Project: No Name

[stealthy '69]

Well I've had my '69 for a little over 3 years, and I've been a member here for almost 3. So I decided to start a build thread. (kind of) Progress goes REAL slow in my garage, my wife has been in and out of jobs for the last 4 years or so. I'll try to post up as many pics as I can, but they might not be too pretty. I am still having a hard time with the new digital camera I got for X-mas last year so they are cell phone pics. Now on the the good parts, the pics.......

Here are a few pics of the day I picked it up. Actually these are the pics from the craigslist add.

[stealthy '69]

As you can see from the first pics(sort of), the exhaust was hanging low, held up with wire and had some nasty leaks. And sounded like poo! So first up was a call to Jegs or Summit, i forget, to order up some new pieces. 3" cut-outs, bolt on header turndown kit which included an 18" extension and a 13.5" long turndown. And to quiet things down, not really, supper 44 Flowmasters. Here's how the kit looks laid out next to the truck....I'll try to get installed pics up soon.



The truck had a pair of bucket seats out of god knows what. they had no foam in them and they were bolted straight to the floor. And by bolted i mean 1 bolt, too small for the threads and no nut on the bottom. So I guess you could say they were just sitting in there. So I hit up this board in search for a seat. I found one Lolife99 (Keith) had for an 88-94 Chevy. The wife and i drove to Fulton, Mo. to pick it up, and made a weekend out of it by going a little farther to St. Louis. I can't find any pics of the seat, but I'll get those up soon too. Just to prove what a stand up guy Keith really is, we were talking about my truck a little. I mentioned the P.O. heated the springs to lower it and it didn't sit even and rode like crap and that i need to find some to replace them while i saved up for lowering springs. Well low and behold he just so happened to have taken the stock one out of No-Life a few days before. He told me to just take 'em. Which I still owe you a cold 6 pack of Bud's for that, Keith.

[stealthy '69]

Fast forward to a few months later, maybe longer, it's all been a blur. A friend of my wife's has a '72 that he just put bags on. He had a set of 3"/5" springs that he wanted to get rid of. So I took them off his hands for really cheap. I bought a set of stock height spindles off the board, and started saving up time and money to piece together all the parts I needed to convert to 71-72 front disks. I went back and forth 9 or 10 times trying to decide between 5 or 6 lug. Time and money said 6 lug since I was having no luck finding a 5 lug rear in my price range. So i ordered up the 6 lug disk brake hardware kit from CPPJEFF. I worked out perfectly.

I got everything up to the spindles on and ran in to a snag. For some reason, and I still don't know why, the spindles and lower A-arms would interfere at the steering stop. And not is a good way. I would have to make a 5 point turn just to turn a street corner.




So it was time for the grinder to come out, and a little help from the welder at work. I chopped down the steering stop and moved it in just to box up the bump stop bracket. Here's a few pics of the before and after..

before..


after..(not really this is the opposite side of the other pic)

[stealthy '69]

After I got all that squared away, I ran in to another problem. The calipers that came in the CPP disk kit were different.









Not too worry I called up CPPJEFF and explained the issue I was having. They sent out a new caliper and by time the weekend rolled in it was here and waiting for me to install.

I got everything installed and brakes bleed, for now, and sitting back all fours after 2 years of sitting in the garage on jack stands. I told you things move slow at the Thomsen reidents. Well took it for a short drive just to test everything out and it rode and drove great. It needs an alignment and shocks up front, but hey, for no shocks or alignment it drove great. Here'a a pic after a drove it out of the driveway and around the corner for a photo op. The front has the 3" springs and the rear has the stock springs I got from Lolofe99.




And tucked back in, to wait for another day.



And here's a better comparison front to rear. 15x7 rims and 235/75/15 all the way around. I'd say there's a lot of real estate in those fenders.

Front..


Rear..

[stealthy '69]

Now for the rally's i have for it. I found a set of 4 15x8's on craigslist for $20. 30 minute drive and I brought them home. I didn't like how wide they were on front so I had a decision to make. After heading to a swap meet with 68C10HotRod we found the pot of gold the end of the swap meet. We were gonna by pass this section completely but thought, "We have time let's take a look." And I'm glad we did. I got a set of 4 15x7 rallys. Not just a painted old set these were chromed. I bartered for a few minutes and ended up bringing them home for $75. Since I only have a need for 2 and these 15x7 6 luggers are hard to find already I decided to hang on to them as well. So I guess I actually have 2 sets of rims.

4 15x7's...


closer shot of one...


And with the caps I'm gonna run..


And in the sun shine...

[stealthy '69]

And a shot of the stamping on the hoop....


They are a little rusty but nothing a wire wheel/brush and some elbow grease can't fix. Oh and these.....




Now for that pesky chrome. I was always told by my grandfather, "Chrome won't get you home!" I know cheesy but I've kinda lived that way. Anyway, I had a few good pics of the clean up but I think I forgot to save them on my phone. I read a little online about muratic acid working to etch chrome for paint. So i gave it a shot. By the way, I've used it before so I knew I needed GOOD gloves and other equipment, so I took the necessary precautions. Here's a pic during the acid bath.



It turned green right from the start. I'm told that's good, it means it's working on the chrome. I wasn't trying to strip them, just etch them enough for some paint to stick. Only time will tell it it does. If not, oh well, I'm only out time and $25-30 in materials, no biggie.

Then it was back to the old trusty tools again. Look familiar?


Cleaning up the 15x 8's..


And after a quick shot of this to finish off all the hard to reach spots.. Again WEAR GOOD GLOVES. This stuff works great.

[stealthy '69]

Then it was time for some etching primer, primer, color and clear...


One down three to go..


Two down two to go..


That's all I have for pics of the wheels right now. The last of the batch is drying in the garage as we speak. I'll get out and get some good daylight shots of them tomorrow.

[stealthy '69]

While I was out today I did get a few other things done while waiting for paint to dry. I pulled the cluster to hammer out some electrical gremlins, and got a new coat of paint on the needles and the housing. And I painted the tins the same silver as the wheels so the lights would reflect better. And dumby me forgot to take during pics. Only before and after.

Before..


After 2 hours of taping, and cleaning, and retaping, then finally paint...


It looks alot better in person then it does in the pics.

[stealthy '69]

I also got my Bumper guards installed today too. But I'm not sure if they'll stay. they don't quite fit the aftermarket bumper right. Better pics of that tomorrow also. Sorry. I slacked a lot on the picture taking.

Before..


And now the front is all guarded up...


And the last shot from today, before I left for work.


I also found out a few other things this weekend.
#1 working in a small 2 car garage is not fun or easy.
#2 the front corner of my bumper is tougher then me.

So take #1 and add #2 guess what you get.....


A big a$$ bruise on my shin that smelled out 1" seconds after I hit it, then went down. For some reason it still hurts alot though. Here's a pic for you to enjoy my pain.

[stealthy '69]

By the way a lot of the work on the wheels was done at work. They have a WAY better air compressor then me. Plus they have high pressure wash stations through out the plant, so that worked great the clean up parts. That's the best part about working 3rd shift. But sadly that may end. I got a "promotion" and I'm getting bumped up to 2nd shift. No raise just a better shift in my opinion.

[VA72C10]

Nice work so far! Looking forward to following along!!!

[tasian]

thats a good lookin truck and a bad looking bruise so what are you plans for it? we need more pictures!

[lolife99]

Signing up for this one.
Keep up the good work!

[stealthy '69]

Originally Posted by tasian

thats a good lookin truck and a bad looking bruise so what are you plans for it? we need more pictures!

Thanks, pics can be a little deceiving though. It's got some bad rust spots, bad paint inside and out, and some crappy previous owner body work. In the long run I wanna have a nice looking, great running, daily/weekend cruiser.

Originally Posted by lolife99

Signing up for this one.
Keep up the good work!

Thanks Keith. To be honest with you, your truck builds and your recent progress has been motivating the heck out of me. When I log on I still spend a lot of time going back over your builds and getting more and more ideas for mine. Right now I'm at a stand still with it till I save up some scratch for parts and a trip to the exhaust shop so I can get the rear dropped down where it should be.

[stealthy '69]

Well I got a few little things done this weekend. To start with, a guy from work gave me a few pointers on tuning my carb and timing, and thanks to him it runs way better now. And by that I mean, It'll stay running with out having to have the idle @ 1500, and it doesn't back fire through the carb any more.

I also spent most of the day Sunday cleaning the garage and putting together a work bench of old conveyor parts from work, and some 2x6's my stepdad gave me. So far I have about $0.00 invested in it. Not to mention it's 100% stainless steel and wood, and it all bolts together. So if I move later on in life I can break it down for easy transport.

On to the truck related parts. I decided it was time to S- or get off the pot. In other words stop procrastinating. I started the process of installing all the parts to get the back out of the clouds and into the weeds. Unfortunately, my little 25 gallon air compressor wouldn't power my impact enough to remove the U-bolts o the track bar. So all I really got accomplished in that aspect was, bolting on the 5" springs and spring cups. Not to mention I found the HARD end of a 15/16's wrench when it slipped off the track bar mount and hit me right on the bridge of my nose. And yes I cried. Not because it hurt, which it did, but because it hit just right to make my eyes water. At least that's the story I'm going with.


Out with the old, in with the new.


For some reason, someone drilled holes around the bottom of the lower driver side spring cup.






This ought to ensure things don't come loose.


While cleaning up the garage I found the spider gears I pulled out about 3 years ago to install the mini-spool. Well after driving it that long and changing directions with my truck, I decided it was time to go from "posi" back to peg leg. So out came the mini-spool and back in went the spider gears. And it was a bigger pain removing then installing the MS. But it all came out and in went the spider gears. Sorry I forgot pics.



Any way I snapped up a few pics with the camera my wife got me for X-mas or my b-day, I forget which. Here they are....

[stealthy '69]

This is one of my favorite pics I took tonight.


These I was playing with the settings on my camera.







This one turned out the best. Unfortunately this camera is a pile and all the pics it takes are grainy. I guess it'll have to go on craigslist and buy one like my wifes that I know take good pics.

[stealthy '69]

And a few random and some rusty shots....







Here's a shot of the exhaust that's on it now. It'll have to go. After I lowered the rear the muffler is only about 1/2" off the ground.



And a few of the the rusty drivers cab corner.

[stealthy '69]

Rusty floor supports.

And a bad pic of the rusty rockers

A quick dash shot.

And all tucked in.

[stealthy '69]

Here's a shot of the low buck "Frenched" side marker mod.
before:

after:



And a few shots of the seat I got from Keith (lolife99)

[Bennett68C10]

Nice truck and nice progress on it
Posted via Mobile Device

[stealthy '69]

Originally Posted by Bennett--G4L

Nice truck and nice progress on it
Posted via Mobile Device

Thanks, I'm hoping sometime in the next 2-3 years we can move in to our own house and my own garage. Maybe then I'll be able to tear her down to the bare bones and get it all straightened out.

[Bennett68C10]

Originally Posted by stealthy '69

Thanks, I'm hoping sometime in the next 2-3 years we can move in to our own house and my own garage. Maybe then I'll be able to tear her down to the bare bones and get it all straightened out.

I'm right their with you, we currently live in a townhouse with no garage. My truck is at my brothers house. If it wasn't for the fact that my brother has a 3 car garage I wouldn't be able to build this truck. I'm hoping that by the time it is done I will have a garage to put her in.

[stealthy '69]

Originally Posted by Bennett--G4L

I'm right their with you, we currently live in a townhouse with no garage. My truck is at my brothers house. If it wasn't for the fact that my brother has a 3 car garage I wouldn't be able to build this truck. I'm hoping that by the time it is done I will have a garage to put her in.

We too are in a townhouse with a VERY small 2 car garage. My wife TB parks in one side, and my '69 in the other. When ever I tear in to anything I get my a__ chewed out because she has to walk over and around stuff. All this week she decided she needed to drive my car to work, so her's never gets put back in the garage when I get home.

[stealthy '69]

On a side note, I have been getting quite a bit accomplished on this old turd. Over the weekend the axle U-bolts were fighting me to come off. Well a few shot's of some penetration oil I got from board member 67C10HotRod (I forget what it's called, it's in an orange can) and a couple of big wrenches, they came loose. So off with the old lower shock mounts and on with the new. The original track bar is still fighting me to come off though, so I think tomorrow it's time to break out the cut off wheel and zip through some bolts. And while I'm throwing sparks, I might as well cut off the upper shock mounts and get the upper ECE mounts bolted in. That or the one's I made at work out of 1/4" wall 2x2 square tubing. Which ever ones give me a better shock angle. I also got all of the appropriate hardware installed for the new adjustable track bar. I just need to get that stubborn track bar out to finish that off. Sorry, no pics today. I was running late for work this morning. It's been nice working from 2-10:30PM, I can slowly roll out of bed around 11:00AM or even noon, go out and spend a few hours in the garage, and leave for work at 1:30.



On yet another side note, I've been spending a lot of time on my back this week () looking at different routing's for my exhaust. I think I have it all figured out, but I want a few opinions on the complete setup. Right now it has some rusty/leaky long tube headers, into a 3" collector with a 3" cut out and another collector after that. Then a short 3" pipe with a slight bend to parallel it off of the frame, in to 3" super 44 Flowmasters and a 3" turn down. All the 3" and short exhaust was bought for 2 reasons.
#1. The exhaust that was on it was falling of and looked/sounded like poo.
#2. When I first bought the truck my plan was to buy/build a bad a__ small block. I wanted it to be one of the few trucks to "watch out for" when we went back home for the local car show/drag races.

My plans have changed, and now I just wanna build a low, mean sounding truck that is reliable and will turn a head or two with out have a nice paint job. Plus my budget, and this is coming from my financial consultant, AKA Wifey, is only going to be about $200-300 a month. So on to the point of the last two paragraphs.

I have a set of Flow-tech long tube headers that came with the truck when I bought it. I'm not 100% sure they are what the box says since they've been opened. I'm going to try to run them, if they work. I measured the collectors and they are 3". So I wanna run them in to 2.5" exhaust. Route the pipe over the trans x-member, through 2 4" holes to be cut later in the trailing arm x-member, and some way to mount my 3" Fm to the 2.5" pipe. I wanna reuse the 3" super 44's since they are only a couple years old, and it's been mostly in the garage most of those years. After the mufflers I'm undecided on tail pipes. Either out the side right behind or in front of the rear wheels, or out the back with a set of 3.5" stainless tips I've had since I was in school. I won them in a raffle at a car show when I was about 14-15 and I've been saving them for the right car/truck and think this is the one.

So I guess I need your opinions on the exhaust. Does everything sound doable? Any other ideas would be nice to. Thanks guys!

[stealthy '69]

WOW! That was a long post. My hands hurt.