Skidmore '67 C20

[SkidmoreGarage]

I figured I would offer an update, I made some forward movement before winter really took hold and I moved onto other projects. It has been too cold for paint chemistry, so I stopped exposing more bare metal which has ground the truck to a halt. It is a bummer, but I have been keeping busy with other projects. When the weather gets a bit warmer, I will finish stripping and painting the frame.

Before it got too cold, I reworked the rear end's brake hose mounting and bent up the lines.

Highlights are that Currie mounts the brake line tabs in the wrong spot for our trucks (not an error as they were mounted at exactly the same angle), which means that the lines would get CRUSHED if the axle tube came within half an inch of the frame. I had to cut them off and move them down.

I also made a little bracket to hold the brake tee, and bent up the brake lines. I think they turned out pretty well.

[Getter-Done]

That looks Great.
What was your machining process?














.

[SkidmoreGarage]

I also finished up the trailing arms.

I cleaned up the rust, finish welded the coilover mounts, stitch welded the I-beams, and stitch welded the top and bottom plates. I think they turned out pretty well. It was a lot more work than you would think! It was hours of welding, but good practice.

[SkidmoreGarage]

Here are the coilovers and finish welded arms.

[SkidmoreGarage]

I also started the cleanup, priming, and painting of the trailing arms, inner fender, rear end, etc.

[SkidmoreGarage]

Not pictured are all of the small brackets, brakes, etc. that also got painted.

I used a small 10x10 tent from HF to get some additional space for painting. It worked out really well. I can heat it before and after spraying. It is pretty crowded to spray multiple items, but it all turned out well enough for chassis parts.

[SkidmoreGarage]

I also built a DIY charcoal canister for the fuel tank and rear end vent. I really don't like a smelly garage. I did some research on what people have done, and the off the shelf solutions (IImuch makes an attractive option). It sounded like most people use activated charcoal as the filter media and put it in a PVC tube (or similar).

I used an SMC compressed air water separator as the filter and charcoal canister. It is open to the air through the filter vent, and the two inlets are separated. Time will tell if it works as I think it should. I'll mount it up in the frame.

[SkidmoreGarage]

Originally Posted by Getter-Done

That looks Great.
What was your machining process

.

Thanks!

I'm not sure what process you're referencing in your question, give me a little more context and I would be happy to answer.

[Getter-Done]

Originally Posted by SkidmoreGarage

Thanks!

I'm not sure what process you're referencing in your question, give me a little more context and I would be happy to answer.

Did you buy it or make it?
Looks nice either way









.

[KMC3420]

Fab looks good. I like the coil over mounts, looks like a good solution.

[SkidmoreGarage]

Thanks, I'm always trying to improve my fabrication skills- even though it's just a hobby for me. I have made almost everything you see in the last few posts. I did buy the coilover tabs from a company that waterjets them out (ebay but made in the usa). I used my Mig on the coilovers, trailing arms and rear end. I have a tig but t's a lot easier/faster to mig for heavy duty/dirty stuff.

I have so much respect for production welders and fabricators. It's a hard way to make a living. I think I had over 8 hours of finish welding time in the two arms/mounts.

[KMC3420]

Originally Posted by SkidmoreGarage

Thanks, I'm always trying to improve my fabrication skills- even though it's just a hobby for me. I have made almost everything you see in the last few posts. I did buy the coilover tabs from a company that waterjets them out (ebay but made in the usa). I used my Mig on the coilovers, trailing arms and rear end. I have a tig but t's a lot easier/faster to mig for heavy duty/dirty stuff.

I have so much respect for production welders and fabricators. It's a hard way to make a living. I think I had over 8 hours of finish welding time in the two arms/mounts.

Agree with that! They have hard jobs for sure, dirty and Smokey in most cases, and hot or super cold. I am waiting out winter on my project but have started to learn to tig. Started on steel with just mediocre results and switched to aluminum and am getting better results. My biggest struggle is feathering the pedal once my puddle is established. I get my puddle going, dab, and get moving but as I am moving I am heating the part up more than necessary. But at times when I feather the pedal and I let off too much. It’s a fine balance.

[SkidmoreGarage]

It has been a while!

I have been making forward progress the last couple months and I will be doing some rapid-fire catch up posts here.

Picking up from welding the trailing arms... I started to prep the frame and cab underside for paint.

Before I could prep the underside of the cab I needed to scrape about an inch of undercoating and oil off the bottom, and then patch up all of the previous owner's handywork in making Swiss cheese of the cab floor for bolting in harnesses. I also removed the fuel tank mounts that were spot welded into the back of the cab. There were 12 spot welds per side, and I only managed to punch through the back of the cab twice! More welding...

I also finished butt welding up the outer rocker. I chose to do a small customization and remove the flange.

[SkidmoreGarage]

Then I entered into project car hell. I was waiting on wheels until the end of March (supply chain issues), and I was needing to turn the truck around in the garage to start the other rust repairs. I also decided that the frame and underside of the truck really needed some attention to prevent the surface corrosion from really taking hold and turning into rust. The new suspension and drivetrain was also really putting the tired undercarriage to shame.

This is when I completely stripped the frame and underside of the truck bed for primer and paint. The truck was on jack stands and the bed stayed on and I was on my back the entire time. It was high effort, and I will never do it again. It also turned out as well as I could have hoped. There actually wasn't enough space underneath to hold the gun at the right angle to get all the surfaces, but I made it work.

I didn't take many photos, as it was very cramped and there wasn't much to see.

[Getter-Done]

Great Work.

Thanks for Sharing

I am favored on the 67 stuff



I like that the floor pan still has the jack and stuff Imprint.









.

[SkidmoreGarage]

Thanks for taking a look, I am partial to the '67s myself.

In a related note, I also built a fuel filler. I think I mentioned this in a previous post, but I had wanted a non-bed fill tank. I want to be able to load a sheet of plywood and be able to get gas. I also have a '67, which doesn't have marker lights and therefore can't do a marker light filler. I also researched the rear tail light filler. I think they are really cool. But after doing my research, I found that they had some serious limitations. There is very little space behind the tail light and through the bed floor. You really have to cut out a lot of material and/or use a 1" filler. This doesn't include the effort to re-engineer the tail light bucket to pivot or latch, or the LED lights. I decided with a similar approach to TA_C10, with a bed corner filler, and cut the bed side a little to snake the filler down the gap between the inner and outer skin. I was hoping to use 36" of the 2" rubber fuel filler hose to make the connection. That plan was discarded after about 2 seconds of looking at the space available.

I also wanted to engineer the system to accommodate a 2" filler, 3/4" fuel fill vent, 1/2" fuel tank vent, 1/2" axle vent, and my DIY charcoal canister. It was a tight fit, with millimeters to spare.

I was a surprising amount of effort (days!), but I think it turned out really well. I still need to paint it, as I left it in primer for now. The tig welded corners really came out straight, it made me want to use my tig welder more often. I also used some spare 2" 304 stainless bends to make the filler snake around the bed supports. This is probably overkill but I won't have to worry about rust. My welds were not beautiful, but were water tight. I don't have an underside picture due to the cramped space in my garage, but I'll try to get one later this evening. Feel free to ask any questions.

Parts list:
Dorman filler from a 92 Suburban, cut down
2" gates fuel filler hose ~18"
1" fuel hose from the local hydraulic shop 36"
3/8" AC Delco carb fuel line for vapor lines 10'
4x 1/2" SS barb fittings
1/4 - 20 Rivnuts
2 - 2" 90* Vibrant mandrel bends
Misc Hose Clamps

[SkidmoreGarage]

More pictures of the charcoal canister bracket that I made. It was an engineering exercise in itself. It ended up very stout for how it had to be built.

The holes on the bottom allow for screwdriver access for the screws as well as holding in rubber grommets to support the weight of the piece on the bed of the truck.

[SkidmoreGarage]

Here are some shots of how the lines ran through the bed side and how the canister fit.

This is also the finished product, unpainted. I like the way it turned out. It looks like it could have come from the factory this way. It also satisfies my need to reduce the smell of gas/differential fluid in the garage. I should also be able to replace the activated charcoal pellets pretty easily. I used welded nuts on the filler neck and rivnuts on the truck to allow for easy removal.


FYI, I bought harbor freight's cheap 30" bending brake to fold the box and brackets. It worked pretty well. I am happy I bought it and would recommend it. I have also used a 4' Tennsmith 6" pan/box brake- and this is not that. If you have the proper expectations, you will be happy with the HF cheap bender.

[Getter-Done]

Nice Work

Like those Kant-Twist clamps









/.

[TA_C10]

Looks good man! I'm very happy with mine. Been driving it a lot and have filled up 4-5 times now and I can pull the gas nozzle all the way for fast fill. No issues. And I used 1.5" fuel line with 3/8" filler vent I think.

Another note, I love your charcoal canister idea. I don't smell gas from mine and it's always in the garage, but that's cheap insurance right there.

[SkidmoreGarage]

Originally Posted by TA_C10

Looks good man! I'm very happy with mine. Been driving it a lot and have filled up 4-5 times now and I can pull the gas nozzle all the way for fast fill. No issues. And I used 1.5" fuel line with 3/8" filler vent I think.

Another note, I love your charcoal canister idea. I don't smell gas from mine and it's always in the garage, but that's cheap insurance right there.

Thanks, I appreciate the kind words! For anyone who is following along, I would highly suggest the 1.5" that TA_C10 used. I can't quantify the benefit (if any) of what I did and it was a packaging nightmare.

I am hoping the charcoal canister works, It should.

Here is a photo of the underside:

[SkidmoreGarage]

I was also able to get the truck out of the garage (under it's own power and with open headers!) and set up my lift ramps. I am still cramped on space, so the photos aren't the best, but I do what I can. Let me know if you have any questions/picture requests.

The first photo is the Boyd's welding tank and fuel supply line. I went for some future proofing and installed -8 (1/2") hard line from the front to the back of the truck. and connected it to the tank using some fancy -8AN fittings/hose. I think that short flex line was at least $65, I used the fancy stuff that was e85 compatible and super flexible (picture 2). I used some aluminum mounting blocks from amazon, and drilled them out to use a through-bolt into a rivnut (picture 3). I want to use the same lines when I go fuel injected LS. I am running the stock mechanical fuel pump for now. I will add an in-tank pump later. I will also add a -6 return line.

[SkidmoreGarage]

A photo dump of everything painted/installed/torqued/bled/filled/etc. Just needs the old exhaust put back in.

Not shown is the Edelbrock 1406 carb that I was finally able to troubleshoot. I had rebuilt it last year (first time) and the accelerator pump just wouldn't work right. I did so much to try to get it to work and it turned out to be something really stupid. The accel pump fuel channel was completely clogged. Even though I had completely disassembled it and used the ultrasonic cleaner, it was full of junk. I cleaned it out and the truck is totally transformed. I could tell just pulling it back into the garage that it will be a lot more fun to drive.

I still need to adjust the panhard bar, set the ride height, get it aligned, complete the body work, do the drip rail, and repair the windshield frame/install the windshield. I have a kid coming on the 4th of July, so I am prioritizing getting it back on the road.

[LT7A]

I just finished reading your thread, and I really like what you've done with your truck. You are a practical thinker and a careful planner and your efforts show. I think this truck will be really fun for you to drive. Pretty interesting combination of old school look and performance with updated suspension tech.

[SkidmoreGarage]

Thanks! I'm doing the best I can, this forum is a great resource for planning. I know that my style of build isn't the most common on here but the quality of the build threads that are similar has allowed me to "stand on the shoulders of giants". My goal in keeping this thread going is to pay it back.

As an aside. I actually don't feel like I'm progressing as much as I should be. The bodywork is really not a joyful experience. It's a constant exercise in lowering your expectations until you are done. I am learning that I like the nuts and bolts better than the grind and body filler. I suppose that's true for most people.