Not Another Rebuild Thread....

[chad64chevy]

wow, some cool lil mods you have been doing! i really like the way the wire mesh in the cowl panel looks, i was thinking about doing something like that myself! keep it up you have it done in no time!

[66ChevyMax]

Power plant looks sweet Murph.

[dbomb53]

Mad skills McMurphy, keep it up! your doing great, your fab work is looking good.

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by piratexpress1369a

looking good ..stay on top of it

Thank you Pirate, I appreciate you taking a look.

Originally Posted by CRGRS 66

looking good McMurph!

Thanks CRGRS, you keep me smiling !!

Originally Posted by chad64chevy

wow, some cool lil mods you have been doing! i really like the way the wire mesh in the cowl panel looks, i was thinking about doing something like that myself! keep it up you have it done in no time!

I hope you stop working so hard that you can get some time in on your build, I been going thru withdrawls for an update from you.

Originally Posted by 66ChevyMax

Power plant looks sweet Murph.

When I go to drop a Vortex in my next build, can I call you? I want to do a build like yours one day!

Originally Posted by Nopocustoms

I love your build - I can give you pretty good advice on the Distributor placement, it will give you a 50 50 chance without pulling the drivers side valve cover. If you're so inclined - here is my technique for both ways. This also assumes you have the same timing cover and balancer that came with the engine.

.Kind of long winded, but I hope it's helpful.

Yes same cover and balancer. Thanks for the step by step, I will print this off and take it down to the garage with me! I really dont want to pull my valve cover, just got them sealed on and snugged down good.
Your written directions were exactly what I got off the YouTube video I watched, but had to commit to short term memory for the trip down stairs to the garage, but I am not 100% sure I got it right. thanks for letting me know the rotations ratio, that will help a lot !!
Glad you like my build too.... it is a humble project (I think...)

Originally Posted by dbomb53

Mad skills McMurphy, keep it up! your doing great, your fab work is looking good.

Thanks man, I really dig your build too !!

[CRGRS 66]

If the distributor won't seat down all the way, you will need a long screw driver to rotate the oil pump to match the distributor. Easy as pie if the engine is on a stand, bit of a b*tch when it is in the truck (this I know from experience)!

[b2948kevin]

Yep, I remember doing this as well. You have good advice here already, but maks sure to watch some Youtube videos on this. That's what helped me the most in visualizing how it worked.

Watch this whole series:

Installing a Distributor Part 1 - YouTube

[flips72]

great work on the seat belt mounts and the windshield wiper grill is awesome, i need to steal that idea. as far as the timing goes, i bet you have it allready in time, just second guessing yourself, i do it all the time.keep up the good work.

[chad64chevy]

question why did you cut off you front frame horns?? other then that everything looks great, glad to some of us are able to work on there trucks, lol!! keep it up you'll be done before me!!

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by chad64chevy

question why did you cut off you front frame horns?? other then that everything looks great, glad to some of us are able to work on there trucks, lol!! keep it up you'll be done before me!!

Answer: because I am lowering my front bumper and putting in a valence for a cleaner look.

In this concept drawing you can see where the frame horns were (in dots) and they protrude from under the grill mount. On mine I have alread filled those precut notches, and will add a valence (possibly using the front vented part of a hood) in the darker pencil fill of the drawing between the mandibles of the two fenders.
Then I will decide on dropping the horns (possibly 4") and reinstalling a cut down/thinner version of the bumper with the ends cut to match the fender well angle (not shown in this drawing because I seen that done after I drew this) or go with a tube push bumper.

The idea is to give the profile of the truck more of a slanted forward at the hood look, and less of the old man with his dentures out with the bumper as his chin and sticking out so far....

In my head it looks cooler than I can make it sound in words LOL.

[McMurphy]

Something like this:



Only with the bumper mounted lower and being more of an accent than a protrudence.
Hey ..... I am Irish..... crazy and whiskey are my birthrights !!!

[clemdaddy]

Hey ..... I am Irish..... crazy and whiskey are my birthrights !!![/QUOTE]

somebody say whiskey... I'm in.

your build looks real fine, gonna stay tuned in.

[chad64chevy]

ya, i forgot you were adding the front of a hood to the bottom, i'm a lil slow sometimes, lol!! working so much i forget what other people are doing to there truck along with forgetting were i'm at on mine!!
looks like sept. i'll be able to make alot of REAL progress on mine, work will slow down a bit to were i'm only working 5 days then! i really shouldnt complain about work atleast i'm working, right, lol!!

[piratexpress1369a]

sounds like you need a bigger air compressor ..looking good so far

[flips72]

you are a very lucky man to have a wife that likes to clean parts and buy tools crossmember looks great, your doing some awesome work........... well your wife is keep it up and you will pass me.

[KroAutomotiveInc]

looking good man love the spots you use to put that touch of red in and that blast cabinet is sweet i need one of those so bad i may be pro at clean parts with a scraper clear and a brush but i cant say i enjoy doing it lol

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by chad64chevy

ya, i forgot you were adding the front of a hood to the bottom, i'm a lil slow sometimes, lol!! working so much i forget what other people are doing to there truck along with forgetting were i'm at on mine!!
looks like sept. i'll be able to make alot of REAL progress on mine, work will slow down a bit to were i'm only working 5 days then! i really shouldnt complain about work atleast i'm working, right, lol!!

In todays economy it isnt enough to just have a job, but you need to start paying your future as well because I really doubt it will get better for the majority of us. I tell my soldiers this: "Live Today, but Live for Tomorrow"

Originally Posted by piratexpress1369a

sounds like you need a bigger air compressor ..looking good so far

Aye, that I do!!
But I still have at least one more major move in my Army career, maybe two, and an industrial compressor just isnt in the cards right now! Sure would be nice though!

Originally Posted by flips72

you are a very lucky man to have a wife that likes to clean parts and buy tools crossmember looks great, your doing some awesome work........... well your wife is keep it up and you will pass me.

Well.... I may pass you on putting it all back together, but I cannot touch you on the quality of work you do sir! And go ahead and tease me about my wife, the guys at the junk yard do too, like they are seeing her there more often than me...."what am I here to help my wife with today?.....If I didnt bring my wife, then why am I there?".... you know, that sort of stuff.

Originally Posted by KroAutomotiveInc

looking good man love the spots you use to put that touch of red in and that blast cabinet is sweet i need one of those so bad i may be pro at clean parts with a scraper clear and a brush but i cant say i enjoy doing it lol

I like the effect you get with blasting... the dust is tearing up my shop vac though, and the mess is kind of a bother. I think in the future a small shed or something just for blasting will be in order with a dust evac system, but I would need a breather for a set up like that.
It is addicting though.... I blasted that coil spring and almost immediately started eyeballing my frame with delusions of grandure!!

I like your rattlecan approach to your new 4x4... you know I watch everything you do now!

[KroAutomotiveInc]

thanks dude yeah i love the rattle cans lol paint is paint to a point its all about prep in the first place no matter the paint going down and i plan on doing quit a bit of off roading in this truck and i feel a lot better about scratching or denting some rustoleum that i can pick up on the way home to fix it then raking a tree down my sweet paint job

[CRGRS 66]

McMurph, cross member looks reeeaaaally nice, your honey does nice work

[Modges'66]

Originally Posted by CRGRS 66

McMurph, cross member looks reeeaaaally nice, your honey does nice work

I think that she is probably doing most of the work & McMurph is just the photographer/parts-cleaner on this build!...Ha-Ha!

[dbomb53]

Keep sender her to get your parts....she probably gets a better deal!...haha

[dbomb53]

**sending

[piratexpress1369a]

McMurphy you have to post up what he gives you ..play nice now lol

[chevy_man5]

Pirate, you are first in line when I get that far.

When I get the basics for the '60 - '63 done, and the '64 - '66 done, it is just tweaks to make them fit the specifics for each year, so it will be semi-easy to modify the drawings.

Got the rear view of my truck almost done last night. I'll post them all up in my thread once I get them done.

[McMurphy]

Well I tell ya....
Talk about a forehead smacking weekend.

Bad enough I didnt do the proper research and bought the external coil spring compressors, because then I could not figure how to get the clearance once they were installed, to back them off. There just was no physical way of doing it that I could find!

But then a couple weeks ago, I had gotten my upper and lower ball joints and when asked at the parts store I totally told them it was for a 66 half ton. It never crossed my mind to tell them I needed them for a 1981 GMC 1500 (which was the donor front end for my spindles and disc brakes...). What ensued yesterday was a long and painful lesson in trying to install ball joints that were about 1/2 inch too short.



Yes I did totally destroy a complete set on one side.
The threads on the upper ball joint were stripped down to a smooth shaft, and I ballooned the bottom of the lower joint to the point that it looked pregnant!

I am not one to generally string cuss words into full sentences or fling tools (particularly my 8lb sledge) around but I succumbed to the tidal wave of frustration and had the first temper tantrum of my life since age 3.....

Thankfully I have a wife that picks up on these hard to read mood changes and she took a quick Youtube peek, then came down stairs and showed me that it was my lack of good sense, and not my lack of skills that was the problem by holding up the old and the new joints to show me the length difference.
My non-calibrated eyes would have sworn they were identical

Anyways, I should post pics of my destruction so that generations to follow will not forget these awesome details when combining differing aged rigs...

Hope the rest of you had better progress than I did this weekend!!

[Modges'66]

Originally Posted by McMurphy

I am not one to generally string cuss words into full sentences or fling tools (particularly my 8lb sledge) around but I succumbed to the tidal wave of frustration and had the first temper tantrum of my life since age 3.....

Outatanding!!!
Now I feel that we are on the same level!!!
I had an episode just like this one during the weekend, when after 9 hours of total time block-sanding on a box-side (it was ready for paint), I noticed that one spot-weld where the upper outer meets the lower outer wasn't good. So I drilled the ledge thru the first thickness on the inside of the box & plug welded it. Simple fix right?
You can just imagine my response when I walked around to see that the primer was bubbled on the outside of the box!
I was so F-ing PO'd that I cussed out loud for about a half-hour(probably longer)
I feel your pain!