A New 68 Build Thread

[ccracin]

Originally Posted by falconizer_62

Great work, man and thanks for the insight on poor quality repops... sorry it has to be so much harder than it should.

Thanks very much. It is what it is, hopefully me showing all this gives everyone some idea what they are getting into.

Originally Posted by Bennett--G4L

Great work on the fenders, just sucks you had to do that to brand new ones.
Posted via Mobile Device

Thanks and yes it does!

Originally Posted by Xeen

You are doing a really nice job man and all that hard work is going to pay off, I cant wait to see the finished product.

Thanks, I would really like to see it finished too!

[ccracin]

I finished the passenger side fender, well somewhat. The front points on the hood and fender need more work when the hood comes back off. The metal is puckered from the original stamping process and needs reworked. That's why the very front of the gap narrows up a bit. Now on to the driver's side.







Thanks for looking!

[72BlckButy]

Awesome work!!!

[ccracin]

I got the drivers side fender finished up last week.



After that, I decided to mount the new Ringbrothers billet hinges and see how she opens and closes.



Well guess what, yep it doesn't line up. Surprisingly, I am not shocked. The silver lines are where the hinges hit the hood. You can see the nutserts in the hood. Not even close!





After measuring a factory hood, and comparing the hinges to factory ones, it turns out that the fenders are to blame. The mounting pads for the hinges are not formed correctly. If you are using factory stamped hinges, you could probably make them work. But, when you are using a stiff precision piece like the Ringbrothers hinges it's got to be better. We spent 3 hours just bending and tweaking the mounting pads on the fenders so the hinges go up and down straight and on plane. Then after a lot of thought and staring we decided the fix was to move the nutserts in the hood. Right or wrong off we went! Out with the old.







I then made new plate that I welded nuts to the back side of in the new locations. Clecos hold everything in place while marking, drilling, and welding.









Done, hopefully this weekend we'll see if she bolts up. It was too late to continue last night. Hopefully the front clip saga is coming to an end!

[ccracin]

As a distraction from the hood saga, we got one of the new tires in for fit up. This the tire we are going to use on the rear and hopefully (fingers crossed) the front. Nitto NT05 315-35-20. I likey!







This is a big decision for my Dad. He really doesn't like the thin sidewall. We are going to leave it hang there for a bit and let him contemplate it. What does everyone think? There is nothing out there that will give him the sidewall and performance we want. This was a compromise. Thanks for any input you give!

[68bowtie]

Originally Posted by ccracin

This is a big decision for my Dad. He really doesn't like the thin sidewall. We are going to leave it hang there for a bit and let him contemplate it. What does everyone think? There is nothing out there that will give him the sidewall and performance we want. This was a compromise. Thanks for any input you give!

Personally I like at least a 30" diameter tire, like the 275's you had mocked up before. IMHO that extra bit of sidewall makes a big difference. Of course you have to balance form with function, the big dilemma! Maybe I missed the post, but what wheels are you using?

Enjoying the thread btw!

[krazyt]

Very nice work looking good

[fishingjred73]

I agree with your Dad, I don't like the thin sidewall.

[ccracin]

The hood opens and closes. Go figure!





Now that the hood opens and closes and fits well enough for the bodywork it is time to move forward. The truck now steers with with the sterring wheel for the first time in about 4 years. We put the steering column in and installed the u-joints with DD shaft. We did this is an effort to check the front end for tire clearance. As much as I would like to, the 315-35-20 is not going to work on the front. It is too big in diameter. If this were an all out race truck and we didn't need to worry about inner fenders etc, they would work. In the end this is still a street truck that will have a "finished" look. So, it's on to a 26"-27" tall tire. Here are a couple pics.





Thanks for looking!

[Nsanehotrodz]

Chad you should have bit the bullet and let me sell you a set of fenders with that hood. This is how my aftermarket panels fit.

[ccracin]

Originally Posted by Nsanehotrodz

Chad you should have bit the bullet and let me sell you a set of fenders with that hood. This is how my aftermarket panels fit.

My panels were the same brand as yours. How does that happen? Honestly if I would have known the fenders were that bad, I would have. I had nothing to compare to. Oh, well. We are off to the races! How bout a picture of the side of the truck with a straight edge?

[Nsanehotrodz]

Originally Posted by ccracin

My panels were the same brand as yours. How does that happen? Honestly if I would have known the fenders were that bad, I would have. I had nothing to compare to. Oh, well. We are off to the races! How bout a picture of the side of the truck with a straight edge?

Sorry I forgot about you, the fenders will be back on this week. I'll post some pics then. You should have it in final bodywork this week right? Good job!

[ccracin]

Just wanted to say in this post how nice the Ring Brothers Hinges are so far. After I fixed all the mounting points on the sheet metal, man are these things smooth. They really have a great feel compared to stock. You can also stop the hood wherever you want and it will stay. Check it out.

[ccracin]

It's been a while, but I have done some work. Christmas and New Years took it's toll on progress. I just couldn't pull myself away from my twin girls over the Holidays!

It looks like after more fitting, moving, turning, and measuring that I care to think about we are going with a 26.65" diameter front tire. Most likely a 275-35-19. With this tire size and moving the the front tire up a full 3" and turning full lock it's going to take a custom inner fender well. OF COURSE IT IS! First comes clearancing the inner structure of the fender. Then I started with the stock inner fender for some of the more complicated curvature to save time. I'll then make the rest. Here is the beginnings.













We'll keep plugging away!

[ccracin]

Who knew you could have so many hours in a fender well. Ugh! I'm continuing to make progress, but it is going sloooooooooow. We are really trying to get a full 3" of wheel travel and be able to turn lock to lock with no rubs. We are close. I can now see why most trucks being built don't have inner fenders. Here's some pics.















As always, thanks for looking.

[nds1968]

Looking good so far

[ccracin]

It's been a while, but I wanted to prove that we are still working. Life has been busy, but we are still forging ahead. There has been a ton of planning mocking up etc. on the inner fender well. Check out the progress, we are really happy so far!













The panel cover will be fastened with rivnuts for a clean look. Thanks for looking, as always!

[Xeen]

Nice work on the inner fenders they look good.

[ccracin]

Well here it is, the drivers side front inner fender well ready for final welding and metal finishing. This took way too long. Hopefully the second will go much faster. Anyway here it is. Not much of original is left.

[ccracin]

Ok, so here is a picture of a point I have been waiting for what seems live forever. I couldn't be happier with how these turned out. I was really unsure when we started down this path. Obviously they still need finish welded and smoothed, but now we can start mounting some under hood accessories. A/C/Heater hose routing, coolant overflow, condenser, drier, etc. etc. Another step forward!







Thanks for looking!

[Bennett68C10]

Wow looks awesome, great job on the wheel tubs. Wish I had your metal working skills.
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[Xeen]

I second that, great job!

[ccracin]

Although slowly, progress is being made. Trying to get all the defining parts assembled under the hood so that we can keep moving with the sheet metal work. We knew this was a possibility, but weren't sure until we put the hood back on. Sure enough we had to make some room for the billet hinge arms when closed since we moved the inner fender up so far.





This was the first time back in with the rad since the inner fenders were built. A little adjustment and all looks good!



On we go! Thanks for looking!

[STOCKISH]

Beautiful work man. Love the dedication to making everything fit just right. Keep at it!

[Xeen]

Glad to see some progress being made even if it is only once a month.
Do you think you might find a little more time in the ole schedule to work on it?