Another 65 Stepside Project

[Gaber65Stepside]

Here's a shot of the cab near the old gas tank filler - I decided to cut it out due to the previous owner cobble job. I don't think I'll find new metal, so I'll have to build the corner from scratch - we'll see how that goes...

[Gaber65Stepside]

After taking a break to finish major remodeling on my house (log siding, addition, all new windows), it's finally back to work on the 65!
I spent many hours building/shaping cab metal around former gas tank filler area (will post images if I can find them). These old Chevy's are great, but you can't get some body parts - and the many curves & lines for an amateur like me is just way too time consuming!

Floor pan, braces, & rockers going in place.

In-garage PVC/plastic paint booth...

First coat of epoxy primer...

Ready to paint...

Cab painted with Eastwood single stage urethane "Redline Red."

I gotta post a better pic of the cab...

[Gaber65Stepside]

Decided to go with 3M undercoat over the epoxy instead of box liner stuff. I chose 3M brand since it's thinner than others, and easier to clean up/remove later if needed.

I opted for the cherry picker attached to the 4 mounting holes to mount the cab...

Here's a shot after the cab is mounted.


Next up is some final wet sanding & buffing for a few orange peel & overspray spots. Then finally back to some mechanical work like pedals, shifter, column, brakes, dash, etc.

[TJ's Chevy]

Very nice!

[Gaber65Stepside]

Thanks, TJ!
A bit out of order, but here's the cab re-work. Lots of dolly work, hammering, welding, & swearing. The corner from midway up the pillar down was cobbled up under the bondo. I burned off the rest of the bondo & sandblasted to bare metal before epoxy & rest of the bodywork.

[Bomp]

Simply amazing the transformation from then til now.
You are motivating me.

[mehoff400]

Good looking build!

[Gaber65Stepside]

I'm finally getting somewhere with the interior. I had to wet sand & buff most of the interior due to overspray & slight orange peel - definitely a pain. I've gotta get better at spraying with upcoming parts!
Here's a shot of the interior after adding the firewall pad, glove box liner, and cowl vents.
When installing the pad clips, I found it best to use a home made install tool (long bolt with a couple nuts), then grab the end from the outside with a pliers or vise grips, and pull! There's gotta be better clips available.
The cowl vent gaskets are probably always shot on anything this old (the gaskets that go around the flap). I should have taken a picture, but I basically inserted a wide gasket scraper between the riveted layers & "widened" the gap, removed the gaskets, replaced, and used a rubber mallet to pinch them down against the new gaskets.


The next shot is of the seat and carpeting. The seat was the only thing done before I bought the truck. All I did was remove, sand, & paint the rails. As for the carpet, I did not use any adhesive - contrary to the install instructions. Think about anytime you've removed carpet from any vehicle - was it glued down? The door sill step plates and seat are more than enough to keep it in place, and with time, the carpet will mold itself to the shape of the floor. You want to be able to easily pull it up in case it's needed later.


Along with keeping the inline six and 3-speed tranny, I decided to keep the 3-on-the-tree shifter in the column instead of converting to a floor shifter. It took some straightening, sanding, painting, and lube to get it to shift decent again, but it's kind of cool. Here's a shot of the dash mostly completed.


I also sand-blasted the original steering wheel and filled the cracks with bondo, since it has just enough give to keep it from re-cracking (hopefully). Pic posted soon. The original fuse block had a few fuse clips broken out, so I plan to order the spade style Painless Universal Fuse Block from Summit. Anyone have any experience with one of these? Looks like a good solution since it has two flashers, so I can easily add a 4-way.

[step65]

Looking great very nice work. I used AAW kit for electrical when I did mine. Cost more but was very complete.

[Sickfast1964]

Great work !!

[Gaber65Stepside]

I was able to put in quite a few hours on the 65 this spring. Hoping to get it done in July!

Hey Bomp, rusty doors look familiar? Here's a typical drivers door.

Not much left after cutting out the rust...

Getting ready to weld inside and outside lower patch panels (gas welded & warped pretty bad). I'll add a new image after straightening later.


The rear fenders & tailgate are good, but the rest of the box was pretty rough. Here I'm salvaging what I can...

All I could manage to save was the rails. Looks like more sand-blasting!

[TJ's Chevy]

Looks great! How has the eastwood paint been holding up so far? I've been using their products with decent results.

[Gaber65Stepside]

I was able to get by with adding a little metal to the passenger door bottom corners after sandblasting, burning off any old bondo & cutting out any rust. I also installed new hinge pins & bushings, window regulator, door stop, weather strip & handles. The old handles weren't too bad, but after painting the door they didn't look so good after all.

[Gaber65Stepside]

Thanks! So far, so good with the paint. I had a little trouble painting & needed to wet sand & buff. I used a low-mid range cost Devilbiss spray gun & couldn't get it set up right, so I switched to my primer gun. I just figured out that the cup filter was too fine, so I removed it, and it's now painting decent again.

[Gaber65Stepside]

The glue-on door weatherstrip came with the kit, so I cleaned up the frame, used 3M adhesive, and applied a thin layer to both the lip and weatherstrip about 6-8 inches at a time. Let it tack up & held together with a bunch of clothespins.




I also painted the right fender, put the cab-to-fender seals on the left fender & installed the fender & grill. Still not sure about the all-red front end color scheme. I'm gonna use painted bumpers - probably red??

[Gaber65Stepside]

Bedsides, front end done...




Priming tailgate & steps, then on to fenders & bed wood

[st1]

looking mighty NICE!!!!!!!

[TJ's Chevy]

Nice work! Moving fast!

[Gaber65Stepside]

Finished! Well, almost. Just need a bit more wetsanding & buffing here & there. I took it for it's first official ride yesterday. Rides okay, but will be better with new tires & alignment.



I decided to go with pine for the bed & 4 coats of marine varathane.

[TJ's Chevy]

Nice work man

[65chevysub]

Originally Posted by Gaber65Stepside

Stripped down & painted the cluster inside & out. Gauges & speedo tested fine before teardown. Bomp's right about taking pictures during the process for the rubber placement & wiring - It was apart for a few months while I worked on other stuff. I obtained the colored lenses from a craft store & cut to fit. I was able to polish all the original black plastic dash knobs (not pictured) to a decent finish using rubbing compound, but haven't found a lighter yet - most are chrome.

Also a shot of the heater control box - used a black matte finish & my wife's label maker for the text...

Where did you get the decal on your heater control box? I need one of those.