Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*

[Frizzle Fry]

All the outer quarter panel welds are done and ground. Still need to do the top and the inner panels. Here's a couple shots of the quarters in progress:



Tweaking the gap as I went along:




A million little tacks...

[LUV2XCLR8]

Awesome work, when are you starting on mine?

[Frizzle Fry]

The notch panel in the 3rd door was originally tacked in place when the body was jacked up off the rear frame. So after getting the body all bolted in place the body lines no longer matched up as well as before. That's exactly why it was only tacked

Unfortunately I needed to move the panel forward to get the arch to line up while keeping the horizontal line matched up. Doing this put the wheel arch forward of the 3rd door rocker

Since this panel had some rust right in front of the lower wheel opening (where they usually all rust) I cut that section out as well as a relief cut to allow the wheel arch to line up with the back of the rocker. Hopefully the pics will make all that clear as mud...

Panel with rust (under paint bubbles):


Panel in new position with rust removed and relief cut (already opened a bit and tacked):



Patch:

[Frizzle Fry]

Next I tackled the area behind the door notch. Did take many pics of that process but here are some before and after:

[Frizzle Fry]

...and as you can see in the background of those last pics, I'm now working on the floor covers under the 2nd row seat area.

[Hart_Rod]

Looks awesome Mike. Hopefully the other "parts" will be there by the first of the week.

R

[71'tahoe]

Hey frizzlefry,
I wish i would have gotten mine finished before the snow storm hit a few years back..you have done what i wanted to do to my 71'.Life in general has kept me from getting a new one to start over with.Your tahoe is so sweet.Glad some one got one to this piont.My plan was to try and make the rear doors more like a 96' style tahoe with more of the arch cut into the door but after seeing the way you did yours,i like it much better.it is a little more proportioned.I really dig it.good luck with it.keep us posted.You should look into doing documentation as a side gig .Good luck with it.Im sure you now know you are the envy of the whole board.Later..71'tahoe

[Frizzle Fry]

Thanks guys.

Ya HR those parts will be here just in time

71'tahoe,

Too bad about yours. How far along was it? Did you have any pics? Sounds like you were making it even shorter than mine. It would be interesting to see regardless of condition. You should do one again someday. You already have the screen-name

[el-cid]

New guy here, I just have to say that this is one of the coolest things I have seen in a loooong time. I read through the '61 buildup so far and that's cool but almost too radical for me. Like somebody said before, this is going to be one of those things that, once done, you'll have people telling you they had or remember seeing before it'll be so well done. Seriously impressive stuff Frizzle.

[Frizzle Fry]

Thanks el-cid. I agree it is a different style. People keep telling me I need to shave it but I say "That's what the 61 is for!"

Back to some progress...

Some goodies arrived via greyhound from Hart_Rod enterprises. Thanks again Rob! Check out how nicely he packed the liftgate (it was all inside a box of coarse):



Take a guess what the truck bed-ends are for...


Here's a final "before" shot of the back end:

[Frizzle Fry]

Now, before I go into what I'm going to do next, let me preface by showing how trashed my liftgate and tailgate were.

Liftgate:






Tailgate:

[Frizzle Fry]

So, now that I have a solid set (already had a nice tailgate waiting to go on), I can use the junk set to engineer the one-piece liftgate I've been wanting to do.

What are the circles all about?


I have a big can full of these massive steel washers so... It was a quick and easy way to make them one piece Lower hinges disconnected and folded down under tailgate before welding top to bottom:


Four washers on each side and...

[Frizzle Fry]

I'm running out of time to write anything so I'll just post the pics I have uploaded and come back to write up the details tomorrow...

[Frizzle Fry]

...

[toomanytoyz]

I think you have done a Terrific Job on your Build, By far it is one of the Best Build's Going. Also Thank You for taking the Time to Document all for us to Follow along with.

Thank You For a Super Build...................

Rick

[Musclerodz]

Very cool lift gate. Will that strut stud hold up to the weight of the gate over time? I know my 4th Camaro has fairly large bolts that support the hatch at both ends.

Mike

[Bamm]

Friz that is just awesome. This is almost like a class on fabricating................ Bamm!

[Frizzle Fry]

Thanks Rick/Bamm.

Mike,
It's the same size ball stud and struts used on new Tahoes/Burbs (just with standard threads instead of metric). To my surprise these struts seem to be just a tad on the heavy/strong side for my liftgate. Since I used the same geometry as the new Tahoes (distance from hinge fulcrum to upper ball stud), I guess my gate is slightly lighter than the new ones. Hard to believe, I know. But on the truck I borrowed the struts from that gate is pretty darn heavy with no struts. So if anything the studs are being put under less stress than GM puts them through

[Musclerodz]

Originally Posted by Frizzle Fry

Thanks Rick/Bamm.

Mike,
It's the same size ball stud and struts used on new Tahoes/Burbs (just with standard threads instead of metric). To my surprise these struts seem to be just a tad on the heavy/strong side for my liftgate. Since I used the same geometry as the new Tahoes (distance from hinge fulcrum to upper ball stud), I guess my gate is slightly lighter than the new ones. Hard to believe, I know. But on the truck I borrowed the struts from that gate is pretty darn heavy with no struts. So if anything the studs are being put under less stress than GM puts them through

Cool, I figured you probably had already thought it through fully as you have with the rest of the modifications.

Mike

[LUV2XCLR8]

Wow, I want you to be my neighbor, feel like moving ot TN?

[Frizzle Fry]

Originally Posted by LUV2XCLR8

Wow, I want you to be my neighbor, feel like moving to TN?

My neighbors definitely don't appreciate this stuff as much as we all do.

[Britain Smith]

Man, those struts from my Yukon look perfect in there.

-Britain

[decade22ten]

howdy. that's a great looking project. the liftgate is that a new piece or a original. keep up the great work.

[Frizzle Fry]

Originally Posted by decade22ten

howdy. that's a great looking project. the liftgate is that a new piece or a original. keep up the great work.

The primered liftgate is a solid used one (they don't make new ones yet). The lift/tailgates that are welded together are my rusty originals.

[XXL]

Originally Posted by Frizzle Fry

Now, before I go into what I'm going to do next, let me preface by showing how trashed my liftgate and tailgate were.

Thanks for the gratuitous crotch shot