My White Whale

[soule64]

Ok, it’s not really going to be white, but if you know the story about Moby Dick, then you’ll understand the name I chose. This project has turned into a ridiculous obsession. I’ve spent nearly every moment of free time working on this darn thing. I have been lurking for a while now, asking a few questions now and then, but mostly learning from the information being posted here. My dad always said that if I had nothing constructive to say, then keep my mouth shut and listen. Good advice. I’ve had this project truck, a ’68 SWB Fleet side, for about a year now. Here is a little history – I retired from the Army a few years ago, and since the kids were off to college and the “empty nester” syndrome hit, I figured I needed something to occupy my free time. This model of truck caught my eye back in the early 90’s when I was stationed in Virginia – my neighbor had a ’71 and I drove by it every day and I couldn’t stop staring at it – I really admired it and vowed to get one someday. It wasn’t practical to buy something then due to the military moving me around so much, not to mention money was a little tight. So when I finally settled down, I started looking for one. I found the ’68 in Tennessee and bought it without doing my homework. In fact, I found this site after bringing it home. I had been told that it had been recently restored so I figured ‘well, I’ll just paint it – drop in a new crate motor and have a daily driver’. Well, it turns out that it was in much worse shape than I had been lead to believe. This was totally my fault though for not doing my homework. So, a year later, it’s still in pieces with another year or so left to go. Forewarned – I have never tackled anything like this before – I am a helicopter mechanic by trade with just enough automotive experience to be dangerous. My intent was, and still is, to bring it back to pretty much stock, repair all rust, maybe add a few customized details and have something that I can tool around in without being embarrassed. It’s definitely not going to be a show truck, but (hopefully) something that will last another 40 years. So far, I have done the work myself (my son helped often while home for the summer) and, aside from scouring this board for info, I will try to keep it that way. The only component I am sending out is the seat for some leather as the time for the interior gets closer. Another note, I took pictures of everything with a digital camera that had a broken view screen (overhead bin incident) and waited too long to download. 75 of the 100 or so pictures were nothing but black – so much for leaving the camera out in the garage. Well, enough of the talk, time to get caught up!

[soule64]

Due to the lack of work space in my garage, I started at the back, removing the bed, axle, trailing arms etc. until the frame was bare from the cab back. All of the components were pressure washed, scraped, wire-wheeled and painted with POR. Every inch of the underside was encrusted with asphalt undercoating mixed with red clay. Nasty stuff.

[soule64]

– I reinstalled everything, replaced all bushings, brake components, shocks and springs (stock length, having second thoughts about that).

[soule64]

Some of the rot on the D/S.

[soule64]

New floor section.

[soule64]

Underneath the bed was also cleaned and hit with POR. The bed itself had very little rust. I had to replace two small sections of the forward floor where water had collected. All of the corners had rust and were repaired. Bed fenders were removed, cleaned, repaired, POR’d and reinstalled.

[soule64]

New rockers, front and rear pillars, kick panel and cab corner (bead rolled and welded on both sides).

[soule64]

P/S rust.

[soule64]

Here is where the camera starts goofing up. Didn’t like the dust I guess. New rockers, floor section, pillars and cab corner.

[soule64]

P/S inner fender repair. The first two inches were rotted from the battery. After grinding it was wire wheeled and POR’d.

[soule64]

Lifted the cab, cleaned the mounts and replaced the bushings. I ended up removing the cab entirely a few weeks later because I couldn’t get to the asphalt/clay junk on top of the frame. I used the one-man-cab lift idea that was posted on the board before. Worked great by the way – thanks!

[soule64]

This is what was left of the cab bushings and the new ones in place.

[soule64]

P/S patch on the fender – more battery rot. After a little grinding and bondo, it turned out great.

[soule64]

Here is a few of the many “restoration” repairs that were made. Bar stock welded to the transmission arm and front bumper brackets welded to the frame. I didn’t get any shots of the front grill braised to the fenders or the beer can mold with an inch or so of bondo to make the cab corner. I could go on forever…

[soule64]

Here is the radiator support after cleaning and POR. I had to replace the lower right section due to battery rot.

[soule64]

Relocated the tank to the rear.

[soule64]

A pretty wicked storm blew through while I was putting in the tank. The news reported that an F1 landed about a mile north of us.

[soule64]

P/S cowl rot being cut out. Looks like a pretty ugly cut, but it cleaned up and the patch actually turned out pretty good. There was another small spot in the upper right hand corner that was also fixed.

[soule64]

Had to put a small patch in the front right corner of the bed. It was just a pin hole, but I had to go back a few inches to find clean metal.

[soule64]

The only repair (other than a few dents) to the hood was the rot in the front lip. I measured, cut until I found good metal and welded in a few pieces.

[soule64]

Skipping way ahead due to the faulty camera, here is the finished cab in blue pearl. The section of frame underneath the cab was cleaned and POD’d up to the edge of the firewall.

[soule64]

Well, after that last picture the camera crapped out for good.

Here is a picture of the motor that will be going in. GMPP ZZ383 with the GM serpintine. I am not sure about the intake though - it's a single plane. I might swap it for an Edelbrock Air Gap. Any thoughts?

[soule64]

Here is the TH400 that I freshened up with silver POR, new seals, a cast aluminum pan, a 2500 stall convertor and a Miloden locking dipstisk.

[my67chevytruck]

looking good.

[OARNGESI]

Coming along nice