Green Gus the 68 shortbed convert

[hewittca]

Originally Posted by rusty76

It is actually 20th if anybody else is interested. I understand how it goes. I really hope one of these fine days I'll be driving my ole pickup to the show and not just working. Lol. I think if you keep at it you'll do good.

My schedule cleared up for this weekend and I think I will try to make it out to the show (without the truck of course). I was going to go to the VW show at Farmington Dragway, but since I've sold my Beetle and have moved on to the truck, I think I'd prefer to attend this show. Where will you be working at the show?

[rusty76]

PM sent

[rusty76]

It was great meeting you today. I wish it would have been a little cooler. A few more trucks did show up. This year seemed to be off. I feel the heat and the race down in Charolette may had something to do with it. Either way we still had fun and saw some cool stuff.

[hewittca]

Just wanted to update my thread to mention that I have had the title changed to better represent the project through the title. For some reason, the build thread was actually duplicated with a new title and my old thread titled "Introduction, nostalgia, and 68 build, oh my" is still active, but I will not post in there anymore.

As far as the truck goes, I am hoping to get it running again this weekend. I am running by to pick up some parts (for an unrelated project) from Larry (GR8-68) on Saturday morning, and then getting to work on the truck. An update will hopefully be posted soon.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Originally Posted by hewittca

Just wanted to update my thread to mention that I have had the title changed to better represent the project through the title.

I saw I had posted in this, and was like, I don't remember this one...

[hewittca]

While getting sidetracked with transmission/engine repairs, I started to catch the engine building bug and decided that I want to eventually put together a little something to liven Gus up a bit. I wanted to stay small block to remain very budget conscious, so a 355 it is. Equally as important as power is the look of the motor. It has to look like a worn old small block that could be the original motor. With that in mind, I started experimenting on some of the parts that I have collected already. I started with Duplicolor Chevy Orange-Red but it was too red, so I went with Duplicolor Chevy Orange instead which was a much closer match to the original paint on my 307. After that, I lightly misted black over the parts and quickly wiped as much off as I could with mineral spirits. This gave my freshly painted aluminum performer intake and Chevrolet script valve covers the look of an original top end. I'm happy with the results, so I will use this technique on the remainder of the engine. Now all I need is a block and heads!

[hewittca]

Aside from playing around with paint on some engine parts, I was also able to paint something else, namely, the bed! I had my dad help me with this because he's been painting for over 40 years and has a bit more experience than me. We decided it would be easiest to pull the bed and create a mini paint booth in his garage.





For the booth, we set up a fan in a window outside the booth blowing air into the garage, and a fan inside the booth blowing air outdoors. With a few small holes in the plastic, it created a nice flow of air through the booth and negative pressure inside. This technique worked extremely well. I could stand right outside the booth while my dad painted and could only smell a hint of paint.



First, we had to lay down a final coat of black primer/sealer because I am trying to mimic the original paint process as close as possible for my eventual faux patina procedure. Since the team my dad works for is sponsored by Sherwin Williams, he was able to get me a really good deal on paint. You don't hear too much about S-W automotive paint, but it's actually some pretty respectable stuff. My dad said it's some of the nicest material to work with that he's used. The sealer/primer we used was called Undercoat.



Next was the moment I've been waiting for, color! We used single stage S-W Dimension urethane. Two coats and it was done.





The paint laid out really nicely, almost too nicely to scuff up. If it wasn't for all the dents I left in the bed, I would seriously be considering just going ahead and painting the whole truck.







The next step is to put the truck back together and hit the paint with some abrasives! I have practiced my procedure and am confident it will be convincing enough to not be noticeably fake. Now I just have to wait impatiently while I let the paint cure for a week. It's probably a good thing I'm off to the beach this week or else I might have ended up screwing something up.

[webberjames95]

loookin amazing dude. fitment is sick

[rusty76]

Bought time you changed the title. Lol.

[NewType72]

I'm definitely going to look into those moser studs. I have 20 x 9.5's all round and they severely lack width in the rear so I see spacers in my future lol

[hewittca]

I had a chance to work on the truck last night and get it back down on all fours to test everything I did to it. Ultimately, we rebuilt the transmission, replaced the rear main seal and oil pan gasket, and replaced the timing set. After rolling it outside, we topped off all the fluids and started it up.



I'll be honest, I was a bit nervous because we fixed a number of issues at once and messed with all the fluid carrying components (oil, coolant, and trans) so the possibility for at least a leak was present. Diligence paid off, however, because she started right up, everything sounded and looked right, and there was not a drop of fluid leaking anywhere. After warming up, it was time for a test drive and again, everything felt great.





The trans shifts firmly and quickly now and the engine idles smoothly with no inconsistency like it used to. The only thing is that I've had the cobbled together exhaust out and in 3 times now since I got the truck and it's on its last leg. With the worn out glasspack and 2" single pipe exhaust it sounds like a tractor, but I plan on doing exhaust soon. First thing's first though, I think it's finally time for some paint!

Idle

[knomadd]

Sounds pretty good for a tractor! Nice job so far.

[GR8-68]

Sweet !!! Great to see it back on the ground And it sounds great

[preacher anthony]

Good job! Changing cam and lifters in mine. Had a Comp cams 282S, solid lift. Truck needed a 3k stall and low gears. Way too much for cruising around w/ the grands.

[hewittca]

And here she sits as yard art at my dad's house until I can find some time to paint the bed. The tailgate is off in preparation for paint. She also gets to hang out with my dad's '75 dually for a while. He has had this truck since 1988 or so and before that it was a PA state utilities truck.

[lolife99]

Wow. What a thread!
I just read this from start to finish.
Excellent EXCELLENT work.
Love the pics and all the info.
I can't believe I hadn't seen this thread before now.

[rusty76]

Glad to see Gus back together. Can't wait to see it in person one of these fine days.

[Derek@AccuAir]

Sounds good! For some reason nothing sounds as good as a small block with a cam to me.

Can't wait to see it with the bed painted!

[hewittca]

Originally Posted by lolife99

Wow. What a thread!
I just read this from start to finish.
Excellent EXCELLENT work.
Love the pics and all the info.
I can't believe I hadn't seen this thread before now.

Thank you, that means a lot!

Originally Posted by rusty76

Glad to see Gus back together. Can't wait to see it in person one of these fine days.

I keep saying to myself, I'll make it to next months round of cruise-ins, nope now next month, etc... I originally planned to make it to the first cruise-ins of the year, now I'm thinking I might make it to the last.

Originally Posted by Derek@AccuAir

Sounds good! For some reason nothing sounds as good as a small block with a cam to me.

Can't wait to see it with the bed painted!

Thanks! I agree. I had a 383 with a 3" x-pipe in my Malibu and it sounded lethal. I loved that thing. Maybe I shouldn't have let it go... oh well, I do love the truck too.

Idle

[Derek@AccuAir]

Yeah, that's the sound I'm talking about! I've heard a lot of built LS stuff, and never heard one sound like that. What brand were the mufflers on the Malibu?

[hewittca]

Originally Posted by Derek@AccuAir

Yeah, that's the sound I'm talking about! I've heard a lot of built LS stuff, and never heard one sound like that. What brand were the mufflers on the Malibu?

It was a Pypes x-pipe kit for the Malibu that came with their "street pro" mufflers. I bought it for the pipes mostly, but ended up liking the mufflers too, so I kept them.

[NewType72]

I would say Gus has some really nice company at your dads place for sure!

[MojoZA]

Wow...fantastic read. That 2.5" drop on the bin/chassis is the business, truck appears to be lowered but retains the std suspension. Brilllant.

[rusty76]

Man that looks awesome. Love the eventual look of the engine. It's really going to set your truck up and away. A 355 huh. I knew you'd need a little more oomph.

[GR8-68]

Glad to see some paint going on it, those dents look great