81 SWB Project "Eleanor"

[rball716]

Here's the start of a slow build thread. Little background. I'm currently a college student studying Engineering, also working 25 hours a week and have projects I'm working on for school. So this will be a lengthy process.

The name Eleanor comes from "Gone in 60 Seconds" because this has always been the truck I've wanted to get and after 4 attempts at other trucks I finally got her. It didn't come without a fight though. After agreeing to a deal on the truck I had to wait a week before I could go pick her up. The day before I got a call that he couldn't sell it because his truck broke down. Fast forward a week and he finally got back to me that he worked things out and could sell it. I was there the next day and drove her 125 miles home.

I've grown up around truck my whole life and this project will be mainly my own but with help from my dad who owned numerous squarebodies in his life.

THE PLAN:

I don't have the patience for a frame off full restoration, nor the funds, right now. Luckily the truck is in great shape considering the New York winters it's lived through. This will be a summer truck and with the engine running beautifully I can tie up the rest of the truck before diving into that. First and foremost I'll be stopping all the rust I can. Hopefully pull the bed and cab, probably separately, and por15 the frame. Clean up all the rust I can get to. Along with that I will be getting everything mechanically sound, all new front suspension and bushings all around. Brakes rebuilt. Also, the interior is pretty rough but its all cosmetic so that will be buttoned up before summer. Paint hopefully by the end of summer.

THE PICTURES!























The she is. Gonna be a lot of work but definitely gonna be worth it. It's got a 305 from a 1985 impala with a 700R4 transmission. Starts right up and goes straight to idle. Purrs. Next winter will likely be a 350 or 383 stroker build.

[rball716]

First things first,

I found a guy nearby who does car hauling and goes down south every few weeks to get old trucks and parts from junkyards down there. Literally trailers full. I picked up a new hood and inner fenders from him for a grand total of $200. The wheel wells has veryyyyyy minor surface rust that I'm taking are of with a wire wheel. Gonna get a cost of primer and Rustoleum Bed Liner inside and out. The hood is also completely rust free besides one spot of surface rust on one of the braces. That will be quick work with a wire wheel.

It feels great to have a source for decently priced, rust free, original southern parts. Heres a few pics.




You can see the only surface rust on this one in the upper left. Paints flaked off but its not pitting yet or anything.



Hood is nice and straight, rust free. I like the stock look so I got one that had the hood emblem. The hood on the truck now has a nice crack down the middle. I also think it has a skin on it because its very hollow and the tops not connected to the braces. They tried using construction adhesive. This was cheap enough to make it worth it to just replace rather than fix.

[Low Elco]

Looks like a good solid start. If you're going to the trouble of stripping your nice parts, go back with good epoxy primer. Start here-

http://www.southernpolyurethanes.com/

Good stuff, cheap! Good luck!

[Hankster]

Looks like a good looking truck, and you got a nice parts source! I'll be watching this one!

[rball716]

Thanks guys, I picked it up for $2500 which I thought was a damn good deal considering I'm up in New York and everything I've found near that price had cancer like you wouldn't believe. I've got a bit of money to put into it now but the real big work will come after May. I start my internship then and it pays....nice...lets just say that. As soon as I found out I hit the search for a truck hard. Not making it show quality yet by any means though. It's gonna be my daily driver from May-October until I go back to my ranger. I wanna keep this truck as rust free as possible once I get rid of whats there.

[rball716]

Getting going on the wheel wells since there's a blizzard outside right now. Got them sanded down over the past couple days and I'm shooting epoxy primer now. After the primers dry I'm gonna give them a coat of Rustoleum Bedliner. It's gonna be a driver but a smooth bedliner should look pretty good in general for the wheel wells.



Also got my first "gift" in the mail





Just some new door locks and an ignition cylinder. Though I'm not too keen on ordering from there. Wasn't till after I ordered that I found a better deal on classic parts usa, all three keys matched for cheaper, and they offer a return policy that l.m.c doesn't have.

Any thoughts on sanding the door panels to get rid of the flakyness and hitting those with bedliner too? It wouldn't be the final product but just to get me through till I have some disposable cash to spend on new. A lot more pressing issues than that right now