Project '65 - The "build" thread

[Sevens]

I decided that I need to start an actual "build" thread to document my truck and its progress.

This is going to be a long (slow) process. I have a LOT of work to do and not much time and money to throw at it.

It all started when I was 14 years old. I had a neighbor down the street that had a shop (in a sleepy little town in Alabama). He hired me to hand him wrenches and help out as much as I could while he restored 64-66 Chevy trucks. One of those trucks became mine. It was a '64 fleet-side long-bed. I owned it for about 6 months and then like a lot of teenagers...I got bored with waiting and sold it because money seemed more important than a truck that I wasn't old enough to drive. I regretted selling it and I have always wanted to replace it.

Fast-forward to 2013 when I first met my wife's uncle Joe. We went by his house out near Fallbrook California and sitting in his driveway at the "farm" was this truck:





I told him that if he ever wanted to get rid of it...he should give me a call.

[Sevens]

Fast forward a few years and Joe called me up and said he was ready to sell me the truck. We chatted and came up with a number that we were both happy with... He then told me that he had one more project on the farm to take care of before he sold it.

He called me a few weeks later and said that he got cold feet and decided not to sell.

This past Christmas (back when the world was "normal") we had a big family dinner at his house and he pulled me off to the side and said that he was ready to sell it. He then quoted me a number that was about half of what we originally talked about because the "truck needs some work".

I went a few days later and handed him some cash; then drove the truck home over an hour away.

It was in rough shape. Running on 7 cylinders, backfiring, exhaust leaks, gauges not working, etc...

I started with the important stuff.

Something doesn't look right:

[Sevens]

After getting it to run on all 8, I gave her a tune-up (typical plugs, wires, cap, rotor, etc).

Spent some time cleaning and figuring out just how deep of a hole I got myself into. The more I look the more I see that I need to fix. It's almost overwhelming...but I keep reminding myself that Rome wasn't built in a day.

My original truck was a Chevy and this one is a GMC that was mostly dressed up like a Chevy. I decided that I want to make it as "Chevy" as possible. I got lucky and found a hood that I ended up scoring for free!

Before & After:




I ended up selling my GMC hood to a local guy that just so happens to have a 65 Chevy that is dressed like a GMC. I got a good chuckle out of the fact that we were both taking our trucks in opposite directions but that between us, we could build two correct trucks.

[vin63]

Very cool! I look forward to following along your build. I spent a lot of time in the Fallbrook area for work, racing support, etc. (that's where my truck was painted). What are some of your plans for it? Good luck on the build up!

[cwcarpenter98]

Looks like a great project! I like that it's green and a long bed.

Want me to move your thread to the projects and builds section?

[Sevens]

Originally Posted by cwcarpenter98

Looks like a great project! I like that it's green and a long bed.

Want me to move your thread to the projects and builds section?

I really like the green myself but there will most likely be a color change before this journey ends.

Yes, didn't realize that I posted in the wrong section.

[Sevens]

Originally Posted by vin63

Very cool! I look forward to following along your build. I spent a lot of time in the Fallbrook area for work, racing support, etc. (that's where my truck was painted). What are some of your plans for it? Good luck on the build up!

Honestly, I'm still working on exactly what I'm going to do.

I think I'm going to do most of these things...but not necessarily in this order;

Lower it a few inches and level it out.

Lot's of body work and eventually some paint

383 stroker w/ auto trans (I was going to buy these this year with my Christmas bonus, but unfortunately I got laid off so that's probably not happening this year).

Corvette rally wheels with white letter tires.

Relocate the gas tank (it's still behind the seat).

Replace the bed wood.

Replace the bench seat (I have a 60/40 split that is already upholstered, I just need to fabricate mounting brackets).

Learn how to weld.

Most of this is going to be a learning experience for me. I am not expecting perfect...I just want a decent reliable old truck.

I think I am going to focus on the drive-train and suspension before I really get into making it look pretty.

I'm open to suggestions and advice about what order I should work on things.

[cwcarpenter98]

Moved it for ya!

On my truck, I started with the mechanicals. Even 5 years later, I still keep finding mechanical stuff to fix, but I didn't do a full rebuild from the ground up when I first started. Just this year, I bought a welder and started teaching myself how to weld. It's a fun time, but definitely took me a bit to get the hang of it. It's totally doable though!

[Sevens]

Originally Posted by cwcarpenter98

Moved it for ya!

.... Just this year, I bought a welder and started teaching myself how to weld. It's a fun time, but definitely took me a bit to get the hang of it. It's totally doable though!

I've tried welding twice in my life.

The first time was in shop class in high school. Something was grounded wrong and when I TOUCHED the steel bench...it shocked the bejeezus out of me! Ended up knocking me on my rear...bruising me and my ego.

The second time was welding a ramp brace on a trailer. The ramp on the other side fell while my leg was under it resulting in a tib/fib fracture.

For many years I have said that I'm not meant to be a welder...but I think it's time to stop being silly and (safely) learn how to weld!

Aside from that, your build has been pretty inspirational to me. I plan to attack mine in a somewhat similar manner.

[Sevens]

Weekly I spend a little time on Craigslist looking for anything that I "need" for my truck.

One of the things I need is a better set of doors.

The main problem was my driver side door.


*note the 1/8" thick Bondo






This past week I spotted a set of doors up in LA that were in much better shape than mine. The only issue is that someone had shaved the door handles.





After talking to the seller and verifying that the original mounting points for the door handles still existed under the patchwork, I decided to buy them.

I drilled a series of holes in the patch:



...and then cut along them with a side grinder. The I "worked" the rest of the weld seam out; aka a large set of pliers and some brute force...




If I could go back and do it again, I would not have been so aggressive with the drill. I think I could have saved myself an hour or two of future body work.

[Sevens]

A little more grinding achieved this:




It's getting there:

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by Sevens

I've tried welding twice in my life.

The first time was in shop class in high school. Something was grounded wrong and when I TOUCHED the steel bench...it shocked the bejeezus out of me! Ended up knocking me on my rear...bruising me and my ego.

The second time was welding a ramp brace on a trailer. The ramp on the other side fell while my leg was under it resulting in a tib/fib fracture.

For many years I have said that I'm not meant to be a welder...but I think it's time to stop being silly and (safely) learn how to weld!

Aside from that, your build has been pretty inspirational to me. I plan to attack mine in a somewhat similar manner.

3rd time's the charm! I watched a bunch of youtube videos about it, and one of my friends who learned to weld at his college also taught me. The key is to start with scrap metal and just weld on it. Practice, practice, practice.

On the doors you just picked up, if the handle pocket ends up needing to be replaced, you might be able to just cut out and weld in the ones from your damaged doors

[The Rocknrod]

Nice build thread. I used to go to Fallbrook all the time at friends house there.

[Sevens]

Originally Posted by vin63

Very cool! I look forward to following along your build. I spent a lot of time in the Fallbrook area for work, racing support, etc. (that's where my truck was painted). What are some of your plans for it? Good luck on the build up!

I bought my split bench of a guy that does car restorations in Bonsall...

Who painted your truck? Paint is one thing that I think I will leave to the pros. I plan to do the bulk body work myself but I will most likely hire someone to do the actual filling/blocking/sanding and spraying...so I am looking for recommendations within an hour or so of San Diego.

Originally Posted by cwcarpenter98

3rd time's the charm! I watched a bunch of youtube videos about it, and one of my friends who learned to weld at his college also taught me. The key is to start with scrap metal and just weld on it. Practice, practice, practice.

On the doors you just picked up, if the handle pocket ends up needing to be replaced, you might be able to just cut out and weld in the ones from your damaged doors

Are there any particular YouTube videos or channels that you would recommend?

I plan on keeping my old doors around until the bodywork is complete for that exact reason (just in case I need to cut/weld). Both sets of doors have good glass and I think both sets of vent windows and hardware are in decent shape... I plan to cherry pick the best parts and then sell the windows once I finish "loading" my doors.

When I put the doors together, I want to replace all of the rubber and felt tracks in both doors. LMC seems to have everything, but I have heard they don't always fit well.

Does anyone have recommendations on where to buy quality rubber that fits?

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by Sevens

Are there any particular YouTube videos or channels that you would recommend?

I plan on keeping my old doors around until the bodywork is complete for that exact reason (just in case I need to cut/weld). Both sets of doors have good glass and I think both sets of vent windows and hardware are in decent shape... I plan to cherry pick the best parts and then sell the windows once I finish "loading" my doors.

When I put the doors together, I want to replace all of the rubber and felt tracks in both doors. LMC seems to have everything, but I have heard they don't always fit well.

Does anyone have recommendations on where to buy quality rubber that fits?

I used Gibson63's videos a lot for just the little bit I've done so far. I also like watching the couple of welding videos that Finnegan's Garage has done. Also, ChrisFix did a great video about welding in a patch panel on a Honda DelSol. Those, with a bunch of practice, helped me have a decent starting point. I would have needed to do a heck of a lot more practice if my friend didn't show me how to do it. I've also picked up a few tips and tricks from other members here. PDXHall has some great pictures on his build thread of the rust repair that he has done. Also some really great work by jrusk.

I am also taking two sets of vent windows and making one good set. I will be using Precision Replacement Parts (prp.com) for my vent window and door glass seals. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to get all that done yet, but the products look great out of the box. I have heard that PRP is the best, so I'm looking forward to putting all that together on my truck. You can get a better deal through some of the vendors on this site that what you can get ordering direct from PRP's website

[pdxhall]

It looks like you have great truck to start with. It's good to see another long bed. You've got a good plan for your build. I started much the same way when I started (years ago) on my truck. I taught my self to weld and I went all the way and did a full frame off. Good luck and I'll be following along.

[Sevens]

I've had a busy couple of weeks...so I haven't had much time to work on the truck.

Ok...honestly it's just been too hot. It was 112 degrees here on saturday...

I had an unwelcome visitor a few days ago, a Southern Pacific Rattlesnake which was about 2" shy of 3' My dog found it in the corner of my backyard...a few minutes later it was in a bucket on the way to its new home...:




The good news is that I found another passenger door that is in much better condition than either of the ones that I already have:



It needs some work, but it's a solid door overall.

I got to spend a few minutes with a stick welder last week at work...it's not as easy as it looks. I need PRACTICE!!

This weekend I ordered a new fuel sending unit and all new door rubbers and window felts.

Anyway, I plan to strip both doors down completely, mount them on the truck (one side at a time) and reload them once they are hanging. I feel like it will be easier with them already mounted. If anyone has any experience with this, please chime in if there is a better way...

I made the mistake of buying a cheap sending unit off of eBay and it only worked for a few days. I have tested the wiring, and if I'm testing it right...the "new" sending unit is bad. It would be nice to have a working fuel gauge!

[Sevens]

Life has been pretty busy lately so I haven't made much progress on my truck.

I have been daily driving it about 40 miles a day (round trip), and it has been running great and very enjoyable to drive.

I want to get my "new" doors on soon so I decided to strip and rebuild a set of hinges with new pins and bushings. I used paint stripper to get the old paint off and during this process I uncovered a story...



You can see in this photo that the door was originally gold, then green, then white (hard to see in the photo...but it's there), then blue, and then black...

[Sevens]

I actually had some more time to spend on my truck this week.

I removed the heater and deleted the heater hoses. I am in the process of ordering heater delete plates from Captainfab.

Flushed my radiator and installed a new thermostat, rad hoses, and rad cap.

Removed the 1980s green glow Alpine cassette player. I have a radio delete plate that I will probably install for now.

I also installed new battery cables. The old negative cable seemed brittle and the positive was two pieces of cable "spliced" together using a brass ground rod clamp...I wish I had taken a photo before I removed it, but they used one of these to "clamp" them together and then wrapped it in electrical tape:



I'm not sure why they went through all the trouble to do that and didn't just replace the whole wire...

I also pulled the hinges off of my "new" doors and rebuilt two of them in preparation of mounting the "new" D/S door which I would like to get on this week sometime.




Spent some time today at a friend's shop:

My factory bench seat was/is in rough shape. PO left the D/S window down most of the time...even in the rain.




First, the old came out:






Then after a bit of fabrication (I don't have the tools to do metal work, so I enlisted some help...), we built brackets to mount the split bench seats that I purchased off of Craigslist. Each seat is mounted independent of the other and, with the use of the original hardware, both are still adjustable. The photo makes it look like they aren't level with one another...but they are.



The "new" seats look really good in the truck, the leather even matches my interior.

I'm trying to decide if I should keep the factory bench or not...

I had planned to be a lot further into this project this year, but thanks to COVID and me getting laid off...I am just working on the little things for now. It feels good to make some progress, even if it isn't much.

[cwcarpenter98]

Looks good! You could turn your original bench into a shop bench if you have the space

[The Rocknrod]

Man I like those seats.

[Sevens]

Originally Posted by cwcarpenter98

Looks good! You could turn your original bench into a shop bench if you have the space

Right now I don't have the space. Once I move out of California...I will have more shop space!

Originally Posted by The Rocknrod

Man I like those seats.

Me too! I'm glad I picked them up. I was a little "iffy" about them at first, but now that they are in the truck, I really am happy with them.

[Sevens]

I haven't posted in a while.

Life got busy. I went from being unemployed to being very actively employed. I bought a house and moved...and I have spent a few months doing some renovations and updates to keep the wife happy.

I had to put the truck in storage/prison but I recently broke it out. It's on the rack at a friend's shop right now getting the Super 44s installed with some new tubes. The old ones were starting to leak from all the rust holes. I believe the old exhaust was on it for about 20 years.



I have a few busy months ahead of me and possibly a deployment coming up but I hope to get back on track with my project.

[The Rocknrod]

Nice to see your got back to it.