Bringing Another '66 Short/Fleet BBW Home Soon

[Clyde65]

I see tons here in the Dallas\Fort Worth area that I would love to snatch up....but everyone is extremely proud of them no matter the condition.

[dtkarst]

Could you get a close up picture of the license plate frame? Looking to see how it's done to put one on my 66

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by dtkarst

Could you get a close up picture of the license plate frame? Looking to see how it's done to put one on my 66

These should be helpful?

[Winmon]

What a great find!!! Congrats!

[duallyjams]

Glad I don't have any more room besides I want a suburban.

[theastronaut]

Got it running, brakes are done, and just got new shoes for it. I'm trying to talk him into dropping it a few inches. Still need to find a set of original chrome caps too.

[rusty76]

Nice

[theastronaut]

Done a lot since the last time I posted. We stripped out the old bed floor, which was completly rotten. Had to buy all new braces and the rear cross sill, which I fake patina'd to match.










We scuffed and shot satin clear inside the bed which brought out a lot more color from the old paint. The bed floor is a pine kit with new strips and stainless bolts from Trucks USA.












On the outside of the truck, we patched up a few rust holes in the hood and doors, fake patina'd the spots to match, then scuffed and cleared it. Also blacked out behind the grill to match the factory paint scheme.








And this is it pretty much reassembled. Dad found better bumpers locally, we polished all of the aluminum trim (still need to do the grill), installed a new windshield, new back glass seal, new door seals, and we're working on redoing the door weatherstripping now. The floors were cleaned and coated with Chassis Saver, then a layer of sound deadener and padding went down before installing a new floor mat and step plates. I'm letting him borrow the seat from Goldilocks for now since the old one was pretty ugly.

[aotte1]

Very nice! What did you find out on the engine? Also noticed the west coast jr. mirrors are stainless steel??? Dealer install?

Les

[ol_skool_chevy]

nice find

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by aotte1

Very nice! What did you find out on the engine? Also noticed the west coast jr. mirrors are stainless steel??? Dealer install?

Les

We looked up the numbers, it's a 283. Not sure when the mirrors were installed, possibly at the dealer since the screws for the regular mirror are still in the door and looks like they've never been removed. They're stainless except for the part that bolts to the door.

Originally Posted by ol_skool_chevy

nice find

Thanks!

[theastronaut]

Better pics.

[duallyjams]

Looks like dad is almost ready to roll.

[zach_carver]

Gahhh I LIKE IT!!! Awesome truck man, looks killer

[Eagletucky]

VERY nice!!!!!

[RDrancher]

Looks great! Thanks for the inspiration.

[testerdahl]

Looks sharp. Exactly what I want to do with mine. Can I ask what kind of clear coat you used?

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by duallyjams

Looks like dad is almost ready to roll.

Not much left to do. Had all new exhaust done Friday.

Originally Posted by zach_carver

Gahhh I LIKE IT!!! Awesome truck man, looks killer

Originally Posted by Eagletucky

VERY nice!!!!!

Originally Posted by RDrancher

Looks great! Thanks for the inspiration.

Thanks dudes!

Originally Posted by testerdahl

Looks sharp. Exactly what I want to do with mine. Can I ask what kind of clear coat you used?

It's SPI's 1:1 Universal Clear with 25% flattener added in, no reducer needed to get it to flow out. Best spraying flattened clear I've ever shot. It was 85 degrees in the booth when I shot it so I used their Very Slow activator to keep it wet longer to avoid dry spots. Worked great and the truck has an even sheen all over. I did a test panel with 20 and 30 percent clear, and decided to split it at 25% to get the sheen we wanted, and 25% makes it easy to mix. 2 quarts clear, 2 quarts activator, and one quart of flattener. I had a little less than a quart leftover, which would have been used if I had sprayed the inside of the bed at the same time.

[70 shorty]

I love it! Gonna be putting it up for sale?

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by 70 shorty

I love it! Gonna be putting it up for sale?

Eventually. He wants to enjoy it for a little while though. He has his eye on a one owner all original '66 short/fleet/bbw, so this one will have to go to make room.

[rusty76]

Hadn't checked in awhile. Wow the truck looks great.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by rusty76

Hadn't checked in awhile. Wow the truck looks great.

Thanks!

The truck is pretty much finished now. We had a local shop put dual exhaust on it with original style round muffler, and I finished up the vent windows and door glass weatherstripping a couple weeks ago. We've put about 300 miles on the truck and it's running great. The radiator started leaking after a couple of days so we pulled it and had it fixed. Also had to clean the headlight ground wires, swapped in halogen sealed beams, and put new dash light bulbs in. No other problems so far. I think the only thing we still need to do is to change the front shocks out for new ones.

[theastronaut]

I drove the truck to the Goodguys show in Charlotte this past weekend. It made the ~340 mile trip with zero problems. I calculated 14.4 mpg running 60-65 mpg on the way there, and 13.8 on the way home running 70-75 mph; didn't think that was too bad since it's geared low. I picked up a few truck parts at the swap meet, found a pair of 15x8 six lug/three nub steel wheels and a couple of original mirror arms- all for $60 bucks! I forgot to grab a moving blanket from the shop before leaving so I had to take the floor mat out and use it in the bed to keep the wheels from scratching the bed floor.

[northern 85]

Nice work that looks great! Great buy on the parts!!!

[Bisscrac]

The find, story, and build are all bad ass !