1969 Short Wide

[Dieselwrencher]

Mike the truck looks awesome! I'm sure the first drive was a bummer, but at least it died in your drive way and not half way from home. That stinks about the bumper man. Keep at it, you're really close now.

[KSWes]

Hope the snags won't hold back your progress for long.

[litew8]

WTH are those, and why are they there? I see three burrs

[Dieselwrencher]

From what I can tell, those burrs are the bi-product of the poorly made die used to bend that brace. Bad deal for sure.

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Mike the truck looks awesome! I'm sure the first drive was a bummer, but at least it died in your drive way and not half way from home. That stinks about the bumper man. Keep at it, you're really close now.

Thanks Ryan. It sucked running out of gas but just getting it out of the shop on it's own power was pretty incredible.

Originally Posted by KSWes

Hope the snags won't hold back your progress for long.

Minor setback

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

From what I can tell, those burrs are the bi-product of the poorly made die used to bend that brace. Bad deal for sure.

Correct. This is why I chose NOT to use any aftermarket parts on my build unless absolutely necessary. If I had noticed the burrs, I would have just grinded them flush before install.
The good news is Classic Chevy parts in OKC where I bought the bumper and brackets exchanged the bumper for another new one. They were sold out of the crappy brackets so I just fixed them up and repainted them.

[mcbassin]

Here are the bulkhead pictures for Chip (Low Elco).

[Low Elco]

Aww maaaannn... Sorry, Mike. Glad Classic was upright about it. Thanks for the pics! I think we're gonna go stock style and run the main in from the front. Yours looks great!

[jlsanborn]

Sorry to hear about that trim piece. Hope you can find one quick. I picked up a used sport bumper that has the same treatment. I gave it a few licks with a dead-blow hammer and it'll have to do for now. Very cool that you've got a supplier that close and that they did that for you.

[litew8]

You must have really torqued them suckers down good

[KSWes]

Great news that Classic Parts is taking good care of you. Always nice when companies do the right thing.

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Aww maaaannn... Sorry, Mike. Glad Classic was upright about it. Thanks for the pics! I think we're gonna go stock style and run the main in from the front. Yours looks great!

Thanks Chip, No problem. It's all good, they told me they sell a few hundred bumpers and brackets a month. I guess I was the only one that had a problem with it.

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

Sorry to hear about that trim piece. Hope you can find one quick. I picked up a used sport bumper that has the same treatment. I gave it a few licks with a dead-blow hammer and it'll have to do for now. Very cool that you've got a supplier that close and that they did that for you.

I found the missing trim piece in the bottom of the box he shipped them in. I have a spare lower right rear piece. Bonus.

Originally Posted by litew8

You must have really torqued them suckers down good

Somehow, that comment really doesn't surprise me coming from you. No I hadn't even finished tightening a 1/2" -13 bumper bolt takes what 30-40 ft lbs. torque. Probably no more 20 ft. lb. Inferior taiwan metal isn't the same as the American metal from these trucks 40+ years ago.
If you had looked at the same picture you posted of the deformed bracket you could see how easily the bumper would be deformed.

Originally Posted by KSWes

Great news that Classic Parts is taking good care of you. Always nice when companies do the right thing.

Yep, I hope to have the new one on tonight.

[Bennett68C10]

Mike that is great news that Classic Parts exchanged the bumper for you. I feel a lot better about them now after I just ordered my headliner and door panel trim from them today. Oh and don't waste your breathe responding to that other comment.

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by Bennett68C10

Mike that is great news that Classic Parts exchanged the bumper for you. I feel a lot better about them now after I just ordered my headliner and door panel trim from them today. Oh and don't waste your breathe responding to that other comment.

It was actually Classic Chevy parts of OKC. Not to be confused with Classic Parts from KC. But none the less, it was cool that they exchanged it for me.

What kind of deal did you get on the headliner and trim? I bought my door panel trims from them too. I spent several hundred bucks with those guys on my build, only had one problem with a part that was sent wrong from them and they made it right and sent the correct part.

[Bennett68C10]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

It was actually Classic Chevy parts of OKC. Not to be confused with Classic Parts from KC. But none the less, it was cool that they exchanged it for me.

What kind of deal did you get on the headliner and trim? I bought my door panel trims from them too. I spent several hundred bucks with those guys on my build, only had one problem with a part that was sent wrong from them and they made it right and sent the correct part.

Lol my mistake, I thought you were talking about the one from KC. They want $99.95 for the headliner trim with shipping which was cheaper then everybody I saw. I already have the headliner so I just ordered the trim and the door panel trim. Now comes the fun part of making it fit since my truck didn't come with a headliner from the factory, but I like how it looks so I'll have to cut all the slots in the roof.

[litew8]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Somehow, that comment really doesn't surprise me coming from you. No I hadn't even finished tightening a 1/2" -13 bumper bolt takes what 30-40 ft lbs. torque. Probably no more 20 ft. lb. Inferior taiwan metal isn't the same as the American metal from these trucks 40+ years ago.
If you had looked at the same picture you posted of the deformed bracket you could see how easily the bumper would be deformed.

Yeah, my honesty and integrity precedes me. Thanks for the compliment, I think.

[67chevy1series]

Mike I'm going to agree with you those bumper brackets even though there new Taiwan made probably they could even ruin an original bumper, a friend of mine bought a used sport bumper for his 72 and he bought a set of aftermarket bumper brackets and sure enough as soon as the gap was closing it's started to tweak the bumper. On my 67 I also had the same problem with my rear bumper brackets.

[68 Four on the Floor]

Congrats on the first drive Mike.

[Dean'smeanmachine]

the truck looks so good!
now go back to the first page of your build.
it has come along way

[PowerdbyChevy79]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Took ole red out for a Sunday drive
I've got a lot of little bugs to work out but still better than the last test drive.

hell yea... looks damn good brother..

[PowerdbyChevy79]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Wednesday I picked up the new tires. Last night I had Crash_OK, EightiesOnly, and PDAWG'-85 help me install the bed (Thanks guys!)

My son and I decided after we got the bed buttoned down and the tailgate back on to take her on the maiden voyage

It didn't go down without a hitch....We ran out of gas at the end of my driveway. We ended up dragging it back to the shop, putting 5 gallons in and tinkering with it till we felt she was road worthy enough to take another stab at it.
We drove her exactly 1 mile and 3 tenths
throttle response is good and tranny shifted out good. Found some issues that I have to deal with asap. but overall it was great after almost 5 years to have it on the road even for a small spin.

Tires:


First peek of sunshine:


Bed in place:




out of gas


Back at home

congrats brother.... sorry im late..man she looks good...no better feeling in the world...

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by PowerdbyChevy79

congrats brother.... sorry im late..man she looks good...no better feeling in the world...

Thanks and yes it was a great feeling of accomplishment to get her out of that cave after all these years.

[knomadd]

Originally Posted by Dean'smeanmachine

the truck looks so good!
now go back to the first page of your build.
it has come along way

I agree, and had to do some visual representation for us all...

Before


After


Interior before


Interior after

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by 67chevy1series

Mike I'm going to agree with you those bumper brackets even though there new Taiwan made probably they could even ruin an original bumper, a friend of mine bought a used sport bumper for his 72 and he bought a set of aftermarket bumper brackets and sure enough as soon as the gap was closing it's started to tweak the bumper. On my 67 I also had the same problem with my rear bumper brackets.

Thanks for confirmation Rick. I know that 90% of the aftermarket parts for our trucks is Junk. It seems a niche company would capitalize on that market and just charge more to make up the difference. I know I would pay more for OEM grade parts. This is why I'm anal about NOS parts or nice original parts that can be restored.

Originally Posted by 68 Four on the Floor

Congrats on the first drive Mike.

Thanks Drew.

Originally Posted by Dean'smeanmachine

the truck looks so good!
now go back to the first page of your build.
it has come along way

Thanks Dean, yep it has been a journey.

Originally Posted by PowerdbyChevy79

hell yea... looks damn good brother..

Thanks

Originally Posted by knomadd

I agree, and had to do some visual representation for us all...

Thanks Duane, quite a difference a few years and a few $$ makes

[russgoodman]

Dang Mike, I was in the city yesterday and was going to run by Classic and pick up a few things including the bumper brackets. Decided not to go, and Im glad I did now. Sucks, but at least they traded you out for new ones. Truck looks amazing!

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by russgoodman

Dang Mike, I was in the city yesterday and was going to run by Classic and pick up a few things including the bumper brackets. Decided not to go, and Im glad I did now. Sucks, but at least they traded you out for new ones. Truck looks amazing!

Thanks Russ. I had to return the second bumper today. It was bowed up in the middle. So bad the tailgate trim was hitting it before the tailgate was all the way open. I got a refund after we checked a few others they had in stock that were bowed they same way.