Project: Fireball 1974 Custom 20

[patbeard44]

Hello all, i've been stalking the forums for the past 6 months or so, about the time i got my first Chevy that is.

Before we get on to the new truck, i'll show you what first got me addicted to working on these old Chevys. It was a 1971 Custom 20, bare bones basic but i didn't care when i brought it home. I was actually axle shopping at one of my teacher's back lots when i saw it, so i brought it home the next day.



The glamour shot of my Toyota of coarse ^



I then found this guy nested in the glove box. He wasnt too happy about being trapped in a cage, so i had to deal with him promptly.





After i drove it around the driveway and down the dirt road for a week or so, i decided to start ripping it apart, i wish i had taken more pictures of it, but i got alot of the body work and new parts.



{IMG}http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u500/lesterdamolestor/20141127_185300920_iOS.jpg{IMG}

{IMG}http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u500/lesterdamolestor/20141128_211256990_iOS.jpg{IMG}



And on to starting the paint, about a month in...











The color is off of the new 2015 GMC pickups, i think its called Sonoma Red





Laying on the clear







From there i added a new dash and the usual replacement interior pieces, oh and some leather electric seats out of a 2000 something Oldsmobile.

And that brings us to the beautiful truck sitting next to the '71



A 1974 Custom 20, yeah i know pretty original, its even reddish too lol. Except for now the '74 has power brakes, and power steering. plus its got that magical third pedal that ive been wanting since i felt the take off power of the Turbo 400 that the '71 had

First thing i did was build a flatbed for the moment so i could make it street legal, followed up by the autozone lights.







I'll stop this here before i lose track of where i'm going with this thread. Hope you guys enjoy, and if this isn't where this belongs i'll kindly move it, or however you go along with doing that lol

-Pat

[patbeard44]

Alright a little update to update us to today.


A night shot of the 74, gosh she sure is pretty


Next to make it a little more legal, some mudflaps courtesy of one of the old grain trucks.




Thought i'd take a picture of it before i drove it to school, and it inevitably broke something or lost something, except it hasnt yet... which surprised me seeing as it sat for 15 years before me and my buddy got it running.

Well after a week or so i got tired of tools and such falling off when i gun it leaving the school parking lot. So it was time for its first long range trip, other than the 15 mile trip to school everyday. So it was time to head towards the junkyard and low and behold it was nice enough to "turn on the a/c"



Next thing ya know, it being Kansas, the next day it snowed, which made me kinda like the idea of white paint.. hmm...



But i did accomplish something, look at that two tone paint



The bed is off of a 70s something 3+3 crew cab.



Well it was semi nice, so i thought "Why not... I'll start the restoration of it now" its not like i was going to drive it or anything...



Almost everything i think is fixable so thats a plus..

Let me tell you, that hood and them doors are perty dang heavy if your taking them off by yourself lol


Down to the core support... so the question arises.. shall i leave the engine in it, or transfer the L82 350 out of one of my teachers 79 corvette... anyone got an opinion on it? id love to here your guy's thoughts!

[71veronica]

L82 not bad. If the price is right why not.

[patbeard44]

Originally Posted by 71veronica

L82 not bad. If the price is right why not.

Well i got the l82 for a 100$ around a year ago, and i went through it already and it looked like he wasnt lying when he said it only had about 60,000 miles on it..

[patbeard44]

Its been a really long time since i updated this thread, been busy with school and work but not too busy to get some work done on the '74

She sat outside for a couple months with new fenders from LMC



Until one day at school i bought this and it showed up a week later



Its a 6.0 LQ4 out of a 2002 silverado 2500



Replacing the old flexplate with a new Sachs flywheel



Mounted the SM465, just as much of a pain as it was with the orig small block



Got the motor mounted, using Car Shop Inc, which said they retained the original location but i came up about an inch short of the transmission crossmember and driveshaft, so moved the whole mount back on the frame and she sits in there just fine now



Got the intake off, going with a carb intake and a MSD 6010 ignition box. Also waiting on a Carter low pressure electric fuel pump and a bunch of the little stuff to make mechanical gauges work. Hopefully i'm not missing anything! Hope everyones likes it so far, feel free to tell me if im forgetting anything, cause i'm sorta out of my element with this no distributor-electric fuel pump kinda world