1965 Short Bed Fleetside - Build to Daily Driver

[BFD305]

I picked up this 65 a couple months ago. I have been driving it in town regularly, but plan on it being my daily driver including the 50 mile drive to work a couple times a week.

Currently -
It was lowered by heating the springs. Still has the original suspension, steering and brakes.
It runs good with a 383, turbo 350, carburated drive train.
Interior is stock, uncut and I believe as base model as you can get! No Radio, no passenger sun visor, very basic heater controls.

Plans -
All new Suspension, Disc Brakes, Power Steering - 4/6 drop
5.7 L31 FI with 4L60E Auto Trans
Retain the stock interior - redo seat, add stereo without altering dash or doors

I just got the parts in from CPP to do the brakes and all suspension! Time to start.

[BFD305]

Tried looking at using the 17" Cragars. Decided to keep the Moons. I like the look and my wife prefered it too. That always helps.....

[BFD305]

Got all my suspension and brake parts in today from CPP.

I am switching to discs up front, drop spindles, 4/6 drop with new springs front and rear, Shocks, Upper/Lower Control Arm Bushings, Ball Joints, Tie Rods, Power Brake Booster, Master Cylinder, Rear Control Arm Bushings, C-Notch.

[aggie91]

Welcome to the forum!

Looks like a great truck to start with. I will be watching...

[LostMy65]

Nice Truck

[The Rocknrod]

Maybe the wheels needed more sidewall, I don't know Cragar caps by the way, doubtful they are Crager wheels. They could be but Ive never seen Cragar make those wheels.

[Captainfab]

Welcome to the forum

Looks like a nice truck to work with.

[87Jimmy4JP]

like the moons with the bigger tires too...fills the wheel wells better. Love the look of the cragers, though!

JP

[BFD305]

Finally got the front end swapped out. Everything tight, greased and brakes bled. Everything went together well, but the Lower Control Arm bushings were a bear to get done. Took it out for a drive, still needs some bleeding, but night and day difference from the original drums!

Also working on getting some modern belts installed. The truck came with the driver with a 3 point, but no other belts. Picked up a set from a 2010 Ford extended cab. Got the passenger finished, turned out good. I used a plate on top and on the bottom, then used a nut welded to a large washer for the shoulder pivot.

[BFD305]

A couple pics of the belts.

[Katrina/10]

Looks like a nice find on the seat belts.

[scdude37]

Looks like an awesome truck to have started with, and cant wait to see all the parts and pieces added in.

[BFD305]

Been a while. Lots of work, but too much $$$$

We pulled the bed and got it in the garage.
Swapped out the rear suspension and notched the frame. Used CPP parts.

Pulled the 383 and 350 turbo trans. Truck ran great, but my commute is 50 miles so I wanted an OD transmission.

Swapped in an L31 5.7 with a 4L60E transmission. I got the engine out of a van I picked up at the city auction. It was a rollover so figured it was running then. We took the engine, trans, harness with fuse block, computer.

Reused the trans crossmember with little modification.

Added O2 bungs to the headers that were already in the truck.

Used a smaller trans cooler out of a silverado.

Used the stock radiator from the truck.

I sent the computer out to LTswap.com to get it reprogrammed. Wired in the harness for the engine. Cleaned up the harness as much as we could for now

Installed a rear tank with the in tank EFI pump. My plan was to do this on the cheap with a tank out of a blazer, but ended up going with the CPP setup. It was a bit pricey, but installed great. We ran hard lines from the engine to the pump with about 6 inches of rubber FI line at the tank.

Picked up a drive shaft from a suburban and had it shortened and balanced. I had planned to shorten the one I had, but is was the old type with a rubber isolator between 2 sections and they wouldn't shorten it.

Starts right up and idles great. Even starts up good with freezing temps.

Swapped in a tilt column with column shifter. Went with the ebay special.

Used CaptainFab mounting plate and a steering box for an 86 c10.

Using the Steering pump from a 97 suburban with the pressure line from an 86 C10 (version 1). I could have used the pump from the van, but I didn't want to deal with the remote reservoir.

Using the alternator from the van. I am not using the A/C at this time so I bought the AC delete kit and now I can use the belt from the van.

Still need to get the power steering lines hooked up, wiring cleaned up and the computer mounted and figure out my air intake.

Getting closer.

[BFD305]

A few pics

[BFD305]

few more

[BFD305]

Having the boys home to help is always nice.

Here's another quick pic of my youngest son's "Shed" he has at college. He goes to McPherson College and is majoring in Automotive Restoration. They are able to rent shed's from a storage area next to the school for their projects.

[Captainfab]

Glad to see you post some progress with pics. Not many people bother with the L31 anymore. Glad to see you went thru with it.

[Pontiacgurudan]

Is that a large frame vespa? I dig it, we're about to completely redo a 61. Going to stick a modern lml 2-stroke with a few hop up parts and just set the original motor aside for now.

[Pontiacgurudan]

Did you buy an aftermarket harness or modify a stock one? I used a 1995 tbi 4l60e and did my own. It was fairly straight forward, I'm doing another one for a buddy right now.

[Bomp]

Looks like you got this...
Sub'd

[LostMy65]

Any updates?

[BFD305]

Here are a few updates, It's been a while.
@Pontiacgurudan - It is the smaller frame Allstate (Vespa). We've had a couple, they are fun to have......not so fun to stop!

I am using the stock harness.

Here is where I am at, I will try to post some current pics.
Truck is running and driving!

When we first got it out to drive it was starting out in third and not shifting through the gears. After a little research it sounded like we were not getting power to the transmission. I fount the wiring in the harness to confirm and got the power figured out. Shifts great, I have a little vibration/shutter when just getting off the throttle. Not bad, but worth paying attention to.

I ordered the Speedhut speedometer box - I am hoping that works as well as I have heard.

I am planning to use the stock gauges, but have been driving with no gauges right now.

I need to get the OBD port wired in so I can check for error codes.

Having that rear frame notched is a night/day difference. Rides smooth, no bottoming out.

The CPP drop spindles have changed something in the front offset, I rub when turning and I didn't before. It is rubbing on the wheel and the lower control arm.

No other complaints. CPP parts have been great. Their Customer Service has been great too.

The engine sounds and runs great! Trannie is shifting great. I had some concern beings I bought this all as a complete rollover van from the impound auction. Definitely the way I will do it again, just wont get a van! They are not easy to get the engine out of.

[LostMy65]

I've really been contemplating going with a L31.