67Fleet's build thread

[67Fleet]

Well, everyone else has a build thread, so I was feeling left out and decided to start my own.
To give you all a little backround, it was about 2 years ago and I had been feeling a little lost as I hadn't had a "toy" in about 4 years. It wasn't long before I found this jewel down in south FL on evilbay, bid on it and subsequently won it for the ripe 'ol price of $4,500. I drove down to get it w/ my '03 silverado and a uhaul trailer and brought it back. It ran great, was roadworthy, and had just a little rust in the rockers and driver floor pan:

[67Fleet]

I drove it around like this for about 2 months and something just didn't feel right. This was someone else's truck. So I decided to make a few changes. I lowered it some more and threw on a set of 20" wheels/tires and it was taking shape as more of a "hot rod".

[67Fleet]

I was having a lot of fun with the truck and took it to the Daytona Turkey Rod Run, and to Old Town, which just happens to be 5 minutes from my house and has the nations largest weekly classic car cruise Saturday nights. Then, I ran into a couple guys in a local custom truck club called Outlandish Trends. They were pretty cool guys and convinced me to join. It wasn't long after this that they also convinced me to bag the truck. All I had to do was come up with the scratch for all the components and they'd help me install everything. Who could pass that up? It looked pretty tough to install all this stuff after I laid it out on the guest bedroom floor....

[67Fleet]

We ended up doing the rear first in one weekend, and then the front on the following weekend. Luckily everything went pretty smoothly and we didn't run into any major issues. Afterwards I was left with a pretty sweet looking bagged '67 SWB and was the envy of all the guys in my club. This wasn't just another "me too" truck. (like the S-10...."What kind of truck do you have?" An S-10....."ME TOO!") The truck stood out pretty good at some of the local shows and it made me proud to own it.

[snacob14]

So what are the specs. I like the stance, is that ride height. How bout some ride height pics.

[67Fleet]

So now the truck is bagged, I take it to Slamfest in Tampa in '06. I almost ended up trading it for of all things an S-10. Granted it was a covertruck multiple times, was bagged and BD'd and was just sick. Somehow the deal didn't go through and I ended up driving my truck home. Not that I was upset, but after I got home I decided that my truck just wasn't low enough, wasn't modified enough, and just wasn't exactly what I wanted to be driving. So I ordered some more parts and started doing some work on it. Now granted before I started taking this thing apart I really had limited knowledge in suspensions, and -0- knowledge in welding or fabrication. This project was going to be a learning experience for me. I decided I first wanted to get the truck down to the earth so I bought the KP step-notch kit and their under-bed-kit for the rear bags. Here's the progress of that:

[67Fleet]

The truck basically sat like the above last picture for about 6 months. I had a lot of things going on at work, was wakeboarding a lot during the weekends, and had lost some interest in the truck. All that came to an end during Memorial day weekend when I blew out my left MCL wakeboarding. I came home from the hospital and just sat and stared at my lifeless truck sitting in the garage for about a half hour. I decided to get back to work. Here's the latest pics as of this last weekend:

[67Fleet]

I'm running Slam RE7 bags front and rear. The bridge bars are made of 1-1/2" schedule 80 square tubing and the upper bag brackets are from KP also. I had to cut and massage them quite a bit to fit and look good. It sure would be nice to have a plasma cutter!

Some basic specs of my air system are:
RE7 bags, (2) Viair 380C compressors, (2) 3-gallon tanks, 8 SMC 3/8" valves, 3/8" line, up front the cups are cut down to 1/2" and running plates up top. I made my own gauge plate for the dash, I'll have to take some pics of that as it came out really good.
Right now I've got an 1-1/2" sectioned front crossmember that KaptKaos built for me, and a fuel cell from FuelCellGuy that I need to install. I need to buy the upper/lower control arms from ART, and I'll be getting POR-15 to coat the frame this week. Hopefully I can get that done on Sunday.
I've also dabbled in some random bodywork. So far I've shaved the hood letters, front fender emblems, and 3 of 4 stake pockets.

[67Fleet]

So that's about where I'm at today 7/16/07. I was bored tonight so I thought I'd share my story and my progress. Hopefully it motivates someone else that wants to do their own work but is afraid to try. I've done a lot of research, and reading, and thanks to everyone on this website for being so incredibly helpful and answering my questions when I needed help. I've learned a ton, and still have a long long ways to go and even more to learn still. I've got some really good ideas for the truck and want to do some different stuff to make it unique but I know my limits and will have to farm some of the work out. It's starting to finally take shape and now my goal is to just get the rear finished so I can put the bed back on it and get it rolling again. I want to see this thing throwing sparks!

[dave2953]

Looks awesome! I've always thought of your truck as one of the best on this site. Keep up the great work!

[randomhero472]

looks great... now get that front end done!! you going w/a dropmember for the front?

[gringoloco]

Welcome back! Off the deep end, I see. Are you gonna be able to use all of that notch with the trailing arms?

[72CSTC5]

Looks good I like it. Glad to see you are back on the project. I do not know how exactly you lost interest in your project. I would work on these trucks all day long if I could get paid enough to do them full time. I just do not have enough time in the day to get mine done and customer's at the same time.

[67Fleet]

Thanks for the compliments guys!
Randomhero, I am using a 1-1/2" sectioned front crossmember that CaptKaos built for me.

Gringoloco, right now with the 2" blocks the axle doesn't go all the way to the top of the notch, it's about 2" shy. If I clearance the frame a little and box it in I'll be able to get lower. Haven't decided if I want to go that route yet. If I set it up to get lower my ride height will get lower. That's one of the drawbacks of the bag-in-front-of-axle setup that I'm going with. Maybe down the road I'll get the KP 6-link kit?.....

72CSTC5, I don't know how I lost interest either! If I had kept at it my heap would be in the bodyshop now getting final prep and paint.
Did you get a chance to start working on my cowl yet? I can't wait to get that back, I'm sure I'll be super-happy with it!

[67Fleet]

7/28: Coated the frame in POR-15 today. It came out looking really nice. Before I started I went to Lowe's and picked up a Tyvek suit. Glad I did. That stuff is nasty!! Tomorrow I'm going to try and get the rear end and the trailing arms done.

[CAL 58 GMC]

Hey 67Fleet, nice job on the C-notch for a guy that's never did any welding before! It just goes to show that even a weekend builder can do some nice work too.

[red02chevy]

damn nice truck. i wish i would have been able to get that body style.

[72 Cheyenne402]

Originally Posted by 67Fleet

7/28: Coated the frame in POR-15 today. It came out looking really nice. Before I started I went to Lowe's and picked up a Tyvek suit. Glad I did. That stuff is nasty!! Tomorrow I'm going to try and get the rear end and the trailing arms done.

looks awsome!!!!!!!!!!! I am about to go with some bags also. What size Adaptors are you running? and backspacing on your wheels? Are they 8.5" or 9" wide?

[b&a72]

Are you using cups on the bottom brackets in the back?

[67Fleet]

Originally Posted by CAL 58 GMC

Hey 67Fleet, nice job on the C-notch for a guy that's never did any welding before! It just goes to show that even a weekend builder can do some nice work too.

Thanks! that really means a lot coming from you. Your truck is one I've really admired since I first saw it!

Originally Posted by b&a72

Are you using cups on the bottom brackets in the back?

Yes, I'm running 3" cups out back right now. I may end up cutting them down some, they are in there like that just for mock-up until I set the ride height.

Originally Posted by 72 Cheyenne402

looks awsome!!!!!!!!!!! I am about to go with some bags also. What size Adaptors are you running? and backspacing on your wheels? Are they 8.5" or 9" wide?

Thanks, I've got 1-1/2" adapters on the rear only. Up front I have a disc conversion and it pushes the track width outward without spacers. Backspacing is 4.25" on a 20x8.5" wheel.

[gringoloco]

Haven't given up on us again have you? I've got a quick question for you- If you know off-hand or don't mind measuring, how tall is the KP notch above the frame rail?

Thanks, and your progress looks good -Chris

[67Fleet]

Originally Posted by gringoloco

Haven't given up on us again have you? I've got a quick question for you- If you know off-hand or don't mind measuring, how tall is the KP notch above the frame rail?

Thanks, and your progress looks good -Chris

I'll never give up! I'm kind of in a hold pattern waiting for my KP Watts link. Also need to find time to get to Sears to get a 1-1/8" impact shallow socket so I can get the trailing arms off from the crossmember. I've got the rear detached, but those trailing arm bolts are a PITA! I've been soaking them every other day but I think the impact gun is the way to go. I have a deep well but it is kinda tight between the frame and the nut and wont clear.

The notch is 8" at the front from the top of the frame rail and 9" at the back. The inch variance from front to back keeps it level across the top.

[b&a72]

Originally Posted by 67Fleet

I'll never give up! I'm kind of in a hold pattern waiting for my KP Watts link. Also need to find time to get to Sears to get a 1-1/8" impact shallow socket so I can get the trailing arms off from the crossmember. I've got the rear detached, but those trailing arm bolts are a PITA! I've been soaking them every other day but I think the impact gun is the way to go. I have a deep well but it is kinda tight between the frame and the nut and wont clear.

I'll measure the notch tonight for ya and report back!

So did you decide to ditch the trailing arms? KP has a watts link for our trucks now?

[67Fleet]

Originally Posted by b&a72

So did you decide to ditch the trailing arms? KP has a watts link for our trucks now?

No, I need to get them off so I can clean them up and cover them in POR-15 like the frame. I'm doing the rear end also.

[letitride67]

any update pics?