Winter Beater Build- '66 BBW Custom Short/Fleet with Heat!

[theastronaut]

Better pics of the shock mounts and sway bar.

[aggie91]

Looks good. What is that rear sway bar out of?

[theastronaut]

I think it's a mid to late 80's F150. I bought an F150 8.8" and it came with it.

[MalibuKasey]

Amazing how well the paint came back to life. I really need to do that to Buttercup. Im tired of buffing out the dead paint every couple of months.

[theastronaut]

I took the bed back off the truck earlier this week so I could get to the rear suspension easier... the TJ springs weren't sitting as low as I wanted it to sit. So I pulled the truck in the shop last night and got started swapping in 5" drop springs and 1.5" blocks. Also cut the bump stops off and did a 2" pipe notch. Finished all that up this morning and put the bed back on.

I've ordered a 2.5" drop spindle/disc brake kit, 1.25" front sway bar, and a double adjustable rear panhard bar to finish up the suspension.

I also recently took the doors apart, rebuilt the vent window assemblies, installed new glass run channels/division bars/window wipes, lubed the window regulator, and installed an original back glass with a chrome lockstrip.

At this point the front sits up too high and the front wheels are sitting too far inward now that the 8" rears are mounted. I may run 1.5" spacers up front to push the wheels farther out.

I'm hoping to take both trucks to Goodguys in a couple of weeks. The "to-do" list is still a mile long but I think it's doable.

[theastronaut]

I pulled the truck in the shop tonight to finish scuffing it. I'll mask it out and shoot the rest of it with satin clear tomorrow. I'm going to look at a 283 from a '66 Chevelle tomorrow morning that I may swap in. The 250 needs to come out for resealing, it's leaking pretty bad from the rear main and oil pan gasket... May as well swap in a V8 since it's going to be out, right? Hopefully the spindles/disc kit shows up tomorrow so I can get it installed Sunday afternoon.

[TJ's Chevy]

Originally Posted by theastronaut

The 250 needs to come out for resealing, it's leaking pretty bad from the rear main and oil pan gasket... May as well swap in a V8 since it's going to be out, right? ]

Or do a set of turbo pistons and cam and open the head a bit on that 250 and with a nice turbo eat SBCs for dinner. lol Oh yeah, RPM no problem.

[northern 85]

Really cool truck!!!

[duallyjams]

FYI you will need a fan shroud for the v8 for city stop in traffic driving.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by TJ's Chevy

Or do a set of turbo pistons and cam and open the head a bit on that 250 and with a nice turbo eat SBCs for dinner. lol Oh yeah, RPM no problem.

I definitly want to do a built L6 one day, but it'll probably in dad's '69 Ford Ranger. Currently has a 240 but I'd swap in a 300 with triple sidedraft Weber carbs.

Originally Posted by northern 85

Really cool truck!!!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by duallyjams

FYI you will need a fan shroud for the v8 for city stop in traffic driving.

Good to know, I'll start looking for one.

[theastronaut]

I finished scuffing the rest of the truck Friday night. Saturday morning I picked up the 283, then shot it with clear after lunch. Once the clear was dry enough I started on the disc brake swap, got one side done and called it a day around 10:30. Got it rolling Sunday afternoon and also bolted on the sway bar. I had to leave the calipers off for now, they don't clear the wheels. I've got 1.5" wheel spacers ordered that'll have to work until I can build a pair of 7" wheels. I think I'm going to heat the rear springs to get it to sit another inch lower in the rear, it has a bit more rake than I wanted. Either that or lift the front back up a little, I have another pair of uncut stock springs.

[theastronaut]

Had a good day of parts hunting yesterday. Found original truck manifolds, an air cleaner, and a reproduction radiator shroud.




I pulled the 6 this morning, then pressure washed the engine bay and scrubbed everything with Greased Lightning. Used rattle can lacquer to black out the frame and inner fenders... someone had sprayed some type of texture paint on the inner fenders so they look bad but I'm not going to spend the time to make them look any better since it's just a driver. It's cleaner than it was, so that's good enough.

[duallyjams]

The thrash is on.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by duallyjams

The thrash is on.

For sure...


Engine is in. Finally. I ended up pulling the timing cover, oil pan, and valve covers to reseal the motor. Also replaced the timing chain while it was apart.

[northern 85]

Wow getting after it!!! Very nice score on engine and parts!

[aggie91]

Is the light blue the factory paint? I ask because of the fawn color on the firewall. Every other one that I have seen that is factory, the firewall is body color.

If that is the way it came from the factory, then I am glad you left it. If it was not, I would have sprayed the firewall black while the motor was out.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by northern 85

Wow getting after it!!! Very nice score on engine and parts!

Thanks! The guy I bought Goldilocks from ended up having the manifolds, air cleaner, and radiator shroud. There are a few local guys that are into 64-66's so it's fairly easy to get parts.

Originally Posted by aggie91

Is the light blue the factory paint? I ask because of the fawn color on the firewall. Every other one that I have seen that is factory, the firewall is body color.

If that is the way it came from the factory, then I am glad you left it. If it was not, I would have sprayed the firewall black while the motor was out.

It has all the factory paint colors. From what I've seen and read Atlanta built trucks have fawn painted firewalls. All three of our Atlanta built trucks are this way, even my Saddle Poly truck which is a similar color to Fawn has a Fawn color firewall.

[theastronaut]

Just picked it up from the muffler shop. Had them do dual exhaust with an H-pipe, and we had a pair of Flowmasters leftover from a restoration job so I used those since they were free.

I've still got a ton left to do before its driveable so it's not going to make it to Goodguys but it's been fun to make this much progress in a short amount of time. I'll get it finished up next week.




Some details of the engine swap. I decided to reseal the engine before installing it so I bought a gasket set and started taking the motor apart... Found some rust sprinkles in the rocker area (condensation rusted the inside of the valve covers) so I plugged the oil returns, turned the motor on its side, and flushed out all the crud with carb cleaner and a brush. Also dropped the oil pan, soaked it in cleaner, then pressure washed it.

Before and after.






And I found out that there are two different timing cover gaskets... AFTER I had already run silicone and tried to install the pan. I'll know to double check next time!

[aggie91]

Originally Posted by theastronaut

...It has all the factory paint colors. From what I've seen and read Atlanta built trucks have fawn painted firewalls. All three of our Atlanta built trucks are this way, even my Saddle Poly truck which is a similar color to Fawn has a Fawn color firewall.

Thanks for this. I learned something I did not know about these trucks.

[theastronaut]

Got a little more done. Had to cut and lengthen engine side of the gas pedal assembly by 2" since the L6 version is shorter. Also had to make my own throttle linkage since the Chevelle carburetor is different from the truck style carb. The water pump pulley mount wasn't pressed onto the shaft far enough so that came back off, took the back cover off, then pressed the mount farther onto the shaft by about 1/4". Alternator is mounted with a generic Mr Gasket upper brace which I bent to mimick the original mount. Heater hoses and battery cables have been replaced and neatly routed and bundled with zip tie separators. I have the wheel spacers on now, so I was able to mount the calipers and bleed the brakes. Pitman arm is replaced and I swapped out the short sway bar mounts for the taller ones for more tie-rod clearance. Carburetor is rebuilt and installed, along with new fuel hoses.

I still need to find a radiator, figure out the distributor/points/condensor wiring, install the adjustable rear panhard bar, install a new windshield, change the voltage regulator, and get the muffler shop to bend an upper radiator tube to mimick the original hard pipe. I've ordered a clutch pivot stud and universal shock mounts to relocate the front upper mounts, they should be here tomorrow so I can finish up those areas.

[theastronaut]

Got it running today. Also made a pair of extended upper shock mounts using a pair or modified Currie axle mounts. Still need to find a radiator so I can test drive it, and the clutch linkage needs some attention- it's not disengaging all the way.

1966 Chevy C10 283 Swap - YouTube

[tinydb84]

Man I love your work. All your threads and builds are inspirational.

[plainred65]

Just read this from the beginning, great work so far.

[aggie91]

What is the part number for the front shock you used?

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by tinydb84

Man I love your work. All your threads and builds are inspirational.

Originally Posted by plainred65

Just read this from the beginning, great work so far.

Thanks dudes!

Originally Posted by aggie91

What is the part number for the front shock you used?

KYB KG5409.