Project '64 Cheapskate

[rusty76]

Kool beans about the car. I've always loved that model of Camaro. Second gens have a soft spot for me.

[chevyrestoguy]

The engine and trans are now installed, so I've got a lot of things I can do. When I decided to go with a 700r4, that presented a few issues, namely the driveshafts. The cost of having a driveshaft made or modifying an existing one can be spendy, and because I was trying to use parts that I already had, I had to break out the tape measure and find ones that would work. Between me and all of my friends, we have about 50 spare driveshafts and 90% of them are 1-piece. Unfortunately, all of the 1-piece shafts we had were either too long or too short. After a bit of careful measuring, I determined that the front driveshaft from the '79 Suburban would work. The Suburban was a 454/th400, and the 700r4 is slightly shorter by about 1.5", so I ordered a transmission yoke with an 1.5" longer total length just to be sure that I had good spline engagement. My '64 was a C-20, which has the superior "bell-style" heavy-duty carrier bearing, so I ordered a new one and it pressed right on to the Suburban shaft. Once I tried to put it all in, I realized that there was no way to install it due to the length of the shaft, the size of the carrier bearing, and the distance I had between the tailshaft of the transmission and the trailing arm crossmember. I tried every combination, and nothing worked.
So, I fired up the cutoff wheel and took out a 2" section of the crossmember, just enough to where I could get the slip spline section of the driveshaft through. I already have the shaft in place and resting on the carrier bearing mount in this picture.


I didn't want to leave a 2" gap in the crossmember because it's a part that carries a lot of load and I didn't want to create issues later with it cracking, so I built a reinforcement plate. Notice that I saved the cut-out piece...


I popped the cut section back in place and drilled a hole in the center


I bolted everything back in place with Grade 8 fine-thread bolts and NyLocks. The fasteners on the ends are actually 2.75" sections of Grade 8 All-Thread. I had to do this for a few reasons. First, all bolts over 1.75" long have a thick section of the shank that's unthreaded, and I needed threads all the way through. Second, the long attach bolts of the carrier bearing bracket were also used as a method to hang the exhaust, but i didn't like that the carrrier bearing would have rubber somewhere in the mounting assembly. The stud eliminated that by having a double nut up on top, secured by a nut underneath, with the remaining stud exposed. Now, the exhaust could hang from the stud and not be a main part of the carrier bearing attach fasteners. You can see that the carrier bearing attach bolts to the bracket are loose. I am waiting until I get the rear shaft in and aligned before I snug those down.




I also bolted up the headers and attached the collectors, so the exhaust is essentially finished.

Next step, final fit of the inner fenders. core support, and radiator. I have a bad feeling that I am going to have to do a bunch of surgery on the shroud to make it work. With the frame "Z", and the serpentine belt set-up, it's going to require some creative thinking. It HAS to look factory when it's all done! I have a buddy who thinks that he's Mr Chevy, and I want to disguise all of the frame mods. When I told him I was lowering the front 5", the first thing he said was "It's too low, the lower control arms will hit on everything". That's true, but after the 2" Z, I have a ton of ground clearance. I want him to look underneath mine and scratch his head and try to figure out how I got mine so low and still have ground clearance. So, this is why I have spent so much time on the inner fenders and everything else that bolts to them. That's one of the reasons why all of the frame and everything that bolts to it is painted chassis black, so it'll disguise all of the surgery. I want to fool a lot of people. There's a bunch of work on this truck that I have taken great pains to hide or disguise. I like doing that kind of stuff.

[Low Elco]

Install looks clean! Comin' up on the test-fire!

[TommyDuncan]

Nice work! It looks like you are getting close...

...unless there is wiring, plumbing or anything else like that to be done. Then it might look "almost done" for a while!

I finally got my 62 GMC home. Other than a mediocre paint job it is so nice I might not do anything to it but clean it up and drive it.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Slammed66]

Attention to detail is fantastic. Awsome build .
Posted via Mobile Device

[rusty76]

Looks kool to me.

[Jmorales3181]

Great work man! Can't wait to see it finished
Posted via Mobile Device

[duallyjams]

I'm sure you'll think of something.

[wraprail]

Originally Posted by chevyrestoguy

Now, once you're satisfied with the cuts, it's time to start stitching it all back together. The frame is going to be plated with 3/16ths steel plate on both sides of the frame rails, but the frame needed to be joined first. The cut gaps were measured, and small intersection plates were welded in place.


After that, the boxing plates were cut and welded in place. Here is the passenger side outside plate. There is another place just like this welded to the inside of the frame rail as well. So, if you're keeping score, there's THREE pieces of 3/16's plate (two plates and the original frame) at every area where the frame was cut.

I'm a little behind sorry bout that. Great build. Love the early trucks. Just curious why you didn't just cut the frame at an angle, say like 15 or so degrees? You wouldn't need to add material to the frame like you did.

[chevyrestoguy]

Originally Posted by wraprail

I'm a little behind sorry bout that. Great build. Love the early trucks. Just curious why you didn't just cut the frame at an angle, say like 15 or so degrees? You wouldn't need to add material to the frame like you did.

Actually, that's the way I wanted to do it, because I felt that it would have served two purposes. I could get the 2" up and move the frame 1" forward at the same time. In the end, we went with cutting straight and triple-walling the frame because it was absolutely imperative that the core support mounts and motor mount locations reamain in the stock locations, and at the time, it seemed to be the easier way. It gets a little weird around the steering box, and you have to be careful how you address that area, especially if you have one of the power steering adapter plates. In the end, everything lined up perfectly, and we even lowered the engine mount stands 2" so we wouldn't have to rework the cab floor and not have any valve cover clearance issues at the brake booster and the heater box. And it'll still look stock when you open the hood, especially after I sectioned the bottoms of the inner fenders and reattached the stock rolled lips.

[theastronaut]

Man I love this build! All the little details are perfect! I love the inner fender bottoms that are reshaped! I'd seen the vac gauge mod before when searching and somehow didn't catch that it was in a build thread. I like how you redid the brake pedal and seat placement, I don't like where any of that stuff was from the factory. The little details inside the A/C box are awesome, and making all the cables and controls work like you did takes a good bit of time and thought to get right.

I'd take this truck over the typical shiny custom any day just because of all the little details that are "right". So many of the "bling builds" are only surface deep and the little stuff is forgotten... I think part of the reason those type builds aren't driven is that they're not enjoyable when they are driven, because they were just thrown together from "cool" parts! You will have a true driver that is a blast to drive because everything has been designed to work in harmony.

Awesome work, and I can't wait to see more!

[chevyrestoguy]

John-
I am so glad that you finally visited my thread. I've posted on your threads in the past that I absolutely dig the work you do, so your compliment means a lot to me. I hold you in high regard because you always think outside the box and your attention to detail is impeccable.

I'd take this truck over the typical shiny custom any day just because of all the little details that are "right". So many of the "bling builds" are only surface deep and the little stuff is forgotten... I think part of the reason those type builds aren't driven is that they're not enjoyable when they are driven, because they were just thrown together from "cool" parts! You will have a true driver that is a blast to drive because everything has been designed to work in harmony.

I agree with this statement 100%. I want to DRIVE my stuff, not keep it in a padded cell and never bring it out. What's the fun in that? I want a vehicle that looks right, sits right, sounds right, feels right, and when I get caught out in the rain, I won't freak out about it. I'll just kick on the wipers, turn on the defrost, and crank up the tunes.

I had big plans to make my '55 a super-sanitary, detailed to the hilt show stopper. After a bunch of thought, I've had a change of heart because I know that I could never fully enjoy the truck if I did that. I have a feeling that the '55 will probably get sold before I ever finish it.

[chevyrestoguy]

Well, tomorrow is a big milestone birthday for me, so the wife threw a surprise party for me last night, with a big help from Kustombrad. We had a great dinner, had a bunch of friends show up from all over, and I got some great gifts.

With the help from Brad, Lynn's gift to me was the complete set of parts I needed to rebuilt the steering on the '64. All new Moog stuff, which I was eyeing anyway. I wondered if the other people around us thought I was weird when I started hooting and hollering as I was pulling out steering parts in a nice Italian restaurant. Brad's gift was a set of MSD wires, which I really needed. I had almost bought that same set a few weeks ago, but I decided to hold off. Good thing, huh!

A very good friend, Tom Clark, showed up and I was surprised to see him. He lives a good distance away, and I would have never expected him. He's one of Brad's pinstriper buddies, and he made me a special sign to signify my birthday


Check out the wrapping paper he put it in. He said that he spent a couple of minutes with a Sharpie to make it look cool.


I decided to take a break on the truck this weekend and hang out with the wife, but very soon you will start seeing a lot of pictures on this thread. I have been doing a lot of work, but I'm holding off until I can finish each little project before I post up anything.

A big thanks to Lynn and Brad for making my birthday a memorable one, and for all of my friends for sharing it with us!!

[duallyjams]

Happy B-day and welcome to 50 plus club.

[likaroc13]

Happy Birthday! Looks like you got some good stuff for the truck. We put new Moog steering/suspension parts on mine too. Love the pinstriping as well, & look forward to seeing your progress pics!

[TommyDuncan]

Happy birthday! Those are the gifts you will remember years from now when you are driving that truck down the road.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Low Elco]

Happy Birthday! Great Presents, hope they get put to good use soon! Glad it was a good day for you.
Posted via Mobile Device

[kustombrad]

Happy BDay dude!
Posted via Mobile Device

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by chevyrestoguy

John-
I am so glad that you finally visited my thread. I've posted on your threads in the past that I absolutely dig the work you do, so your compliment means a lot to me. I hold you in high regard because you always think outside the box and your attention to detail is impeccable.


I agree with this statement 100%. I want to DRIVE my stuff, not keep it in a padded cell and never bring it out. What's the fun in that? I want a vehicle that looks right, sits right, sounds right, feels right, and when I get caught out in the rain, I won't freak out about it. I'll just kick on the wipers, turn on the defrost, and crank up the tunes.

I had big plans to make my '55 a super-sanitary, detailed to the hilt show stopper. After a bunch of thought, I've had a change of heart because I know that I could never fully enjoy the truck if I did that. I have a feeling that the '55 will probably get sold before I ever finish it.

Yeah I thought about painting 'Locks, doing all the panel gaps/alignment like I did the blue '65 but that would take the fun out of driving it. I can't thrash it hard on an autocross course if I'm worried about scuffing against a cone! Not sure about me thinking "out of the box", more like I don't know what I'm doing so I just make something up that works. Going from old VW's to Chevy trucks was a big jump so I don't have any experience with V8/ladder frame chassis design/mods to rely on.

Sounds like you had an awesome birthday, with I got truck parts like that!

[pdxhall]

Happy Birthday, man! The truck's coming along nicely. I'll bet you're itchin' to get that stuff installed.

[McMurphy]

Happy 50th !!
I just rolled the half century mark this month as well (on the 9th) !!

Nice score on the front end parts !

[65Gregg]

Happy birthday to you bunch of kids.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Dinos63]

nice work and happy-b-day kat!

[gofastnut]

Happy Birthday!! I honked and waved as I drove through (yeah, sure) with my wife on our way to So Lake Tahoe to celebrate our 15th anniversary.

[Bomp]

Happy B-Day!!!