Previous owner '68

[68bowtie]

Good progress

[clay68c10]

That Jack saves the day again! Perfect for doors.

Originally Posted by raggedjim

Hmmm, I'll have to check it out, always looking for better ways.

I don’t know if it’s a better way, but it worked and didn’t require much from my back.

[Getter-Done]

That is a Handy-Dandy jack.

[raggedjim]

Originally Posted by clay68c10

I don’t know if it’s a better way, but it worked and didn’t require much from my back.

I like it! Here's another project I did using a broken hose reel. It made a great cart for the plasma cutter.

[raggedjim]

I decided to replace the cab mounts so I jacked up the cab for access.

[raggedjim]

Which quickly turned into this. I think this is called the snowball affect. Yeap, using that jack once again.

[Getter-Done]

Yeah the snowball effect happens alot.

Then when the Snowball melts you are going down the Rabbit Hole.

Great progress.

[raggedjim]

Originally Posted by Getter-Done

Yeah the snowball effect happens alot.

Then when the Snowball melts you are going down the Rabbit Hole.

Great progress.

Thanks, it all takes time.

[joeydurango]

I have been noodling on how to semi-safely remove the bed from my truck, in a single garage bay, by myself, with no special tools to speak of. I approve of your methods

I'm thinking about some sort of block-and-tackle arrangement myself. OSHA, more cat videos for you guys!

[joeydurango]

Also, now that I look again, I am very curious about what appears to be a 2nd-gen Firebird in the background of those bed-removal photos.

[raggedjim]

Originally Posted by joeydurango

I have been noodling on how to semi-safely remove the bed from my truck, in a single garage bay, by myself, with no special tools to speak of. I approve of your methods

I'm thinking about some sort of block-and-tackle arrangement myself. OSHA, more cat videos for you guys!

You can do it! Don't get yourself hurt though.

Originally Posted by joeydurango

Also, now that I look again, I am very curious about what appears to be a 2nd-gen Firebird in the background of those bed-removal photos.

You got a good eye joeydurango. It's a '73 Firebird ( who will soon be identifying as a Trans Am).

[joeydurango]

Originally Posted by raggedjim

You got a good eye joeydurango. It's a '73 Firebird ( who will soon be identifying as a Trans Am).

Beautiful! I sold my '76 Trans Am only a week ago. Always wanted a '73 but didn't have that kind of cash. If only I'd been earlier to the Trans Am world, they go for crazy prices these days.

...sorry, now back to the truck resto...

[raggedjim]

Nice looking car, I'm a fan of the '76, the bumpers flow better than the '74-'75 and I am burnt out on black and gold 77-78's. At least you had 4-speeds, my 73 is a 350 auto.

I had a '73 Trans Am when I was in the Navy and always wanted another one but the prices were not something I was willing to spend. I found this '73 Esprit and have slowly been upgrading it to be what I want. It will end up a 400 4-speed.

One more pic then back to trucks!

Rg

[wpsharpshooter]

Very curious to see how the truck turns out.. And now the pontiac too lol

[raggedjim]

Originally Posted by wpsharpshooter

Very curious to see how the truck turns out.. And now the pontiac too lol

You and me both!

[joeydurango]

Originally Posted by raggedjim

...the bumpers flow better than the '74-'75 and I am burnt out on black and gold 77-78's. At least you had 4-speeds...

Agreed on all three counts! That's a nice-lookin' Firebird, should be a fun project.

[Shifty One]

Originally Posted by wpsharpshooter

Very curious to see how the truck turns out.. And now the pontiac too lol

Same here!

A kid in high school had a Formula with the "nostrils", white with twin green stripes, and I loved it.....

[raggedjim]

Originally Posted by Shifty One

Same here!

A kid in high school had a Formula with the "nostrils", white with twin green stripes, and I loved it.....

I actually like the formula hood better than the TA hood, but the one I have has been abused. It looks okay but I have done a bunch of fiberglass work on it to get it to this point.

[Shifty One]

I do too Jim, hopefully you can save it.

[raggedjim]

Back to trucks! I threw some rollers on the rearend so I could roll it around easier. Ha! I'm an idiot, it's a posi. Rolls good going straight, not so good around the corners.

[raggedjim]

Used the plasma cutter to cut Pacman out of the rear crossmember. Be looking for this on Facebook marketplace under "NOS 1968 Pacman - no lowballers, I know what I got"

[raggedjim]

This had the added benefit of making a good place to run exhaust through in the future. I did finish the holes off by welding in some pieces of 4" pipe.

[raggedjim]

I had to flip the frame to weld the bottom section of the cross-member exhaust pass throughs. Flipping the frame was fun and scary! While i had it flipped I cut it for a c-notch and painted the bottom. Should have taken more pics, but when I'm on a roll it's hard to remember.

[raggedjim]

Then I flipped the frame (for the last time!) You'll notice that I removed the front cross-member, mostly to clean out the years of rust, grease, and mud.

[raggedjim]

Now, I wanted to go five lug with this truck and I had the front cross-member from a '85 chevy truck that I decided to use. I know, I could have used the old cross-member and just used different balljoints and tierod ends but this is how I did it. If you are interested in the many different ways to do the drum to disc swap you should read this thread by lolife99. It says it all better than I ever could.

https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...d.php?t=444815

It was filthy. And I ain't gonna kid you, getting those springs out was a bear.