69 Custom 30 wrecker restoration

[RatRod68]

That'll work! Thanks buddy!

[coops714x4]

Bob, GREAT work!! I am impressed with your patients and dedication to "restore" this project. Its gonna look GREAT when done (kinda looks like frankenstein now tho LOL) it will get there tho. I'm glad mine didn't need all the work your is, man this has truly been a BIG job, but it will be worth it in the end. keep up the good work. Coop

[FRENCHBLUE72]

This thing is cool...

[nobolt]

wonderful to see one of these work horses in such great shape again! keep up the good work.
did you ever get the dope on the PA lettering laws?? i cant see a cop writing a ticket on a restored vehicle unless you were hired out with a car in tow...

[RCbowtie69]

Looking good on your progress,hope to see more of your progress soon,keep on truckin'.

[gdavis]

Originally Posted by bobs409

After one hour, I was able to get a few coats of 514 Red (looks more orange to me!) (pic #1) I used a single stage acrylic enamel and added hardner to it.

My main focus here was to make the firewall, ceiling and around rear window, dash panel and door jams nice. (they recieved an extra coat and most of my attention) All other areas such as under dash panel & floors got a color coat but since they get covered up or unseen, I didn't fuss with them as much. (as the factory would have done)

I did not paint the outside of the cab (roof and rear of cab) as I want to paint all the exterior portions all at the same time so all will match. (next year)

(Pics #2, 3 & 4) show some more "after" color shots. This color acts weird in front of the camera. Depending on the light source, it does change shades. From what I've learned, this color will darken in time too.

I have a 71 Cheyenne 20 that's also this color originally. I may paint that one pure red instead of having 2 trucks the same color. (and I also have a 72 Chevelle that's Hugger Orange!) While it's a different shade, it's still close enough and don't want to overdose on orange!

Continued...

cool paint. I passed up a deal for a 1959 chev recker boy do I had that.

[texastruckjunky]

Any new updates?

[Low Elco]

Fantastic work, especially for a one man show. Have you considered putting in a class 3 reciever in the back of the body/frame while you're there? That thing'd be a tow pig deluxe!

[coops714x4]

Ok Bob, your playing catch up now.. just got mine together, its functional but still not done. may I intorduce you to big Earnest...

[bobs409]

Big Ernest!

Looks great Coop! You must drink alot of coffee to get that far so quick. I hope to have mine done by mid summer.

Things slowed down as they usually do this time of year. It's SOOOO cold outside! Loving my "enclosed" car port now so no more wind blown snow on mine.

Yesterday I finished restoring a steering wheel for it. Found a black one in a junkyard that only had 1 small crack on back. Fixed that and after a good cleaning and scuff, I sprayed it in maroon Rustoleum. (did a test with this paint for a few months on another wheel and it wore like iron!)

Today I have to make some sheetmetal mods on the passenger door so that comes back off. Then to the other side for the same.

So not much of anything exciting to report yet...

[coops714x4]

Bob, yes I do drink alot of coffee, but mine didn't need all the work yours did. cab corners and rockers was the hardest part, and I'm sure mine is not near as nice as yours will be, I just wanted it to be decent but not so nice I would be afraid to work it. and don't forget I had A LOT of help from my son !! if it wasn't for him I wouldn't be near this far... Coop

[gdavis]

Are going to show that truck? I think it would be awesone to do that. If not it still would be a awesome of a truck to drive.

[coops714x4]

gdavis, If your talking about mine... HECK no thats a "work" truck, this time next year it will have all kinds of battle scars. LOL (I really hope not) but that's the reality of it. My son and I are always messing with old cars and trucks, so we built a wrecker. again if your talking about mine, I will take that as a compliment, so thanks. Bob's 69 will be the showpiece, and I hope he does show it . Coop

[mrolds88]

Nice build Bob. I had a 69 at one time. Was a parts truck though.Iit had been in a flood at one point and nothing done to it afterwards. Truck was the same color. It had to have been a horse when it was running. It was 307/4 speed/5.14 rear with 6.50 16 tires. Had a holmes bed on it. The wierd part was the cab was badly roted but the bed (even with the bumper crop of moss growing in it) was solid. Guy bought the bed offof me and put it on another truck. Thanks for sharing you build.

[bobs409]

WOW, year 3 is here already! Gee, no wonder why I’m getting old. How time flies!

Unfortunately I did not get a lot of the things done over the winter that I had planned so my schedule is a bit off. Probably a good 3 months. I won’t let that bother me though. It’s quality over quantity for this project.

One of the things I did manage was to find was a good crack free steering wheel in a junkyard. Very hard to find! See pic #1 for what a “diamond in the rough” looks like. Horrible looking isn’t it? Complete with a blob of bondo that landed on it from the crude bondo patch job that was done on the inside roof of the truck.

After a thorough scrubbing, a good wet sanding and 3 coats of a burgundy Rustoleum, I now have the steering wheel crossed off my list. See pic #2

I located the correct 350 decal for the engine too. There was only one on this engine which is correct so only one goes back on. See pic #3

Another item I can cross off the list is the cross member under the driveshaft center bearing. Earlier in this build thread I showed a temporary cross member I made of angle iron which now can be removed. I located a good original from a fellow member here who was parting a C30 out in California. Pic #4 shows it all bolted in after soaking in rust remover, 2 coats of POR-15 and a top coat of chassis black.

I had the truck out for a drive around my dirt lot a few days ago to give it a run after the long winter break. I set the timing, dwell, idle speed and adjusted the clutch. This runs sooo good! With the highway only inches away, it was hard to stop myself from hitting the street! I don’t think the local cops would appreciate me driving around with it just yet however. LOL See pic #5

[bobs409]

For the most part, the cab/chassis part of this build is done except for final body work and paint so I’m full steam ahead on working the rear box now. The Eastwood plasma cutter is getting a good workout! What an awesome tool it is.

Picking up where I left off last year, I am replacing some of the diamond plate floor that was rotted as shown in pic #1 below. After that I will install the new C channel frame rail.

The front outer side panel is only getting the bad section replaced. Pic #2 shows that I cut the bad area out using the plasma cutter and have the new piece ready to be welded in.

From that panel rearward (or upward going by the photo) will be all new metal. Here I’ve removed the rest of the old side panel. See pics #3, #4 & #5

[bobs409]

Here you can see I made the one panel already and have it set in place. I am now making a cardboard template so I can fabricate the rear panel. See pic # 1 & #2 When these are done, both of these will get welded together to form one large panel. (I did this in 2 parts as the new metal I purchased was in 4 X 4 sheets)

And here are both panels fabricated and ready to be welded together. See pic #3 The plasma cutter was used to cut the shape of the panel out and the cutout for the winch control handle box. The edges were then smoothed with a 36 grit sanding wheel on my grinder. I took the time now to create the matching RH panels of these (not shown) so they would be exact. I’ll get to those pieces later in the build. The 11 gauge steel is a dream to weld. No blow through and you can really lay down a bead without fear of warping. See pic #4

And here it is all welded and smoothed down. Note the lip on the bottom of the panels. I welded a piece on to form that just as the original had. See pic #4 While it is very tempting to add that lip for the wheel cutout, the original didn’t have it so I won’t “get creative”. It’s so tempting to make changes & improvements but I want to stay original as much as possible.

Passenger side of the box is basically in the same condition so X2 on everything shown so far. I won’t touch the passenger side until the driver side is completed so those new pieces are set aside for now.

And that completes the first build installment of 2013. Much more to come…

[no moa]

wow, i'll say it again, you are so talented, dang. I wish i could do all that to mine. Can't wait to see the finished product.

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Nice work cant wait to see the wrecker back on the frame..

[coops714x4]

Great work Bob, I will agree with you about the plasma, I have a thermal-dynamics that is GREAT! Man I can't wait to see this one done, she's gonna be NICE. Coop

[gmcnorton]

i drive by your place on the way to work everyday. can't wait to see it sitting in your driveway ! I like your stepper.

[bobs409]

Thanks gmcnorton. I didn't know anyone from the forum was from around here.

You'll be seeing that wrecker in the driveway this summer. (nice weather only!)

Coop, just a heads up. I voted for your wrecker in the truck of the month vote. What else could I do, we wrecker guys have to stick together! (it really was my favorite one too so not a tough choice)

Been working full steam for about 2 weeks on mine. I never went through so much welding wire in my life! Will do a small update soon with my progress. I can almost smell the fresh paint now.

[bigguy69]

Awesome work
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[coops714x4]

Thanks for the vote Bob, I knew that 57 custom would win and boy did he, I was 2nd by like 90 votes LOL, bout time for a update isn't it ? I hope you get the bed on soon. Coop

[bobs409]

Well the box is down in the horizontal position (on cinder blocks) at least. Man, this thing weighs a ton! At least that of a small Buick.

Just some more metal work, then POR 15, then body work, then paint, then...

I'm snapping pics all along the way so will have an update soon.