1968 project rebuild "Sons truck"

[ebustos]

Well let me first say that I have been lurking on this website for quite some time. About a year and a half long. I have finally come to the conclusion that I need to start my own build thread. I want to thank the many people on this forum for all the great ideas and help since I started my build. So the story goes like this. A buddy of mine had a 1968 Chevy stepside that he just put a new motor (383) and tranny (350) in his truck that has been sitting for quite sometime. He also had many new parts that he had not got around to install. So one day I asked if he would sell it because I need a beater (vehicle) for my son and we agrred on a price. Initially, i had only planned on a quick lowering job, paint, interior and then call it good. At the time I knew nothing about these trucks. I have built other cars in the past, 1962 impala, 1962 impala convertible SS, and was currently building a 1961 impala convertible which you will be able to see in the background. Well needless to say i stumbled across this website and all hell broke loose. This truck is no longer the budget build I had anticipated and is now way over that, as many of you know how that goes. I like to tell my wife that i spent all my impala money on funding this truck. Here is a list of parts that i have purchased, some have been installed and some are on the self. Color for the truck is Daytona Blue a 2012 nissan color. I did not realize at the time of this build that if you change on thing everything else around it has to be modified to accompany the changes.

Porterbuilt front and rear dropmember
porterbuilt crossmember
porterbuilt hood hinges with gas shocks
Dual electric fans
Headland ceramic coated headers
New radiator
New hood
CPP billet support bearing
rear mounted blazer tank
brothers one piece windows
1968 side and rear moldings (Mar-K)
vintage air unit with steel braided lines
Ididit chrome steering column
Billet Specialties Outlaw steering wheel
Brothers aluminum gauge panel
Autometer gauges with LED lighting
Willwood master cylinder no booster
4 wheel disc brakes thanks to Captain Fab for the rear set up. D52 calipers.
accuair air manifold
Dual Vair pumps 444c
American Autowire kit
New Front and Rear bumpers
shortened rear end by 2" on each side with new posi 3.55 gears and axles.
Clean fleetside bed - with a near perfect tailgate. thanks Renee aka C10 king.
All new grill moldings and bezels
110 amp alternator
HEI distributor
Buddy bucket seats my son wants the bench
.

[ebustos]

here is a picture of the truck as it currently sits. Sorry I dont have any from the very begining.

[ebustos]

more pics

[ebustos]

and some more pics. some new sheetmetal. had to replace bothe rockers and cab corners. Now trying to get all the gaps right.

[ebustos]

Going to raise the metal bed floor 9 3/4 of an inch. Made these braces out of angle iron. have a front set up similar to what Delmo did on Nacho. it will house my pumps, tank and battery. Thanks Delmo!!!!

[ebustos]

did not like the cheap aluminum piece that comes with the brothers one piece window kit and wanted something more permenant and sturdy so i came up with this.

[ebustos]

Shaved some of the the things on the dash. filled in the original stereo holes. not sure if im going to put in a regular size deck or the bigger monitor type thing. filled and moved over the air vent hole per the vintage air instructions. since i will be running there billet air vents. also filled in the original AC control. will be running the vintage air polished three knob control.

[ebustos]

Some pictures of the engine and firewall. not to happy with the finish. The tape on the firewall is to prevent sratches. currently building or mocking up a pair of inner fenders. if it dont work out i might go with some slosh tubz.

[ebustos]

picture of the willwood propertioning valve.

[ebustos]

Started working on the wheelhouse tubs. cut 3 1/2 inches out of them. Had to use another set and cut out the middle section, about 7 1/4 inches to fill in the top portion of the fender. 2 fenders to make one. Oh well i think it came out pretty nice. need to do some more finishing on the welding/grinding.

[ebustos]

Here is my current dilema. The rims on the truck right now are centerlines 20x8.5 with a 5.0 back space. As you can see in these pics, when laid out its close to hitting the lip of the fender. My plan here in the next couple of weeks is i will be ordering some 22" intros (rams), Bonspeed (big blocks) or billet specialties SLG05. hard decision. I want a rim thats going to compliment the truck with all the moldings and chrome and yet still have a clean look. the part I am stumped at is i need to cut the inner fender. Spoke with Nate and he said it was common, but if i wanted to to order a set of new narrower front arms. not sure about this due to the cost. I might end up going with some modular spindles that will narrow the width about 1/2 per side. then i will play with the back space may have to go with a 5.5 or a 5.75 up front.

[ebustos]

Sorry about all the dust. this truck hasnt seen the daylight in about a year. trying to finish it up by June. Will go to paint in the near future.

[C/10 King]

Wow Eddie, looks like you have your work cut out for you, but it will be real nice when you're done.

[ebustos]

Yes i know I bit off a little more than i can handle. But my part is almost done. Then the paint guys can finish the rest. Then everything else is getting outsourced. Except for the final finishing. But i am.determined.to finish this build. If i can just make up my mind. I have an ls2 that been beefed up that i thinking of dropping in here for giggles.
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[Racer2172]

Nice build and welcome to the forum.
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[rhd_c10]

nice truck.. i love impalas too... i wanna build a 62 conv. next

[Bishops Trucks]

Great project. Going to be a beautiful ride when it's done.

[johnlq6975]

cool

[kvann72]

looking sweet man like the one piece set up on the windows.

[Bennett68C10]

Nice project, I'm subscribed for updates

[ebustos]

Well the only thing I've done to this truck lately is complete the bed by raising the bed floor. I also installed the Hills inner fenders. I would highly recomend these. super nice. However, since I'm running 22" I moved them up about 1/2" just to get a little more clearance. Not sure yet if the truck will lay completely on the frame now. but thats okay I could live with this truck not laying completely on the frame. I also ordered, actually just paid for a set of 22" Bonspeed wheels since they had a great sale of buy three get one free. I havent decided on the wheel choice yet. I'm leaning towards the big blocks with a brushed center finish or the quasars. Now i just found a painter that was willing to take on this project at a reasonable price. So it will be off to paint soon. Decided to do a non metallic stock color. I will try an upload some pictures later.

[ebustos]

I forgot I went with a the 1" narrowed control arms.

[stevenbear72]

What radiator and fans are you using? How much were they if i may ask?

[ebustos]

Im using the dual fan set up by flex-a-lite. I built a cover that goes over it and the radiator.

[C/10 King]

Eddie, do you still need a radiator support, Shui has a nice one now.