Project '64 Cheapskate

[chevyrestoguy]

Rusty, this is for you...

I was hesitant to post any pictures of what I've been doing because I wanted to complete some of it first, then do a start to finish explanation. Today, I was doing a bunch of stuff, so I took some pictures to show what's been going on.

This is an unattractive picture, but it shows how I raised the bedfloor 2.75". The bed wood usually goes underneath the flange that goes around the perimeter of the bed. I decided to mount the bed wood crossmembers on the top side of the flange, thereby raising the floor by the height of the crossmember (2.75"). The two primered crossmembers are ones that I made to support the floor in the area adjacent to the wheel tubs. In the stock configuration, the bed wood rests on the tops of the frame rails. Now that I raised the floor, there was no support for almost 36", so the crossmembers will now provide support. Without the supports, the wood would have snapped as soon as you stood on it.

Right now, I'm in the mock-up stage. When I'm done, everything from the cab to the back bumper will get removed, sandblasted, and painted chassis black.


I removed the gas tank from the cab to gain more cab room, and I didn't want to mount the tank between the rear frame rails because I want to utilize the factory spare tire location. So, that meant that the old saddle tanks that I almost threw away would be put back into service. Because the bed floor was raised, I built new tank mounts and moved the tanks up as high as they could go. I plan on sending out both tanks to Redi-Strip to be chemically stripped. When they get back, I will install new sending units and a vent system, and utilize the GM fuel tank solenoid switch from the '73-up trucks. I want to be able to switch tanks from inside the cab and use all factory parts. I was going to get really trick and fill the tanks using the factory filler neck, but I think I'm going to put access doors in the bed floor to fill the tanks. Here's a picture of the nasty looking saddle tanks.


I've been spending way too much time trying to save the original bed wood. It was cracked and broken everywhere, but after a lot of biscuits, filler shims, epoxy, and Liquid Nails, it's starting to come together. There is so much epoxy in those pieces that it they ever caught fire, they would melt instead of burn. I plan to cover them all with deck restoration paint, tinted in black. The bed strips will be sent out for powder coat. The wheel tubs were also moved up. I had to cut into the stake pockets so the tubs would clear, but it all looks factory. Here's shot of the wood just setting in place, with no bed strips.


I was also able to install the 67-72 Fleetside rear bumper. I still need to do a little tweaking, and the license plate box is a '73-up, which puts the plate at too much of an upward angle. I am probably going to build a new box, unless the factory 67-72 box solves this issue. Can anybody tell me if the license plate boxes are different?



That's enough for today. Tomorrow, I might try to tackle the spare tire mount.