Project "Old Yeller"

[Cole Trickle]

About time I get this started.....

After looking for a semi clean & complete 67-72 for about 6 months I finally found my project about a month ago. There wasn't a whole lot in my area so I expanded my search and found Yeller in Huricane Utah.

The previous owners were really nice and provided lots of detailed photos/Info. After about a week of negotiating we agreed to a price and left So.Cal friday evening after work on the 400 mile trek to the land of the Mormons.

We arrived in St George at around 11:30pm and stayed the night at the inlaws. After a quick breakfast at Dennys we loaded up and headed out to Hurricane.

We arrived at the PO's house and I started looking at the truck. Truck is a factory 4 speed (sm465) 350 truck.Truck was very straight with almost zero rust.All of the lights, turn signals and horn were perfect. (truck was originally a AZ truck and garaged when the prior owner moved to Utah)

Took the truck for a quick spin around the block and she seems to motor down the road nice(crate motor with less than 20K miles...edelbrock 1406 carb/performer intake manifold).

PO gave me all paperwork for all service and maintanence performed on the truck. I have stuff dating back to 1984 including the sales contract when the 2nd owner bought it from a dealer in AZ. The second owner painted the truck yellow(no spid but truck appeared to be tan/white originally), replaced the motor and added a vintage Air AC unit.

Went back to the house handled the paperwork and jumped on the freeway for the 400 mile ride home.

[Cole Trickle]

On the way home I learned several things about Old Yeller.....

Tracks as straight as an arrow..no slop

Truck is loud and needs some sound deadning...(my dog was much happier riding in the HHR)

Brakes suck...factory drum

Truck is dead nutz reliable...... Turn the key and it starts-hit the gas and she goes. One of the reasons I liked the idea of this truck so much is the PO when asked if he would make the 400 mile trip back to So.Cal didnt hesitate for a second. He said he would drive the truck to NY and back no question if he had a gas card that would allow it...lol (BTW truck seemed to average about 13-14 mpg)

[Cole Trickle]

Got the truck home with zero issues. She ran cool and never overheated even while driving through vegas traffic on a 90 degree day.

First order of business was transferring title to CA. A trip to AAA and the local scales handled that. Truck weighed 3920lbs with 3/4 of a tank.

2nd order of business was ordering suspension and brakes from ECE. Went with there 4.5/6" deluxe kit and 6 lug discs. I also ordered up the power booster as I want this thing to stop good in the crappy So. Cal traffic.(Gotta give it up to Mark and crew at ECE. There customer service and pricing is very hard to beat!!)

[Cole Trickle]

The actuall hard core build is gonna have to wait for a bit.....For one I have had about 40 other things going on and there is a chance I might get some magazine tech article coverage on the truck so I don't want to throw away $$ if there is a chance I can get hooked up. (Only time will tell and I will wait a couple months to see if it pans out before throwing on the ECE stuff)

First big project I have been working on is a garage remodel.I need a good place to work on yeller and the truck gave me the perfect excuse to rip down the crappy shelving the prior owner put up and throw away the trashed home depot cabinets that my water heater tried to ruin when it exploded around christmas. (awesome pre$ent btw...lol)

Before...









After.....

Painted the garage black/white (got rid of the hideous blue/gray) with red chair rail all around. Also had custom cabinets made to house all the junk. The cabinet to the right of the door was made without a bottom so I can roll in my compressor and keep it out of sight. I also hung a 27" TV and built a shelf to house the stereo/dvd player as well as misc. do dads.

[Cole Trickle]

I finally found some free time this weekend and decided it was time to start cleaning up Old Yeller. First order of business was wash and a couple coats of wax. (Meguiars cleaner wax followed by Nu-Finish)

Before....As you can see the truck kind of had a pale yellow appearance. I honestly though that was the color one of the previous owners chose?





Upon closer inspection the truck might have never been waxed in its entire life. Its been washed enough to stay in decent shape (this is a 10' paint job and will last me a couple years before a full tear down)

Wife decided to help.....Must have been the begging and ultra strong margaritas...lol



Here she is with the first 2 coats out in the sun.....She is much brighter than I expected and almost a corvette yellow.(sorry for the size)









the motor semi cleaned.... started cleaning some of the wires and will zip tie or wire loom/hide it all for a clean appearance.

[Cole Trickle]

Truck is absolutely begging for new wheels and tires (20/22) and to be dumped.(next couple months...shooting to have it ready for its first appearance at the Brothers show in july)

For now I will continue to get her cleaned up and throw on some more way. (I'm going to go with Meguiars Gold class next)

[bigguy69]

i like it!!!

[nibs]

Nice! Another fellow Inland Empire person!!!

[kyull67]

Looks good! I vote chrome rims! or billet.

[gixxerpymp]

Very clean truck. Go with the billets!

[SOON2BLAZE]

I know that truck. PO taught and drove it to my sons high school. Looks good!

[Cole Trickle]

Originally Posted by SOON2BLAZE

I know that truck. PO taught and drove it to my sons high school. Looks good!

I wonder if its the PO or the PPO?

I bought it from a guy named Kent and he bought it from a local UT guy named shane?

Both guys took pretty good care of her. She needs some updating(brakes) and hot-roding but she has good bones. If you ever see the PPO around get his info for me. I would love to pick his brain about certain things he did. (I would love to know what hp level crate motor he installed and what color the truck was originally (gold and white))

[SOON2BLAZE]

I'll PM you tomorrow, I think one of my friends might know him.

[SOON2BLAZE]

tried to pm ya on the ppo's info , site states you can't be pm'd.

[Cole Trickle]

Originally Posted by SOON2BLAZE

tried to pm ya on the ppo's info , site states you can't be pm'd.

Shot you a pm....hopefully I fixed my malfunction

[turbochevy]

nice looking ride Brandin! Glad you are getting back into trucks!

She looks like my old ride, I am jealous!

[Cole Trickle]

I was informed by the wife on friday evening that she had a last second baby shower to attened in the morning and that I would be watching my 15 month old the whole day.

Woke up in the morning and decided we would take old yeller (69 shorty) for our first father son cruise. Called my buddy Rich and headed to my old place of work to hang out and show off the truck.

Packed the diaper bag strapped in the car seat and we hit the road after mom blew us kisses and took a couple pics....





My son loves the truck....I don't know what the deal is but since the day I brought her home he has had some kind of connection. He loves hanging out in the garage and almost mandates that I sit him on my lap so he can hold the wheel and grab the shifter. whats funny is he tries to bang gears and makes car noises when hes doing it...lol

Took the truck up and over the toll road.....It was about 30 miles one way and once again she ran flawlessly. cruised at about 70 mph

Once I met up with Rich and we looked over the truck we decided to throw her on the dyno to see what were working with. I knew the motor ran good but have no idea what she is taching headed down the road or what rear end gearing she has?





We drove the truck on and strapped her down...After a brief cool down we made a couple passes to see where we stood. Logan helped uncle Rich navigate the dynojet controls while sipping a cocktail...haha



Here is the dyno graph... (crate 350,factory manifolds,AC and PS)



199 rwhp
300 rwtq

Here is what I learned...... Based on the edelbrock 1406 carb and performer intake I was guessing at a 270hp/tq crate motor (this would have equated after drivetrain loss 15% to about 225 to the wheels)

My guess is the PO installed some kind of RV cam to bump up the tq and it cost some hp. The real world engine hp numbers on this truck are closer to 230hp/345 tq

We also figured out the truck is tacking about 2700 at 70 mph (she topped out at 125mph in 4th at 5,000 rpm) Based on the tranny (sm465) I would imagine I have 3:08 -3:23 gears.(my guess based on factory options)

Truck is going to need new heads,cam,headers and exhaust to get to my goal of 300rwhp.

Over all we had great day and my kid enjoyed the rumble of the truck so much he slept the whole way home........

[Dusty4x4]

wow great looking truck

[72BlckButy]

Well it's about time you start a build thread... subscribed.

[Bennydog]

nice ride, you look like you got a boy round the same age as mine... Hope to see ya round crown town!

[72BlckButy]

Any updates?

[Cole Trickle]

Originally Posted by Bennydog

nice ride, you look like you got a boy round the same age as mine... Hope to see ya round crown town!

I live up Lincoln and Foothill. If you see the truck follow me home for a cold one

My son is a tad over 16 months. He absolutely loves the truck and the whole family is rolling to the Brothers show sunday

Originally Posted by 72BlckButy

Any updates?

Yes and no.....

Been super busy since memorial.....Too many plans and things going on

I had the bed Line-Xed

I changed the rear and tranny fluid

I cleaned and painted the diff cover.

I have been waiting on an editor at street trucks to set up a lowering tech article for a new mcgaudeys(sp) lowering kit. I will hear that its gonna happen and then crickets for many many weeks.

Honestly I'm not sure what the kit consists of or if I would keep it anyways. I am gonna wait another 1-2 months to see if it happens. If not the ECE kit is going on and I will find some 20's that work.

No huge rush but its either gonna happen or not

[oldblue1968chevy]

very nice truck!!! im in for this one!

[Dieselwrencher]

Very nice truck! It cleaned up very well!

[Cole Trickle]

Originally Posted by oldblue1968chevy

very nice truck!!! im in for this one!

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Very nice truck! It cleaned up very well!

Thanks for the kind words.....

Should be a fun build. The suspension brakes and wheels will hold me over for a while. I will tear into the motor and exhaust after that. (heads/cam/headers/exhaust/electric fans)

I want the truck to be pretty dialed and fun before I tear it down and do a frame up a couple years down the road. Before that happens I will need to sell a toy or two to generate the cash flow for paint/body.