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markeb01 · 11-01-2011, 08:01 PM

In 2008 the local gas station where we normally filled up converted to smog nozzles on their pumps, which complicated filling the bed floor tank fill.

When converting from side fill to floor fill I simply cut a hole through the aluminum diamond plate in the bed floor. The hole in the plywood underneath was cut about an inch smaller, so the aluminum bed plate would rest in the resulting ledge. The aircraft cap on the tank itself was about 3” below the floor level. With an unrestricted nozzle, it was easy to watch the amount of fuel entering the tank. With the smog nozzle it was difficult to get a full tank, since pressing down on the accordion hose placed the nozzle deep in the tank.

So once again my son came to the rescue and fabricated a 3” tall neck which bolted onto the tank. Next a flange was fabricated which screwed to the wooden bed floor and retained the original cut down piece of diamond plate.

I don’t have any before pictures, but here’s what the finished job looked like:

At the time I was working as many as 20 hours a day both in the office and from home, which really put a crimp in hobby progress. Much of the available time was spent cleaning up the engine compartment. After 100,000+hard commuter miles it no longer resembled a street rod. Everything was cluttered and filthy. Here’s what it looked like earlier when the truck still ran an automatic transmission:

As mentioned previously the air conditioning system was removed and trashed. The cruise control box was relocated inside of the firewall next to the heater. The 1956 Dodge horns were relocated from the driver side fender panel to behind the front bumper. Wiring that ran down the top of the passenger side fender panel was rerouted, and wires the came through various holes in the firewall were consolidated to the upper left fender panel.

Here another shot part way through the clean up:

It took another year to completely realize, but I also started thinking about cosmetically converting the engine to look like a 283/327. Here’s a link to a thread that details the project, and includes photos of the finished result:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=366853

Over time (and living with perpetual back pain) I got tired of dealing with the shank style mag wheel nuts on the vintage 1960's front wheels. It just took too much effort to line everything up for mounting, so I bought a pair of 15x5 American Racing TTO’s for the front. These have tapered seats making it a breeze to toss them on and bolt up.

11-01-2011, 08:01 PM	#50
markeb01 Senior Enthusiast Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Spokane Valley, WA Posts: 8,356	Re: Markeb01 Build Thread In 2008 the local gas station where we normally filled up converted to smog nozzles on their pumps, which complicated filling the bed floor tank fill. When converting from side fill to floor fill I simply cut a hole through the aluminum diamond plate in the bed floor. The hole in the plywood underneath was cut about an inch smaller, so the aluminum bed plate would rest in the resulting ledge. The aircraft cap on the tank itself was about 3” below the floor level. With an unrestricted nozzle, it was easy to watch the amount of fuel entering the tank. With the smog nozzle it was difficult to get a full tank, since pressing down on the accordion hose placed the nozzle deep in the tank. So once again my son came to the rescue and fabricated a 3” tall neck which bolted onto the tank. Next a flange was fabricated which screwed to the wooden bed floor and retained the original cut down piece of diamond plate. I don’t have any before pictures, but here’s what the finished job looked like: At the time I was working as many as 20 hours a day both in the office and from home, which really put a crimp in hobby progress. Much of the available time was spent cleaning up the engine compartment. After 100,000+hard commuter miles it no longer resembled a street rod. Everything was cluttered and filthy. Here’s what it looked like earlier when the truck still ran an automatic transmission: As mentioned previously the air conditioning system was removed and trashed. The cruise control box was relocated inside of the firewall next to the heater. The 1956 Dodge horns were relocated from the driver side fender panel to behind the front bumper. Wiring that ran down the top of the passenger side fender panel was rerouted, and wires the came through various holes in the firewall were consolidated to the upper left fender panel. Here another shot part way through the clean up: It took another year to completely realize, but I also started thinking about cosmetically converting the engine to look like a 283/327. Here’s a link to a thread that details the project, and includes photos of the finished result: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=366853 Over time (and living with perpetual back pain) I got tired of dealing with the shank style mag wheel nuts on the vintage 1960's front wheels. It just took too much effort to line everything up for mounting, so I bought a pair of 15x5 American Racing TTO’s for the front. These have tapered seats making it a breeze to toss them on and bolt up. Last edited by markeb01; 05-12-2012 at 08:36 PM.