Bringing the '65 back to life

[racecougar]

Finished up the installation of the firewall insulation today. Rather than use the junky factory plastic retainers, we went with SS hardware: 5/16" buttonheads, rubber-bonded washers on the firewall side, fenderwashers on the insulation side, and nylon-insert locknuts.



We also cut down the bed stand we had used for my 8' F150 bed to fit the 6' C10 bed, then carefully relocated the bed from the back room of the shop to the carport behind the C10.

[racecougar]

Fighting the rust monster today...removing the inner fenders.

[Ta2Don]

Great idea on the SS hardware... the plastic oe style clips are a bear to install...

[racecougar]

Thanks. I started to install them, noted that they were indeed a pain to install but also that I didn't really like the look of them sticking through the firewall, and then went the SS route.

[racecougar]

Took the weekend off from the '65 to build shelves and organize the back room of the shop, which included boxing and labeling a bunch of the parts for the truck. No more hunting the shop for random truck parts.

[racecougar]

Deleted the antenna hole today. I'm not 100% positive where the antenna will end up yet, but it won't be here.



But in bigger news: we picked up a donor this morning. It's a '02 2WD Suburban 1500 with the 5.3L/4L60E combo. It's a boat, but it runs well.

[dwcardfan]

Nice donor!

[racecougar]

Yeah, I think it'll do for now.

Stripped and body-worked the outer cowl panels today.

[racecougar]

Dad stripped the cowl during the week, and we got those pieces into primer today.

[racecougar]

We tore down a later-model (late-70's - mid-80's) GM truck 12-bolt today to rob the backing plates off of it. The plan is to narrow the original '65 12-bolt to achieve the deep-dished wide rear wheel look we're after. While doing so, we'll incorporate Ford-style housing ends to eliminate the C-clips, and we'll switch the stock 11" x 2-1/2" drums over to the later GM truck 11-5/32" x 2-3/4" drums for a decent increase in brake shoe surface area.

[racecougar]

EDIT: The stock drums are 11" x 2", not 2-1/2".

[racecougar]

Took the '65 out for a spin today, literally. We turned it around and backed it into the shop, as the rear axle will be coming back out shortly.

[racecougar]

And then the packages arrived...mamacita!

15x12" Cragar S/S's, Moser housing ends and retainers, and a set of fixture bushings for lining everything up when we cut down the axle housing.

[racecougar]

Shooting a little primer on Turkey Day.

[deejaaa1]

great build and documentation.

[racecougar]

Thanks!

Pulled the rear axle this morning and drained it, then shot the first coat of satin black on the cowl pieces.

[racecougar]

Day 195: The rear axle housing is ready to be degreased and blasted, and the cowl pieces received the final coat of satin black.

[racecougar]

Spent the morning cleaning and priming the wiper transmission and the rain baffle for the heater inlet, then we took the rear axle over to the quarter car wash for a quick degreasing. Hoping to get it blasted and primed this week.

[racecougar]

Dad had the axle and backing plates blasted today. I swung by after work and shot some primer to keep the rust monster away.

[racecougar]

Installed the dome light, glovebox latch, wiper motor, wiper transmission, cowl pieces, emblems, etc. today. The outer cowl panels will come back off in order to install the front fenders later, so they're just stuck on there finger-tight for now.

[racecougar]

Dad finished up the passenger side door and installed the door panel this morning, while I spent the day methodically welding the axle tubes to the housing.

[racecougar]

Day 200! AKA axle choppin' day. Dad began machining the wood for the bed floor while I took 7" out of the original 12-bolt (3-1/2" off each side) and installed a pair of Moser 7950 housing ends. These ends retain the stock brake mounting pattern while converting to the big Ford 3.15" axle bearings and retainer plates, thereby eliminating the need for C-clips.



Measure fifty-eight times...cut once.

[racecougar]

Welded up the ends today, cleaned the housing, then set it back on the trailing arms. Dad finished the machine work on the bed floor boards.



The housing is now 50" end to end. It was 57" originally; already 1-1/2" narrower than the later truck 12-bolts.

[racecougar]

Spent the morning laying out the e-brake cable routing, removing the factory bumpstop brackets, and beginning the task of filling out the order form for axle shafts.

[Ta2Don]

Looking great...
Merry Christmas to you and yours!!!!