4" wall 2x2 square tubing. Which ever ones give me a better shock angle. I also got all of the appropriate hardware installed for the new adjustable track bar. I just need to get that stubborn track bar out to finish that off. Sorry, no pics today. I was running late for work this morning. It's been nice working from 2-10:30PM, I can slowly roll out of bed around 11:00AM or even noon, go out and spend a few hours in the garage, and leave for work at 1:30.



On yet another side note, I've been spending a lot of time on my back this week (:lol:) looking at different routing's for my exhaust. I think I have it all figured out, but I want a few opinions on the complete setup. Right now it has some rusty/leaky long tube headers, into a 3" collector with a 3" cut out and another collector after that. Then a short 3" pipe with a slight bend to parallel it off of the frame, in to 3" super 44 Flowmasters and a 3" turn down. All the 3" and short exhaust was bought for 2 reasons.
#1. The exhaust that was on it was falling of and looked/sounded like poo.
#2. When I first bought the truck my plan was to buy/build a bad a__ small block. I wanted it to be one of the few trucks to "watch out for" when we went back home for the local car show/drag races.

My plans have changed, and now I just wanna build a low, mean sounding truck that is reliable and will turn a head or two with out have a nice paint job. Plus my budget, and this is coming from my financial consultant, AKA Wifey, is only going to be about $200-300 a month. So on to the point of the last two paragraphs.

I have a set of Flow-tech long tube headers that came with the truck when I bought it. I'm not 100% sure they are what the box says since they've been opened. I'm going to try to run them, if they work. I measured the collectors and they are 3". So I wanna run them in to 2.5" exhaust. Route the pipe over the trans x-member, through 2 4" holes to be cut later in the trailing arm x-member, and some way to mount my 3" Fm to the 2.5" pipe. I wanna reuse the 3" super 44's since they are only a couple years old, and it's been mostly in the garage most of those years. After the mufflers I'm undecided on tail pipes. Either out the side right behind or in front of the rear wheels, or out the back with a set of 3.5" stainless tips I've had since I was in school. I won them in a raffle at a car show when I was about 14-15 and I've been saving them for the right car/truck and think this is the one.

So I guess I need your opinions on the exhaust. Does everything sound doable? Any other ideas would be nice to. Thanks guys!

Re: Project: No Name
 

WOW! That was a long post. My hands hurt.

Re: Project: No Name
 

Check out my exhaust, my truck has a 5"/7" drop and the exhaust comes out the side in front of the rear tires. It is 2.5" from the headers all the way back. I have always loved side exhaust so I made it work on this truck. I also ran mine over the tranny crossmember and thru the trailing arm crossmember. If you want to re use your flows then all you would need is 3" to 2.5" reducers. Good luck with it.

Re: Project: No Name
 

I didn't get many pics this weekend, I was just trying to get a few things done. But, I did get the rear suspension all but finished. All that is left is to buy and install shocks and have the exhaust redone. :metal: I also decided it was time to wire up the reverse lights to the B&M shifter that I put in a few weeks after I bought it. So I have 1 reverse light now. The wiring on the right rear housing is messed up so I'll need to pick one up from the classifieds. It was really easy to do. The shifter comes with to switches mounted to it, one for the reverse lights and the other is a neutral safety switch. The wiring under the hood for the reverse light switch on the trans was long enough to run back in to the cab. So I just cut off the plug and put some spade connectors on to connect to the switch. Bang, done in less then 10 minutes. :metal:


Here's the only shot I took of the wiring I did. Nothing special.
Attachment 802926

Here are a few of the pics I did take.

Attachment 802910
The factory track bar was a pain in the butt to get off, so I just cut the nut off and used a gear puller I borrowed from work to get it off.

Attachment 802911
A pick I took to show how messy I am when I work on my truck. :lol:
Attachment 802912
And here it is all finished up. Minus the shocks.

Re: Project: No Name
 

Before
Attachment 802916
After
Attachment 802917

Side shot, Before
Attachment 802918
Side shot, After
Attachment 802919
rear
Attachment 802920

Re: Project: No Name
 

Here's a short video I took with my new iPhone. Just playing around with it.


http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...h_21c4e07d.jpg

Re: Project: No Name
 

Here are a few bigger pics. And WOW!! The iPhone takes way better pics then my old crappy phone. And I think I'm gonna stick with photobucket to upload my pics. They are bigger and look better IMO.

http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/e06da951.jpg

http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...409111259a.jpg

http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/346586d3.jpg

http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/968626fb.jpg

http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/f6de128d.jpg

Re: Project: No Name
 

Good job.
You know what everyone says,... "looks like the rear needs to be a little lower".
Ha.
Maybe a 1.5" drop block from member way2lo2, would be an easy fix?

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=454824

Re: Project: No Name
 

I was thinking the same thing. Is it just me or does the front look lower then 3". I bought the spring from friend I went to college with. He bought them about 5 years ago, he was pretty sure they were 3'" front 5" rear. I'm thinking the rears might not quite be 5", maybe 4" or even 3". But I'll definitely be adding a block in the rear. I have access to a lot of material and machinery at work so I think I'll make the blocks and order up the U-bolts from him.

Re: Project: No Name
 

Looks good, I agree with lolife99 I would go another 1.5" in the rear

Re: Project: No Name
 

I just saw the video for some reason, guess i missed it before lol, truck sounds really good.

Re: Project: No Name
 

Thanks, as you can see from the pics the exhaust hangs a little low now. :D So it's all gone now! :metal: Just open headers till I can afford to get exhaust done.

Re: Project: No Name
 

I still have no updates, and even less money. I need to find a better job or rob a bank. I've been tossing around the idea of an LS swap but that goes back to the no money thing. :(:whine:

Re: Project: No Name
 

I actually kind of like the rear a little higher like that... On your truck it gives it a little bit of a dont mess with me look...

Re: Project: No Name
 

Thanks longbed, I like a little bit of a rake but it has a little more then I'd like to see. On a side note, we might have my wife's truck sold. So I'll have a little money to at least get the stupid small things finished. Shocks and exhaust is all I need to have it back to daily driver status. Unfortunately, my wife's still not working so I can only get the essentials for awhile till the money turns around. :waah:

Re: Project: No Name
 

Well I have a few updates.

I finally got my shocks and mufflers ordered. I ordered the 344055 and 344068 from Kyb. I ordered them on Amazon and got them and my Magnaflow mufflers for under $250. :metal:We sold my wife Trailblazer last week so I should be able to have a few more updates. That and we'll be able to catch up on a few bills too. Since it's gone, "my" Impala will be "her" Impala and this will be my daily driver for awhile. So I needed to get a few thins done, and fast. I had to drive it to work yesterday and today. Yesterday was a loud and bouncy ride. So knowing there was a chance I'd need to drive it again today i got the shocks on last night to I could drive it and be alot safer drive. I'm looking into exhaust shops now so I can get the exhaust done. I think I'm going to run full dual exhaust out the back under the bumper. If they won't go all the way back I'll probably run them out in front of the rear tires.


Part #'s for the KYB's
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/4b08a133.jpg

Everything I ordered.
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/df8833fe.jpg

Mufflers,
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/d4c99cab.jpg

Wide open.
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/d823ce0c.jpg

Re: Project: No Name
 

A little update. I've had the shocks on for awhile and I really like the way they ride. No exhaust yet though. I was driving it everyday for a while but a carb issue popped up. When I first got the truck a friend of mine convinced me I needed to get rid of the Edelbrock 1406 that was on it and put on a Demon 750. I know know enough to know that is way too much carb for a stock 350. Well, the Demon started leaking on me and flooding on the primary side. It leaked from the primary accelerator pump, the main throttle shaft and I had fuel spraying out of the vent tube and it had a really hard time running. After a few days of me being all sad sackey and not wanting to do anything, a guy at work had a spare Holley 1850-3 600CFM that had been rebuilt and put on the shelf in his garage about a year or two ago. I got home last night and put it on. Started up after a little cranking to get gas up to the carb and ran great. It had a few little leaks. One of which was the front needle and seat. I tightened the top screw a tad and that leak went away. The last and biggest leak was from the banjo fitting for the main fuel feed line. I tried to tighten it a tad, and POP. I stripped out the threads in the bowl. :banghead: When I got to work this afternoon I asked the same guy I got the carb from if he had a spare primary bowl, which he did. I'm gonna try to get that swapped out this weekend and have it back on the road Monday. I'm not sure if I can get it done this weekend though. My wife and I are making a 7 hour drive to Tulsa Ok to get a Boxer puppy. She'll be 9 weeks on Monday. We're going to name her Gemma. I'll get some pics of her up soon. Anyway, that's all I have for now. I'm hoping to have some exhaust update soon too. :metal: