Project "Popeye"

[67cheby]

come on we have let you slack off enough time to get to work

[LEEVON]

Hey I rolled the chassis outside to get some sun this weekend and loaded the cab on your dolly and wheeled it into the back yard. I was afraid somebody was going to steal it with scrap so high...

That cab is heavier than I remember, it took me and a buddy all we had to get it on the dolly. Fits nicely though.

Unfortunately working away from home 5 days leaves me at my family's disposal all weekend so I think a couple vacation days are in order to work on Popeye.

[bjcaldwe]

Do you have any more pics of your crewcab?

[LEEVON]

I traded this red extended cab (which I bought new in '08) for the gray crew cab in November, mainly because hauling the family around was a pain in the extended cab. They had the same mileage, but the crew is an LT2 (console) and I also added leather. I took the wheels from the red truck. Just need to lower the crew now:

[LEEVON]

Sorry to do this again, no real updates but there is going to be some action soon I promise! I've been working 2 hours away from home M-F since January 1st, but we're finally moving so I'll be together with my family and trucks every day. Yesterday was spent putting the cab on, gathering parts, loading and moving Popeye. She got a few looks and some attention of the wrong kind. Unfortunately we got ticketed for faulty equipment (fuse blew for the trailer running lights and we didn't know) and a warning for expired trailer tags but fortunately my wife was driving Anyhow, getting set-up in the new garage (3 car but spacious) and I'll be thrashing again, this time from Nixa, MO.

[Laid_Out_50]

I like the stance on your truck
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[52 Rat]

Funny how the projects move with you and your family. Good luck on the relocation. Thanks for the tips on the trailing arm cross member.

[72BlckButy]

Glad to see the move is underway...

[bjcaldwe]

I am glad to see you are doing well. I have had zero motivation, and the heat has not helped. I look forward to your updates when you get settled and back at it.

[67cheby]

LOOKS KILLER ..on the trailer

[VWBeamer]

Very much like.

[packrat42]

I like where your head's at.

[mcbassin]

I just got through the whole thread. I Love this project. I can relate to all the frame and chassis pics. I am almost to the point of stabbing my motor and it has been a Long process getting there. Hard to believe how much time it takes to build one. You get a nice shop to work in up MO? Subscribed.

[LEEVON]

Originally Posted by 67cheby

LOOKS KILLER ..on the trailer

Originally Posted by VWBeamer

Very much like.

Originally Posted by packrat42

I like where your head's at.

Thanks everyone...you keep me going even though there is no actual progress. Move is over!!! I'm in another 3 car garage which is still pretty much upside-down but I'm on it...keep checking in!

[50-MO]

I am loving this build thread. Nixa? I just sold my house there and bought some place with land out in Marshfield. Small world.

Question, where did you find your frame? I am new to my project and on the hunt for a frame at a reasonable cost and have had 0 luck so far. My had a 4x4 fullsize swap under it when I purchased it. Keep up the great work, I would love to come by and check it out sometime.

[LEEVON]

Cool another SW Missourian, we love it here in Nixa. I tossed the original frame and got another from a guy named Dean in Bentonville for maybe $75, he is always buying and parting these trucks. If you're interested I still have his phone number. I've seen a bunch on Craiglist over the last year or so, I bet if you keep searching daily or post a WTB ad you'll come up with one in 30 days.

Let me get my garage in order then come on by!

[st1]

Awesome!

[reid601]

Just read through the whole thread and its an awesome build. It makes me want to start on my projects. I bought them (50 Chevy 3100 and 63 C10) and in the past year I sold a house, moved a state away (in a smaller house at that), my wife had our daughter and she passed away 8 days later due to complications.... the list goes on and on, so I feel your pain brotha! Looking forward to seeing more progress so I can get off my butt and start on one of mine!!!

[LEEVON]

Behold a miracle! I have worked on the truck again! I finally got my garage shop in order (except the workbench of course, it wouldn't be right if that was clean).

I dove into a dirty job that I haven't been looking forward to, putting the manual trans clutch and brake pedal assembly in. It was a pain like I expected but worked out pretty slick. I bought a whole 67-72 manual trans conversion set-up from a board member with the pedals, linkages and all. I will be mounting a corvette 7" booster and m/c that I actually bought with an underfloor assembly. Underfloor won't work because the pedal hits the clutch fork.

I modified the pedal assembly to mount to the firewall by basically cutting off both ends and plating them, one flush with the firewall and the other under the dash. I was also able to reinforce the dash side to a support and the firewall with a couple of piece of 1.5x1.5 angle. It's plenty sturdy and the pedals fall in the right place. At first glance the z-bar and linkages will take a little work but I think it will fall into place.

Real hot rods have four pedals!!!!!!!!

[52 Rat]

Glad to see you are back on the project. I too started back on the 52 last weekend after taking several months off.

[mcbassin]

Nice work on the pedal assembly install Leevon! glad to hear you got settled in, dirty work bench is mandatory isn't it?

[67cheby]

nice work man !!

[99 to Life]

sick, so glad to see some progress. One word of advise. You may have to shorten that clutch pedal, as it will hit the floor before it really engages fully into your MC. It took me forever to figure out that was my problem, so I cut
my pedal, drilled some holes and bolted it up and that solved my clutch problem. Those full size chevy pedals are kinda long. Better long than short though.

[LEEVON]

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

sick, so glad to see some progress. One word of advise. You may have to shorten that clutch pedal, as it will hit the floor before it really engages fully into your MC. It took me forever to figure out that was my problem, so I cut
my pedal, drilled some holes and bolted it up and that solved my clutch problem. Those full size chevy pedals are kinda long. Better long than short though.

I figured I might have to massage them a bit, in that pic they're just hanging haphazardly though, the springs, bushings, etc aren't installed yet. Plus I modded the "stop" for the pedal and I think it actually goes too high...something I'll probably address when I get it all hooked up to the trans then I can tailor the starting point.

[big_al_71]

nice to see some progress going on....