shop truck project (65')

[carslut]

ive been lurking on this site for a while and figured a build thread may be useful when i have questions about this project.

i had been using a 85' c-10 for the past few years as an run around shop truck. its done well and gotten a few upgrades along the way.
after moving to CA i have discovered the Nazi emission laws make my shop truck next to impossible to get street legal with the motor mods in it. so.......
out came a sawzall and the 85' became an parts donor.





plans for the 65' are fairly straight forward.

383 SBC

edelbrock e-force supercharger

700r4

update brakes

air bags (truck came with em so why not use them)

9" with Detroit rear axle

and over all just make it an solid reliable truck im able to do run around picking up parts.

for now no heat/ac, stereo, power anything just keep it simple and make it as reliable slash fun as possible.


just the tip of the iceberg but work has started moving ahead.

i swapped over the whole front suspension/steering from the 85' c-10. wasn't much work to get disk breaks,
2.5" drop spindles and power steering installed vs. trying to rework the existing system.



i know there are plenty of guys on the road who just put spacers in to fit a power steering gear box,
but i had the items handy to do it a bit nicer.

85' steering gear box mount cut from donor and 65' frame ready to receive it.


it fit nicely and the 85' frame is just a touch larger than the 65' frame so i over lapped them on the bottom side of the
rail and welded them together.


its welded on both sided since i knocked down the face of the rails welds.


im a bit shocked how well the 85' parts fit the 65' frame


things were fine once i finished the install but i waned to make a few more changes to help with some other
mods i have in mind for this truck. so out came the saw......

this is only the start..... ill put something back into the sub frame.





i wish i had the proper year stepside bed for this cab but i dont, so ill use what i do have. if you look close enough you may
notice the blower already is looking at its new home, didnt plan the shot that way haha. i have the stock fleet side 65' bed
still and wont be getting rid of it any time soon, im just a bigger fan of the stepside look so that is what im starting off with.



need to find a few body parts along the way so if anyone in the LA area has an idea where id find parts for an 65' chevy truck
def shoot me the info. ive also got the cab and front clip from the 85' for sale or trade.

[hopped up]

theres a 65 at the pick a part in monrovia
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[74 stepside]

Welcome. Looks like a good swap.

[Pop's C-10]

nice

[carslut]

i had a few mins this weekend so i did a bit of measuring and started firing parts off of the CNC for this project.

no mater how much i cleaned up inside the subframe i wasn't able to get things totally prepped as id like to of had them for welding.

these have 9 threaded inserts welded to the back side of them to allow for easy installation of the motor mounts and removable center section that will be getting built soon.

i set these plates about 1/4" into the subframe so id have a good surface to put a solid corner weld.





i know the welds look ever so not stellar in these photos but they are solid and free of porosity. welding upside down while laying on my back wasn't much fun so i put the idea of getting pretty welds out of my mind and just got the work done so i could get upright.


before i welded these into place i also put a few extra holes into the subframe and welded in some extra threaded inserts. with some luck i wont have to go fishing for a nut ever again when i am working on the motor or frame.

[carslut]

somehow photos in the last post got messed up and im unable to edit the post, sorry for re-posting stuff....... if there is a way to go back and edit a post plz feel free to pm me about it.



these have 9 threaded inserts welded to the back side of them to allow for easy installation of the motor mounts and removable center section that will be getting built soon.



i set these plates about 1/4" into the subframe so id have a good surface to put a solid corner weld.



i should be able to install/remove the center section from bellow the truck if i ever need to get the oil pan off or work on something around or under the motor. not sure how low or far back the motor is going to be yet, but this should allow me to get the drive train as low as possible.

i had to give up space in the shop for my own project so i could help out with this 64' chevelle. some real genus tried to steal it last week from the garage it was parked in. seems the would be thief didnt have a clue what they were doing and made a real mess of things then resorted to stripping parts off the motor before taking off with everything else in the garage.



ive got the big block apart on a stand just to checke everything out. so far ive found some missing hardware from the thief pulling the carb/fuel lines and such off the top end of the motor. in the manifold and #4 cylinder found were 1 nut and 2 washers inside the motor.

[niterider65]

looks like you got your work cut out for ya. keep up the goot work . hate it when some one steals other peoples suff ..
hope it wount take to much time or money getting chevelle out of the shop .

[carslut]

started on the center section, need to get some tube before i can get much more done. test fitted the mounting plates and its looking to be a great fit.

[carslut]

started putting some tube into place. didn't have enough time to get all the tube installed, but did manage to lay some tig welds last night.





so far its looking to be a great fit, the center section drops right out the bottom with only a few hand taps. its pressure fit, but not so tight its requiring more than my hands to get it into position.

side plates are 3/16" 4130 chromoly, front tube will be 1.75x.120 wall 4130 chromoly. its a bit over kill but i have some plate laying around so why not put it to use. i hope for this sub frame to be strong enough to hold the truck up in the air just encase i need to jack the truck up underneath it.

[chevyrestoguy]

Are you going to run a plate or gusset between the tubes? A 1/4" plate with some lazer-cut holes in it would look slick.

[carslut]

Originally Posted by chevyrestoguy

Are you going to run a plate or gusset between the tubes? A 1/4" plate with some lazer-cut holes in it would look slick.

once the motor has been fitted to the frame a few gussests will get added. i hope to maximize access and strength.

[carslut]

my truck project is slightly taking a back seat, been working on getting the chevelle back onto the road.

after getting the motor apart the owner decided why not make some changes so...........

new carb (well he had no choice)

new carb spacer

new cam/lifters

new rad fan controls (for electric fan)

new rad fan (electric twins)

new rad mounts

new tranny cooler

new B&M converter controller

and the list goes on.



decided to work off of some existing holes in the core support for the rad mounts.




then came the task of getting the radiator and electric fans into the car and fitting properly.

here is what i came up with. its a 3 sideded mounting system for the fan/radiator. all cnc cut in house then dimple die pressed.





fans seal to the radiator on all 4 sides. im not overly happy how i had to cut around the filler/outlet but not much i could do about it.





did the dimples on the bottom down so water/crap will have a chance to drain out.



best part of all this is...... ill most likely use the same radiator on the pickup so.... all the parts are already designed and ready to be cut.

[74 stepside]

Looks awesome! Ill be hitting you up for something similar soon.

[carslut]

back from a few days away, whipped this switch mount out this morning.



thing is quiet a bit smaller than what im used to making but it worked out well.

[c.brown]

that radiator turned out great

[carslut]

getting a good stack of body parts, thanks to a local froum member!...

new (to me)

doors

fenders (inner and outter)

cluster (with harness)

and a few misc pieces are all stacked in the shop ready for test fitting.

but on the same note im having issues getting a good block to start my motor build. so im going to ask on here, if anyone in socal has a 96' or later SBC 4-bolt main factory roller cam motor in good enough shape to rebuild let me know. ive gone thru 2 blocks now that had too much damage to build. id be happy to drive just about any where in the great LA area to pick one up. ive got a later model front clip id trade or cash.

here is my extra front clip i dont have a use for. fenders, core support, hood, lights, grille, harness are all included.


now that im getting started on the body, i wonder what is the average width rear axle guys like to run if they plan to use a 12" wide wheel with a dot slick on it? the 9" axle ive got is really wide so im lucky that i can make it just about any width fairly easy but im not sure yet what width i will be running.

[carslut]

its been far too long since i worked on this project. i finally have time to get back into this project.

to help speed up getting the truck back on the road i was lucky a friend parted with an axle from his personal parts stash. the new rear axle is from a caddy, already has disk brakes and is setup to just bolt right in. this gives me the proper 5 lug patter now front and rear.



if you squint just right there is evidence of the soon to be installed front airbags.

things should start to slowly trickle onto this project over the next few months.

[carslut]

got the front air bags installed.


discovered the drop spindles and air bags are almost enough to set the front of the frame onto the ground.





not sure what but something maybe getting done to the rear of the frame as its a bit higher than id like it to be.



also brought the motor and tranny home

[Ta2Don]

Awesome start...
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[carslut]

been collecting parts and its taking a while so some fab work got done.

decided on what direction id like to go with the back half of the frame.



cut the frame like this to help accomplish a few things. will give me room to run the exhaust how i plan for it to exit the truck and also get plenty of room around the axle.

now to put some strength into the frame i got a few sticks of 1.75" dom tubing



this is 19 feet and 3 inches of tubing



now Ive got to get the frame cleaned so the new tube section can be installed.

[LostMy65]

Why aren't you using the fleetside bed in the first pic?
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[carslut]

Originally Posted by LostMy65

Why aren't you using the fleetside bed in the first pic?
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i really like the stepside look, but didnt have the proper year bed handy so i came out the gate using the 80's style bed. things have changed and i sold off the 80's bed and plan to just run the correct year fleetside bed. if i come across the proper stepside bed down the road ill probably swap beds then. lucky for us truck guys changing a truck bed is about as easy as swapping rims

[carslut]

not much progress but even small progress is a good thing.

got time to strip down the motor somewhat and get it cleaned.

decided to make a set of plats to block the exhaust ports so i can wash the block and not get anything in the cylinders.

[TJ's Chevy]

Nice progress so far! Looking good!

[carslut]

got the block cleaned inspected and painted finally.



also got started on installing my rear tube section.