Project '64 Cheapskate

[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.

[63ChevC10]

Very cool build man! Subscribed

[Low Elco]

That's the kinda friends to have! This is gonna be killer. Totally beater, yet totally bad ass!
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[chevyrestoguy]

Originally Posted by 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.

Thanks, James! I hang around with some talented guys, and we all pitch in on each other's projects whenever we can. It just feels weird for me to be at work and someone else is at home working on my stuff.....

Originally Posted by 63ChevC10

Very cool build man! Subscribed

Thanks!!

Originally Posted by Low Elco

That's the kinda friends to have! This is gonna be killer. Totally beater, yet totally bad ass!
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That's the idea....a little rough on the outside, but with a nice riding chassis, strong engine, and a quiet, well-insulated interior. I want this thing to be a vehicle that I could hop in and drive it 3000 miles to the opposite coast, comfortably, and in style!

[charlie8297]

I have never heard of anyone using CLR to remove rust from vehicles, but thinking about it now makes sense. How much do you dilute the CLR, or is it just straight? Do you let it, or use it with scotch brite and then scrub? Thanks for the info in advance!

[chevyrestoguy]

I used CLR, diluted about 50% in a spray bottle, and scrubbed lightly with a red Scotchbrite. I did all of the scrubbing with the hose spraying directly on the area. Kind of like wet sanding with a Scotchbrite. You will take some paint off, so be really light with the Scotchbrite.

I wish I would have waited before I did mine because all of my areas flash-rusted. I plan to spray clear over my paint, and I would like to keep as much of the original paint as I can. I'm just not ready to spray the clear yet because there's still some bodywork to do.

[charlie8297]

Thanks for the tip and info! That is one sweet looking truck!

[dr69burb]

Did you guys put the motor back in after lowering the mounts? What kind of room do you have between the oil pan and crossmember? Work looks great.
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[chevyrestoguy]

Yes, the motor is back in the mounts and in place. The engine was put back into it's stock "elevation" with two mods. First, the engine mount stands were shortened 1" and second, the engine mount clamshells were trimmed and the engine mount thru-hole (the one for the long bolt) was raised 1". These two mods lowered the engine 2" to offset the 2" Z'ing of the chassis, essentially putting the engine right back in it's stock "elevation". There is about 2.0" of clearance between the oil pan and the crossmember at it's tightest point. I won't be able to remove the oil pan with the engine installed, but honestly, how many times do you ever do that anyway? I've done it a few times with the engine installed, and it's a pain.

[dr69burb]

Great info thank you
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[chevyrestoguy]

Did a lot more work this weekend, and it wasn't the fun kind, either. With all of the stuff under the hood that will get covered in chassis black along with the fresh Chevy Orange engine, I knew that the firewall was going to have to get painted. If you've ever done this before, you know that it's not fun work.

My truck originally came with dealer-installed in-dash air. The '64 trucks had this option available, but it was installed at the dealership. The later '65 and '66 trucks had the A/C option installed during the assembly line process. My truck was missing most all of the A/C system with the exception of the dash vents and ducting, and the A/C -only ash tray. Weird...that's usually the FIRST stuff to go. Anyway, I found the rest of the parts and I needed to test-fit the evaporator to ensure that the holes in the firewall were drilled in the right place. The dealer had to hand-drill all of the holes, and some people can't read a schematic to save their lives. Here's an older picture of the beautiful job the dealer did (I'm kidding). In this old picture, I had an extra set of block-off plates, so I installed them to help keep the critters out.


I wanted a nice firewall that was as air-tight as I could make it, so after the test fit of the high and low pressure fittings, I decided that they needed to be smaller and placed correctly. That meant a lot of cutting and fitting of patch panels. While we were at it, we filled a lot of the other unused holes in the firewall. There were a bunch. After a few rounds of filler, it was ready for metal etch primer:


And then, it got a few good coats of filler primer. You can see that the original holes are in a slightly different place and much smaller than before. My intent is to have the tubes penetrate the firewall through rubber grommets, but we'll see when it's time to install the evaporator and heater box for the final time.


The overspray area below the firewall will be sprayed with undercoating after the white paint is shot on. No reason to go crazy trying to mask that area off, as tape will not stick to the old asphalt-based undercoating.

While I was toiling away on the firewall, Brad starting putting filler on the driver's side bed, being extra careful not to go too far out with the filler because these areas will be spotted in to blend in with the old, original paint.



All in all, a very productive weekend. A big thanks to Brad for guilting me into doing the firewall and for doing the bodywork!

[Low Elco]

Yaaaay update! God, I want those wheels. Just in 8.5 and 10 for my 87!
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[Low Elco]

Ps- you still under Momma's radar?
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[chevyrestoguy]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Ps- you still under Momma's radar?
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No, I broke the news to her a few weeks ago, and she was completely cool with it. She's that way, she understands. I was into cars long before we met, and she knows that I put aside my hobby for years to ensure that the bills were paid and that everybody in the family was taken care of. I don't hit the bars or stay out late, I get alot of stuff done around the house, or blow money frivolously. I told her that we needed a truck to use for errands and that I was building one from extra parts I had laying around

You can find the old style wheels if you hit the swapmeets, Craigslist, and even the recycling centers. Some fools only look at the wheel for it's aluminum value, and they'll take them to the local recycler. I bought a pair of Torq-Thrusts years ago from a recycler, who had them stashed in the corner. He made money on them, and he was happy to sell them. Finding them in 8.5" is relatively easy, as that was a very popular width. Finding the 10" ones in the old straight-spoke style is nearly impossible because only one company made them back in the '70s(Crestline). You can find them in the curved spoke style (i.e: Torq-Thrust "D"), but I'm not a big fan of that look. The straight spokes look "right" and have that vintage '60s look. It's easier to find the American Racing 200s (Daisy) wheels in 5x5 and the widths you need because they were really popular on the trucks and vans back in the '70s. I have a pair of 10" Daisys in 5x5 in my wheel stash that I bought years ago with the intent of putting them on a '73 C-10 but never used them.

[plainred65]

Glad to see you're still at work on it, good progress. I agree, the wheels look at home!

[Low Elco]

I've heard about the Crestlines, easier to get a winning Lotto ticket. I really want a set of new t70's. I kinda dig'em. Glad to hear Momma's hip on your scheme, sure makes life easier. Keep it up, I can't wait to see this thing Rollin!
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[Jonboy]

Don't know how I missed all of the progress on this one, but it really looks great, Alex.

[chevyrestoguy]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

I've heard about the Crestlines, easier to get a winning Lotto ticket. I really want a set of new t70's. I kinda dig'em. Glad to hear Momma's hip on your scheme, sure makes life easier. Keep it up, I can't wait to see this thing Rollin!
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Yeah, I'm really getting the itch to finish this thing. My work schedule is crazy right now, and I can only get the weekends to work on it. It makes for a rough week at work when you're dead-tired from the weekend and you never got a chance to rest.

I know what you mean about T-70s.....they are my favorite of all the Torq-Thrust type wheels. The crisp edge on the tops of the spokes and the 200s hex cap gives those wheels a completely different look. Do you know that back when they were introduced, they were a flop? Nobody liked them and they were quickly discontinued. American is reproducing them, but I don't think they make them in 5x5. I went through all of that about a year ago, and every option I looked at was either too expensive, the wrong backspace, or the wrong bolt pattern.

[Low Elco]

Yeah, you almost have to go vintage to get the deep barrels necessary for a square. They just don't make 'em like that anymore. I love 'em though!

[Low Elco]

Any Progress?

[chevyrestoguy]

Not much to show in pictures, but I have been busy collecting the parts. When we disassembled the front clip to gain access to the frame for the "Z" job, we noticed that the driver's side bolt (the big one, going vertical) that holds the core support to the frame was way far forward, and rubbing the front edge of the hole in the frame bracket. After some measuring, it was determined that the factory had made an error when they built the driver's side inner fender, as it was 1/4" longer than the passenger side. This difference in length caused a bunch of problems because everything was in a bind, and it cracked the core support in 8(!) places, and broke the flange at the firewall where the passenger side inner fender bolts to. It made a mess.

So, I have been looking for a matching set of inner fenders on Craigslist, and hadn't had much luck until today. A guy in Pomona had a set, along with a core support, but the core support was junk. I got the inner fenders, and on the way home, hit the Pick-A-Part in Ontario and got a core support out of a '63. That was fun......This truck was obviously used in a stockyard, because as soon as I pulled the first bolt out, the worst possible smell of ancient cow manure came out of from under the truck. It was like disturbing a poop tomb. It was disgusting.

I'll have to do some metal work to get the parts ready to install, so that's next on my list.

[Low Elco]

Always a good feeling making chicken salad outta chicken s#@t! Or cow patties to prime rib, in this case! Glad to see you got some progress made!

[Low Elco]

PS- I had to make several, ahem, modifications to the core support biscuits/brackets on yella to get it all to fit correctly. The carbide burr and the bandsaw are your friend!

[Kabwe]

Yeah okay I have to admit that the 64 is looking good in fact I will use the word great, but we are still waiting for you to come back over to the 47-59 side you traitor.lol

Nice work on the 64 man, really nice work.

[kustombrad]

Yes, the truck is looking great! As far as Alex being a traitor, he has helped me on my truck a little recently and it being a '49 still keeps him in our group, so cut him a little slack!
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