"Like I need another hole in my head" 70 chevy short wide project

[76kcfdeng]

I needed another project and another truck like I need a hole in my head. Well I have it so here goes. This will not be a show truck, just a decent driver. It won't be a fast build i don't think, depends on funds and time. I have a good start, someone's project never finished.

The truck is a 70 sort of. The frame is a 70, the cab I am not sure except that it is a factory air GMC, the bed I have no clue and it has repair panels from another bed welded in. I have new inner and outer fenders, new frt bumper, new 72 grill surround and headlight bezels. I also have all the rubber to do the doors and windows, windshield and back window already done. The frame has been cleaned, painted, bushings done, power discs and power steering. Motor and trans rebuilt, new carter AFB. The interior is complete with factory radio, vents and knobs, door panels and handles. The seat is a 60/40 from another truck.

I plan for a 4/6 drop from ECE, steelies of some sort, factory air, relocate gas tank, frt 3/4 ton sway bar, rear camaro sway bar, maybe semi flat black with white roof, maybe gloss black, maybe all white.

Today was spent building a rolling rack for the bed and vacuuming out dirt from the cab and doors. Also had to remove the tailgate which was a challenge. The PO installed a rollpan with the tailgate on, that blocked access to the lower hinge bolts. A little hammering on a long rod to make room to access the bolt from the bottom, long extension and a swivel got it out. I also did a little tweaking on the frame, the rear sections did not sit level. The passenger rail was an 1 1/2 low at the back, almost level now. I may do a pipe notch and fix it completely then.

Comments, guidance and ideas welcome

[76kcfdeng]

I put some time in on the truck today. Welded a bunch of holes in the bed. I also cut off the roll pan because I want a bumper. The PO of the bed had someone doing the bodywork, I am fixing several things he messed up, filling holes with bondo was one. The bed was also left in the rain with bare metal so I removed all the surface rust today. I am no bodyman but I try to do things properly. The hood was sagging in the middle and it was bugging me so I cut a piece of 1/2" square tubing 35" long, bent a bow in it and slid it under the front and back hood braces. I think I will clean it up and add a cross brace and weld it to the braces when I get to the hood.

What does it take to get the heater fan out? Mine is not working so I plan to pull it out and either fix or replace it.

Here are the pics, Glen





Yesterdays project, rolling table built with scrap from the yard.


Hood brace.

[lolife99]

Nice project!
The cab is a 67 or 68, due to the under dash emergency brake lever.
Is there a label on the inside of the glove box door.

[76kcfdeng]

There is no label on the glovebox. I was looking at the leftover trim and it looked like 67/68 trim. There is the vin tag, I have the 70 vin tag to put on it later.
Thanks, Glen

[76kcfdeng]

So I have started the rebuild of my 70 with a factory air cab. I was planning to use the factory air setup. It has all the stuff under the dash and on the fire wall, has a compressor. I have no condenser, hoses and dryer. I just discovered that the fan does not work, have done a lot of diagnosing yet.

So the question is what do you think the cost difference is between getting the stock setup working and a complete vintage, old or other companies aftermarket setup? What are the advantages/disadvantages of either? I know I can clean up the firewall and shave the cowl with aftermarket.

Please give your opinions especially if you have either working.

Thanks, Glen

[76kcfdeng]

No one with any advice on the air conditioning?

[red69ss]

I'm going vintage or old air or one of the after market setups, it gives a much cleaner appearance under the hood and you can shave the firewall. plus with my limited knowledge of ac ,it seems simple to install.

[76kcfdeng]

I went to the U-Pull-It today and picked up a few things. I got a spare gauge panel, glove box door, 3/4 ton frt sway bar, Trans Am rear sway bar, flip down plate holder for when I do the camaro tank, bowtie hubcaps, and a spare headlight switch. Time to order some new bushings for the sways and get them mounted up.
I am kind of leaning towards the aftermarket air con, just need to save the money. Want to buy the 4/6 drop, rear bumper and rear view mirrors first.

[mcmlxix]

Originally Posted by 76kcfdeng

No one with any advice on the air conditioning?

Skip the factory air. You'll need a bunch of small parts that may be hard to come by.... go aftermarket...


Can you show how they relocated the tailgate handle...

[76kcfdeng]

Originally Posted by mcmlxix

Skip the factory air. You'll need a bunch of small parts that may be hard to come by.... go aftermarket...


Can you show how they relocated the tailgate handle...

Thanks for the info on the air, I was king of thinking that might be the case. I wish I could show you how they relocated the handle but there is only a hole on the inside of the gate. I am debating on whether to finish it or use a stock tailgate I bought at the Pull-A-Part.
Glen

[76kcfdeng]

Not much progress on the truck. I did buy some wheels and tires today. I also got some 68 style trim, I will post pics when I get them home. The wheels will look familiar as they come from another build in progress here.

[76kcfdeng]

Got some time to work on the project. The snowballing begins, keep finding more things I want to change. Added some pics of the wheels and tires I picked up off the board. With the cab off I will fill some holes in the firewall and repaint it. Decided to go with aftermarket air so the factory air stuff will be coming off. Plan to add a C notch, exhaust holes in the crossmember, clean the frame and repaint it

.

[STOCKISH]

Looks good. Keep at it!

[76kcfdeng]

Made some progress today. Started working on the frame, got the notch in and almost finished welding but ran out of wire. I used 5" square tubing cut in half since I had it already. Because I had no wire I went back to cutting and got the exhaust pass through the crossmember ready for welding. Picked several little goodies at the pick a part yesterday, nothing exciting really. Got the cable gas pedal and mounts with the TH400 kickdown switch and wire, front bumper brackets, linkage bracket for the automatic(PO had the wrong one) and a van grill for a special project.

[76kcfdeng]

This afternoon I got the fire wall stripped and ground most of the holes to be welded. I also got al the old insulation out of the cab.

The more I get into this the more I am not impressed with the PO"s work. They never removed anything when they painted the fire wall. They also never cleaned under the cowl when they painted. I vacuumed piles of leaves and dirt out of there, paint over the top of everything. Good thing they never got any farther than the fire wall. I am no great body and paint guy but I at least remove stuff and clean before painting.

[76kcfdeng]

Well I keep finding more things to repair or replace. The defrost vents were very brittle and they are in many pieces now. I removed the core support and it has some rust on the bottom I need to address, may need a battery tray. I may need a new radiator, the motor side is pretty trashed and the metal on the bottom is quite rusted, I hope it can be fixed. I am glad I opted to pull the original AC stuff, it was filled with crud and all the duct hoses were brittle and ready to rot away. That let me get all the old insulation out of the cab, dusty and dried up. Just more time and more money but it will be better in the end. I will post more pics later.

[chevelle]

that looks like a 68 cab to me, just goin off of the pull e-brake handle and the ignition bezel is bigger than a 67

[76kcfdeng]

It is a 68 cab, 70 frame, 71 brakes and I have no idea what the bed is, post 68 though but the side markers are filled. Fenders I have no idea but I have new ones.

[76kcfdeng]

Well I picked up most of my 4"/6" drop kit today. Went by ECE and picked up what they had, have to wait for the spindles which they will ship to me. I hope to get on installing it in a few days. I still have to box in and brace the c notch.

[76kcfdeng]

Had some time to work on the truck. I braced the notch, installed the super track bar and mocked up the rear sway bar. I flipped the trailing arm brackets. I also had the bump stops mocked up but I think I will use some smaller round ones on the bottom of the notch.

I had planned to use a Camaro rear sway which I picked up at the pick a part. After mocking it up with the notch and the track bar it just would not work. No matter how I arranged it it would hit the track bar bracket, frame or something else. It would work great on a stock or a truck with up to 4" lowering springs. I had a sway bar from the front of a car, Chevelle I think. It will work nicely mounted to the frame and links mounted to the trailing arms.

I hope to receive the front spindles and new ball joints tomorrow. If I do I will start on installing them. I may do some cross bracing and boxing on the frame as suggested by Nolimit in the "make it handle" thread.

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[67chevy1series]

this looks like a sweet build

[RCbowtie69]

looking good, keep up the hard work & pictures of progress

[76kcfdeng]

Did some work on the truck today! I also got the drop spindles, frt sway bar bushings and new rear bumper. Spent most of the day cleaning, sandblasting and primering parts. I also mocked up the front suspension with the lower A arm moved forward an inch to add caster. More details on that in the "make it handle" thread in the suspension forum. I am in process of cleaning up the A arms for paint. They are getting new ball joints and bushings also.

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[76kcfdeng]

Spent the weekend at the Turlock swap meet, picked up some parts. I saw quite a few nice items but they were out of my price range, several nice tach dashes-$275 to $450. There was a decent lwb with a 396 and it came with a rolling swb frame painted with discs and 5 lug, they were asking $3900.

I picked up a standard dash, just need the bezel, 4 rally trim rings, reproduction cab insulation kit, and a fuel tank with sender. I also bought a nice tubing bender for brake and fuel lines, trans jack and an anvil. I will post some pics later.

[76kcfdeng]

I worked on the swapmeet tilt column the last couple of days. It was in great shape, just needed cleaning, lubing and paint. I still need to get a new indicator bulb and indicator needle. I am picking up the needle from ECE in a few days. Next thing will be moving the neutral safety switch and repinning from the flat plug to the horseshoe plug, don't want to use an adapter.

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