Johns 66

[roll_the_dice]

That's too bad...I love the 5 windows...almost bought one years before I bought my 65, but just wasn't the right time. I always look for them though.

[cwcarpenter98]

Those are neat. Too bad they've been neglected for so long

[Johns 66]

Originally Posted by roll_the_dice

That's too bad...I love the 5 windows...almost bought one years before I bought my 65, but just wasn't the right time. I always look for them though.

Originally Posted by cwcarpenter98

Those are neat. Too bad they've been neglected for so long

Yeah Im sure someone could fix them but it would be a lot of work...definitely need some mad welding skills.


Not really any pics to post but worked on ole girl today......Cleaned the upper A arms and shafts...what a pain that was...53 yrs of grease and dirt and paint and dirt and grease and dirt and paint...lol you get the idea....but I got them clean and started on the cradle....gotta figure out how to get the inside of it clean

I did get the inner fenders blocked down best I could...not really concerned since there are so many bends and curves on it....Im gonna try to get them painted black this week before the rain comes, along with the other suspension parts.
Paint the upper A arms shafts...I found some paint Cast Color....didn't look too bad.
Then spent a few hours on the bench grinder with a wire wheel cleaning bolts, nuts, washers and lock washers....ran a thread chaser through all the nuts and bolts....smooth operation now..... so besides one bolt that I have to buy that had to be cut off, all the front suspension bolts are clean and ready to go

[62 short step]

Today I also received the steering column parts that I dropped and broke/bent from 62 short step ( Jeremy)...this was exactly what I needed. They appears to have the original paint on them and like most fawn stuff it faded out to look like a silver color....and to be honest I really like this color for my interior...now if I can get close to it Ill be good.[/QUOTE]


Glad I had what you needed! The progress is looking good!

[Johns 66]

Originally Posted by 62 short step

Today I also received the steering column parts that I dropped and broke/bent from 62 short step ( Jeremy)...this was exactly what I needed. They appears to have the original paint on them and like most fawn stuff it faded out to look like a silver color....and to be honest I really like this color for my interior...now if I can get close to it Ill be good.

Glad I had what you needed! The progress is looking good![/QUOTE]

Thanks Jeremy...Appreciate it a lot.

Well been a few days since I posted on my thread.

Weather has been kindy icky so no painting has been done so I sanded.....and sanded and then when I got done with that I sanded some more...…..I THINK I have the front fenders ready for a coat of primer tehn will block down to 220.

I also have one of the rear fender wells sanded down and like the front ready for high build primer.

Have the inner fenders ready for the semi-gloss black. I did not fix all the spot welds etc on the inner fenders.

On a positive front I found someone who is about 10 miles from me that sand blasts...So I took all the front suspension parts...cradle, A arms etc, plus a few other parts like bumper braces etc to him so he can blast them.....I also found out that he would have blasted the whole truck for 650.00...lesson learned......He has a friend who powder coats so I am getting a price on Monday to have all of it powder coated semi gloss black. He also has a big enough heater that the rear end and trailing arms can be coated once I get the rear taken apart. Based on the rough estimate I got today.....it seems that I can get all the suspension parts to include the rear end powder coated for about 400.00. Its a little more expensive than painting it but by the time I epoxy, then paint it all I think I will be money ahead.....just depends on the real estimate I get on Monday...so we will see

[roll_the_dice]

The powder coating will be great...I think it will be better in paint. You are getting them...turning it into a show truck for sure!

[Johns 66]

Originally Posted by roll_the_dice

The powder coating will be great...I think it will be better in paint. You are getting them...turning it into a show truck for sure!

I think the PC is more durable for sure....As far as show truck...lol my skills aren't show truck quality.....but I try...all I can say is it will be as nice as I can make it.

[Johns 66]

Some days you just feel like this

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by Johns 66

Some days you just feel like this

Yup! That's how I feel too sometimes

[Johns 66]

Lil Update....Been priming and sanding....Got the rear fender wells, front fenders, grille support, passenger door and inner fenders sanded down to 320. Sanded down to the epoxy in a couple of places so will put another coat of 2k high build on these parts and then sand with 400 and then 600....Then at 600 I am hoping that these will be ready for color.

After I get these down to 600 then I will start on the interior of the cab so I can get it and the firewall painted.

Then the big stuff....hood, and bed.

The really good part about this is I think I have learned how to block sand...Time will tell when the color goes on.

[roll_the_dice]

Originally Posted by Johns 66

Some days you just feel like this

You're looking rough John! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[Johns 66]

Did some more sanding today then decided to put some black on the inner fenders and some other parts to see how I was doing.....I guess you can say I was testing.

They turned out pretty good....I did get some light dust on them but since I don't have a paint booth Im pretty pleased with the result. A quick little scuff with some 1000, 1500 will take what I saw out no problem.

I did not fix all the original spot welds which you can see in the pictures but once everything is in the engine bay I doubt they will be glaring out at you....least I hope so.

[cwcarpenter98]

Looking good!

[nsb29]

Originally Posted by cwcarpenter98

Looking good!

Try grounding your parts to a ground rod or a copper water line to repel the dust if you’re trying to stay original you want to see the spot welds looks good

[Johns 66]

Originally Posted by cwcarpenter98

Looking good!

Thanks Christian...Slowly but surely.....going to look at interior paint this morning.

Originally Posted by nsb29

Try grounding your parts to a ground rod or a copper water line to repel the dust if you’re trying to stay original you want to see the spot welds looks good

Thanks for the info...never had heard that before...I will definitely try it since I am doing this at my brother in laws shop.

Im going original-ish….some upgrades are for safety and other for conveniences and a few just because I like it.

Disc brakes for safety, 700R4 Tranny for more pleasant and economical driving and a C60 grille just because I think its cool.

Gonna paint the interior in the theme of the original but more of a silvery color two toned like original...mine had faded over the years and looked more silver than the original goldish color....but gonna keep the exterior 521 white.
Thanks for stopping by and I do appreciate all the painting tips you have given me.....stay tuned...Im sure Ill have many more questions.

[Johns 66]

Paint update.....Went to the paint store today and got the interior/firewall paint. After many hours of searching and searching I came up with this …….Its called Santeen Silver off a 1961 Corvette...….I went with a darker shade for the dash which I think will look pretty good...least I hope it does. Paint store put flattener in the clear so it will be protected and not have a high gloss which is kinda like original.

[nsb29]

Was reading through your build thread while sitting at the airport where you were talking about air conditioning Corvette Jim reproduces the 64 through 66 A /C vent I make and sell and adapter manifold that let you run aftermarket AC with the original dash vent I have some pictures on my homepage you might find it more practical than trying to put together the older AC system and a lot better performance

[Johns 66]

Originally Posted by nsb29

Was reading through your build thread while sitting at the airport where you were talking about air conditioning Corvette Jim reproduces the 64 through 66 A /C vent I make and sell and adapter manifold that let you run aftermarket AC with the original dash vent I have some pictures on my homepage you might find it more practical than trying to put together the older AC system and a lot better performance

I will check it out for sure..I appreciate the information.

[Johns 66]

A lil update...Decided to put some color on today and painted the steering column parts, glove box door and instrument bezel.

As they say you don't know what you don't know until you know.

Light silver on light gray primer is a pain....

Left my phone at home so no pics tonight but will get some.

Painted the base and it was fairly straight forward....it was a learning process on how to spray it since it puts really light coats on it but I got everything coated like I wanted.....and then let it dry while I cleaned my gun...I immediately notices way to many sanding scratches in the instrument bezel so I didn't clear it...Sanded it back down and re-primed it.

Then came the clear. I had everything hanging and the glove box door upside down. I didn't realized that clear is more like water than paint....needless to say I got RUNS and many of them. So now I get to learn how to sand out runs....At least it was small parts and only a few of them....definitely not like spraying primer...lol

Anyways a lesson learned.

On another note I finally decided on wheels.....Talked with a guy today who deals in wheels and gonna go with 20x10s on the rear with 275/45/20 and 20x 8.5 with245/50/20 on the front....They are Riddler Chrome 695 wheels.
These are on a truck that was lowered 3 front 5 rear
1690.00 mounted balanced and lug nuts

[cwcarpenter98]

I like those wheels! Can't wait to see some of that color!

Sorry for the poor pic quality and that I forgot to post this when I first took the pic a couple weeks ago, but i finally got a chance to go by that c10 that had a red stripe. Also, I saw a different one several weeks ago that was on a trailer going east on I20

[Johns 66]

Put a lil black on the suspension parts today....got the lower A arms drilled for the sway bar.

I noticed today that in my infinite wisdom I painted the glove box door the wrong color.....for some reason I thought the instrument cluster bezel and glove box door were the same...after talking with Andy I realized I made a big whoops....so I practiced taking out the runs....didn't go so well....so took it all the way back down to metal...epoxy then high build.

I do think I learned why I was making so many runs because I had some runs on the lower A arms as well when I sprayed them today. I had adjusted my fan pattern to a smaller fan about 7 or 8 inches and while it sprayed fine it puts way too much paint on at one time...….plus I think the air pressure was a little too high when spraying the colors and clear.

Luckily the steering column parts are small so not a whole bunch of work. I will spray them and once I get it down will spray the rest of the stuff. Got the firewall, dash, and half the interior of the cab sanded down to 400....while sand it with 600 before putting color on it. I did notice some slight sanding scratches with the 320 and 400. I was testing how far I needed to sand so one I sanded with 320 and the other with 400....but now realize that I need to go to 600 on the metallic interior colors.....

Also I did realize I was trying to paint way to much at one time and as the pictures tell I was handing everything which in turn helps runs occur...at least for me. So until I get the hang of this I will just lay the parts flat....spray one side...let dry then turn then over and spray the other....will see how that works...

First few are of my runs but its does give you a look at the interior color

[Johns 66]

and a few more

[cwcarpenter98]

I like that silver color, and the black looks great too

[kdad]

Lookin great John

[Johns 66]

Originally Posted by kdad

Lookin great John

Thanks Scott...slow and steady.

Well got the dash ready and sprayed it today, along with the glove box door, ash tray plate and heater plate.

My plan was to spray light coats to alleviate the runs...and I made the fan on the gun a lil wider than before...

A couple of notes.....the dash has a few waves in it...I guess my block sanding left a little to be desired...….its not prefect but it will be fine. Secondly is I put such light coats on, especially the clear that on the front edge of the dash it wasn't covered too good...but no runs. So I will wet sand down with 1000 grit and re-clear the dash...guess its better than sanding out runs.

The dash color has a little more green tint to it by my looks and the light silver is a BIG contrast...more silvery if you will......thinking about spraying the whole interior the dash color.....just not sure yet.

The first pic is of the front edge of the dash.