The Hangover Express

[hookedonchevys]

Well I guess its about time to put some pictures of my truck/project on here.Just like alot of other full frame off projects go,it starts with one little mod,and next thing you know Porterbuilt parts start showing up and it turns into a few years instead of the couple months like it was supposed to.I purchased this 1972 chevy pickup from a guy and his son in Camrose Alberta,in sept. of 2010.When I called the guy he told me that I could come see it but couldnt take it for a drive because its buried in the garage and hadnt been out in 3 years.I told him you better move some things because if I like it I'm driving it 500km's today.(Which is 300 miles for you folks in the US)So we went and looked at it,made a deal and headed north towards Fort Mcmurray.It had a little hesitation off of idle but other than that ran really well the whole trip.

[Rodzzilla]

Looks like a good start.

[hookedonchevys]

As you can see there were some issues with this truck that had to be addressed such as a cracked windshield,it needed some rear shocks,an intake and carb,and of course a smaller gap between the tires and fenders.Luckily at the time I was doing some machining at a finning shop where there was a mechanic there who had lots of good advice on how to remedy the situation of tire to fender gap.You guys know him as slammed64.So I ordered some 4" drop coils for the rear and cut one wrap of coil off the front.Made the truck look like it should.........For the time being anyway.

[hookedonchevys]

As you can see now that the truck sits alot lower,there are some major eyesores on the roof that are going to have to be dealt with in the future.Dont worry,I got rid of the lights and sunroof.But not quite yet in the story of the Hangover express.So as soon as it was sitting at a nice height so I could drive it around and feel good about it,It needed to run a little better.The PO told me that as far as he knew the engine was a 327.Well it had a 2 barrel carb on it so of course the second thing I did was buy an edelbrock intake and carb for it.It did run alot better but still didnt feel like it had the type of power that I figured it would need to drive me around the streets of Fort Mcmurray.

[hookedonchevys]

Well the winters in Fort Mcmurray are long and cold.But on the bright side it gives you alot of time to scheme up new ways to spend your money on old Chevy's.One day a buddy of mine called me up and said he knew of a good deal on an engine.A young fella had a 99 Tahoe and had run it into a post.The engine had just been replaced in the vehicle with a GM long block and since I could buy the whole vehicle,fuel injection would be an easy swap.Well being an old lover of fuel injection from way back I decided to abandon the edelbrock setup that I drove around the block about twice and start heading down the road of the 5.7L vortec.I payed $1200 for the Tahoe,pulled the engine,parted the rest of the good stuff out and ended up paying $400 for the engine.Instead of using the wiring harness from the truck,I decided to go with the Painless Harness for the engine,alot less time to install then trying to figure out what u need and dont need from the tahoe.

[hookedonchevys]

So it turned out that the engine I pulled out was not a 327,once I ran the numbers it was a 305.So that gave me a good indication as to why I couldnt smoke the tires with 3.07 gears.I was living at a friends house so took my project to the compound of the company that I work for to do the engine swap.

[hookedonchevys]

So yes thats right,once that vortec was firing on all 8 cylinders burnouts were not an issue at all,it didnt even move from the spot that the engine was installed to perform its first one.One hard lesson that I learned with the engine install was always read the directions that come with the painless harness'.I first tried using the ECM out of the 99 Tahoe.Nope that was the wrong thing to do.There was alot of head scratching and cursing done to get that one figured out.Turns out u need to use a specific S/N ECM to get it to run properly.A quick trip to the local pick a part and $40 solved the problem, but many a words were thrown around befor that quick fix.

[ksshane]

Drool

Great work on that 4 link.

[Slammed66]

Looking good buddy!!!!!!

When I read this whole thing , I'm stating to feel like a bad influence..... Hahaha


His next chapter will include the installation of a Boyd's welding fuel cell.

Which will be at my place tommarow !

[hookedonchevys]

Well perfect timing on the fuel tank!I cant possibly go backwards any more,so its pretty much only forward progress from here on out.Today was a good day,me and the neighbour got the cab off and unfortunately I put the burb away for the winter.But really thats a good thing so I can focus on the task at hand,building a sick truck!We kinda had a little redneck engineering in the removal of the cab but it all worked out in the end.It was a little sketchy at times though,I will admit.

[mcbassin]

You are blowing through this build fast! Slow down so we can keep up....
Love all the suspension mods and plans. Keep the pictures coming.
In for the long haul

[hookedonchevys]

Ahh dont worry the build will seem to slow down now,Im all up to date with my 3 years worth of pictures and story telling.It will be real time from here on out.

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by hookedonchevys

Ahh dont worry the build will seem to slow down now,Im all up to date with my 3 years worth of pictures and story telling.It will be real time from here on out.

I see, only 3 years? Heck, I'm going into my fourth winter on mine. BTW, that is a clean looking burban you have there.

[hookedonchevys]

Well just when I thought I couldnt go backwards anymore,I pulled all the suspension off the frame so that I can go get it sandblasted.So hopefully after tomorrow I will have it back and all cleaned up ready to finally go forward.

[Slammed66]

You heard the man, slow down!!!

[aclay17]

Man that truck is looking good! Subscribed.

[downbytheriver]

She's a beaut, I'm in for this one

[bbcmudtruck]

Great build! Looking forward to more progress pics.

[hookedonchevys]

Thanks guys!I just took the frame and got it sandblasted this morning.The guys were really quick and a really good price I thought.I was talking with the guy that did the blasting and he asked me if I had seen that orange suburban around town,lol.Yup Ive seen it,it's mine.So the plan is to get the frame off the flatdeck this afternoon and start doing some welding to a couple cracks that showed up since its all cleaned up.Another good reason to get something sand blasted.So off to the garage I go to make some smoke and noise!

[Hardesty454]

Looks killer! dont listen to them other guys... Full speed ahead!

[hookedonchevys]

I don't plan on listening on the slow down advice,gotta make hay when the sun is shining!If my day job is slow,progress is gotta be made,otherwise this might turn into a 10 year build like project tall grass......

[hookedonchevys]

Well I'm done working on the frame for the day.A guy can only take so much grinding and welding in one afternoon.I fixed up some cracks that had showed up once it was blasted.The drivers side of this truck must have been on a rhubarb run once or twice in its 40 years of existence.On the top and bottom corners of the frame there were alot of cracks.So i got out the ol grinder and die grinder,ground them out and then welded them up,went around to the other side,ground out any trace of a crack and welded that up.So hopefully I will have better luck then the last guy who tried to fix the cracks just by laying some weld over top of the cracks.I tried to keep the heat down so as not to pull the ol frame all over the place but I'll have to get some straight edges out and do some measuring and scheming to see if it is a piece of wet spaghetti or not.I also welded up the old shock mount holes since I will not be needeing them anymore and someone had scabbed on a washer on the drivers side that looked like it could have fallen off at any time.

[69sinker]

Awesome build! I'm surprised the frame was that bad, the body sheet metal looks great from the pics.

[hookedonchevys]

Thanks!I'd say something happened tp the truck on the drivers side because the rad support mount and front cab mount were broken bent and "fixed".And most of the cracks were on the drivers side also.Oh well just means I get to play with my new welder more.

[hookedonchevys]

So another day of welding and grinding.I dont really have any exciting progress but alot of work went into the stuff I got done today.I fixed some more troubled areas on the frame and welded up a bunch of holes that I wont be needing.I kind of thought it looked like the frame had chicken pox or something when I was done welding.I also got those spot on the bottom of the frame that are bent down straightened out.Looks nice and straight there now.I pulled the front cab mounts off and ran a straight edge up to the front of the frame and both sides were bang on.Well within 0.032" so im sure that this ol girl wont notice that going 120 down the highway.