My grandsons 68 stepper

[jlsanborn]

Looking great! Love the shot of the boy mashing the gas

[54belair]

Yeah, that pic. is scary!!! I may not give him the truck till he's 30--ish! That pic is also why I have pretty much another truck in pcs.-- for parts!

[54belair]

Starting to take shape again. Finally got the bed wood in today-----still have many bolts to tighten but at least its progress. I showed it to my grandson, his ear to ear smile said he approved!!

The wood and the stainless came from Mar-K. Ive found their quality to be very good. As installations go, the bed floor has been one of the easiest so far.

[Jason7121]

What a great build I like all the work you have done so far. Your grandson is a lucky kid!

[jlsanborn]

WOW that is looking more like a truck! Very nice work. Was the wood pre-finished?

[54belair]

No, I finished it (last year!) The Mar-k wood kit comes precut and pre drilled but unfinished. I sanded it, just used a natural stain (pretty much clear) and 4 coats of clear over that. I sanded lightly the last coat then applied one final wet, thin coat. The problem was sort of like applying clear coat-----keeping the dust out of it till it drys. My biggest problem with the whole install was: I replaced the bed front panel with a new one and it wasn't drilled exactly right to match the wood widths of the mar-k kit---so I had to re drill carefully as I installed.

[54belair]

Now that the bed is ready to be bolted to the frame----I asked----what is the correct spacing??
My spacing isn't where I want it and it isn't the same on both sides.
5/8" spacing to cab on dr. side and 7/8" spacing on pass. side.
Tomorrow Ill start by measuring and making certain bed is square on frame----then if spacing is still off Ill remeasure and square cab on frame.
When You've had Everything apart, Its difficult to decide Where to start squaring everything up from. Good luck to me!!!!!!!!! lol

[jlsanborn]

Anxious to see the results!

[54belair]

Update on bed to cab spacing---

I measured and determined the bed was squarely on the frame. I was able to gently pry the bed to the rear some and ended up with a nominal 1" gap.
The measurement is still aprox. 1/8" out----which is really an out of square condition of the cab.
!/8" isn't much ( and its probably tighter tolerance than factory production), so now I have to decide whether or not to adjust the cab----again!!
UPDATE:
I spent some time this morning re-measuring the cab to frame-----It was off roughly 1/8 " at front of cab.---I loosened the cab mounts and with a hammer and block of wood I tapped it , moving it to the pass side about 1/8". Now cab. measures Exact with cab to bed spacing now under 1/16".
I know this is much tighter tolerance than stock, but I just wanted to see if I could do it. Now---Im done,,, it is what it is!!!!!!
Working on installing the rear bumper and rear fenders next----then comes the tail gate and it will be time to go back up front!!

[Bubba4spd]

Seems your build is about to wind down. Any last minute changes?

[54belair]

Wind down------Man, that sounds good!!!! I still have many things to do yet.
I have to finish the interior, get the drs. door on, get the front clip on, finish wiring under the hood, get the engine running--------and hope theres no glitches with any of that. At some point I have to repaint the drs. door and the hood.

Compared to where I was, yep, its close. To answer your question, No, there aren't any last minutes changes----not big changes anyway. It seems there are always "running production changes" every day I work on it.

As with most large scale projects, Ive gone thru the gamit of emotions with this build. First it was Excitement to get started, then excitement and dedication to getting it done. At some point in time I let Life once again start dictating my schedule--then for almost a year, nothing got done. I came up with one excuse after, another not to work on it. Then Reality set in-----I realized that "it had to be finished" and I wasn't getting any younger. I was 66 when I started this and Ill be 70 this summer.
So, my age, the fact that Im building it for my grandson and the reality that -- in pieces, the truck is worth a very few thousand dollars, the only way to ever get close to recapsuring my investment is to finish it!!! Besides, I need to do some things to my chevelle--but not till the truck is done.
But, somewhere along the way, my excitement and dedication has been rekindled. I am looking forward to being finished---for several reasons!! When a project goes on for several years---there is always a high probability of never finishing.

[Bubba4spd]

Well you've got all the really hard work done, the major money spent, all that's left is to gut it out and get her rolling. It's going to be an awesome truck to drive.

[54belair]

Yeah, all major expenditures are past (I hope). I prebought many things that Im just now getting to. My wife helped me put the rear fenders on today, now she's really impressed with the way it looks (actually me too).

[54belair]

Well, today I didn't set any records for amount of work done----but Ive got an excuse, Im Old!!!! lol

With my wifes help I got the rear fenders on and the tailgate in place! We both had to set back a few minutes and OOOO- an AHHH, Its looking pretty good. I see a few things I should have done different--but the trucks' not going to Barrett-Jackson so I can live with them.

[54belair]

A few more pics---
It'll be a couple days before I get the steps installed--Gotta spend two or three days "letting life get in the way" of my progress. Should be back on the interior this weekend.

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by 54belair

Well, today I didn't set any records for amount of work done----but Ive got an excuse, Im Old!!!! lol

With my wifes help I got the rear fenders on and the tailgate in place! We both had to set back a few minutes and OOOO- an AHHH, Its looking pretty good. I see a few things I should have done different--but the trucks' not going to Barrett-Jackson so I can live with them.

I think it's looking great. Barrett-Jackson is over rated in my opinion...you would be afraid to drive it and we all know the driving them is part of the fun.

[Bubba4spd]

Looking forward to more interior pics anyway so glad to hear it. Really like your shifter and where it's located.

[54belair]

Thanks, The shifter is just an old school rebuilt Hurst competition plus. I think with the seats Im using it will work well---hope so anyway.

[Bubba4spd]

Just checking in to see if any progress has been made. Yeah I'm anxious to see this interior come together.

[jlsanborn]

Great progress, looks really nice!

[54belair]

The only progress this week has been the completion of the bed and installation of the steps. Ive been doing some work this week in the hay field and doing some clean up with the bush hog. I am so ready to get more of the interior and the front clip on. God only knows what adjustment issues Ill have there! My short term goal is still to have it running by the local car show date in early sept. Having it ready for that wont include rebuilding the rear end. I haven't ordered the gears or any other parts for that yet. That job will have to be scheduled with a shop----the last time I rebuilt a rear end was 30 yrs ago-----didn't like it then (and don't have the mic's any more),

[Low Elco]

It's coming out beautiful. you oughta bring it up to the Nats in Sept. with the Springfield crew.

[54belair]

That was my original goal-----about three years ago!!!!! I will bring it, if not this year, then next!! Thanks for the comments.

[jlsanborn]

Looking forward to seeing your progress. Is the rear end job going to be a gearing change?

[54belair]

Yeah, every thing in the rear end to be changed. It will be a complete rebuild including bngs., gears, switching to posi . the truck is currently 3.08 gears, Im going back with same ratio but new gears (these howl a little). After she runs Ill take her to a local shop for the rear end work. Ive set in gears before--but its a pain in the butt, I don't have the equip. to do it anymore------plus, I mainly just don't want to fool with it, it has to be right the first time or you end up ruining the gear set.
Im going with the 3.08's mainly to make the truck more drivable (for fuel economy). If I put low gears in it-----Ill be tempted to play with it-------And so will my grandson when he gets it. The truck will be just average at low end, but should run down the road at 65 or 70 at about 2200 rpm.