Ol Yeller - 71 Cheyenne SWB BB

[screaminchevypickup]

[Zoomin]

Yeller came with a state of the art (for the period) 8 track stereo. I figured no problem since it's a two post radio - no cutting, right?



Wrong. Arrrrgh!



Oh well, just another item on the punch list...

[72 Super]

Hey Steve,

How have you been? Hows this truck coming along?

Ray

[Zoomin]

Well Ray, we've finally had a bit of a cold front come through the state, so the highs are only in the upper 90's instead of the 1 teens we've been having. So I spent quite a bit of time this weekend stripping the interior.

The bench seat had TWO build sheets - one behind each cushion.



I always hold my breath a bit when I take carpet out because of the surprises you can find. In this case, the surprise was a good one - the floors are in excellent shape. There is a bit of rust in the lower passenger kick panel and the rocker panel where they join. No surprise there as I had already seen that.



I took the seats apart to get the build sheets out without damaging them any more than they were. The seat back foam is still useable but the bottom one is not so good. I'm going to be putting buckets in anyway. The seat frame of this rascal looks like new - the springs are in great shape and the frame still sports it's gloss paint.

This week I'll be taking the buckets to get new covers put on them, replacing the a/c ducting and start putting it back together.

[VA72C10]

Very nice!!! THe floors look AWESOME and finding the two build sheets is cool!!!

[72 Super]

Steve,

Glad it "cooled down" some, those floors look sweet! Congrats on the 2 build sheets. That is a very solid truck.

Ray

[mcbassin]

Another great project Steve. I really like the idea of using real nice used oem parts. I may follow your lead on my 70 model. So it's not just a yard ornament. subscribing to this one too

[kingsolver72]

Looks like you're making progress...I still like the yellow rallyes.

[Zoomin]

Originally Posted by kingsolver72

Looks like you're making progress...I still like the yellow rallyes.

They are ready for you to pick up. We just need to work out some logistics again.

[m6z]

nice build

[sameyrasmea72]

Originally Posted by Zoomin

sur·vi·vor·a·tion

   [ser-vahy-ver-a-shun]
–verb
1.the act of improving an original condition truck by adding better, but still used or original parts.

I must give full credit to Paul Duncan, aka Duncan and Son, for the idea. He suggested I consider improving an a truck that's pretty much stock by finding good quality used parts to replace the ones that are pretty tired.

By the way - notice the difference the difference in paint in the front fenders, and door in the before and after pictures? I used the CLR tip I found on the board. Got rid of the rust stains real quick. Teeitup and kingsolver should be pretty surprised at how the hood turned out. I picked those up at Randy's get together last month. There must have been two decades of tree sap and dirt on it and the cowl panel.

Wow I missed this one . NIce truck!!! It reminds me alot of my red truck. I won't tell you how much SURVIVORATION we did on my survivor. Everybody notices the door with the non white window frame but we did alot more that that.

I guess you are looking for a ochre tailgate? Keep looking you will find one soon enough......Jason

[kingsolver72]

Originally Posted by Zoomin

They are ready for you to pick up. We just need to work out some logistics again.

Sounds good.Let me know what you have in mind and what is convenient for you.

[Zoomin]

Originally Posted by m6z

nice build

Thanks Doug. Those Buddy Buckets I got from you are going in my other project.

Originally Posted by sameyrasmea72

Wow I missed this one . NIce truck!!! It reminds me alot of my red truck. I won't tell you how much SURVIVORATION we did on my survivor. Everybody notices the door with the non white window frame but we did alot more that that.

I guess you are looking for a ochre tailgate? Keep looking you will find one soon enough......Jason

Funny thing is I had a nice ochre tailgate, but this white one is in better shape so I'm saving it for when I re-do this one. The ochre one is on the other project too.

Originally Posted by kingsolver72

Sounds good.Let me know what you have in mind and what is convenient for you.

We might be able to do something next month. I might be making a road trip to Wyoming.

[kingsolver72]

Sounds good Steve.PM me if you need my cell number.

[Zoomin]

Received the new radio today. Yes, it costs about the same as a NOS FM unit, but it looks the part to me, plus it will actually sound decent. I apologize to all the purists.

I was surprised by the size and how light it is compared to the original.





I'll start making some progress again, as the weather has cooled off and some parts have made it in. I will have supports for the bucket seats and a console arriving soon.

I also acquired a 60 Biscayne recently and that has been a distraction playing with that, but I'm going to put it on the back shelf for a bit. I also need to get going on US Tom - I need to get these things finished!

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by Zoomin

Received the new radio today. Yes, it costs about the same as a NOS FM unit, but it looks the part to me, plus it will actually sound decent. I apologize to all the purists.

I was surprised by the size and how light it is compared to the original.

I'll start making some progress again, as the weather has cooled off and some parts have made it in. I will have supports for the bucket seats and a console arriving soon.

Very cool radio!

So, where did you find the bucket supports? I was thinking about fabbing some but need some dimensions or a part to reverse engineer.

[VA72C10]

Very nice!

[Zoomin]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Very cool radio!

So, where did you find the bucket supports? I was thinking about fabbing some but need some dimensions or a part to reverse engineer.

Turns out another board member is having several sets fabbed up.
Posted via Mobile Device

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by Zoomin

Turns out another board member is having several sets fabbed up.
Posted via Mobile Device

More info?

[Zoomin]

Not ready for announcement.

[Zoomin]

Here's a pic of the back of the radio.



I'm going to work on installing the radio this week. Strange thing - the doors had already been cut for speakers, but I can't figure out how they ran the wires to them. Is it possible they fished it through the hinges, and it doesn't bind or short? I don't see any other obvious places....

[1972hays]

were did you get the radio

[Zoomin]

I got mine from GTO390 on ebay item number 300446864836. Took about 6 weeks, he said they have quite a backlog.
Posted via Mobile Device

[crappiewrangler]

Cool build..I'm in.

[Zoomin]

Originally Posted by Zoomin

I'm taking the interior apart to do an interim improv too. Coming up: Tach dash, replacement carpet and dash pad, door panels, visors, bucket seats and console. The only "new" items will be the carpet, dash pad and seat covers.

Well, the "survivoration" process hasn't gone quite according to plan. What plan does?

It hard to find a console that has survived that doesn't look like crap. So I thought, what the heck, I'm eventually going to do this right anyway, so I asked PT's 70 CST to do one for me, and man did he knock it out of the park. Putting this in the truck is going to stand out like a diamond in a goats butt.