Project "Popeye"

[99 to Life]

oh I remember seeing that on here and or just seen that pattern. I got one similar just black and white, I stretched it and got little bungee cords to hold it in place. I used an older silverado bench, friggin thing literally touches the door when you shut it, but I like it cause it moves back and forth and fold forward. I love when the interiors come together and wiring, makes it feel like its really coming alive. There is soo much work in interiors it always takes longer than you think.

[LEEVON]

I still have to back up and do the cab rust repair, but it's starting to feel like a truck. Sitting in the cab and making engine noises is a major milestone in my book.

[69CST-V]

Originally Posted by LEEVON

I still have to back up and do the cab rust repair, but it's starting to feel like a truck. Sitting in the cab and making engine noises is a major milestone in my book.

Totally agree with the milestone engine noises.

[bjcaldwe]

Ive got a seat just like that minus the arm rest for mine. Nice idea on keeping the stock riser.

[RocketKing]

Originally Posted by LEEVON

Rex (RocketKing) called this week and said he was looking at a '50 chevy truck in my area. He bought it yesterday and came back to load it this morning, so I rode along and helped. He got a killer project for a great price, hope he's over here soon with a build thread!

I can not thank you enough for all the help! Thanks for letting Dad and me see Popeye up close and personal. I will be looking forward to learning about these trucks!

[LEEVON]

My pleasure! Looking forward to your build!

[LEEVON]

Checked on the front clip this weekend, two hours away in my folk's barn. It's soon to be re-united I hope. The only problem is that the bridge across the creek to get to the barn washed out so it will have to be hand carried about 100 yards down a hill, over a creek and up a hill. I'm going to have to sucker somebody into that...

The clip is in pretty good shape, just needs cleaning and paint on the inner fenders and front pan.

[PurdueSD]

Why not take it apart at your pops,your going to have to later anyways to clean up and paint the inner fenders and radiator cover. Then you arent waiting on help and you can safely transport it back home without beating up the fender bottoms.

[STOCKISH]

Looking good man, can't wait to see it with the front clip on it.

[LEEVON]

Originally Posted by PurdueSD

Why not take it apart at your pops,your going to have to later anyways to clean up and paint the inner fenders and radiator cover. Then you arent waiting on help and you can safely transport it back home without beating up the fender bottoms.

Hoping to avoid a few more hours of work. The plan is just a coat of satin black on the fenders and cover, right over the old bolts without taking it apart.

[oldman3]

front clip looks good...Jim

[05snopro440]

I'm new here and just found your thread. The truck looks awesome and those wheels are the perfect color! The steering wheel you have is a '64 Impala piece, I think it looks great in there. Can't wait to see it finished.

Check out my build here, you'll see why I like the blue wheels.

[LEEVON]

Cool build, I love that model run. There is another one like yours here that will blow your mind, search for "Chizzler" and his build.

WELCOME!

[Root2812]

Leevon,

I have a question about your oil pan. I just got my Fatman mustang II IFS and I have a 5.3 with the truck pan. Did you have to swap to the f-body pan because of clearance with the cross member or was it just for ground clearance? If its just ground clearance then I will use my truck pan for mockup and worry about getting a different pan later. If the cross member had nothing to do with it then I should be ok. I want to get the motor nice and low in the frame to avoid much floor cutting for my tranny.

Thanks

[LEEVON]

It was just ground clearance, both pans are rear sump and clear the crossmember fine. You can leave it for now.

[LEEVON]

Hey guys, still here. I have put in a ton of hours on the truck this week, and took care of many little things so basically the chassis is buttoned-up and ready to go. The LS1 accessories are installed, throttle cable and detent cable installed, air and brake lines secured, all connections checked and torqued, etc. I'll post some pics when it's not 1 degree (really) and I have better light but they're about the same as before because it's hard to see tedious hours doing things like sourcing bolts and making power steering hoses.

Probably the biggest thing I've done is switch to an automatic transmission. That was a hard pill to swallow and I fought against it, but after all the work I had done to get the NP833 installed, the clutch just would not dis-engage. I took it all back out and discovered I may have the wrong combo of clutch/flywheel/pressure plate because the clutch springs were mostly depressed when bolted together. That was an experiment if you go back a few pages, it just didn't work out. More research could bring the answer, but I just want to drive the thing...and I had a very stout TH350 under my workbench and Hughes LS1 spacer laying around so I made the swap after some new seals, gasket, detent cable, etc. I also mocked-up an automatic non-tilt column from my '71, so it's a done deal, automatic for now. I even had a Lokar automatic linkage laying around, which fit great.

Don't worry, I have the NP833 all prettied up on it's very own engine stand waiting for the next project. Who knows it could be this truck, I still have the clutch pedal assembly which slides right in, and the linkages I fabricated. So I actually got a little excited because now I'm closer to hitting the road. And I realized that while I wanted to build a boulevard cruiser, this thing might just have some guts with the cam, intake, demon 725, posi, etc. and the 3200-3600 stall torque converter could bring it all together for a smokeshow (on something besides the pricey wide whites of course haha).

Stay tuned.

[skymangs]

Cant wait to see some pics!

[oldman3]

Leevon, sounds great, will be waiting for the pics....Jim

[STOCKISH]

Cant wait to see more Leevon. Amazing work so far!

[99 to Life]

cant wait to see some pics too, sorry about the auto!!!!! My buddy had to switch over cause his 5speed is toast, after he got it professionally rebuilt.

[LEEVON]

Mating the TH350 to the 5.3L was easy. I pulled the stock flywheel out of my junk bin and "oblonged" the converter mount holes a little. Then bolted it on the crank and tapped the Hughes spacer in place in the crank snout which extends the converter mounting surface.

The NP833 awaits a new fate. How cool would it be in my '71 with bucket seats?

[LEEVON]

LS accessories went on smoothly, the alternator area is very tight around the power rack fittings but it works. My son got in on the action, here he was bolting down the coolant vent tube. I love the brackets that Edelbrock included with the intake, with a Lokar throttle cable and stock detent cable and good return spring it's very solid and adjustable. Nice quality piece, won't move around like most of the other's I've tried.

I left little notes to myself all over the chassis with sharpie on tape like "converter bolts!" and "RR air bag" as a sort of reminder but also to quantify how much more I need to do. Made me feel like I was organized for one night at least : )

[LEEVON]

I rigged up the AVS guage panel and finish routing the air and brake lines. There are (6) air lines to bring into the cab with the manual valves, two supply from the rear and (4) discharge to each bag, so there will be one grommet on each side of the cab with (3) lines each. I used standard wire loom for protection on any exposed air lines and then fuel line hose slipped over when it where touching anything. Adel clamps with 1/4-20 bolts were used to secure everything tighty along with a few zip ties here and there. I will not be winning any Ridler awards, but it will all be low-maintenance and highly functional.

[LEEVON]

I started filling holes on the firewall and realized on the fourth or fifth tack that my helmet was not auto-darkening so I had to set that aside. I used a uni-bit to enlarge any holes over 1/8" that can't be bridged with a weld then a magnet to hold a electrical knock-out in place for the filler. I plan to fill everything except the brake booster and drain and drill new holes for the harness, guages, and air lines. Still haven't decided if I'm going to paint the firewall flat black, gloss black or marina blue. What do ya'll think on that?

[skymangs]

Looks great, Love the carb'd LS. My next project is going that route!