Project '64 Cheapskate

[coulter]

that stance is perfect man!!! same thing i am going for only lower. i love ur truck man!! cool patina and i dig the wheels too!!

[plainred65]

The stance, the wheel-tire combo, and everything else about it just works on this truck. Really diggin it!

[chevyrestoguy]

Originally Posted by coulter

that stance is perfect man!!! same thing i am going for only lower. i love ur truck man!! cool patina and i dig the wheels too!!

Thanks! I really like your truck as well. I like my stuff slammed, but this truck still had to be available to pull a small trailer and make Home Depot runs, so I stayed with coil springs. My '55 is currently on hold until this truck gets done, and it's on bags. It's a Pro Streeter, and it's got a wild cantilever rear suspension with RE-8s. All the details are in my '55 build thread shown below.

Originally Posted by plainred65

The stance, the wheel-tire combo, and everything else about it just works on this truck. Really diggin it!

Thank You! My intent with this truck was keep everything simple but effective, using readily available parts. No trick stuff on this truck, but almost nothing was left untouched. Nearly every detail on this truck has been tweaked, but the intent was to have it all very stealthy and subtle. And 100% driveable. Oh yeah, and cheap.

[chevyrestoguy]

Finally got the notches installed. I have done notches before on '73 and up Chevys, and these were by far the most difficult ones I have ever done. Every part of the install area was either double wall or triple wall 3/16". Cutting it was no fun, and drilling was even worse. I wound up breaking a total of 5 drill bits. With the thickness of the metal, once the drill bit caught, you were going for a ride. I used a torch and warmed up the top portion to make it fit the contour of the frame better because it's getting fully welded around the entire perimeter of the notch.

[rusty76]

I like what I see. You know I've looked at guys installing notches and never thought about the frames being the way they are. The way they sorta "S" bend. I bet it is fun to get the notches installed flush. I don't envy you. Still waiting on more.
"

[Low Elco]

Lookin' good!

[twangismythang]

subscribed........looks great

[Moody's Madhouse]

I have to say that this is one of my favorite trucks in this forum. I'm not knocking the bagged street sweepers or the stockies, I love em all. But- this truck gives me a warm n fuzzy.I am planning for a similar look on my panel and I have a set of vintage A/R Torque Thrust wheels that I've been saving. I really was not sure that I would like them on a C10 but I am now! I DIG this truck!

[chad64chevy]

looking good, I still need to weld my notches in on both sides and I plan on boxing them in also! its going to be fun bending the metal from scratch to box them in, but I'm a lil worried about pulling anything with the frame notched thou!! what are your thoughts about this?? also I noticed your c-notch is notched at the back, is that for the porterbuilt track bar mount??

[chevyrestoguy]

Thanks for the kind words!
I'm a huge fan of Torq-Thrust style wheels, and had a pretty good collection of them before everybody started reproducing them in the '90s. With the factory 6-lug bolt pattern on our trucks, you never saw one with 5-spokes on it back in the day. To me, it's the best looking wheel on our trucks because it just fits the body style. Finding a set of 5-spokes in a 5x5 bolt pattern can be a real challenge, as it wasn't a common bolt pattern for this style of wheel.

Bagging this truck was never an option. I wanted to build a truck with a simple suspension using very common parts that I could find at nearly any parts store. I didn't want to mess with leaking air lines, pumps, and valves because I plan on driving the wheels off of this thing and I don't want to have any issues when I'm far from home. I went a little off-track when we Z'd the chassis, narrowed the rear end, and did the caster mod, but these mods were done to gain crossmember clearance, center the wheels in the fender openings, add caster to make it drive better, and to get the rear wheels and tires to fit. There was a benefit to each one of the mods.

I haven't posted lately, but I have been hot and heavy on the truck. The notches are now fully welded, the panhard bar frame bracket mod is done, and I'm currently raising the bed floor 2.75" for suspension clearance. The structural work on the bed mounts and crossmembers is about 70% done. I'll post up pictures when I'm done with it.

I've also been out in the garage every night working on trying to save the bed wood. All of my wood was basically there, but badly damaged. Splits, warping, cracking, oil soaked, you name it. I've got 3 pieces left to do before I figure out what I'm going to coat them with. I haven't done anything with the bed strips yet, but I have to address all of the bolts that snapped off during the removal. If this experiment works out on the bed wood, I'll post up pictures. If it doesn't, I'll have some 50yr old wood for benches, shutters, shelves or firewood.

[chevyrestoguy]

Originally Posted by chad64chevy

looking good, I still need to weld my notches in on both sides and I plan on boxing them in also! its going to be fun bending the metal from scratch to box them in, but I'm a lil worried about pulling anything with the frame notched thou!! what are your thoughts about this?? also I noticed your c-notch is notched at the back, is that for the porterbuilt track bar mount??

Chad-
My notches are ones that CPP sells. They are 1/4" steel and are a pretty nice piece for the money. They had a sale at Christmas, and I picked them up for $105 for the pair. They even make a heavier duty set that are 3/8ths of an inch thick, I believe.

Initially, I thought the same thing as you about not being able to pull anything with a frame notch. After I did the job, my thoughts have changed. My truck is a C-20, and I'm not sure if the frame is any different in the rear from a C-10. When I cut the pieces out of the frame for the notch, it was double walled 3/16ths steel. When I installed the notch section (1/4" thick), the frame now became 5/8ths of an inch thick, in the shear area where strength is critical. Everything was bolted in and red Loc-Tite'd with Grade 8 hardware and then fully welded around the entire perimeter. I have seen threads on this site that say that a bolt in notch weakens the frame, but I have to disagree. My frame is stronger than it was before. I actually made inner boxing plates out of 1/8" steel plate and wound up not using them. On a leaf-spring truck, I would agree that a bolt-in notch is weaker because you have two opposing forces on each end of the leaf spring and the notch is at the center of the opposing forces. On coil spring trucks like ours, there is nothing of great force past the notch. Sure, there's a panhard rod mount, but there's not a ton of force on it if the suspension is set up properly with no binding. All of the forces on a coil spring truck are forward of the notch, namely the coil spring mount (which is double walled and tied from side to side with the shock crossmember), and the forward trailing arm crossmember. Plus, you have to consider the rear crossmember, the rear bumper, and when the bed is installed, it stiffens everything up even more. I don't have a problem with a c-notch at all. A lot of the data that was shown on the c-notch strength thread did not address the location, whether it was a leaf spring or a coil spring application, the other crossmembers that tie into the area, the rear bumper, and the bed crossmembers.

The area on the driver's side notch that appears to be cut out is for the panhard bar mount. The notches came with some very vague instructions, and I removed the panhard mount, not knowing that the notch actually slides under the mount after you blow out the factory rivets and replace them with supplied bolts in the kit.

[chad64chevy]

very true the instructions aren't very good, I bought the same notches that you did! I installed mine awhile back, I saved a link to installing the notches from the cpp site! I'm still going to do the front cross shaft mod that you have done! I really like what you have done an the mods and things you have done really tie everything together, some people wont notice these things but there are a lot of people that will, like all of us on here!! this summer i'll be cutting a longbed frame down, centering the wheels by moving the cab mounts back, cutting the frame horns off and moving them back, and buying captfab. steering box bracket!

this is one reason I haven't welded my notches in yet cause I don't now if I want to leave this 70's frame alone or go ahead and finish what I started

[Low Elco]

Huh, I just noticed. I've been under more'n two of these and never seen the strap on top of the rear control arms where the spring and rearend mounts are. Must be a 3/4 ton thing. Learn something new every day.

How's the wood coming?

[chevyrestoguy]

The wood is a much bigger project than I expected because after closer inspection, it was more torn up than I had initially thought. I've been out in the garage every night working on it. I have done a lot of gluing and clamping, and adding biscuits and fillers to make up the gaps in the big cracks. I have also bought a lot of epoxy, and that stuff is really doing a good job in filling cracks and making new sections that were missing. I'll post up progress shots if this experiment works out, and it's looking like it's going to work.

I think when it's all said and done, if I counted my labor and supplies, I should have just bought a bed kit. Oh well, this experiment has kept me off of the couch and from falling asleep an hour after dinner, so that's a good thing.

[rusty76]

What kind of epoxy are you using? Kinda curious. Can't wait to see the pics.

[Low Elco]

Originally Posted by chevyrestoguy

off of the couch and from falling asleep an hour after dinner, so that's a good thing.

Glad I'm not the only one.

[chevyrestoguy]

Originally Posted by rusty76

What kind of epoxy are you using? Kinda curious. Can't wait to see the pics.

Rusty-
Here's the epoxy I am using:
http://www.loctiteproducts.com/p/epx...Heavy-Duty.htm

It is sold at Home Depot. Oddly enough, Lowes doesn't carry it. Kinda spendy at $15 for the kit, and right now, I'm on my 5th kit. I'll probably buy another 2 more before it's all over.

[rusty76]

Kool thanks. I can't wait to see the progress.

[rusty76]

So anything new?

[Low Elco]

Yeah, yeah, what he said!

Thought about you the other day. Ran into a guy who had a full set of straight spine MAGNESIUM Americans, in 5x5, 8.5 and 10's. I about crapped right there. Too cool!

[chevyrestoguy]

Originally Posted by rusty76

So anything new?

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Yeah, yeah, what he said!

Thought about you the other day. Ran into a guy who had a full set of straight spine MAGNESIUM Americans, in 5x5, 8.5 and 10's. I about crapped right there. Too cool!

Although I haven't posted lately, there is a lot of activity on the '64. I've got about 6 things going on at the same time, and each one is about 50% complete. I'm hesistant to post anything because I want to do a start-to-finish explanation of everything I'm doing. In a nutshell, I have moved the bedfloor up 2.75", I'm redoing (lots of gluing) all of the original bedwood, fixing all of the broken bolts on the bedstrips, I've mounted the gas tank(s), I'm building a new spare tire mount, and designing a hidden trailer hitch. So far, it's going really well. When all of this gets done, I'm blowing apart the entire back half of the truck and painting and detailing everything and re-assembling it all for (hopefully) the last time.

I am trying to sell a bunch of my excess truck parts right now, and with the proceeds, I'm buying the American Autowire Classic Update wiring kit. Everything mechanical has been redone, and I just can't bring myself to use 50yr old wiring. I could go with a cheaper kit, but I've already done the painting of the firewall and inner fenders, and I need a kit that will go in with no drilling or extra mods.

About the magnesium Americans......Those are like crack to me. I love the old straight spoke Torq-Thrusts. I had a pair of 10"s on my '55, but I sold them to a guy in PA who is building a '57 Chevy Gasser. I made enough off of them to have E.T. build me a pair of 16x12 Fuelers. No more polishing magnesium for me!

[Low Elco]

I understand, I'd gone over there to look at a motor, and had almost my entire wad of truck bux with me. Took every fiber of my being not to just start throwing money at him till he coughed 'em up! I didn't have enough anyway. He knew exactly what he had, and was as stoked as I was.

I was thinking that when he showed them to me. "Man, those'd be Bit*hin' polished, but then you're in Magnesium Hell. Aww Maaannnn..."

[1963c-10]

Only bad part about magnesium is its very hard to polish and keep polished.

[chevyrestoguy]

Originally Posted by 1963c-10

Only bad part about magnesium is its very hard to polish and keep polished.

You're not kidding! I had my wheels polished a few times, and even did a few tricks to keep them from oxidizing so quickly, but it's almost a hopeless cause. I also had a pair of 10" Halibrands, and they were much easier to polish because they didn't have spokes like the Torq-Thrusts. There's lots of nooks and crannies on a 5-spoke that are a real pain to keep shiny. One of the tricks I used was car wax. Get them polished real nice, and then use a good paste wax and buff them with a microfiber towel. It worked pretty good.

If you ever get a real magnesium wheel:
**Don't ever get them wet. They'll oxidize 10 times quicker
**Paint the backsides and the outer hoop and it'll slow down the oxidation. Any unprotected exposed surface will oxidize
**If your dog or cat pees on them, they'll start pitting immediately
**If you want them to stay in their natural finish, use Gibbs Oil. It's thin and penetrates like gun oil. It's expensive, but goes a long way.

[rusty76]

Oh man I can't wait for the updates.....geez this build is almost like candy for me, lol.