My 68 Chevy journey

[JohnT71]

I have been building this 68 chevy short wide for about two years. It has taken me all over gathering parts, met lots of good people along the way. This is what we started with, when I say we I mean me and my buddy Jessie. Without his help I would have never got this far and probably quit. So ride along I will post pics every couple of days, I have several.

[Tinkermc]

looks like hood could use alignment, nice starter truck

[JohnT71]

Thanks, the hood is still out of wack but not that bad. I never tore a vehicle this far apart this is my first frame up rebuild. Put a front end from a 86 which gave me disk brakes, just had to drill one hole and it bolted up. Welded up the trailing arms and put in new bushings. The spring are 4 inch lowering springs that we got in a trade.

[JohnT71]

This is how far I have come, I lack painting the bed. It has turned out pretty good, I am very proud.

[67cheby]

Looks great !

[67c10rustbuket]

Hey whats up John? glad you got a build thread going! nice job on the chassis and paint, looks great. Now how about those under hood shots.

[JohnT71]

Here is my 98 vortec 5.7, it bolted right in. Had to have the pcm reflashed to take the vats out of it. Had to use a high hump so the 4L60e trans would clear. I even took the rear end out of the 98 truck and welded perches on so it would have the same gearing and new brakes. Oh and took the inside wire harness out of the 98 and installed in the 68.

[67c10rustbuket]

Looks good John, I have yet to wire and start mine (remember I have the same drivetrain) but I just finished my driver side rust so now it is time to do the front susp to get it rolling and paint the frame and then wire and fire it up. I see the relay center on the fender well but where did you put the PCM ? I would like to put it inside the cab but havent messed with untangling the wires to see if there is enough wire to move it inside. Looks like you had the same firewall harness also in the last pic.

[67c10rustbuket]

I see you also used the 98 booster/master cyl. I considered trying this but ended up never pulling it from my donor. Was it difficult to modify it for this truck?

[Tinkermc]

you should be proud it looks good

[68GMCCustom]

good work...looks great!

[JohnT71]

Thats is a older pic, need to get a newer one under the hood. The pcm is actually sitting right below the relay center like is was in the 98 truck, I guess I did not have it in there in that pic. Exactly the same wireing harness as you had in your pics. The master cylinder and booster are out of the same 86 truck we took the front end from. Had to extend the rod eye a little but it fit just fine. Need to bleed the brakes still have a spongy pedal.

[JohnT71]

Thanks for the compliments guys!

[JohnT71]

I used a gas tank from a 98 2-door S-10 blazer. Had to trim a bit to get it between the frame rails but it fit like a glove. Welded bolts and used the original supports to hold up the tank. Took the sending unit from the truck tank and shorten it to fit in the S-10 tank. I also had to move the rear crossmember back and weld it back in, worked out nice.

[JohnT71]

Installed some Fatmat Rattletrap today, not completed but a good start.

[bonnieclyde100]

i would like to see some pics of how you got that late model instument panel and steering column into your 68 dash.

[JohnT71]

Just a glove box door with studs welded on the back and I plan to put a piece of plexiglas on it. I got the idea for the gauge cluster from this thread, and the column is a tilt from a 71 truck and just has a new model steering wheel on it. I will take some more pics when I take is back apart, I just mocked it up today to see if it would work out.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=500537

[bonnieclyde100]

thanks for the link to that thread . that dash looks good to. i might try that in the future to my 69.

[Tinkermc]

lookin good, love that fat mat

[JohnT71]

Tinker have you used the fatmat before, I read good reviews and bad. Just wonder how well it works. I like the way it goes down, seems like good stuff.

[bonnieclyde100]

does that steering wheel have an air bag and if so will it be functional ?

[jchav62]

Way cool project! The Vortec setup is awesome...

[JohnT71]

No air bag

[Palf70Step]

Nice looking project build

[JohnT71]

Vent window rebuild, used the pop rivits to put back together. Not as bad as we thought.