Project Boogie Chillin': '68 Panel

[pritch]

Well, it's finally started! I've had this Panel for about 4 years now, slowly gathering up parts and finishing (more or less) my shop.



Today, I (with a little help from my friends) took the body off and put it on a rack. I built this rack pretty heavy duty-I think the body is going to be on it for a couple years.





I have given myself a year to get the chassis done. I'm planning on airbags, and probably front discs, but I'm not quite sure yet on that one, and a good powdercoating.

Time and money is all it will take, and I'm short on both. But it's started and I'm a happy guy

[kristoferlarson]

looks like a stellar project! i like suburbans but that panel has soo much goin for it you goin to keep it original or do something funky with all that sheet metal?

[pritch]

I'm going to keep it looking pretty much stock-from the outside. Nuthin' fancy. I am planning a few surprises under the hood, though.

[nuke1]

That is one clean looking burb you have there, i like the idea of leaving it close to original, but having an updated suspension, good luck.

[project 67 sub]

thats a panel not a burb .

[pritch]

Today's project: fix the rear of the frame. At some point, a PO decided the cutting torch was needed to remove the rear bumper. One of the first things I did when I bought this Panel was cobble together something to hang a bumper on, to make it street legal.


I saved the last foot of the donor 'Burb I parted out knowing that this day would come. I hit the peices with a quick sandblasting at work to knock off the rust. I had to figure out a good place to cut, behind the last body mount and not going through any of the various holes in either half. The 'Burb had an under frame tow hitch, so there were extra holes to miss. I settleled on 1&1/2" behind the body mount hole, and squared a line around.



A few minutes with the porta-band and a little grinding to fit, and clamped on.



A few tack welds and make sure everything is still in line and square, and weld it up.









Like it never happened. Well, not really. I meant to bring a better grinder home from work, my little shop grinder takes a wierd disc, and I am out. I need to do just a little bit of touch up, a little more weld in a couple holes and some more grinding. I didn't have any primer handy, so I just hit it with a coat of rust-oleum until better equipped.

[texanidiot25]

WOohoo, panels!

[pritch]

Well, I've finally made a little bit more progress. I just got my frame back from the powdercoater today!



I have this brother-in-law who is a steel fabricator, and his company does alot of powdercoating, so he did it.

I have a buddy that has a sandblaster, so he did the blasting. Here it is ready for the trip to the big city:






And here it is today:





Now I have my work cut out for me. I still need to get all my bolts fixed up, and lots of odds and ends.

The UPS man has been stopping by regularly lately, also:



Drop spindles, disc brakes, various seals and rubber bumpers, and new springs. Life is good!

[72BlckButy]

This looks like a fun project!

What color of powdercoat is on the frame? Flat black?

[VA72C10]

Nice work...I really like panels!!!

[pritch]

Originally Posted by 72BlckButy

What color of powdercoat is on the frame? Flat black?

It's black satin. I wasn't real sure about it, but after seeing some samples I decided I liked it. Not quite gloss, not quite flat. I'm really happy with it.

[72BlckButy]

From the pics it reminds me of factory black, which I've been told it about 60% gloss. I definitely like the PC you chose, is it smooth or textured?

[pritch]

Originally Posted by 72BlckButy

From the pics it reminds me of factory black, which I've been told it about 60% gloss. I definitely like the PC you chose, is it smooth or textured?

It's smooth as a bab...ah-it's really smooth. That was the first thing I thought when I saw the finished product, how much it looked like the frame paint that I had sandblasted off. You see, most of the original paint was protected by undercoating.

[pritch]

I noticed I hadn't up-dated my build thread lately, 8 months, in fact. I am very close to having my chassis complete, close enough to say it is, actually. I just need to touch up some bolt threads and a couple other little odds and ends.

Putting all the major stuff back together:







I ran into a little snag with the drop spindles, they hit on upper control arm:


So I had to do a little grinding on them. Everything fits good now.

I sat the whole thing up on some 55 gal drums to make things easier:



More to follow...

[pritch]

I had the rear end re-built-new bearings and seals and stuff and got it all mounted on:



That frame sure gets dusty. Looks like the colors are way off, but they are a dead-on match between the powder coat and the rattlecan color.



I know that nobody wastes their time rebuilding wheel cylinders, but someone has to remember how to do it, and I'm all about saving a buck if I can:





But I did get all new springs and new SS brake lines and new E-brake cables:



I had my rear original drums turned, I don't think they ever had been before.

I don't seem to have a good picture of the whole thing right now, but all 4 wheels are on it. My friend and I share an engine-puller/cherry-picker and right now it's at his house. I'll need to go get it to get the thing down off them drums and onto the floor, but then I'll be stuck storing the hoist 'till he needs it again, so I'm waiting to the last minute to have an actual "rolling chassis"

My next major thing is the drivetrain. I'm currently saving up for a transmission, most likely a 200r from Bowtie Overdrives, and I have a 292 block to get down to the machine shop. Really, I'm still looking for one that's a little newer, maybe a Hecho de Mexico block-I've heard they're actually a better block-but if it comes down to it, I'll build the one I have. That's all for now.

[nuke1]

Looking good.

[dfwright]

Looks real good. Is that a home-made blast cabinet back there?

[olblue60@aol.com]

Great looking job Pritch !! This is gonna be a fun build to follow!

John

[67chevy1series]

man lets get thi sthing rolling