Project "Tracy Lee" 59 Apache

[Jebb1978]

Hey, lots of cool videos on there. Thanks Tex!

[prostreeter58]

Veeery nice..................

[texascowboy593]

Thx Guys!!!

[texascowboy593]

I cant believe it's been just over 1 year since this thread had a post on it...Then again there's a reason for it...


The Tracy Lee has been plagued with a few problems. #1 is a lack of funds!!!

I have had her in driveable condition for some time now but apparently we found a crack in the rear axle housing that was releasing 90 wt oil on the ground. I have also been unhappy with the "paint job" that was shot by a co-worker of mine. It's a "30 footer" job. Just like someone painted her with a wet chicken!

Well, a good friend of mine of the last 17+ years finally freed up some time and space and took her in. She is getting the full respectful treatment she deserves. I wish I had the time and the know-how to do everything she requires to be a top-notch ride. My friend is a perfectionist and so far he has her running like a scalded cat and is about to tackle the body for a new paint job. I know what the NEW color will be. You will have to wait for the "un-veiling" video in a couple of months!

He also has a friend that is a carpenter and he is going to install the bed wood for $100. That includes cutting, countersinking/drilling, staining and weatherproofing! He's also going to build a wood console from just below the dash, around the B+M ratchet shifter to the seats for another $50 or so. This will include a radio console just above the shifter.

"Flight 59" (as she will be named from now on) will hopefully be unveiled by late October. The truck is 150 miles away from home and I'm waiting on progress pics. When I get them I will pass them on...

FWIW, the dude with the yellow '54 3100 has been pestering me. Here is my response video to him:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVYPQlkzL5c

[poncho_villa]

Hey Tex! Glad to see that your still in the game. Great video. Can't wait to see what's next.

[watahyahknow]

good to see the projects starting again near the end of the showseason .
i hope you'll keep it about the same colour it kindah suited the truck

[Daniel U]

Hey Tex, thanks for the videos. I vacationed in your state last year for a week. I was really impressed with the pride Texans had of their state. It was as if they were Texans before Americans. I really cool feeling coming from such a liberal state here in CA. Keep us posted on the up coming projects.

[entourageguy]

Hey Tex nice to see a post by you.
Glad to see that the truck is getting some attention.
How is the addition to the family?

[texascowboy593]

Originally Posted by entourageguy

Hey Tex nice to see a post by you.
Glad to see that the truck is getting some attention.
How is the addition to the family?

The addition to the family is doing great! He is already wearing vehicle-related clothing: I'm brainwashing him from the start!!!LOL

Thx to all for the comments. It will take some time like all projects do. I hope to have a few pics as soon as my buddy gets his crap together and sends me some pics!!!

[texascowboy593]

WOW! It's been nearly another year since I've posted and thats just a shame. I cant even begin to describe how busy I've been with work and a 14 month old boy tearing up the house!

Here's the skinny: My pal Woody has been shoring up the engine bay with re-routing of wires / hoses etc. He rebuilt the Holley Street Avenger and found out the back half of the carb was all clogged so now the truck is an absolute monster!

New Flowtech headers installed wrapped with DEI wrap and cured with DEI black silicone spray.

New MSD HEI cap, rotor and coil as well as 8.5mm MSD wires.

The smooth dash panel covering the old heater controls and glovebox is in place and just needs some smoothing / finishing to be done.

Upgrade to disc brakes up front with a new master cylinder/power boster/prop valve mounted in the stock location.

New beefy tie rod (nearly twice as thick as the stock tie rod).

These are the main things done while in Woodys custody. Next things are hanging the new Flowmaster Super 40's (2 1/2" inlet/outlet), getting the bed setup for the bed wood and new wheels and tires. Once those have been done, I will drive the truck to Cleveland TX to my Brother-in-Laws shop and he will take care of the paint and body. Woody is having some health issues (nothing too serious) and will not have the ability to do paint and body.

Flight '59 sure did take a place on the back burner but now it's time to push forward and get her finished so I can whip that '54 5 window that keeps bugging me...LOL!

FWIW: All the video links in previous posts won't work anymore. I no longer have my "texolot" account on YouTube. The updated link to my new account is in my sig. I'll post this weekends happenings in a few days. As for now, here are a couple of videos from January and April showing some progress on the truck.

YouTube - Flight '59 January Update

YouTube - Disc Brakes for Flight '59

I hope all of you are doing well. Thx for waiting around for my infrequent updates!

[entourageguy]

Nice to see you back Tex ......

[texascowboy593]

OK:

I finally got some video up on Youtube of this past weekends progress. We put on new MSD 8.5mm wires and new MSD cap, rotor, coil and dust cover. We also got the brakes set up and hung the Flowmaster Super 40's (temporary but will pass inspection).

Seems after some research it seems the power valve on the Holley Street Avenger carb has blown out. There is no power starting off but once she is going...she accelerates quite well. We did have a couple of BIG backfires thru the carb while setting everything up so the power valve is my guess. Any other ideas???

We still need to re-seal the tranny pan and there is tranny fluid leaking from the back of the driveshaft yoke in the tranny. Besides that, all I need is to pay for new tags, get it inspected and I'll be driving to East Texas for REAL paint and body work!

YouTube - Flight '59 Update: 7-12-09

[watahyahknow]

i heared of this problem before and they have made sumtin for it that prevent it from happening ...think it was a small ballbearing that they put inside the carb that blocks off the hole during a backfire protecting the valve.
you might want to contact youre carborator man for that

[texascowboy593]

Originally Posted by watahyahknow

i heared of this problem before and they have made sumtin for it that prevent it from happening ...think it was a small ballbearing that they put inside the carb that blocks off the hole during a backfire protecting the valve.
you might want to contact youre carborator man for that

I'll look into it...Thx so much!

[dwcsr]

Most all the newer holleys have that back fire valve installed at manufactue. If its a 10 year old carb it may not have it or it may not have made it into the new carb. They will still blow out under bad back fires

[pgf545]

Hey Tex....Love the videos...you have me cracking up. Glad to see you back on here posting....thought the crazy heat this summer had melted you

I would double check the timing. The motor sounded a little lazy so it might want a little more timing. I have seen sometimes when you change cap and rotor they have a little different phasing which will cause the timing to be off a little.

On the power valve all you need to do is get a new one from the speed shop and swap it out...you don't need a whole rebuild kit. Take the list number to the store and they will get you a new one.


Bernie

P.S. Why in the first video were you drinking Miller Lite and the second one it was DP?

[texascowboy593]

Last post: 7-18-09
This post: 5-26-10

Been awhile since I've updated! The Tracy Lee or "Flight 59" as she is called now has sat quietly in my garage waiting for some financial assistance. It should be coming soon (I hope). I changed jobs about 6 weeks ago and it's a pay raise and I get to be home EVERY NIGHT (local truck driving). A couple of weekends ago I paid a visit to our old friend Jimbo59 and bought a decent driver-side door from him since the one I had got kinda mangled after my pal welded it. I now have to remove 3 broken bolts from the hinge pocket and then I hope to give my Brother in Law the 1st half of the cash to get him working on the paint and body. As most of you know, I was less than impressed with the paint job quality (painted with a wet chicken) and that will be resolved. He will be stripping down to bare metal and doing it right. I've seen a few of the cars he's done and they are very nice. His turn around time: 3-4 months.

For the heck of it:
I decided to paint a shop truck type logo on the door I got from Jimbo. I read in Classic Trucks this month about how to do it yourself. Since the door will be stripped and painted anyway, I figured I'd paint it up and see how it would look. I think it turned out pretty good. Here are a couple of pics:

I made a couple of how-to vids on YouTube as well. Here's the links:
Part 1:

YouTube- Old School Door Lettering (Part 1)

Part 2:

YouTube- Old School Door Lettering (Part 2)

Part 2 got jacked up since my camera crapped out but it is what it is.

Hope to have another update soon!

Tex

[poncho_villa]

Geez Tex, long time no see (or read). The door logo turned out great. Nice patina effect. Keep us updated on what else you're gonna do.

[OrrieG]

Glad to see you back, for some reason I thought the truck was done and you were just cruising into the sunset....

[entourageguy]

Welcome back ..... again

[texascowboy593]

Thanks everyone for your input! So sorry I have been sporadic as I used to be quite active here. I took the 59 to the Bro-in-Laws house 2 Saturdays ago. He will be pulling her apart and sending her off for bead-blasting. I finally have a job with steady hours and pretty good pay so I can finally move on the project that has had too many delays and poor shortcuts. I put a video up last week asking my YouTube subscribers to "vote" which color I should paint the truck. I took a few images from here on the site (Cal58GMC, 55ChevyPU, etc). Hope you guys don't mind!

More progress updates as they happen!

YouTube- Flight 59 6-27-10 Update: Your Vote is...

[texascowboy593]

Time flies when you work long days for a living and have a small child at home taking up the rest of your time...

So it's November and we have achieved some significant progress! After buying new front and rear fenders and last week buying 2 new doors (wifey is NOT happy), we are just a couple of weeks from final paint. My Brother-in-Law has put a ton of time and effort into this truck and he has also rec'd tons of help from his friend who is a pretty good bodyman. Here are some progress pics from Saturday. We did the jamb painting. The interior will be flat black as well as under the hood. The exterior: Prowler Orange. Does that color sound familiar? You can thank Cal58GMC for the inspiration on that! I was in love with that color as soon as he revealed it and I knew I had to do the same. This truck is FAR from the caliber his truck is but I just wanted to have a comfy little truck that can turn a couple of heads and that color will definitely do that! The interior floorboards will be Rhino-lined from just below the dash around to below the rear window including the inside steps. I still need to buy a new front bumper, headlight bezels, bed wood and strips and other goodies for the interior.

























Here's a little video of the days events:

YouTube - Flight 59 Update: Time for Paint!

Hope to have some more progress pics in a couple of weeks!

Tex

[Kim57]

That's a sweet color and it does look good on these trucks.
Kim

[BC Toy chest]

Plzzz hurry I want to see some more. That kolor is killer

[texascowboy593]

So... It took awhile for an update. A 3 year old in the house, a tight budget and messing around with a TV crew sidetracked progress...

Yes, a TV crew. I was in a show about trucking that was scheduled to air right about now but the network (a BIG cable / satellite one) cancelled it without even giving the pilot a chance to air. We filmed 15 episodes between December and March but none of that will ever be seen. I cannot go into more detail without getting into hot water. Anywho, let's talk about the truck.

My bro-in-law got some work done and there is progress to report. Everything except the interior, outer door shells, front fenders and front grill area are painted. I was there to witness the magic and it looks spectacular! Here are a couple of pics after he put the bed on from today and a video slideshow I put together from what happened yesterday...

YouTube - ‪Flight 59 Update:...

I still need a new F@rd 9" housing, a fuel cell, bed wood with mounting hardware, an alignment job and I need to get the exhaust properly welded up. More to come soon I hope!