My 1967 Build (Finally)

[Shifty One]

Dang, that looks good!

[KyleSeal]

Originally Posted by hewittca

Looking awesome outside! I think leaving it a long bed is a good move. Although I do like shortbeds better, it's nice to see a clean longbed too. When I shortened my last truck I highly contemplated making it a "medium" bed by halving the difference between long and short. I photoshopped it and on the 4/6 drop I had at the time it looked proportionately correct. My goal was to eventually go much lower so ultimately I went full shortbed, but it was fun to toy with the idea of a mediumbed. Anyway, I bring that up because your drop reminds me of what I had on my last truck.

Hopefully it rides well, I do know for a fact I am 1 inch from the bed floor
A shmedium bed would be real cool, I dont think Ive seen anyone do that before. I honestly never thought a long bed to be that long but when you take photos its like its in another area code on either end. If I ever go full out and do a bagged and big notch I will probably shorten it then too. Who knows, maybe Ill dislike being static so much that I tear it apart one Fall and go bagged. But for now I am just excited to drive!

[KyleSeal]

Originally Posted by Danyo492

The React Suspension crossmembers are real nice. I just installed the trailing arm crossmember on 67 last night and it fit nice and it's super beefy.

I was very impressed with the quality and the fitment. And honestly at the price point I couldn't turn them down. I also have their adjustable trailing arms, which they no longer sell. That kind of makes me nervous a bit that they stopped, we will see!

[KyleSeal]

Lately I have been going through and adding all the fluids I can - oil, coolant, power steering, transmission fluid and I have been checking for leaks as it sits. So far nothing major, until the TV cable hole decided to leak. I thought it was the fact the bolt wasnt fully secure, but I seemingly crunched the gasket at some point. Hopefully fixed now! Otherwise everything seems to be OK sitting. The engine ran before and had no leaks so I suspect no issue there. I will be doing the brake system soon to get it fully bled, it is a completely new system with no fluid ever having been in it, so this will be interesting!

[KyleSeal]

I now have all the fluids just about there, but for some reason my master cylinder is leaking at the lines. Theyre stainless so I know theyre pretty hard, but I feel Ive cranked down on these things a pretty good amount so far. Otherwise no other leaks. I hope I dont need to pull it apart and replace those lines but man I really dont want brake fluid dripping all over the inner fenders

[KyleSeal]

I've been torn on where to put the fuel filler, at first I was going to use the wheel tub, but the tire is way too close to run a fuel hose. Also thought about directly on the bed floor, on the driver side. BUT I intend on using the bed at least some and don't want something rolling over and damaging the cap. So I came up with this box/riser. I still need to make a flange to get it to lay down on the bed. I also dimple'd the sides so car show people don't ask me "is that small thing your fuel tank??"

[chewychevy67]

. I also dimple'd the sides so car show people don't ask me "is that small thing your fuel tank??"



That's funny because you know 100% that would happen. It might still happen.

[KyleSeal]

Originally Posted by chewychevy67

That's funny because you know 100% that would happen. It might still happen.

Oh Im sure it will and my answer will always be "well yeah but its hard to keep fuel in there with those holes on the side!"

[hewittca]

That's a cool idea for the filler. I've been thinking of a better solution for mine since the side fill behind the marker light isn't working out for me. Filling the tank is extremely slow. I didn't want to do it originally, but I'm now reconsidering cutting a hole in the bed floor.

[KyleSeal]

Originally Posted by hewittca

That's a cool idea for the filler. I've been thinking of a better solution for mine since the side fill behind the marker light isn't working out for me. Filling the tank is extremely slow. I didn't want to do it originally, but I'm now reconsidering cutting a hole in the bed floor.

Luckily my bed floor is so beat and rotted that I honestly dont feel bad cutting it up. I was going to do the tail light filler, but opted not to since I may raise the bed floor and rear frame if I ever go big notch and bags. Ill probably try to patina this as well to match, or leave it bare and let it begin to surface rust

[Chevys4life]

Leave it a long bed........it looks killer!!!!

[Shifty One]

Originally Posted by Chevys4life

Leave it a long bed........it looks killer!!!!

Viva la difference!

[KyleSeal]

No huge updates as of recent. Chasing leaks, I have the company that sold me the master cylinder kit sending me new hardlines for the master to the proportioning valve as they are slowly seeping just enough to form a drip over a week or so. While waiting on that I have decided I am going to get the motor running, so I began to set everything for the EFI and Dual Sync. I was preoiling the motor before installing the distributor, and of course the oil sending line is leaking at the dash. So I tried a few things, no avail, I am going to just replace the line and keep moving and cross my fingers. If it leaks again I will convert to an electric sending unit and retrofit something in place. The fun of a full rebuild !!!

[KyleSeal]

The fuel filler box is installed at least. Should be able to get some fuel in it soon and get the motor running hopefully in the next few days. Just need to gather some specs for the Sniper to make its table on. Soon!

[KyleSeal]

Converted over to the voltmeter from American Autowire, super straight forward swap. Swap gauges, cut the leads on the circuit board out and hard wire a ground and power for gauge to monitor. Happy to have a working voltmeter to monitor! The face of it is very close to stock, minus the green tint. But my other gauges are rather faded so I doubt anyone would notice.

[KyleSeal]

and sure enough my evening got burned up by a small fuse. Something must have went stray when I was doing the cluster retrofit. No tail lights and no dash lights - I was going insane, the fuses intended for those circuits were fine, little did I know there was another fuse on that board that serviced the tail lights. Here I am going crazy testing everything and that fuse was just sitting there laughing at me oh well, back onto getting this oil sender to seal!

[hewittca]

I like that voltmeter! I'm going to have to get me one of those.

[KyleSeal]

Originally Posted by hewittca

I like that voltmeter! I'm going to have to get me one of those.

It is very nice. I remember years ago seeing people convert a squarebody one to fit and thinking one day Ill see retrofits for sale. Sure enough. And for it to match, I was more than happy to pay. Real simple install too. Well, would have been if I hadnt blown that fuse I am also going to convert a later oil pressure gauge, I cant get these copper lines to seal. Rather not trash my new carpet!

[KyleSeal]

Well, I have a YUGE update - the truck lives (and leaks )!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was having heck with the Holley touch screen, maybe from being unused for a few years, maybe from dirt, maybe a defect - either way it kept trying to tell me my motor was 1100CI. On my budget??? Impossible lol. So I contacted Holley, and I have to say wow, they sent a brand new one (~$350 to buy) cost free. I was really blown away, all I was calling for was help to fix it and maybe buy one if it came down to it. Appreciative is an understatement. Between their tech, customer service, and contributions to the industry.... I am a big fan.

Regardless, I was able to get the info in, and was trying to crank and nothing! So pulled the starter (battery was charged), starter worked on the bench. Cleaned the mating surface and ran a temporary ground and nothing, not even a click. Had someone turn the key while I checked for voltage, found 1 volt when cranking! Almost comedic! Tested the CCA at the local parts house, of 800CCA it had 17! So a new Optima battery and some curse words and I decided to just hit it with the relay for the fuel pump on and see what she does. And wouldnt you know, it fired immediately and went straight to running. Needless to say I was shocked. 60PSI (maybe more) of oil pressure and it just ran. Shut off, ran again. Got the idle pulled down and it really just runs great. Couldn't ask for much better.

Talk about a chore though, getting all the fluids topped off simultaneously was tough for my first time (even though it was like 3 fluids). Spilling coolant everywhere was an annoyance and same with the power steering fluid puking from the cap (I overfilled somehow). The trans cooler lines also fought me some, I was lucky though to remove, clean and reinstall and (so far) no leaks. To my amazement, the cooling system was sealed, aside from the spill that happened when the funnel overflowed.

Unfortunately theres no video feature on here. So when you observe these images, just imagine the sound of a 350 with 3" duals and Hooker mufflers. vroom woosh clack clack thump and whatever else the small block says!

[KyleSeal]

I am also having a tough time with the rear brake circuit on the truck. It has turned into a mess. I have run about two gallons of brake fluid through it to no result - air still present. I used a pressure bleeder and was still getting air, nearly a gallon later. If you want to follow along;
https://www.67-72chevytrucks.com/vbo...d.php?t=851314

[Shifty One]

https://www.brakebleeder.com/product...verse-bleeder/

Expensive as hell, but worth it sometimes....my Corvette calipers like to fight as well....

[KyleSeal]

Given how close I am to getting the truck on the road, I decided to pause from the brake fiasco and finish the door skin. I used the KeyParts skins. These skins are about 16 gauge from what I can tell, I dont have a reliable gauge. Side by side, the X-Parts skins are way thinner, and are actually too short, width wise. The body line on the KeyParts skins is a stronger, more defined one as well. The down side to the KeyParts skin is that it is a bit too wide. So I cut off the last inch of one side and grind down to fit. With most partial skin replacements, I had to work the edge of the panel. I use some TIG wire (learned from American Hot Rods) and weld, grind and shape that door edge to my will. I did need to add the crown to this door skin, as it was somewhat pressed to a depression, I imagine from storage or when I sandblasted it. So Im not sure if that is common on these. Another great tool is the door skinner hammer. I have this fiber Snap On that I bought specifically for this door after using a brass hammer on the other and nearly killing my arm. This ones got great weight and really laid over that edge and the bent section of the hammer helped send it home.

[hewittca]

Nice work all around! That's a big milestone to get the engine going and also to get your floor saturated with fluids. I spilled power steering fluid on the floor during my build, and it is STILL seeping out of the concrete. I wipe it up, two days later there's a little puddle on the floor again. I've been doing this for a year now...

Also, nice work on those door skins. Every post I've seen about reskinning the doors reminds me that I never want to do this. Those patch panels never seem to fit right. Or maybe there's just too much variation in the doors from GM? Who knows.

[KyleSeal]

Originally Posted by hewittca

Nice work all around! That's a big milestone to get the engine going and also to get your floor saturated with fluids. I spilled power steering fluid on the floor during my build, and it is STILL seeping out of the concrete. I wipe it up, two days later there's a little puddle on the floor again. I've been doing this for a year now...

Also, nice work on those door skins. Every post I've seen about reskinning the doors reminds me that I never want to do this. Those patch panels never seem to fit right. Or maybe there's just too much variation in the doors from GM? Who knows.

Your floor produces power steering fluid? Time to capitalize on that! You struck a natural power steering ground reserve!
These doors are always such a mystery. I always remind myself that these were not perfect from the factory, but when I see some of the old photos from people having these new, wow some of them were miles off in some cases. I think that paired with the stampings wearing out, and the parts being stack waiting to be bought just messes with them as well, makes them wonky. Also these doors, with all the contours and crowns, have a ton of natural stress. Just cutting the bottom of the door off allowed the cab side of the door to bow inward, which I had to compensate for. And a lot of them will slowly bow outwards during their life due to rust breaking a lot of the stress points.

I hate doing doors. LOL

[KyleSeal]

Exhaust is done! Aside from deciding if Im going to coat this section or leave raw, but I am very happy with the outcome. It was rather tough though, working under something when trying to create a specific angle is a challenge, your whole perception is modified. Basically how I came up with my proper location was to set it up with some jack stands and decide where looked best, and build from the tip back to the flange. Otherwise I feared I would paint myself into a corner. Thankfully my welder and hands were cooperating and I was able to put down some reasonable welds. Given I do mostly rust repair and tack welds, running a bead can be a challenge to grasp. But I am enthused with it! Its really amazing how much this section of exhaust changed the sound, without it 'boomboxing' under the truck bed.

I have a video of it running on Facebook and will put on Instagram for those who follow on there, I may put some stuff on YouTube so I can link it here as well.