Heavy Chevy -- the penny pinchers rebuild

[panhandler62]

This is not going to be a real active thread because I don't have the money or time to dive in and do everything all at once.

This is what I started with:

She is a 68 C-20 with a freshly rebuilt 74 vintage 350 complete with 80s something fi heads and a 3 plus granny transmission.

Plans call for:
Front disc brakes
AC
Power steering
Electric fan
Cam/Intake/Carb/Headers/Heads
Gas tank to rear
New wood bed floor
Removal of brown crunchy stuff.

[panhandler62]

Here are some of the thinfs I'll be dealing with:

[samwise68]

ooo...nice old bondo repair!

gotta love the old wire mesh trick.

penny pincher rebuilds are the best, especially on 100 dollar trucks. like mine. :P.

keep up the good work!

-Sam.

[panhandler62]

Well.. progress, of sorts. I did get her turned around the right way so I can work on her in the driveway.

It's hot and the race starts soon .. I think I'll be productive later... lol

[panhandler62]

We got some work done today. With the help of my gearhead in training we got the bumper, hood and cowl off. The right front fender is almost ready to come off but three of the bolts mating the fender to the inner fender think they are Ford parts..

I'm going to have to do a bit of cutting because they aren't coming off.

[panhandler62]

I got some metal blades for my saw last night so I can give it a shot tonight when I get home. There are three bolts between the inner fender and the outer fender that are just spinning. I can't readily get to the back of them and since I am trashing both peices I am just going to cut around them.

Once I get the front clip torn down I can figure out which parts can be saved and which ones will need to be replaced.

The next stage will be a general cleanup, assesment and upgrade planning. I want to put in power steering/brakes, AC and discs.

Are there 8 lug drop spindles available or will I need to stay at stock ride height if I don't want to change lug patterns?

[panhandler62]

No new pictures today.

My progress since the last has been mostly planning. I'm starting to figure out the order of work and order the parts to replace.

1. Tear down -- in progress
2. Replace manual steering box with power box
3. Disasemble front suspension
4. Clean and paint all parts
5. Clean and paint everything that I can reach
6. Locate drop spindles and 8 lug discs (all parts)
7. Add brake booster
8. Rebuild front suspension with all new soft parts, new brake system and new sway bar
9. Upgrade motor with better heads, loud cam, headers and intake
10. Add power steering pump and AC compressor
11. Pull and disassemble bed
12. Strip cab and repair rustouts
13. Loose factory tank and install Blazar tank or similar
14. Disassemble rear suspension
15. Fix suprises I can't see now
16. Clean and paint rest of frame
17. Reassemble rear suspension w/new soft parts and 2 or 4" drop springs
18. Paint and remount cab
19. Complete AC install
20. Switch knee-knocker parking brake for step on kind
21. Design, aquire and install gauge package
22. Install stereo
23. Insulate everything
24. Put carpet and sills back in
25. Install late model bench
26. Locate, paint and install new doors
27. Install front clip (will need parts!)
28. Stare at bed parts in disgust and decide what to do back there

Have I left any important or major steps out?

[panhandler62]

Things I will need that I don't have:

Tools:

1. Welder
2. Tourque wrench

Parts

1. Fenders
2. Fender liners
3. Drop Spindles
4. Sway bar
5. Bushings
6. Power steering box
7. Power steering pump & sundry
8. Inner/Outer rockers, cab corners & cab supports
9. Lots & lots of dyno mat
10. Primer/Paint (of various desriptions)
11. Rear lowering springs
12. Rear bushings
13. Rear sway bar (maybe)
14. Gas tank & sundry
15. New cam
16. Heads
17. Headers
18. Intake (have an extra carb but might try to trade my Eledbrock carb, my current manifold and perfect Q-Jet for a nice Holley type carb)
19. All AC parts (can't decide between finding a donor ac wreck for parts or going Vintage air)
20. A bed (I don't know what, if anything, I can salvage from this one.)

[72armyswbtruck]

Nice start to a build thread, did you ever get those bolts out?, I used a propane torch and ice or even a hot candle and let the wax melt into the threads. that works really great. Nice that you got a helper, mine is almost old enough to start helping me on mine.

[panhandler62]

I finaly just got the dang fener and inner liner off as a unit.. With it off the truck I can seperate them now.

[panhandler62]

I was actually pleasently suprised.. there isn't as much rot as I thought there was once the sheet metal came off.

[panhandler62]

Yes.. there are three horns .. what can I say.. PO

[panhandler62]

Oh.. I wonder how long the mummified rat has been in there .. found him laying in the channel of the radiator support.

[panhandler62]

Mowed the lady's lawn across the street (she was in a bad car accident last month so my wife and I are taking care of her) then came home to sit down and watch the race.... turned on ESPN and watched it rain like a sub-bioch in Mi so I decided to work on the bomb some more.

[panhandler62]

Found less rust here than I expected ...

[panhandler62]

Found some here to make up for it though...

[panhandler62]

I'm going to have a bit of a struggle with the core support. Both bolts are rust frozen and the back spins on one of them.

It was starting to rain here so I decided to wrap her back up.

Sorry about the lack of 20" rims, bright paint and air ride in this thread.. What can I say, I'm working with what I got.

[DESTRO]

Originally Posted by panhandler62

Sorry about the lack of 20" rims, bright paint and air ride in this thread.. What can I say, I'm working with what I got.

I hear ya! Doin the same.Glad to see I'm not the only one on a tight budget.
I like your thread.Keep up the good work

[panhandler62]

Got a little done yesterday.

I managed to get the core support off. Doesn't sound like much, but that was a real pita.

Both bolts were rust-welded and one was spinning in place. Took a bit of coniving (and a pants-load of WD40) to get them free.

[panhandler62]

Thought I would add a bit here....

Haven't done much recently but I have managed to locate a power steering gear box and all of the components (except brake line) I need to dispose of the front drums and convert to discs.

I guess my next steps are going to be to gut the cab and dismount the bed so I can get it hauled off.

If anyone wants a somewhat rusty bed with a wavy floor (like for a farm truck, trailer, whatnot ...) it's free for the taking if you can come get it. I'll toss in a meal of you help disconect it! lol

[D-Monkey]

I didn't see this mentioned in your parts list, so disregard if you knew already. If your going to switch from front drums to front disks, you'll need a brake proportioning valve. I know very little about this, so if you're going full disk all around I have no idea if you still need it, but here is an archive link as to why you need one.

http://www.67-72chevytrucks.com/vboa.../t-114766.html

[panhandler62]

That's one of the parts that I am picking up in a couple weeks. Booster, M/C, proportioning valve, calipers, spindles and rotors from an 84 3/4 ton.

I'm going to leave the drums in the rear. Rear discs look neat but they really do bupkis for stopping power in an unloaded truck.

Since I'm not building a show truck the expense of going to rear discs just doesn't seem worth it.

[panhandler62]

Took some advice and went back to get the '83 control arms also.

[panhandler62]

If anyone needs a stock tip -- buy WD-40 .. cause I'm gonna be using some!

[PanelDeland]

panhandler, I just gotta tell you,"You're wasting time with the WD-40" Go to HF or NT and get some PB Blaster.I'm sure it's available other places but I know they carry it.It will work much better and faster and you will not have to buy it by the truckload.