Project '64 Cheapskate

[Kabwe]

Originally Posted by kustombrad

Yes, the truck is looking great! As far as Alex being a traitor, he has helped me on my truck a little recently and it being a '49 still keeps him in our group, so cut him a little slack!
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Okay since he has been helping you on the 49 I will cut him a little slack, but just a little. I'll be watching Alex.lol

[chevyrestoguy]

I want to get this truck done so bad..........too many irons in the fire and no time to tend to any of them. I worked all day on a major project at home. I'm getting an area prepped beside the garage for 22 yards of concrete so I'll have more room to park all of the "irons" (aka: the other projects).

Hey Bam-
You're always welcome over here in the '60-'66 section. Just be careful: there are so many cool '60-'66s being built over here you can catch the fever real easy, and the next thing you know, you'll be bringing one home. It happened to me!!!

[Low Elco]

I'll cop to it-I'm catching the fever, but I love my 87. Congrats on the new pad, Concrete is always a good thing! Gonna put a building on top of it? Better hurry on Cheapskate so you can drive it to your "new pad"!

[Kabwe]

Originally Posted by chevyrestoguy

Hey Bam-
You're always welcome over here in the '60-'66 section. Just be careful: there are so many cool '60-'66s being built over here you can catch the fever real easy, and the next thing you know, you'll be bringing one home. It happened to me!!!

Hey Alex I had a 64 Suburban once upon a time, so I know how cool they are believe me. I had a lot of great times in that truck. But I caught the trifive bug and trifive crazy. Well I've always been trifive crazy I just never owned one, but once I did I am never turning back. So once I got the car I had to do a truck to match.

[Dinos63]

ALEX NICE WORK!!you nailed the stance

[chevyrestoguy]

Originally Posted by Dinos63

ALEX NICE WORK!!you nailed the stance

I got kudos from the King of Stance!! Thank You for the kind words, brother!

I wish I was going to be hanging with you guys this weekend......

[Low Elco]

Hey Alex! Gonna bring Ol Whitey home this holiday weekend? Get your pad done? We're DYIN' over here!
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[kustombrad]

'Ol Whitey is still at my house! Alex got his slab poured and he is one happy boy! He's not too happy right now 'cuz they're killing him at work so he has no free time! On a better note, he brought me his heads for the motor so I can finish them up and we can get it all together. I wish I had more time to help because if anybody NEEDS the relaxing feeling of cruising around in their truck, it's Alex!
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[Low Elco]

Well, I hope they let him get some turkey! I don't know why, I'm just really stoked on this truck. Can't wait to see it Rollin down the road.
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[Low Elco]

Hey Alex, hope the man took his foot off your neck so you can get up on this! Hope you get some time loose soon.

[chevyrestoguy]

No, the Man is still holdin' me down!

It looks like I'll probably be working 7 days a week until mid January. I work in aerospace for a large defense contractor, and we're trying to get a new airplane for the Navy ready for it's first maiden flight. Things are not fun at work right now............. When I get home every night, I am physically and mentally spent. It sucks, because I have a ton of things still to do on the '64.

I have been rebuilding my heater box in the evenings when I get home, so at least something is getting done. Brad has graciously volunteered to reassemble my Vortec heads, and I am greatly appreciative. I bought them about 5 years ago for another project, and did the performance mods (cut down the guide bosses for increased lift and bowl blended the chambers) but never got around to reassembling them. They will be a nice set of heads when they're done. The short block has already been assembled, so this little 350 will go together pretty quickly. I have seen similar builds in magazines with about the same parts I'm using, and the engines make between 370-400 horsepower. I take that with a grain of salt, because the magazines tend to fluff the dyno numbers to get people excited.

I'm still at it, but the pace has slowed quite a bit. I will keep leaning forward, though!

[Low Elco]

I understand completely. Yeller's cab was metalworked and in primer, and I got a job At an Ammo Mfg'r making a new thing. 12's and weekends for 18 months on graveyard. Great for the bank, not so good for Dad! It sat for 2 years, then I got a different position and decided to get it done this last new year's. It'll be there when you get back. I might have an infarction from waiting, but it'll be there. Good luck!

[chevyrestoguy]

I finally got a few days off of work, so I decided to do a few things on the '64.

I put the Vortec heads on the motor and did a few other things to it. I decided to do a nut and bolt inventory to make sure that I had all the hardware I needed, and discovered that I was short a few oil pan bolts. So this morning, I got up early and went to Pick-A-Part to get what I needed.

After I grabbed a bunch of miscellaneous bolts, I decided to do a "recon" of the rest of the yard and see what was there. The last time I was there, it was a bust. There was nothing cool in the yard. Today, I went down a row, and saw a white 60-66 fender poking out, so naturally, I was like a hound dog tracking a scent. I couldn't believe it. It was a stripped '66 C-20, but it was an original A/C truck, and all of the components under the dash were still there, along with the ducting. It was missing all of the desirable pieces, like the bezel and the ashtray, but I already have those. It also had the A/C-specific heater box, and all of the cables were in excellent condition. The core support, lines, dryer, and condenser were still there. So, I broke out the tools and 3 hours later, I was done. I got everything, including the A/C wire harness and all of the firewall grommets. It was 40 degrees outside and raining, so I have to say that I earned those parts. I was freezing the entire time, but I knew that if I didn't grab them today, they would be gone tomorrow.

All in all, a good day.

[Fleet '66]

Originally Posted by chevyrestoguy

I finally got a few days off of work, so I decided to do a few things on the '64.

I put the Vortec heads on the motor and did a few other things to it. I decided to do a nut and bolt inventory to make sure that I had all the hardware I needed, and discovered that I was short a few oil pan bolts. So this morning, I got up early and went to Pick-A-Part to get what I needed.

After I grabbed a bunch of miscellaneous bolts, I decided to do a "recon" of the rest of the yard and see what was there. The last time I was there, it was a bust. There was nothing cool in the yard. Today, I went down a row, and saw a white 60-66 fender poking out, so naturally, I was like a hound dog tracking a scent. I couldn't believe it. It was a stripped '66 C-20, but it was an original A/C truck, and all of the components under the dash were still there, along with the ducting. It was missing all of the desirable pieces, like the bezel and the ashtray, but I already have those. It also had the A/C-specific heater box, and all of the cables were in excellent condition. The core support, lines, dryer, and condenser were still there. So, I broke out the tools and 3 hours later, I was done. I got everything, including the A/C wire harness and all of the firewall grommets. It was 40 degrees outside and raining, so I have to say that I earned those parts. I was freezing the entire time, but I knew that if I didn't grab them today, they would be gone tomorrow.

All in all, a good day.

Congats....Excellent Score!!
What are the odds of that happnin' ????
Probably got them for a reasonable price as well ?

[chevyrestoguy]

Originally Posted by Fleet '66

.....Probably got them for a reasonable price as well ?

Not as cheap as it used to be, that's for sure. The prices have gone way up due to the new owners, and when he shot me the price, I nearly choked. The problem was, I had already invested too much time to give it back. I could sell the parts for more than I paid, so in that sense, I did OK.

[duallyjams]

I did your vacuum gauge swap (post 65 ) it was easy and works great thanks for the idea.

[Low Elco]

Great score! Glad you got some time off.
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[chevyrestoguy]

Originally Posted by duallyjams

I did your vacuum gauge swap (post 65 ) it was easy and works great thanks for the idea.

James, that just made my day! I'm glad that you were able to make it work. I tried to be as explanatory as possible in the write-up just in case somebody else wanted to try it. If you're able to get the donor vacuum gauge cheap enough, this mod can really be a money-saver. That's the beauty of GM parts. They were very similar between the brands, and with a little bit of homework, you can make an Oldsmobile vacuum gauge work in a Chevy truck. I love doing that kind of stuff. I enjoy doing subtle mods using factory parts where people look at at and can't tell if it came that way from the factory.

I have a plan in the future to build an all-in-one gauge for the right side of our clusters. Tach on top, vacuum gauge on the bottom. Both are half-sweep gauges, and I think it'll work. Then, you put a full-face clock on the left side of the cluster to balance it all out. I think a tach/vac/clock cluster would be too cool.

[69 chevy 1]

hi chevyrestoguy jon here i read you build sweet truck,I posted a picture of my suburbans fire wall on my build because i was wandering why i had so many holes in the fire wall and still had what i thought was factory air,well it appears you answered my question i looked at your post in pic 31 and compared it to mine,it was a complete match thanks and continue your nice work

[chevyrestoguy]

Well, I finally got a day off of work, and instead of loafing around on the couch, I decided that the '64 needed some attention. The truck has sat since the chassis work was completed, and I hadn't had time to repaint the front suspension. After about 6 hours of grinding, sanding, wirewheeling, cleaning, and repainting, it's now done. I had been procrastinating this job for awhile, and it feels good to have it behind me.





I've been working on the engine in the evenings, and I'm hoping that in the next few weeks, it'll be ready to get bolted in the chassis. I still have to finish the restoration of the A/C and heater box and have the core support and inner fenders sandblasted and painted. Still a lot to do, but you've got to keep leaning forward!

[likaroc13]

Originally Posted by chevyrestoguy

Well, I finally got a day off of work, and instead of loafing around on the couch, I decided that the '64 needed some attention. The truck has sat since the chassis work was completed, and I hadn't had time to repaint the front suspension. After about 6 hours of grinding, sanding, wirewheeling, cleaning, and repainting, it's now done. I had been procrastinating this job for awhile, and it feels good to have it behind me.

I know how you feel. That's a lot of work when done by hand, especially if you want it to look good. Makes you appreciate sandblasting for sure.

You did a nice job though!

[Dinos63]

very nice!!

[bubba327]

looks good!!! sometimes it is hard to get started again..

[Bomp]

Been following along.
Looks good.
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[jesseo]

Amazing work and thanks for sharing I am totally amazed with the talent on this site.