Project '64 Cheapskate

[Bomp]

Nice job on the gate.

[Low Elco]

Came out clean! Gives a neat effect.

[olrosa]

[QUOTE=chevyrestoguy;7579144]Spent the last couple of days cleaning up my tailgate. I absolute despise rust, so it had to go. After many applications of CLR and scrubbing with a Scotchbrite, it was ready for many more applications of Naval Jelly. A final application of 50/50 bleach and water, and then a bath of baking soda and water to neutralize the acid. I should taken a "before" picture of the backside of the tailgate. It was way worse than the front, and it looked like it was used a shelf to store rusty parts. It was 100% covered in rust that felt like 60 grit. I'm going with a clean, rust-free patina on this truck, and when it's all said and done, I'll probably have more time in preserving the original paint than if I had just done a complete paint job!

NICE!

[chevyrestoguy]

Originally Posted by rusty76

That turned out great. Looks much better.

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Very Nice!

Originally Posted by likaroc13

Great job cleaning up the tailgate!

Originally Posted by oldman3

WOW, that looks great...Jim

Originally Posted by Bomp

Nice job on the gate.

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Came out clean! Gives a neat effect.

Originally Posted by olrosa

NICE!

Thanks, fellas!!!!

[chevyrestoguy]

Starting to do a lot of the detail items that aren't much fun. Built an A/C idle solenoid bracket, a throttle spring bracket, and modified a Holley TV cable bracket. The A/C solenoid bracket was made from one off of a Quadrajet that I chopped up. The throttle spring bracket was made from a piece of scrap angle iron, and the TV cable bracket was one from Holley that I cut all of the unused appendages off of. Then, I sent them all out for powdercoat. They sprayed them in Super Chrome and added a clear coat for extra protection.

[rusty76]

Awesome attention to detail.

[Bomp]

Small attention to details is what puts this build in the top 10 on my list.

[Average Joe]

Originally Posted by Bomp

Small attention to details is what puts this build in the top 10 on my list.

Yep. Verrry nice work!

[rusty76]

I think one of these fine days I'll be standing in your driveway with my 76 waiting to see your truck. You laugh now but you never know. Then maybe we can hop over to Brads so I can see his truck.

[Low Elco]

Neat and tidy!

[chevyrestoguy]

This week's project.......rebuilding a broken hood latch.

As far as I know, nobody reproduces a hood latch for the 60-66 trucks, and I have to think that a lot of them got pitched in the trash because they were considered to be broken. The main culprit is usually the secondary hood latch spring, also known as the safety latch. With the huge size of our hoods, you never want to use a latch without an operating safety because you'll fold the hood back on the freeway and destroy a lot of other stuff in the process. Unfortunately, none of the aftermarket companies make a replacement spring, but with a little research, you can find a suitable substitute.

First of all, you have to remove the spring by grinding down the head of the locating pin and driving it out. A suggestion would be to make marks on the latch before you pull it apart in order to ensure that it goes back together in the right position. Once you remove the pin, you will have to open the hole in the latch arm to 5/16 (.312). The pin will be replaced with a 2.25" 5/16 bolt (grade 8) and a Nylock. The biggest problem I found with finding a replacement spring was that nobody made one in the same outside coil diameter as the original spring. I went to McMaster-Carr and found a spring that was as close to the factory as I could find. Part# 9271K589 (Music wire torsion spring, 90 degree angle, .848" spring OD, .105 wire diameter, left hand). Make sure it's wound in a left hand orientation, same as factory! Now, the spring has a tight winding and will need to be stretched in order for the spring legs to align with the locating tangs on the latch, so I put mine in a vice and stretched it to give a little spacing between the windings and increasing the edge to edge length. In order to locate the spring correctly, I had to make a spacer that fit inside the inner diameter of the spring. The reason is, the added diameter of the replacement spring with cause it to sit cocked when it's installed because the spring is under pressure. The fix is to make an aluminum spacer, 1.5" in length, .600 in outer diameter, and a center hole of .312. If you've got a lathe, it's a simple piece to make, or any machinist can whip one out quickly. Tighten the 5/16 bolt, but not too tight to cause the latch movement to bind. I ground the height of the Nylock slightly to ensure that there was enough threads protruding out of the end. Reassembly is a little tricky because you have to compress the spring, and a word of advice is to NOT trim the excess length of the spring ends until you install the spring for the final time! Here are some pictures of the final product. Works great, and it saved the latch from being tossed in the scrap pile.

[rusty76]

Always endeavorous you are.

[Low Elco]

Nice!

[66c10Mzt]

:diablo excellent job, hope updates:diablo:

[cortcomp]

I've been referencing the work you did on your evap AC box for awhile (trying to do the same but with small extension fittings, no luck yet.)

Saw you just redid the hood spring, had the same issue with mine! Used a pin from tractor supply and i think a spring i made from a coat hangar?

Glad to see i'm not the only one fickle on these details!

You wouldn't happen to remember the # sizes on the a/c lines would you? Best i can guess larger one from evap is #10 and from valve is #6?

[Beer can]

Bump for an update hopefully

[Low Elco]

Yeah! Yeah!

[rusty76]

Bump bump

[lumpy63]

Just did hood latch repair worked awesome any updates?

[Beer can]

This is such a great build , any updates

[lumpy63]

bump

[lumpy63]

Bump

[richards72chevy]

Originally Posted by chevyrestoguy

I got busy on the interior last weekend, and got a bunch accomplished. First of all, I did the CLR and soft Scotchbrite all throughout the interior and took the majority of the surface rust out. Then, I waxed the painted areas. I re-installed the gas tank, installed the new dome light and fished the wiring through the cab, changed out the seat brackets, cleaned the dash, installed my Custom Cab steering wheel, and temporarily installed my gauge cluster. I say temporary because I am not done with the resto on it. I had to see what it would look like.
The interior went from this:


To this:



I am definately keeping the cool rear window cover. The truck had a cab-over camper for a good part of it's life, and there was no window glass, and that was the "privacy curtain". I am actually trying to find a lot of the "old man" stuff that was in the truck before I got it. There are holes drilled everywhere, and after a bit of thinking, I figure that he had a fire extinguisher bolted to the right hand kick panel, a compass next to the rear view mirror, and an emergency flasher unit in the truck at one time. I am on the hunt to find those items. I hate seeing holes drilled for no purpose, so I want to ensure that you won't see them.

The next step is to: replace the fuel filler hose, clean the floor, fix a small rust area in the left hand kick panel area, replace the firewall insulation, take a good look at the underdash wiring and fix what's bad, remove the clutch pedal and linkage, remove the transmission, and remove the exhaust.

I'm getting real close to getting the '79 Suburban back to the house and start the suspension swap. It's going to be fun!!

Did you use a scotch Brite when you clr'd the inside?

[kitsbeach]

More underhood shots please..!! I want to see the whole thing cuz what I see here looks great.

[The Rocknrod]

Wow, very nice work on this truck!