Project "Popeye"

[67cheby]

i dont know who use use , but Waynes at Tontitown will sandblast and powdercoat a bare frame for $250 i think 479 361 9129 talk to Dave and tell him Mike @ 2bs auto sales sent you

[LEEVON]

That's a smoking deal, there. I don't even want the powdercoat, maybe it will be a bit cheaper. A guy down the road does all sorts of media blasing and he is $100/hr plus materials...but he knows what I'm up to so now I gotta make up a story about how my frame accidently got blasted by somebody else

[LEEVON]

Couple updates, no new pics yet though.

1) Put an ad on CL for a rear end and I'm going to pick up an 8.5/10-bolt camaro 3.42 posi unit tomorrow.

2) Placed an order with CPP for a TCI MII front end. I agonized over this but at the end of the day nobody could beat their price. I got this package with an air bag upgrade for a grand total of $1894:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-T...Q5fAccessories

I'm using the 2" dropped spindles and power rack. Sweet deal if you ask me, no shipping, they throw in a sway bar (nobody else does) and the prop valve, brake and ps hoses. TCI is not my first pick but who can argue with that deal?

Things are gonna start rolling (literally I hope). Next step is to order the brake system and wheels/tires. I've decided to go with Diamondback white walls.

[67cheby]

proof is in the pics......just kidding , sounds sweet

[LEEVON]

Not much of an update, but I know everybody likes pics. After another 3 hours of grinding, beating, and eating metal the frame is clean. I dropped it off at the blaster along with the rear end and a couple other parts this evening. My little frame wheel stands worked pretty nice, I could have pushed it onto the trailer myself but the neighbor kid was around so I recruited him to lift the heavy end. Next time I post pics it will be all purdy covered in flat black epoxy primer.

[LEEVON]

A bunch of parts showed up yesterday; Mustang II, motor mounts, MSD 6010, more on the way!

Today was a great day, in between garage sale duty somehow I managed to pickup the frame and rear end from the blaster and get them prepped and painted. I used a flat black epoxy primer from Summit which I hear is a re-branded Kirker product. It went on great and is very user friendly, also has the perfect chassis paint look.

A fellow with a very nice '72 blazer also stopped by just to shoot the breeze, he's going to bring his nicer '68 swb by soon and is also building a '72 4x4 swb. So I made a new "truck boyfriend" as my wife says.

[LEEVON]

I didn't plan to work on the truck at all with a garage sale to run and Mother's Day but somehow it turned into a very productive weekend. Got the Mustang II crossmember installed this afternoon while the wife was out and about. It was pretty easy although TCI's directions are what I expected after hearing everybody else's experience, crap. The most time consuming thing was grinding the boxing plates. I was worried that I wouldn't be comfortable welding on suspension components but it was natural and I think it turned out ok!

[blackdiesel]

that looks more than OK to me.

[LEEVON]

Originally Posted by blackdiesel

that looks more than OK to me.

Thanks! Would you believe me if I told you I laid my first bead in March?

How is your truck coming?

[sgtusmc]

Originally Posted by LEEVON

Thanks! Would you believe me if I told you I laid my first bead in March?

How is your truck coming?

Hell no I wouldn't believe you. Looks great. Welds are outstanding!!!!

[blackdiesel]

Originally Posted by LEEVON

How is your truck coming?

Havent touched it in several weeks. i had that dodge i bought that rolled i fixed in 4 or 5 days.. pulling all nighters kinda burnt me out for a while. Then i just finished up finals @ college and now its getting into haying season. I need time and i need cash to work on this. i've been putting my extra $$$ into go fast parts for my cummins Need to get back on it quick though, i hear those 5.3's are hot

[67cheby]

Originally Posted by LEEVON

Thanks! Would you believe me if I told you I laid my first bead in March?

How is your truck coming?

LIAR !!! just kidding looks killer

[my67chevytruck]

Originally Posted by LEEVON

Thanks! Would you believe me if I told you I laid my first bead in March?

How is your truck coming?

Nope, no way in hell! awesome welding. curious what setup you running?

[LEEVON]

Thanks! It's a Hobart Handler 187 with C25 gas and high quality .030 ER70S-6 solid core wire. The gas and wire come from Praxair, machine from TSC. I love it so far, great investment just can't believe I went without so long. It will produce much smoother welds, but I was making sure I got good penetration on the legs by weaving the puddle a bit.

[LEEVON]

Got the MII crossmember painted and the parts all cleaned and prepped for paint, I'll have it all assembled soon. So I went on another parts spree today and ordered the underfloor brake booster/master, Cragar Delux 69 wheels, Wheel Vintique spider caps, and Diamond Back 2 3/4" white walls in 205/75/15 (27" tall).

I'd better let my wallet cool off a bit now

[my67chevytruck]

cool, looking forward to updated pics...

[67cheby]

Originally Posted by LEEVON

Got the MII crossmember painted and the parts all cleaned and prepped for paint, I'll have it all assembled soon. So I went on another parts spree today and ordered the underfloor brake booster/master, Cragar Delux 69 wheels, Wheel Vintique spider caps, and Diamond Back 2 3/4" white walls in 205/75/15 (27" tall).

I'd better let my wallet cool off a bit now

this post is useless.....WITHOUT PICS

[LEEVON]

sheesh, You're worse than my Wife's 1st graders!

[my67chevytruck]

mo betta now...

[67cheby]

Um ... Need pics of the wide whites also !!!! And i would appreciate if you would bounce us to at least 3rd grade level

[bjcaldwe]

Those are the $55-65 dollar wheels? Man those are perfect for what I want.

[LEEVON]

Originally Posted by bjcaldwe

Those are the $55-65 dollar wheels? Man those are perfect for what I want.

yep, you can get them bare for around $55, painted for $65 and the B.S. "custom" backspacing for $80. I would buy them somewhere else next time after Summit jacked up the price, even though Cragar's factory told me they're all made-to-order, therefore all "custom". I would try here: www.earlywheelcompany.com

Oh yeah, by the way spider caps are $59/each, not $59/set. DOH!


Mike, here's your white wall pic, enjoy! Be careful or I'll move you back to Kindergarten, they are registering right now.

[67cheby]

those are sweet i have never seen a mud tire on a lowrider.... your a TRENDSETTER arent you

[LEEVON]

Another weekend that I didn't plan to get anything done but it just happened. We spent the weekend in Branson, figured I would be napping this afternoon but I can't be stopped! The rear suspension is the next big task, and I've been wanting to mock-up a trailing arm rear end. I put an ad on Craigslist and came home with the entire rear half of a coil-spring truck today for $50. The gentleman that I got it from had the same idea and was going to use it for an earlier truck, maybe '39? and was glad I had the same idea so he also threw in some new bushings, pivot bolts, u-bolts, axle pads and the crossmember he had began to fabricate! What a great deal, if you read this Patrick, big thanks!

Some grinding and a couple of hours later with help from my neighbor I had it all torn apart and ready to mock-up on my frame. I've been talking to Nathan Porter about using one of his set-ups modified for this frame but I did a budget check this week and it's getting a little out-of-hand so I might need to make some adjustments. I also realized that my frame is not near as nice after the blasting as I thought it would be so factory stuff will not be out-of-place at all.

Anyway, this looks like it will easily fall into place. The crossmember will need to be shortened and welded or bolted to boxing plates. It will sit lower than it is now and I don't see any issues with the arms hitting the other crossmember. I will also be using 2" blocks and c-notches, the only unknown is driveshaft clearance. Check out the bed mount plate that I cut off the top of the old frame and flipped upside down for an upper bag mount, fits like butta!

[my67chevytruck]

Nice progress.....