Project Pancho Villa - 1978 SWB

[Jonboy]

Truck is looking awesome, Wade. Can't wait to see it finished.

[JohnC]

It's coming along nicely man. Keep it up!!!!

[higgiec10]

nice work

[BruthaMan]

Hey Guys,

No pics today, but we got a lot done:

1) Bled the brakes, new fluid in a brand new four disc brake setup!

2) Loomed up the motor wires. Found some chrome loom on Ebay. Nice and clean!

3) Fluid in the power steering pump. All new setup there as well. Took two pints and may need one more to top it off.

4) Had to take a quick trip to the parts yard. I'm disorganized, to say the least! I know, somewhere in that garage, I have my gas pedal assembly stuff, but couldn't find it. I had the brake pedal assembly, gas pedal assembly (minus the spring and cover), and parking brake assembly powder coated in black.

Somewhere, in this disarray of a mess, is a little plastic bag I put all the trinket parts in, but hell if I can find it! So off we go to the parts yard. Needed a fuel filler neck too!

5) New 700r4 detent cable hooked up.

6) Turned her over with the ignition key and set the initial timing. All gauges working correctly, except we were unable to check the water. Wow! Just wow oh wow oh wow! It's getting so close! We're thinking by the end of this month.

Should have the radiator core back from paint this week, along with inner and outer fenders.

On order, should arrive this week:

1) New 3 core aluminum radiator.

2) Dual flex-a-lite low profile fan setup with fan controller relay.

3) Aluminum 1.5 in wheel spacers for all around. I want to get the wheel edge a little closer to the inside fender lip.

4) Various AC components, though I have still not figured out the compressor setup I'm going to use yet.

5) Rear bumper, bumper brackets.

Really all that's left is the compressor, and not discounting all the little trinket stuff from O'Reilly's we seem to need several times a day.

Hopefully have some new pics tomorrow!

[JohnC]

Sweet man I'm so excited for you. I can't wait to see pics.

What radiator are you going with? Also which fans? Thanks.

[EJC78]

You said it best all the trinkets and unexpected items are a killer on restorations. I have spent more time chasing little odds and ends on every project I've built, but in the end its all worth it

[BruthaMan]

Guys! We're getting closer every day!

Update:

Last of the major products are trickling in.

I ordered some aluminum 1.5 inch spacers to spread the wheels out so they are just inside the fender wells. The stock rallies tuck a little too much for my preference. This made a huge difference in the "look" of the stance. Mounted the beauty rings as well, came out really nice!





Painter called this morning and said the radiator core support and inner fender wells were ready. We picked up around noon, had some lunch and by the time we got back, Fedex had arrived with the aluminum 3 core radiator.

So we mounted up the core support with the last of the body kit mounts and hooked up the radiator. Stainless heater hoses and water hose came in today, so was perfect timing!







Laid down the carpeting for a test fit today. Instrument cluster mounted and working really good! Brake, gas and parking brake assemblies with pedals are in. Waiting on two final pieces, the piece under the steering wheel mount that covers up the bottom of the dash (should have that tomorrow from the painter).







Found a guy locally that does cnc work, so I'm having him fab a dash insert piece. I have a cheapo aftermarket plastic one (and that's just not going to cut it!), which he's using as a guide. There are aluminum ones at lmc and the other shops, but they all cover up the ac vents with slots cut out. Hoping that will turn out good. He's fabbing up a firewall box cover too and one other little piece, all for $175. I've never had anything custom built like this, but that seemed like a steal to me!

[1976HighSierra]

sick truck!

[CHEESE]

Very clean!!!

[menace121978]

looking sweet buddy! awesome progress... finish line is ahead

[joe231]

very nice work!!
I can't wait to see the custom aluminum

[JohnC]

It's looking great man. I'm getting excited to see it finished.

[bigbadjohn84]

man that thing is sick! cant wait to see it all together! beautiful!

[Slick67]

Incredible detail. Love it! I just sent the link to my freind who just picked up a 78'. Can't wait to get him on here!!

[BruthaMan]

Been out of pocket for a while. We're picking back up tomorrow.

Stuck on a couple of things, maybe you guys can share some advice.

One...the one piece window. Man, this thing has turned into a nightmare! Having a heck of a time on the driver door, getting it to align without having to slide it around/move it, once it's up. I think we're going to take it back out tomorrow and try to move everything over a quarter to half inch.

Fan switch. This pesky little bugger! OK, so for the ac control unit, I have a brand new NOS switch. Four positions on the switch. We have everything hooked up, a new four switch relay. Low is fine, next up is fine, next up is fine, but when you get to full high speed on the fan switch....snap, the fuse blows every time. I'm not one to settle for three speeds, I want all the AC/Air I can get coming through the cab to ventilate on the hot summer days, or after a hearty lunch of mexican food!

These two things have consumed enormous amounts of time, which really sucks because we're just right there at the end!

I'll get some more pics up tomorrow!

[tvblazer78]

Man that thing is clean! Very good job..

[joe14]

what size rims are you running and size of tires....that really looks good..if you dont mind to telling us....

[turbo350]

Incredible project! You have far more time, ambition and $$$ than I. Can't wait to see it done.

[BruthaMan]

Thanks Guys!

Wheels are stock 15" rallies with 275/60/15 tires. Have had a few emails over the past few months about the spinners. I got the spinners on Ebay. Do a search for "fluted spinner" on ebay motors.

We're almost there. One piece window with power went in on the passenger door with no problem. Still struggling with the driver side, but "just" about got it today. Hoping we'll get it tomorrow morning.

I worked on the custom Rod Doors today. They were already covered by my upholstery guy a while back. Cut and slotted them for a custom power window/door lock setup arm rest.




The armrest is in a medium gray ostrich skin, same as the lower section. For the lower section, I added a chevy emblem for some character and bling.





Here's the second arm rest cover. The dremel tool is your best friend here!





Here's a shot from the backside. I picked up the window/door lock switches from Watson's StreetWorks.




Here's a pic with it all snugged down.





This next piece worked out really well. For all the stuff I've bought off Ebay, NOS, the hardest piece I tried to locate was an NOS dash insert piece. I had bought an aftermarket one, plastic with a painted "brushed aluminum" look, but just wasn't good enough. I didn't like the billet after markets because they cover up the AC vents.

So I called a local fabricator who came out and looked at the plastic one I had, took it with him, and fabbed up a really nice billet dash insert! Fabbed that and wiring harness cover (fuse box) for $175!

Here's a pic of it. Not the best pic, but gives an idea of how it looks:





Have to throw this one in! One thing I hate when new boxes arrive, more than anything, are PEANUTS! I despise those little pesky clingy pieces of nuisance! My Grandson, however, loves to play in the boxes with them. Snapped this pick after an LMC box came in. He likes to "take a bath" in the box with peanuts!




We're just about there! Hoping we can get this driver side window aligned and finished tomorrow, finish up the fat mat on the doors, wire up the switches for power window/door lock and the remote key/lock setup, get the door panels on, put the dash and ac vents in and get the interior finished up.


Back her out, put in water in the radiator, start up and run for a bit and check for any leaks. If all goes well, drain water and add in anti-freeze/water/water wetter.

Put front fenders on and run wire looms for headlights, which are already in place.

Add front valance, grill and hood hinges (I bought some chrome/powder coat hinges/springs that should be in any day now).

From there, we're waiting on the hood and tailgate from the painter, which should be done next week.

From there, need to get it over and have the exhaust put in, a front end alignment, inspection sticker and finally, some behind the wheel time! It's really that close. Looks like we'll have the complete frame-off done in eleven months. What a trip!

[silvereagle07]

Bruthaman, the truck is looking awesome! The details really make it nice. I can't wait to see the finished product. How does the custom dash insert fit? It looks great. Do you have any pics of it installed or the harness cover?

[Jonboy]

I must have missed the kids in the LMC catalog. What page were they on?

I understand about the peanuts. Growing up, my grandparents were Motorola dealers. Everything that was shipped was packaged in bubble wrap first. I think they may have used it as a babysitter. 35 years later, I have to pop at least a few whenever I see some.

The truck sounds like it is coming along really well. I like the way the dash insert looks. Very trick.

[JohnC]

Glad to hear you are near the finish line man. I can't wait.

That dash insert turned out awesome. You may have some interest come from that and get the guy some business. I can't wait to see it in the truck. The door panels turned out really good too. Keep it up man your almost there!!!

[BruthaMan]

silvereagle07 - Hoping to have those tomorrow. Just haven't gotten around to the firewall fusebox cover yet. We went to mount the insert and used some speed nuts that were too small (kinda knew it, but was too anxious) and two of the tabs broke. Jeff, the guy that made it for me, stopped by today, took it back to his shop, and fixed them for us. We should be putting the dash in tomorrow, finally!

Jonboy - It's not in LMC, LOL, but I should probably send it to them! My grandson loves to play in the boxes of peanuts and I snapped the pic of him one day.

JohnC - Thanks bud, really appreciate your encouragement through the build. I just know we'd be good friends if you lived closer!


Progress the past few weeks has been painfully slow. Really expected to have it done by now, but we spent an entire week on the driver side door panel with the one piece window and getting it lined up. The passenger side went well, no problem, but the driver side was a royal pain!

The rod door panels are nice, but we had to do quite a bit of trimming and tweaking on them as well. Most notably the top corners...there is a lip there that we had to grind down and tuck just a little for a smooth fit. Dremel tool was a life saver there!

Here's an update of where we are:

Drivers side door. Finished up the power windows and door locks and added in a keyless entry system. Laid down fatmat on the inside of the door to help reduce noise and some on the outside to cover up various holes. Kent (my friend that's helping me) did most of the hard work on the doors. He has a lot more patience than I do.





Put the new dash in, with the custom dash insert for a test fit. Progress was going so slow, we wanted to do something to make it "seem" like we were making progress!





New gauge bezel on for a test fit:





Finally, for almost two weeks of prep time on the doors, windows, locks, keyless entry, along with constant test fits and measurements to drill holes, we have the passenger side door panel finished!

The the power window/door switches are custom. The door pull is from Billet Specialties and the Chevrolet emblem and billet door lock knob from Ebay.













We put the passenger side fender on earlier today for a test fit. Here's a side shot of how it's looking:





Hoping to have the rest of the interior done tomorrow. Just the driver side "rod door" panel, the dash and insert plate, and it's done.

Driver side fender on, then we're going to back her out of the garage, run some water in the radiator and break in the motor and check for any leaks (fingers crossed!).

Hood and tailgate should be in Friday! Next week to the exhaust shop to get the exhaust system installed, a visit to Midas for a front end alignment, inspection sticker, tags. It's just about done!

[Jonboy]

Beautiful. Can't wait to see it finished.

[menace121978]

that is awesome! very well done Wade hope mine turns out that clean and those door panels are a work of art

can you post a few pics of the seats and console for us? cant stop staring at the pics. that bezel is sweet!