New Project, Many Questions

[jbboater]

Just bought a 68 swb chevy truck. I have been looking over this board for days and have already found answers to many of my questions. But a few I have not had any luck with.

Patch panels- What company or vendor has the best quality. I notice gmc pauls claims to have heavier stock than the rest. I need pieces to repair the wheelwell on a fleetside, rocker (inner outer) cab supports, cab corners and lower front fenders.

Welder- Planning on purchasing a mig, any input on size requirements,brand etc?

What is the "tower"? I am planning on removing the 250 six and dropping in a bbc mated to a turbo 400 or maybe an overdrive auto (suggestions) but it seems this "tower" relates to the engine size?

Thanks for the help, sorry if I missed any of the answers in other posts but I did try to find.

[Yukon Jack]

Welcome to the board. You will find the vendors on this board sell good quality parts. I have enjoyed buying from Ed with Mothertruckers, GMC Pauls, Tim with Christian's Classic Trucks and I believe I have also bought from Wes at Classic Heartbeat. You will find that each of these places are extremely knowledgeable about these trucks and that sure is nice when you have questions.

The towers are what the engine mounts attach to. The towers are different between the 6 cylinder, sbc and bbc.

[jbboater]

Thanks for the info. I appreciate it.

I have found a 77 Suburban 2WD c20 that has the motor-tranny I want (454 Turbo 400). I was hoping to use the PS, front crossmember (to convert to power discs), and air conditioner. I now realize that this truck has the 8 lug wheels. Can I salvage any of the front end or is it all useless to me?

[chevy_fatman]

from PA! since your swb is a C-10 (5 lugs) then the 8 lugs stuff is mostly useless to you, what you need is 5 lug stuff, you could sell or trade the C-20 suspension for a half ton stuff.

[rtsmith]

I would recomend a solar model 2175 , 220v welder I've had one and using it for over 15 years it welds upto half inch steel and aluminum handles any body panels you need to weld, just my opinion, good luck and welcome from Pa.

[Brainchild]

Get the best welder you can afford,you won't regret it.I bought a Lincoln Handy Core at Lowes,and I like it really well.Good welder for under $200,but I wish I had bought one with a gas hookup.Lincoln makes good welders IMO,I have an Arc by them also,good gear,decent price.

[mblackburnjr]

One thing i didnt realize at first when i swapped my 6 cyl 3 speed to 350/350 was that the crossmember for the 3 speed is rivited in. I had to hammer & chisel those bad boys.......just a heads up if yours is a 3 speed also.

[Brainchild]

Originally Posted by mblackburnjr

One thing i didnt realize at first when i swapped my 6 cyl 3 speed to 350/350 was that the crossmember for the 3 speed is rivited in. I had to hammer & chisel those bad boys.......just a heads up if yours is a 3 speed also.

Yup all standards are that way.PITA!