66 ReinCARnation

[Billys68SS]

We've been plugging away at it. We finally got a new fuel tank and sender from Tommy's Pickup Parts in Shelby, NC. They had it in stock! Once the tank was in, we built some brackets and put in a set of bucket seats from a 1997 Malibu. We took it for a drive last Saturday with the intention to put it in a local car show, but when we stopped at Walmart to get some ice and drinks, my brother opened the hood to check things out and saw we had a major oil leak. Oil was everywhere! Turns out the front crankshaft seal was so dry and hard that it had cut grooves in the harmonic balancer. We put in a new seal and bought a Balancer repair sleeve. While we were in that far we went ahead and put in a new water pump and thermostat. Got everything all back together and my brother is putting coolant in and I say to him, it sounds like your pouring it right on the floor. So we shine a light down and find that the original radiator has sprung a leak right behind the grille and is pouring out pretty good. So now we have to get a new radiator, and considering this will be the third time we will put coolant in we might as well do a new heater core then everything will be new.
Here's a few pics for the folks (like me) that like to see em!
New tank in...


These are the seats that were in it when we got it... If anyone has any idea what they Re out of, please let me know. My only idea is a T-bird or something like that.

[Billys68SS]

Last night my brother worked on some more of the patch work on the floor on the right side of the cab.

Because the truck has the 4speed Muncie trans and a floor shifter we decided to make it more comfortable. I cut the Hurst shifter where it had been welded previously and raised it up an additional 8 inches and then made a custom shift boot for it.
Here is what it looked like before.

For some reason my phone didn't like the other pic I took and deleted it, so I will get a shot before installing the boot this evening.
Here is the boot!

[Billys68SS]

Got a little more done the past few days. Got the shifter extended and the new boot installed. While my brother is working on the repairs to the left side cab floor I do some work on the right side door. The door was in primer when we got it and I knew there was work to be done. I wish I had taken some better before pics, but even with the in process pics the extent of the damage can be seen. I still need to do a bit more shaping, then a little filler and it will be ready for paint.
Here's some pics!
Shifter extended.

Boot installed.

Patch spotted in on right side of floor

This is the door before. The dents can be see, but not real good. The dent in the front of the door had a half-a$$ repair attempted. There are holes from someone drilling and possibly trying to pull it out with a dent puller and then tried to fill it with bondo. Thankfully it wasn't a lot of bondo. Got that all ground out ans pulled out the stud welder and went to town!

Some in process repair pics.
The diagonal lines in this dent is where creases were! I got them pounded out pretty good. Sprayed a little primer on and the spot almost completely disappeared.

This is the worst dent, and by far the worst dent I've ever worked. The body line about 10" behind it was also dented and the curve underneath was pushed out. Still needs a little more massaging, but it's a whole lot better than it was.

[Billys68SS]

I got the new radiator this past week and finally got a little time to get it in on Friday evening.

Nice new aluminum radiator from eBay. I got the 3 row in the event that there is a v8 in this trucks future. It was only a little more money so we went for it. I did have to modify the brackets a little, but not so much that if someone wanted to put in an oe radiator they wouldn't have to buy new ones.

[Billys68SS]

I just realized that I have not posted the heater core install progress. It was before the radiator as I was able to get it locally. I'm pretty sure the heater core was original as all of the bolts were still in place, even the 4 on the back, so the whole box had to come out. While I had it out I decided why not clean it up and paint it, so I did.
Old and new!

[Billys68SS]

I spent a little time working on the right side door yesterday. I got it in green paint, now just need to age it to sorta match the rest of the truck.

[99 to Life]

you're alive!!!! nice progress. keep on keeping on, time is moving fast.

[Billys68SS]

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

you're alive!!!! nice progress. keep on keeping on, time is moving fast.

Lol... I know right! It seems like forever since I posted anything. Just got home with the 58/59 cab. Will post some pics when the sun comes up.

I'll hopefully be back on the 66 some this week as I wait on parts to come in for my daughters car.

[Billys68SS]

So tired, I fell asleep writing last night...
Here's a pic of the 58/59.

[Billys68SS]

I almost bought it strictly for the dash, but decided the rest of the cab was in too good of shape to cut it up.

[99 to Life]

cab looks great, good score

[Billys68SS]

Little Teaser!!!

We still have a few things to do. A little more metal work in the cab floors. New weatherstripping and wipers to install. Then it will pretty much be done.

[99 to Life]

nice, drive the wheels off that, make a nice cab getter!

[Billys68SS]

Originally Posted by 99 to life

nice, drive the wheels off that, make a nice cab getter!

lol!