COHI's 1966 Longbed

[Cohi]

I drove out to Dallas/Ft. Worth area last August (2018) to pick this '66 up. Id been wanting a big window for several years and i found this on on a CL search. It was running (barely) and it rode home to Denver on a flatbed we rented for the weekend for $100.

Its Feb 2019 now and progress has been made, so I'll try to make posts in the sequence of the build.

[Cohi]

We started cleaning the junk out and underneath the drivers floor mats we found a cpl envelopes in a plastic bag containing just over $100 in $2 bills - all from 1976. I checked... they are worth exactly $2 each. Who knows how long they've been hidden under there. There was a red star $10 bill in there as well, also worth exactly $10 Nice to find treasure

[Cohi]

The old 283 came out pretty quick and cleaning of the engine bay got underway

[Cohi]

A lot of this occurred in an afternoon... most all of the holes were welded up. I left some for wires and a Vintage Air unit that'll come down the road. After this was done it got a good scrubbing, sanding and then Napa satin engine compartment paint was sprayed.

[Cohi]

i went back and forth on what to stick in there... finally settling on a BluePrint Engines carburated 355 Roller cam. It came with a dyno sheet showing a 411hp peak. I now have motor mount concerns...

Here it is in the box.

For the trans - I revisited BowtieOverdrives and bought another 700R4 from them. I went with their stage 2 setup like I did for the 46 coop.

[kdad]

That's a nice box to open right there

[Cohi]

Bed wood was pretty rotten and most came with a quick tug. I removed the bed to expose the frame and rear suspension... Frame is in decent shape front to back.

[Cohi]

All this… has to go into the suspension. I spent 2 days after work terrorizing my neighbors with a 4" grinder and an air chisel removing frame rivets.

Its Ridetech's full kit less the air management pieces: New trailing arms, cross members, shockwave rear shocks, traditional bags for the front, new upper/lower A-arms, front swaybar, disc brakes, rear axle kit... UPS and Fedex guys were visiting a lot

[Lokin4AReason]

nice progress, keep those update(s) coming ....

[Duncan K]

Looking forward to following this build! Gotta be a great day when the UPS man brings boxes of Ride Tech goodies!

[Cohi]

Originally Posted by Duncan K

Looking forward to following this build! Gotta be a great day when the UPS man brings boxes of Ride Tech goodies!

I was out of state when they were scheduled to be dropped and had them diverted to a local Walgreen so my daughter could pick them up. Needless to say, they weren't expecting so many boxes and it filled up their counter for a bit. I came home to a garage full of boxes which is always fun

[Cohi]

I lost count on how many rivets needed to come out... where i could get to the heads with a grinder I cut an X in the head to make it easier and quicker with the air chisel.

[Cohi]

Pics.. sry would upload in previous post

[Cohi]

Got a small JOBOX from the farm store and sectioned it to shrink it down. Feet got cut off as well and it'll mounts on pucks in the bed floor, appearing to hover above the bed. Hiding the air management system in here.

[Cohi]

seat was trashed and smelly but we found some custom speaker work hidden under the vinyl. the guy in the pic (Manny Soto) fixes that kinda stuff though and rebuilt everything and covered it with some diamond stitch. Once the floors are done, he'll come back and finish the upholstery piece. Guy has mad skills (and he left the speakers in there).

[Cohi]

Sad state of the body mounts... replaced with poly. Everything came out pretty easy with PB Blaster and an impact wrench and the new stuff went in fine with a few kicks forward to get the drivers front holes lined up.

[The Rocknrod]

Those headers look awesome. How far do they hang down frame wise?

[Cohi]

Originally Posted by The Rocknrod

Those headers look awesome. How far do they hang down frame wise?

They tuck in high and tight. Drivers side is perfect, passenger side is tucked in so high I have to clearance the toe board pinch seam a little for flange clearance. These will not cause a ground clearance prob.

[Cohi]

Gauge panel day... there was a guy on this board that posted his dash and he’d used Patina’d copper behind a set of dolphin gauges. Im copying his idea with the copper on the glove box door as well like he did but we’re adding an extra trick once the copper is installed (stay tuned). Two additional gauges will be used on the dash - one for the trans temp and another for the air tank pressure. Gauges are auto meter traditional chrome.

I've got extra water temp and oil pressure guages that'll mount somewhere in the engine bay.

[Cohi]

Three days after filling with antifreeze, a leak developed at the water pump rear plate. not a huge one, but any leak is enough for me. Engine hasn't been run yet so its not even at pressure. Summit was kind enough to warranty the item with zero fuss and send a new one with a ups call tag. I've got the antifreeze drained back into its original jugs, will likely pull the defective pump tonight and should have the new one on tomorrow after work. Never had an issue with Summit in over 30 years.

[roll_the_dice]

Nice looking build. The interior is awesome looking...love the color and pattern. Making great progress!

[Cohi]

Thank you Sir

[62 short step]

Looking good!

[Cohi]

Originally Posted by 62 short step

Looking good!

Thanks!

[Cohi]

New water pump on, lines hooked up, radiator refilled and a/c lines cut to fit. I still need them crimped but my neighbor said he can hook it up for free at his job. I have such great neighbors.