Project '64 Cheapskate

[CRGRS 66]

Originally Posted by chevyrestoguy

Right now, the tire is a 205/60-15. They were on a buddy's '71 El Camino, and I needed some tires for mock-up. I knew that they were going to be too short, but you never know until you bolt them up and get a good look from every angle.

I hear you, I found out the hard way, bought new ones, oh well. Just have to sneak the bigger ones on next spring when the wife isn't looking
Seriously, love the stance though, I like the rake

[Slammed66]

Originally Posted by chevyrestoguy

As promised, I got the brakes situated and bolted up the front wheels and tires. We wound up pulling out the coils because there's no weight in the front. There is a bare aluminum block and a gutted 700r4 case sitting in the engine compartment, which is essentially no weight at all. The front tires are mock-ups, and after looking at the stance, I might go up one size to a 225/60-15 tire. I also bolted on the funky ET oval center caps. I'm really happy with the way it looks!




The next step is to get the front steering linkage situated, get the column finished, and build the shift linkage.

Well. You got the stance nailed !!

Love this truck, will you be putting bumper guards on this one?
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[plainred65]

Lookin sweeeet!

[LostMy65]

That is a great shot.

Originally Posted by chevyrestoguy

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[coulter]

Originally Posted by chevyrestoguy

I'm really happy with the way it looks!

looks sweet man i dig that

[Low Elco]

Whole thing is perfect. Don't change a thing. Dead on the money.
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[kustombrad]

The truck is coming along nicely! Bunch of dumb little things that should take 5 minutes and 2 hrs. later its fixed, but it's getting done. The front tires are actually 215/60's and are just a hair to short, 225/60's will make it perfect! Alex and I are all about wheels, tires and stance and this thing nearly thete! This truck is slammed and I really dig the rake! You guys are gonna flip when you see how this thing will be done!
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[chevyrestoguy]

Originally Posted by Slammed66

Well. You got the stance nailed !!
Love this truck, will you be putting bumper guards on this one?
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Probably not, but I have something planned for the front that you'll see in the next month or two that I think you'll like.

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Whole thing is perfect. Don't change a thing. Dead on the money.
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Thanks! I really appreciate all of your compliments!

Originally Posted by plainred65

Lookin sweeeet!

Still a LOT more to come, so stay tuned!

[nate95gsr]

It is really looking good Alex.

Nate

[Low Elco]

Ok, I'll ask the pros. Yeller has a 700r4/3.08 combo, and the mileage has not been what we'd hoped. We've heard going to 3.73 puts the motor in a more efficient range, thus better mileage. We dunno. About the same hp you're talkin. Any suggestions?
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[chevyrestoguy]

With the 3.08 gears, you might have a condition where it's lugging the engine at highway speeds in 4th gear. Are you able to determine what your rpm is at cruising speed? The reason why I'm asking is that you may be at such a low cruising rpm that the converter is still under the stall speed (example: 1800 rpm cruise rpm with a 2500 rpm stall speed converter) and your converter is still slipping. Do you have the lock-up feature of the trans enabled? If not, having a lock-up definitely helps with fuel mileage.

What kind of fuel mileage are you getting?

[Low Elco]

Ten to Low teens, not much better than it was, if at all. Converter is stock. No tach. Lockup is engaging. Used the full BTO kit. Fresh tune up. We're just now to the sussing out stage. We can roll around, but it ain't perfect. Motor doesn't seem to be bogged down on the freeway, but that's me driving. 70-85mph. Boppa runs a bit slower, maybe that's the problem! We'll look into it further, I guess. Thanks for the reply!
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[Greenlee]

Sweet build! What did you end up doing about the different diameter of the gas tank inlet and filler neck? I have the same problem. Mine is a mid 80's stepside bed. I can't seem to find the right hose. Thanks
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[Low Elco]

I went to Oreilly they have some that are like distribution hubs. Take your parts/measurements and ask to go see what they have. My diameter adapter is the top rail of a chain link fence! Hey, it works!
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[chevyrestoguy]

I haven't hooked my filler neck up yet because I plan to pull the tank one last time and FatMat the inside of the cab for sound deadening. I did do a little research, and you're correct when you say that finding the right hose is not as easy as it seems. The first hose they brought out was about as flimsy as radiator hose and it was expensive. I wound up hitting the wrecking yards and grabbing a few original hoses. They aren't in great shape, though, and eventually I'm going to have to find the right stuff. The original ones are a thick rubber with woven fiber. It's probably the same as what the fuel trucks have on their servicing hoses, minus the outer jacket.

Another thing I have noticed when I was grabbing the original hoses was the different fuel necks. Some were plastic and some were metal. I've got one of each, but for a durability standpoint, I'm going to use the metal. I don't know why the factory would use a plastic filler neck because wouldn't static electricity be a concern?

[Greenlee]

Thanks for the replies. It seems there must have been a lot of changes with fuel filler setup from the 60's up through the 80's. I apparently have dual tank fenders from different years because the setup on mine is even a little different from side-to-side. I found a radiator hose with the right bends that looked like it was going to work, but that's when I discovered each end was a different diameter. I found new ones in LMC for a fleet-side bed, but not for a step-side.

[sean1969c10]

NAPA has the filler neck hose made from the right material.

[chevyrestoguy]

All right...I've now that I've got a little time, I'll explain what's been happening lately on the '64. In my recent postings, I attached pictures of it at ride height, and although I was jazzed about the way it looked, the control arm clearance to the ground was about 1 3/4", and that just wasn't going to fly. I did a lot of research on Dropmembers, Z'ing frames, and sectioning crossmembers, and although each one had it pros/cons, I just needed a nudge to push me in that direction. Enter Kustombrad and Bob......

I've known Brad since I was a G.I. in the Air Force back in the late '80s, and we've always thought alike when it comes to cars. Between us, we've had quite a few cool rides. For the last 20 years, Brad has always talked about wanting to "Z" a chassis on a '73-'87 truck. Once he saw how low the control arms were on my '64, he was on a mission........he was going to do his best to convince me that Z'ing the chassis on my '64 was the way to go. It took a little bit of convincing, because I wanted to carefully plan the job, but Brad already had the cutoff wheel spinning in his brain. Once I said Yes, it was headed over to Bob's house.

A little about Bob.......he's about 60yrs old with the drive and passion of an 18yr old. He is an extremely talented metal man, and has chopped more tops than I can care to count. Nothing scares him, and he was 100% ready to do the job.

Anyway, as soon as the truck was in the shop, it was carefully leveled and measured. The frame was jigged at ride height in front of and behind the crossmember.



The area directly under the crossmember was also jigged.


It was determined that the frame would be Z'd 2" up higher, and forward 1" to center the wheel in the wheel opening. Once the jigs were in place, they determined where the best place to cut the frame would be. In the rear, the frame makes an inward taper, so you have to take that into account. Also, you want to ensure that you cut behind the upper shock stud. You want every bit of the crossmember, including steering and shocks to move up as a complete assembly.

The front cuts have to be carefully planned out, because you have a few things to concern yourself with. First, the steering box. Everything in the steering box area starts to get tight, namely the radiator. You have to plan your cut where it's just forward of the steering box and just aft of the radiator saddles.

In this shot, you can see how close the radiator is. You still have good clearance because the radiator is secured on the top and bottom.

[chevyrestoguy]

Now, once you're satisfied with the cuts, it's time to start stitching it all back together. The frame is going to be plated with 3/16ths steel plate on both sides of the frame rails, but the frame needed to be joined first. The cut gaps were measured, and small intersection plates were welded in place.


After that, the boxing plates were cut and welded in place. Here is the passenger side outside plate. There is another place just like this welded to the inside of the frame rail as well. So, if you're keeping score, there's THREE pieces of 3/16's plate (two plates and the original frame) at every area where the frame was cut.


Here's a shot of the boxing plate on the passenger side front frame rail. Again, there's another plate on the side of this area as well.


Now that the frame was in place, it was time to address the engine. From the beginning, the plan was to leave the engine in it's original location and only bring the crossmember up. The reason for this is that you don't have to mess with the trans crossmember, and plus, I had already built all my shims to get my pinion angle where I wanted it. So, this meant that the motor mounts had to be relocated down 2" on the crossmember. This was one of the more challenging parts of the job. This meant that the engine mount stands had to be shortened. If you remember, I did an earlier mod to where I could use the engine mount stands from my '79 Suburban donor, which has the superior clamshell-style mounts. In this picture, you can see the surgery that had to be done. To help get the engine lower, the original bolt hole in the clamshell for the long attach bolt was moved up about an inch. The clamshells were also trimmed up, and this picture was taken before that was done. Also, because of the fact that the wheelbase was moved forward 1" to center the wheels in the fender openings, the motor mounts had to be moved 1" to the rear to keep the engine in it's original location. Disregard the groovy green clamshells, I got them from a guy who painted his entire engine engine that color. Yeah, it was ugly......


Here's a picture of the steering box bolted to check for fit and also to get the steering linkage positioned exactly where I wanted it.


Speaking of steering linkage, I came to the conclusion that the '79 Suburban frame was taller than the '64's frame. I discovered this when I went to attach the drag link to the frame. I got the steering linkage leveled, and perfectly in-line with the tie rods, and the drag link was way too low. I remedied this by drilling another hole in the link and attaching it to the frame.


Another area that needed a little bit of attention was the swaybar. The sway bar attach brackets that I got from Early Classic would not work because the rear attach hole was now hanging in the air because the area that it originally attached to was now 2" higher. Because the crossmember was moved forward 1", that was a very good thing, because the bar was now also 1" farther forward. I redrilled the front rails for the swaybar bushing fittings, and it'll now bolt directly to the frame. You can see it in this picture. You can also see that a new steering u-joint was installed to attach my column to the box.


The chassis is now at the point of getting blown back apart and cleaned and painted chassis black. The inner fenders will also need to be trimmed, and I'll post up pictures when I get to that point.

*****I have to give a HUGE thanks to Kustombrad and Bob for all of their hard work on this. I was away at work for 80% of the job, and those two maniacs deserve the credit for the work that was done. They did a great job. And oh yeah, it only took Brad 20 years to find out if his idea of Z'ing a chassis would turn out right!*****

[chevyrestoguy]

Not done yet.....

While the truck was at Bob's, he couldn't help himself. Seeing all of those dents was driving him nuts, so he and Brad broke out the hammers and fixed a bunch of dents and then Bob installed the patch panel on the front fender.


Also, I got a rear lower bedside patch panel from a member on the site (LT1 Burb), and Bob fitted it as well



If you notice, the ugly gaping holes where the fuel access doors used to be are gone, too!!


That's enough for tonight. I'll post up more pictures soon. Still a lot more to do!

[wraprail]

Originally Posted by chevyrestoguy

Now, once you're satisfied with the cuts, it's time to start stitching it all back together. The frame is going to be plated with 3/16ths steel plate on both sides of the frame rails, but the frame needed to be joined first. The cut gaps were measured, and small intersection plates were welded in place.


After that, the boxing plates were cut and welded in place. Here is the passenger side outside plate. There is another place just like this welded to the inside of the frame rail as well. So, if you're keeping score, there's THREE pieces of 3/16's plate (two plates and the original frame) at every area where the frame was cut.

I'm a little behind sorry bout that. Great build. Love the early trucks. Just curious why you didn't just cut the frame at an angle, say like 15 or so degrees? You wouldn't need to add material to the frame like you did.

[chevyrestoguy]

Originally Posted by wraprail

I'm a little behind sorry bout that. Great build. Love the early trucks. Just curious why you didn't just cut the frame at an angle, say like 15 or so degrees? You wouldn't need to add material to the frame like you did.

Actually, that's the way I wanted to do it, because I felt that it would have served two purposes. I could get the 2" up and move the frame 1" forward at the same time. In the end, we went with cutting straight and triple-walling the frame because it was absolutely imperative that the core support mounts and motor mount locations reamain in the stock locations, and at the time, it seemed to be the easier way. It gets a little weird around the steering box, and you have to be careful how you address that area, especially if you have one of the power steering adapter plates. In the end, everything lined up perfectly, and we even lowered the engine mount stands 2" so we wouldn't have to rework the cab floor and not have any valve cover clearance issues at the brake booster and the heater box. And it'll still look stock when you open the hood, especially after I sectioned the bottoms of the inner fenders and reattached the stock rolled lips.

[dr69burb]

wow looks good guys

[LostMy65]

The patches look really nice.

[duallyjams]

I was going to say what did the guys do after lunch but I see they did body repairs , man they do great work.