Bringing the '65 back to life

[racecougar]

Thanks Don. Still plugging away at it.

Welded the bedsides to the rear cross sill this morning, then stripped the passenger side to bare metal. Body work to commence next weekend.

[racecougar]

One last look at the passenger side in bare metal before we started filling and blocking today.

[racecougar]

Artsy progress shot.

[racecougar]

We finished blocking out the filler, remasked it, then shot the passenger side with red oxide today.

[racecougar]

We blocked it out and shot it again this morning. It's nice to be able to step back and see the whole panel in one color.

[racecougar]

Spun the bed around and got started on the drivers side today.

[66ChevyMax]

Looking great, I like that color

[racecougar]

Thanks. That's just the red oxide primer in the photo above. The final coat is matte black.

It might not look like anything changed, but I assure you this is the result of another day spent filling and blocking. Getting there...




A pic I meant to post yesterday. I wish this site would allow the poster to edit his/her posts after the fact.

[racecougar]

We finished up the bodywork on the driverside this morning, then laid down the first coat of red oxide.

[racecougar]

"So Rod, what do you do on the weekends?"

"Me? Oh, I sand stuff."

[racecougar]

Day 270 & Rod Sr.'s birthday: Laid down some high build on both bedsides.

[racecougar]

A suitcase full of wiring has arrived. It's the AAW 500560 kit. If this was a stock build, this harness would pretty much drop right in. Of course we welded up the wiring pass-throughs in the firewall to hide them elsewhere, we're going to run a LS/auto drivetrain, and adding a bunch of other stuff, all of which requires more time/effort.

After wrapping up a few items on the interior this morning, we located and drilled the new hole for the headlight wiring to pass through the firewall (behind the fuse panel where the wiring will be hidden in the inner fender), then mounted the new fuse panel and main harness.

[racecougar]

Dad blocked out the bed today while I kept plugging away on the wiring.

[racecougar]

Photo collage of today's work. We yanked the seats so that I was better able to cram myself up under the dash. We warmed up the driverside kickpanel vent handle and persuaded it into a lower position, as it was interfering with the new fuse panel (known issue with this fuse panel/kit). Dad finished blocking out the bed, and I spent the day running wires, installing courtesy lamps, and making a list of all the tools/supplies that I forgot to bring over to the shop from my house.

[racecougar]

The wiring is getting tidier. I'm waiting on a few parts (a missing connector from AAW, a new neutral safety switch, and some split loom) before I can proceed any further. The reworked driverside kickpanel vent handle now clears the fuse panel (before/after shot at the bottom of this photo). We also painted the instrument cluster bezel and shot the next coat of high build on the bed today. Busy day!

[racecougar]

It's a repeat of last weekend: Dad blocked the bed, I worked on the wiring. Almost done under the dash...until more components arrive.

[racecougar]

Other than the bed-mounted taillight harness, everything that currently can be wired, is wired. Even the fuel pump, fuel sending unit, and VSS circuits have been run to their approximate locations.

That's a 4-channel 600W amp sitting in the middle of the floor (it'll hide under the middle seat. I bought that amp from a friend about 17 years ago, used it in daily drivers until 2010, and stored it since. All Dad will need to buy is a head unit and a pair of rear speakers, and he'll have tunes.

[racecougar]

We prepped the bed last night, then rolled the truck out this morning and shot the first coat.

[CURSED GEARS]

Looks good. I'm about to shoot primer on everything. Can't wait to get to your stage!

[racecougar]

Thanks. We're excited to get the bed back on the truck and pull it outside so we can step back and get a look at it.

It'll get striped next weekend, then it's time to put it back on the truck.

[racecougar]

An hour of prep for two minutes of gun time.

[racecougar]

Shot the second coat of white on the bed, painted the taillight housings, filled the diff with gear lube, installed the windshield decal, and gave the truck a quick bath today.

[racecougar]

The bed is on the frame! The bed and cab need to be lined up and fully bolted down...we'll work on that next weekend. The big deal is that wheelwell mods worked out very well.



Timelapse video of the install today.

[bj383ss]

Very cool. Love the video.

Bret

[crazycrew]

Holy hell. Quite the transformation! You guys did amazing work. Wish I had even a fraction of those skills