Project '64 Cheapskate

[chevyrestoguy]

Thanks for the kind words, eldogg!

The paint I used was Rustoleum "2x" Semi-Gloss Black spray paint that I bought from OSH. Because I wasn't starting with a freshly blasted frame, I hand-sanded it, then hit it with rust converter. On all the clean, bare metal areas, I hit it with etch primer. Not too sure how the stuff is going to hold up, but if I have to touch it up, I'll just mask off the area and do a quickie. This truck is going to get the wheels driven off of it when I finally get some time off of work to finish it. It won't be a trailer queen.

That's awesome that you did the caster trick. I'm really anxious to see how much extra caster it'll provide. Keep me posted if you get your brother's truck to the alignment shop before I do!

[chevyrestoguy]

I started working on a section of my project that I have been dreading: the inner fenders. If you recall, the frame on my '64 has been Z'd (2" up and moved 1" forward). Because of this mod, the stock inner fenders were now 2" too long and wouldn't fit. It wasn't as simple as chopping off 2" from the bottom and calling it a day. Nope, not that simple. The frame is now kicked up in areas of the "Z", and the bottoms of the inner fenders were going to have to be completely reshaped to follow the frame. Another area that was going to be tough to figure out was the inner fender mount bolt at the bottom of the firewall and the steering column cover piece. The location of those items didn't change, but everything else around them did.

I laid out my cut line and cut the inner fender. I started to trim the cut section to clear the core support bracket and the upper control arm. I made a series of pie-cuts to allow me to reshape the bottom of the cut piece to match the contour of the frame rail. In factory form, the stock inner fenders have a lip on the bottom, which I will keep. One of the challenges was that the bottom of the inner fender makes a transition from the outside edge of the framerail and then goes above the rail adjacent to where the radiator mounts up. I didn't want that, so my plan was to re-form the bottom of the inner fender to follow the frame contour and have the lip stay on the outside of the framerail from front to back. You can see what I'm talking about in this shot. The area on the far right will be re-flanged.


In this shot, you can see where it got tricky trying to make the inner fender still attach to the rear mount tab. I had to make a pie-cut and lay it way down in order to get it match the frame contour and still bolt up. At this time, I bolted in the column shaft cover. You can see that the bottom needs to be trimmed and the three lower bolt holes will have to be redrilled. The original 3 holes were lost when the 2" was removed from the inner fender.


Now that the piece was located, it was now time to attach the sections. Because the pieces were overlapped, I had to make a cut line that matched my Cleco pattern. Once I made my line, I fired up the cut-off wheel and started cutting. Because I had Cleco'd the parts together, once I started making my cuts I needed to ensure that the panel stayed clamped, so after every 2" of cutting, I installed a panel clamp to keep everything lined up. After the cutting was complete, I removed all of the excess metal and was left with just the metal that was to be butt-welded together. In this picture, you can also see the area where I reflanged the forward edge of the part. Because it was on a curve, I had to make relief cuts in order to get it to bend. That will all get welded and finished.


Here is the panel after a bunch of welding and sanding. It's got a factory appearance, and that's the look I was going for.


Here's a side view that really shows just how much re-contouring had to be done on the rear of the panel. I'm not done with the part yet, I still need to redrill the bottom 3 holes of the steering shaft cover, weld up a bunch of unused holes, and send it out to the sandblaster. I'll do a little filler work on it to get it perfectly straight and then shoot it in chassis black.


It's a bunch of work for something that most folks won't catch, but that's what I'm going for. I want people to look under the hood and not know that the chassis has been Z'd. Everything will look 100% factory. If you look hard enough, you'll figure it out, but at first glance you'll never know it.

Today's plan: The passenger side inner fender, which will be a piece of cake compared to the driver's side.

[Jmorales3181]

Nailed it! Coming along nicely!
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[SFTorange]

Very cool.

[Low Elco]

Beautiful! Foose always says, the best cars are the ones that are cut all to hell, but look just...a...hair... off stock. Nice work. Glad the man let you up so I could get my fix! How goes the motor?

You almost got me, by the way. Had a guy express an interest in my 87, and a very nice in progress '64 short step was available, and I allllllllmost ran the game. Sketchy things in the near future and the fact that the 87 is paid for, runs and drives backed me out of it. But you dang near got me! You and bomp and McMurph and your 60's shenanigans!

[Bomp]

That there mod is totally off the charts.
I thought I was anal about making it look like nothing was done.
You Sir get the trophy on inner fender "massagin'".

Love it when people look at my stuff and ask, in a disapproval voice thinking nothing has been done yet, and ask, "when and what are your plans for the truck?" And the mods are staring them right in the face.


You will definitely have to suffer through that.

Diggin' it!

[chevyrestoguy]

Originally Posted by Jmorales3181

Nailed it! Coming along nicely!
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Thanks! We're slowly getting there.

Originally Posted by SFTorange

Very cool.

Thanks, SFT! Your truck build was one of the reasons why I started searching out for a '60-'66 to build. I like your truck a lot. You did a great job.

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Beautiful! Foose always says, the best cars are the ones that are cut all to hell, but look just...a...hair... off stock. Nice work. Glad the man let you up so I could get my fix! How goes the motor?

You almost got me, by the way. Had a guy express an interest in my 87, and a very nice in progress '64 short step was available, and I allllllllmost ran the game. Sketchy things in the near future and the fact that the 87 is paid for, runs and drives backed me out of it. But you dang near got me! You and bomp and McMurph and your 60's shenanigans!

Low Elco- You almost fell into the trap! Be patient, and when you're least expecting it, a 60-66 will fall into your lap for a price you can't refuse. I was heavily into the '73-'87 trucks for a while, and they are still one of my favorites. I sold a '76 to a buddy years ago and he let his teenager start driving it and he totalled it. I was the second owner and I had all the original paperwork, it broke my heart. Never sell a running, driving truck if you don't have to!

The motor is on the stand. The long block is done, I'm just waiting to get over to a buddy's shop to use his ceramic bead tumbler on all the aluminum parts, like the intake and accessory brackets I want all of the "as-cast" parts to have the same color and finish.

Originally Posted by Bomp

That there mod is totally off the charts.
I thought I was anal about making it look like nothing was done.
You Sir get the trophy on inner fender "massagin'".

Love it when people look at my stuff and ask, in a disapproval voice thinking nothing has been done yet, and ask, "when and what are your plans for the truck?" And the mods are staring them right in the face.

You will definitely have to suffer through that.

Diggin' it!

You and I are from the same school of thought. Less is more. I actually enjoy taking the time to do a subtle mod, even if nobody ever notices it. It's like looking at a Troy Trepanier car. You can look at it for hours and still not see everything. Everything has been touched and massaged, but it's so subtle it's almost stealthy. I quickly lose interest in a car where everything is right in your face and 100% obvious.

[likaroc13]

great work on the inner fender! definitely a nice touch

[chevyrestoguy]

Update: The passenger inner fender is done.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program currently in progress.........

[Fleet '66]

As always, excellent attention to detail. You do great work. I like it!

[chevyrestoguy]

Originally Posted by Fleet '66

As always, excellent attention to detail. You do great work. I like it!

Thank You for the nice compliment! I just wish I could work on it as much as I would like to. The weather is getting nicer, and I'm stuck at work....

[McMurphy]

When I see work like this, both those guys sitting on my shoulders start saying...."dude you could so do that too!" and it just goes from there.
No matter how hard I disagree.

Your inner fender just amazes me!
If one mod on a rig catches my eye, then I start looking for more, like a puzzle. After I spot enough of them I start asking the owner questions.
I think I belong more in a shop than at car shows at times like that.

Ok, so now you got me wondering what the heck is next?

[likaroc13]

heater box looks great, & nice pics of the A/C stuff...not sure yet what route I'll go when I get to that point, because I don't have factory A/C

[chevyrestoguy]

Originally Posted by likaroc13

heater box looks great, & nice pics of the A/C stuff...not sure yet what route I'll go when I get to that point, because I don't have factory A/C

Thanks, Phillip! When you get to that point, let me know if you have any questions. I've even got some spare parts if your heater needs any.

[TommyDuncan]

Awesome build. I just read the whole thing!

I like your methods... mixing a little newer technology when it is cost effective and a genuine improvement while retaining the style of the 60's whenever possible.

When my best friend and I go to car shows we look at everything and then tell each other which car we liked the best. It is usually something very subtle that doesn't have a crowd around it. The car that just looks put together right... brake lines, wiring, etc done with a simplistic flow that shows the builder gave it some thought before they picked up a tool.

We both made our living in the race industry(until recently for me) where form follows function. Maybe that is why we appreciate the low gimmick/high functionality style? I imagine your line of work has the same effect?

Even with the patina and patches I am sure I would be staring at your truck for quite a while if I saw it in person.
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[chevyrestoguy]

Tommy-
You're a man after my own heart! I am also one of those guys who looks at the small details. I especially love the cars that don't appear to have much going on until you look at them closely. That's why I'm a huge fan of Troy Trepanier's work. Everything on the car has been touched, but it's done so tastefully and subtly that nothing jumps out at you. I am a stickler about wiring, tube routing, and fit/finish. Flashy paint, giant blowers, and excessive chrome doesn't get me excited, but build quality does.

I have been in the aircraft industry for 23 years as a prototype technician doing both structural and electrical work. This truck build has been fun for me, but sometimes I have to put the "it's got to be perfect" thing aside and just relax. Even as a kid, when I was building car models, I was really bad. I would be doing the final assembly work on a model, and if I got one glue fingerprint on the finished product, I would either throw the model away or just use it for parts.

[TommyDuncan]

Originally Posted by chevyrestoguy

Flashy paint, giant blowers, and excessive chrome doesn't get me excited, but build quality does.

I hear ya. I'm just building a driver but my buddy decided he wants power in his 66 Elky. So instead of a blower, turbos, giant wings etc it is stock black on black with a mild appearing big block(555 cubic inches, hopefully 750 horse when he's done, with a/c and a full manual 4L85).

Originally Posted by chevyrestoguy

I have been in the aircraft industry for 23 years...

I got my A and P's in 89 (actually just the P) but the industry here was so sucky I didn't even last 6 months.

Originally Posted by chevyrestoguy

Even as a kid, when I was building car models, I was really bad. I would be doing the final assembly work on a model, and if I got one glue fingerprint on the finished product, I would either throw the model away or just use it for parts.

Haha... me too! I bought that KISS van model as a kid. On the box it had this awesome explosion like flame paintjob. It kinda looked like the swirled color of some plastic products so that is what I was expecting. When I got it home I was about as pissed as a 9 year old could be when it was white. With help from my dad we tried everything we could think of to duplicate the paint job on the box. The closest we got to duplicating the "explosion" effect on the box was about a half dozen M-80s taped together with the fuse sticking out. We blew that sucker into tiny pieces, some of which landed in the neighbors yard.
I withdrew from the KISS army shortly after that also...


As a kid I would get shipped to my Grandparents place in Apple Valley for the summer. They lived in the desert near the Mitsubishi Cement plant that is on the way up to Big Bear. Talking about boredom...

My cousins lived in your area for a while also. They would be 44, 42, and 39 now...
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[Low Elco]

Good progress! Oughta have Brad stripe that box while its out! Good to see you among the living again!
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[chevyrestoguy]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Good progress! Oughta have Brad stripe that box while its out! Good to see you among the living again!
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Thanks! I have thought about turning Brad loose, but if you go down that slippery slope, there's no turning back. I'm going to use his services very soon......but that's Top Secret

[kustombrad]

This thing is gonna be soooooo cool!
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[Low Elco]

Motor looks great! So do the fenders. Feels like its coming together!
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[rusty76]

Awesome read dude. I just spent some time reading over the build so far and wow!

[chevyrestoguy]

I've been busy working on some of the smaller stuff that has to be done before the motor and trans can go in. The steering column is almost finished (pictures coming soon), the heater control is now restored, and I've been working out the small details on the A/C, namely the evaporator box. I'm a real stickler about weird stuff like wiring and hose routing, and the evaporator fittings protruding through the firewall was one of those cases. I didn't want a gaping hole with a small line running through it, so when I welded up the firewall, I did a test fit of the evaporator and adjusted the hole sizes to fit. Instead of a big hole with tar tape wrapped around the line, I wanted bulkhead grommets for a nice, clean look. After having the evaporator in and out dozens of times, I finalized the hole sizes, and then it was time to weld on the receptacles that are compatible with the Parker Beadlock A/C fittings.

This was a bit more tricky than I expected. I knew that I was going to have to cut up some new fittings or go to the wrecking yard and find something that would work. On my evaporator, the low pressure side was aluminum, and the high pressure side was steel. I had a fitting I could use for the aluminum, so I hit the "yard" and found a steel fitting from a '76 Chevy truck, so I cut it off the hose and it cost me a whopping $2. I had my buddy Mike Jones weld them up for me:

You can also see the new Throttle Suction valve in that picture. I wrapped the fins in cardboard because they are SUPER fragile and will bend with hardly any pressure. If someone wanted to do this mod for hardly any money, here's the info. For the larger line, use the fitting from a mid-90s Ford Explorer. It's on the accumulator, and you'll need a hacksaw to saw it off. For the smaller line, find a '73-'79 Chevy or GMC truck with A/C and get the fitting from the line that goes between the evaporator and the condenser. It's easy to spot. The line is more like a hard plastic than a flexible rubber. Use a razor blade and cut the hose and take the fitting. A word of caution: Make sure the A/C is discharged before you go cutting. Most all of the self-service yards mandate that all fluids and gasses be drained, but it's best to unscrew the service ports and use a small screwdriver and depress the valve core and see if it hisses.

While the A/C stuff was being sorted out, I decided to Peel and Seal the inside of the firewall where the evaporator box will reside. That stuff is cheap, easy to get (Lowes) and it works great.


I'll have a lot more pictures soon. The little stuff is starting to finally come home, and I'm getting the itch to drop in the engine and trans!!

[Low Elco]

Great to see it going forward. You aircraft guys, so precise. Gonna be pushin' at the Reunion?
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[chevyrestoguy]

QUOTE=Low Elco;6040216]Great to see it going forward. You aircraft guys, so precise. Gonna be pushin' at the Reunion?
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Yep, the plan is to be pushing a Fuel car at the Hot Rod Reunion in Bakersfield this October. I would like to be done long before then, though. I am really trying to get as much of the little stuff done as possible because I don't want to have to go back and finish it later on after the truck is running and driving. I don't like tearing 'em back apart if I don't have to!

By the way, I spent some time and checked out your Old Yeller thread. Man, what a job! It turned out really nice, especially considering what you started with. I also really like how you had 3 generations working on it. My Dad was into cars when he was younger, and we had some cool cars (all Chevys) up until the time the family started growing (6 kids). My Dad went to the Dark Side in the late '80s, and his most recent hot rod is a black 2004 Mercury Marauder that he keeps in pristine condition.