Not Another Rebuild Thread....

[markeb01]

I just finished looking through your Pontiac build. Very impressive, especially for being in the military. I spent 4 years in the Marines and it was hard enough just owning and maintaining a car let alone finding the time, resources, and facilities to do a rebuild or engine change.

Your model car comments are interesting, since that was probably one of the most profound learning experiences of my youth. I not only became aware of style and mechanics, but most importantly it taught me patience. In the beginning it only took minutes to complete an entire model. It didn’t take long to become disappointed with the sloppy glue laden mess that resulted, so I taught myself to slow down and pay attention to details.

I also started going through your truck build, but there’s so much to see it’s going to take a few days. Man you have really made a lot of progress in a relatively short amount of time. I’m amazed how rust free your truck appears to be, especially considering where you’re located. I admire your welding skills. I have none myself.

Keep up the good work!

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by 65 old school

I also went through your thread, look's great! COLD weather? no way!... I wear short's all year long, last time I had pant's on was at my son's wedding about a year & 1/2 ago. and that was under protest!... Hope you get a lot done with the total daylite and warmer temp's. It's going to be 100 saturday here, I will have to turn my garage a/c on.

We were stationed in Hawaii for 3 years, I lived in shorts, T-shirt, and sandles. Though I do miss it, I would not want to live there the rest of my life. It seems to go too quickly when there are not seasons by which to set your pace. Summertime pace all year around is just too fast for this old Mountain Man.

Originally Posted by markeb01

I just finished looking through your Pontiac build. Very impressive, especially for being in the military. I spent 4 years in the Marines and it was hard enough just owning and maintaining a car let alone finding the time, resources, and facilities to do a rebuild or engine change.

Your model car comments are interesting, since that was probably one of the most profound learning experiences of my youth. I not only became aware of style and mechanics, but most importantly it taught me patience. In the beginning it only took minutes to complete an entire model. It didn’t take long to become disappointed with the sloppy glue laden mess that resulted, so I taught myself to slow down and pay attention to details.

I also started going through your truck build, but there’s so much to see it’s going to take a few days. Man you have really made a lot of progress in a relatively short amount of time. I’m amazed how rust free your truck appears to be, especially considering where you’re located. I admire your welding skills. I have none myself.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks for taking a look Mark.
In all actuality, I got the Tempest in September of 2005. In May of 2006 it and the 72 LeMans went into storage for the 3 years we were stationed in Hawaii. They spent one year getting driven in nice weather while we were in Louisiana, then right after that engine swap, back into storage they went again. That was November of 2010 until April of 2011 when we loaded them up and hauled them up to Spokane and yep, you guessed it, back into storage.
Except the LeMans went to the Restoration guy up on the South Hill and he has had it for a year now.

So yes sir, you are quite correct, owning a classic in the Military is challenging, and the expenses are hidden (5 years of 10x35 foot storage units will add up on ya !!)

But we love them, and they will last us, and hopefully another generation will pick up where we left off and not allow these fine works of art and machinery disapear from American life and roads.

But enough of the soap boxing !

Here is a peek at my heater upgrade that I did all the mod work to my dash for.


And something about buying an engine stand that makes you feel like you are starting to play with the big boys....


Thanks for looking, see you all on your threads soon!

[Modges'66]

What motor is you the motor that you are building from?
What all are you going to do to it?

Also, I posted some pics in my build that you requested.
Modge

[flips72]

neat idea on the heater, is that the one from the donor truck? and yeah every man should have at least 2 engine stands with motors hanging on them

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by Modges'66

What motor is you the motor that you are building from?
What all are you going to do to it?

Also, I posted some pics in my build that you requested.
Modge

Thanks for those how-to picks Modge! What you did to the leading edge of your grille mount was awesome and I will certainly be duplicating what you did!
That is a SBC 350, and the only thing I plan on doing to it, other than cleaning it up and a spiffy paint job, is an Edelbrock performer intake and carb, and different valve covers. I also want to get those Camaro headers that some guys around here use, hopefully one of them can shoot me the part number, I think they get them from Summit but I am uncertain.
The guy I got it from was told it has 20k miles on a crate engine, there are some indicators that it has been rebuilt (silicon gasket over squeeze in some spots, ect...) but I am still contemplating new oil gaskets for the pan and the valve covers.

Originally Posted by flips72

neat idea on the heater, is that the one from the donor truck? and yeah every man should have at least 2 engine stands with motors hanging on them

Yeah that control panel came from the 85. It was originally mounted with off-set screws from the outside of the dash going in. I dont want any screw heads showing on my dash, so I had to fab up a backing plate to weld inside my dash so I could mount the screws for it from the back. Maybe if the screws had been symmetrical I might have compromised and just thrown it on there, but this was better I think.


This weekend should be finishing up everything on the floor (except my tranny hump door) filling unused holes and such. Test mounting my seat and seeing what I need to mod to get that so it is solid and comfortable.

You know, stuff like that....

[McMurphy]

Got more odds and ends done, parts for the engine detailed and painted. Will wait until the engine block is painted and after I put that stuff back on before I post pics of it. But... in my opinion, all that stuff is looking pretty spiffy!

I was doing a lot of that, (and getting my ATV started which turned out to be a pita) between waiting for paint to dry and working on the dash.

Here is what it looked like today after mudding it yesterday...




I thought I would try to be smart about this and started with a knife and trimming alot of the excess bondo. It sure did save me a lot of sanding time I think.



This is after some 80 grit sandpaper... la la la .... I know pretty boring stuff...



So what is it about paint that makes all the flaws just pop right out? Is it the way your brain percieves it, the color, the wet shiney-ness?? None the less I have learned to use paint to highlight areas I want to focus on.



Then some more sanding, with 80 to get to the root of my discontent, and then 100grit to blend the edges... and reshoot with paint.



That is as far as I got on that because the wife and I sat in the cab together and did some day dreaming about this old boy smoothing down the road again.

So that is that.
I thought I saw on here where someone got a 72 or younger cross member with 5 lug rotors, and was talking about going back to 6 lug on it. If anyone remembers who that was please point me in the direction. One of the board members stopped by yesterday and he showed me some parts rigs he is willing to let me cannibalize, and we were talking about this swap because I want to keep my rims at this time.

[joe231]

Dash looks cool!!

Here are 6 lug rotors for 71-87 HD spindles
http://www.performanceonline.com/FRO...10-TRUCK-8600/
Posted via Mobile Device

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by joe231

Dash looks cool!!

Here are 6 lug rotors for 71-87 HD spindles
http://www.performanceonline.com/FRO...10-TRUCK-8600/
Posted via Mobile Device

AWESOME Joe, thanks man you ROCK!

[flips72]

looking good, i hate bondo work i would much rather do the mechanical side of it, but your doing good with yours.

[allaboutchevelles]

Looks good McMurphy, were yall sitting on 5 gallon buckets?? lol, thats where im at with mine.

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by flips72

looking good, i hate bondo work i would much rather do the mechanical side of it, but your doing good with yours.

I am starting to get along with bondo better than I thought I would. It is sort of like modeling clay that has hardened. If I goober it up too bad, I just slathe more on and try again.
Whomever equated doing one of these builds to therapy was not too far off the mark. I do some yelling and cursing while on this project, but overall there is a calming effect of knowing that there isnt too much I can do wrong, that I cannot fix.
And that is a feeling you cannot buy on sale at WalMart.

Originally Posted by allaboutchevelles

Looks good McMurphy, were yall sitting on 5 gallon buckets?? lol, thats where im at with mine.

No sir, I put my bench seat in for this dash work.
Mostly to start test fitting my butt to it (like Homer Simpson fitted to his couch) and getting a feel for the distance I have it set at from the dash. I am also close to installing my shoulder belts and I certainly want to have that measured right.

Thanks for looking and commenting guys, it is a great motivator !!

[chad64chevy]

looking good! been awhile since i checked in on you, hows the weather up there now??

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by chad64chevy

looking good! been awhile since i checked in on you, hows the weather up there now??

Heh, 52* and sunny as I write this.
It was chilly this morning when I got to work, right around 45* and cloudy.
There is still snow on the ground, but now it is really only in the dead shadow areas, and the plowed mountains.
Daylight is quickly getting to the 24 hour mark.
We saw Avengers last Friday and at midnight when we left the theater is was getting to be twilight outside.

Fun times.

[C@rnut001]

It is great that it is up to 52 up where you are. It is cold and snowed two inches last night, but it melted off today. We are just watching the river breakup and hopefully it doesn't overflow the banks (Kuskokwim River). Anyway, good luck on getting more of your build complete, I love what you did with the dash and your mudding and sanding work on it looks pretty good...

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by C@rnut001

It is great that it is up to 52 up where you are. It is cold and snowed two inches last night, but it melted off today. We are just watching the river breakup and hopefully it doesn't overflow the banks (Kuskokwim River). Anyway, good luck on getting more of your build complete, I love what you did with the dash and your mudding and sanding work on it looks pretty good...

Thanks Carnut, it isnt as good yet as I want it to be, needs a tad more work. I tend to wait until I have a couple of bondo tasks to do before I mix some up.

This weekend I started on my dash extension.
Got a section of fleetside body as a donor for this project because initially I was going to do a one piece, but then I smartend up some and decided that a 3 piece would be wiser.

So my donor sheet metal, yea it is that color green!!


Of course I had a pattern I made from cardboard and used that as a basis for my parts.... This is the d-side section.


The d-side all fabbed up, with the original center piece. As I was test fitting them up under the dash I got to looking at the area around the steering column and thought to myself.... self, we can do better than that!


My p-side section, with what is going to be my stereo console. I have to weld in a small section on the bottom right side. I got a tad too generous with cutting my donor sheet for my first part, which left me not so much room.


And the p-side in for a test fitting. I went ahead and gave myself the double thumbs up for this one, and started stripping paint.


Then I got going on my second attempt on the center section.

[McMurphy]

So with a new and improved template, I was at it again...


I dont have a circle cutter, so I cut this down to strips for the rounded end. The idea was to bend them up, and cut them flush with a grinder. but then I saw how they made a nice, non-sharp rounded edge and beat them down instead.


My finished piece.


checking the fit....


And that gentlemen, with a few other odds and ends done was my major accomplishment this weekend.

I took a couple pics of what I am going to need to do to adapt my Bronco seat after fiddling with getting it aligned and centered how I want it.
The wife cleanen up the engine more for me, she made some awesome progress with that.
Thank you wife !!

Hope you all got some stuff done too, gotta go read your threads now!

[chad64chevy]

that looks awesome!! great job with the fab. skills

[chevy_man5]

That will look great in there! Good Job!!

[66ChevyMax]

That is sweet, summer is on the way my brother....

[flips72]

looking good, you come up with some pretty neat ideas, keep it up

[GMC1965]

Seems were just unlucky, My truck has all the same rust! Yours seems a little worse but I still have to replace what you are. That template for the cab corners seems nice!Im going to PM you bout that. Reading this helped me out some, seeing all the replacement done. Once im ready for panels, im going to rent a welder mid summer. I can get a gas for 120$ month. Good luck with your build!

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by chad64chevy

that looks awesome!! great job with the fab. skills

Thanks Chad, it seems to get easier and easier the more of it I do. I certainly enjoy it, that is for sure!

Originally Posted by chevy_man5

That will look great in there! Good Job!!

Thank you... I have high hopes that it comes out at least half as good as some of the others I have seen on this board!

Originally Posted by 66ChevyMax

That is sweet, summer is on the way my brother....

Yes sir it is!
I had the garage door open all day today and only had to fight off a half dozen blood sucker bugs, but the sun shine made it worth it!

Originally Posted by flips72

looking good, you come up with some pretty neat ideas, keep it up

Thank you Flips, I dont have the skills to keep up with the rest of you so I have to have some mad-crazy ideas, otherwise my rig would not be worth watching to build... I think. LOL

Originally Posted by GMC1965

Seems were just unlucky, My truck has all the same rust! Yours seems a little worse but I still have to replace what you are. That template for the cab corners seems nice!Im going to PM you bout that. Reading this helped me out some, seeing all the replacement done. Once im ready for panels, im going to rent a welder mid summer. I can get a gas for 120$ month. Good luck with your build!

I Xeroxed off that template I made of those cab corner floor fill plates I just have to get the wife to scan them into digits so I can email them out to you all! I am really pleased with the result too.


Yesterday got ate up with work related stuff and a car show in North Pole, so I did not touch my rig at all until today. Then it was just a bunch of little stuff like making a demo and pattern of the adapter for my seat, staring at my original grille and the hideaway head lights idea, dinking around with my cable gas pedal, and finished stripping the green paint from that dash extension I made up.
Funny how one thing leads into another... I hesitate to mount my shoulder seat belts until I get the seat mounted, same with the side view mirrors.

I am currently looking for a 5.7 mechanical manual 5sp transmission for this build. From what I am hearing they are hard to come by up here in central Alaska. Tomorrow I have to call around to all the bone yards and confirm that. So far it is just the Tranny Shop guys I have spoken to about it.
The transmission the wife an I pulled last November turned out to be a 3 speed and though it will haul a trailered car behind it, it will not do it fast, and even with no load, the 3sp will eat up gas with the higher RPMs behind that 350 motor (I think).

Well enough blabbering, I am going to go read some builds and see what I can accumulate this week to work on over the 4 day weekend!!

[baggedbigblock]

liking the progress!!

[CRGRS 66]

Hey McMurphy, didn't realize that you had a build going on until tonight. I will take my time and go through it over the next day or two.
Cheers!
Craigerr

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by baggedbigblock

liking the progress!!

Thanks for taking a look man, I surely do dig your build!!

Originally Posted by CRGRS 66

Hey McMurphy, didn't realize that you had a build going on until tonight. I will take my time and go through it over the next day or two.
Cheers!
Craigerr

Thank you for stopping by.
I apologize for the disorganization of both the build and the photos... it was mainly to combat cabin fever over the winter so the approach to the build has been more of a tinkering dream come true than a planned resto-mod.

I am starting to post less, but show more completion on the specific projects, (I think) because I realized I was dinking around with stuff but not getting anything done.... if that makes sense.

Hope you enjoy it anyways!!