Jimbo's 67 Long bed step side build

[oldman3]

Originally Posted by ChevyNewb

Very motivating. My 16 y/o and I are attempting a 68 longbed resto. Love seeing these builds. Makes me think we can get it done!

I'm sure you can get it done, the good thing is you will be doing it with your kid. You both will have memories that will last forever, best to both of you.....Jim

[oldman3]

Hey guys, I'm on here begging for you to go to the "Truck of the Month" site and vote. I put Jimbo's truck up for it. It is Pick #3 for NHDON. He has some great trucks he's up against. He is way behind in votes so help out an old dude and vote.

Thanks ....Jim

[oldman3]

Well guys, I'm on here again begging for some votes. I put Jimbo's pickup in for Truck of the Month again. This time it is for the interior, he is holding his own in votes, but if I could get a few of you to help him out I would be thankful. You who followed this build know I did the interior myself, I'm not a professional, just a home garage builder, so help ME and Jim on this. Vote for #6 NHDON. Thanks I appreciate it....Jim

[litew8]

Done! Great work Jim!

[Indian113]

There ya go Jim-glad to help you

Besides it is a sharp truck

[oldman3]

Originally Posted by litew8

Done! Great work Jim!

Originally Posted by Indian113

There ya go Jim-glad to help you

Besides it is a sharp truck

Thanks guys, appreciate it very much...Jim

[Cameron 1137]

im on it! hahaha

[oldman3]

Originally Posted by Cameron 1137

im on it! hahaha

Thanks Cam....Jim

[oldman3]

Just wanted to thank everyone that voted for Jimbo. Lost again, but stayed in 4th place during the whole voting period, thanks again...Jim

[NHDON]

I too, would like to THANK everyone who voted for my truck for TOTM! I'm honored to have been nominated and am honored to have a great friend like Oldman3 to have worked on it! It is a true testimony and testament to the high quality standards of his and his son's work! I can appreciate what many have said during the past week or so about the originality in the appearance of the winning truck this month but all I can say is if no one ever thinks outside the box.... then everyone is going to have a box. I'm proud of the interior of my truck and how it turned out and would like to think that if I were in charge of designing GM truck interiors in 1967 that I would have come up with something very similar. In fact, one thing that sort of fueled my desire for this interior, and I don't think Oldman3 is aware or maybe he is, is that when I was a little kid, my father owned a 1963 Buick Riviera which had a beautiful center console with leather seats and oh how I have memories of that car. My father knew that I loved that car and was very upset the day he sold it for $400! So, my truck serves actually several sentimental purposes and all of them involve people who are dear to me>>>> including Oldman3, whom I not only think of as a dear friend but as father and mentor! Again, THANK YOU ALL who voted for my truck as I am very honored and blessed!

[oldman3]

Wow Jim, thank you for those words of praise and honor, don't know what to say, but thank you for being the kind person you are, and you feel like a son to me also...Jim

[oldman3]

Well, we have all heard the saying "Sh!t happens". Well it happened to Jimbo's truck, no wreck or anything, but here's the story. This started in August of this year. Jimbo was on his way to a cruise in and his truck started running a little hot by the time he got to the event. He was there several hours and so he started home, again the truck started running hot, but he figured he could make it home. To make a long story short, it got really hot. He called me and I went to check it out. As it turned out he had blown a core plug ( commonly called a freeze plug). It was the one right where the motor mount is located. We removed the exhaust header, jacked up the engine and removed the motor mount and installed a new plug. Put it all back together and started in up and the right exhaust was putting out a lot of water vapor. Checked the oil and it was milky. Pulled the plugs and found water in number 6 cyl.. So we tore it down, and it looked like all it had was a blown head gasket. We took both heads to have checked, at the local engine builder. They checked out good, so we installed new gasket and put everything back together. Started it up and it looked OK, for about 30 minutes and then again water vapor. It turned out it had cracked the block at number 6 cyl. So it set for a few weeks and then Jimbo agreed to buy a new GM crate engine. So now I will show some pics and finish telling the story...Jim

[oldman3]

The first pic was tearing the engine apart (again), but this time for removal, you can see the yellow liquid in the lifters.
Pic 2 is another view.

I also have to say that we have limited time to work on his truck, he now has two small children (1-1/2 and 6mo) so this is all we got done on this day.

[oldman3]

12 days later and we are back at his shop, finished taking things off and removed the engine with a cherry picker.

[oldman3]

New engine arrived at my shop on 9/22 these pics are me taping up the engine for painting.

[oldman3]

Later that day, engine all painted and ready to go (don't know why he wanted in painted red..Jim

[oldman3]

5 days later and it's on it's way back to Jimbo's shop. I need to take a break here, so I'll be back and finish up the story...Jim

[litew8]

You make it look easy. What was the analysis? Bad water pump?

[oldman3]

Originally Posted by litew8

You make it look easy. What was the analysis? Bad water pump?

Thanks litew8, wish it was (easy). Since I wasn't with him I'm not sure, but no on the water pump it was fine. I think it was leaking around the plug, lost water and got way to hot...Jim

[oldman3]

After we got the new engine back to his shop, we put in on the engine stand. Added the oil filter plate (new engine no plate and the old 327 was different).
Put on the intake, added oil and then primed the pump until we saw oil at all the lifters. Modified his valve cover for PCV valve (old 327 was at back of engine). Brought #1 to TDC, installed dizzy with the oil pump, and marked for later install. We did several other things, but I can't remember.

[oldman3]

It wasn't until 10/19 before we could get back to his shop to install the engine and start hooking up things.

[oldman3]

Had to wait another week (10/26) to get back to the shop. Finished putting on all the acc. belts, hoses, etc.

[oldman3]

Checked all the fluids, Jimbo topped off the radiator (pic 1) . Primed the carb, hit the starter and it fired right up. Pic 2 running

[oldman3]

Let the engine run for 30 minutes to break in the cam. Held 2200 RPM, 55# oil pressure and 200 water temp. Were inside shop and no force air movement so I thought that was a good temp.

[oldman3]

Shut down the engine and we were both happy as hell. No leaks, sounded great and the world was happy. Went to set the timing and carb rpm after break in, and the starter wouldn't engage. Did a volt drop test and it showed the starter was bad. SH!T HAPPENS. We had installed a High torque starter when we did his build, so we had to wait to have it checked. Took it to the local rebuilder here in town, and the solenoid was bad, 10 minutes later new solenoid and were on the way. Installed starter, set timing and carb rpm. Hit the road for a break in procedure per GM. Drove 30 miles ant different rpms. Then two medium (3000 rpm) pulls and coast down to 20 miles an hour. Then five hard (5000 rpm) pulls and coast down to 20 miles an hour. Then drive the way you want for the next 500 miles and change oil again.