The quickie build: 62 Chevy Fleetside " The Hooker's Heel"

[bob-n]

Sometimes you sit on something for a few years... With a vision in your head, and itch to complete it, and then life steps in your way. I bought this truck a few years back, 2009 I think, because I had this truck in my head and it had to come out. Then I tripped over life. A long drawn out divorce later I was ready to move this truck and add a 27 track T to my looming mid-life crisis instead.

Until I came across these wheels here on this site. They were the wheels of the vision of this truck in my head...



And sometimes that's all it takes. Mid December 2011 I decide I'm going to build this and order some dropped spindles and disc brakes. I complete bolting them on on Christmas eve and call my uncle with a crazy idea. Can we put this thing together and make the Milwaukee World of Wheels show 7 weeks away? Heck, we gotta give it a shot. So, it gets wheeled out and driven over to my uncles barn. Well, not that easy. After putting the drop spindles on the alignment was off by literally inches. Dialed it back in, then made the trip and left it sit outside.
Came back the next morning, 9am Christmas morning it all began.




That's how she rolled in. Unnamed, but looking sexy with her new shoes on.

[bob-n]

The good thing is the truck is very clean. From SW Utah, so rust wasn't an issue like most Wisconsin vehicles. But, it was a former highway truck, then a farm truck, so there were dents. And ripples. And..... It begins. By lunch it is torn down pretty far.





Then... Insanity sets in... Fueled by beer....

[bob-n]

Day ended early...but was Christmas after all... And we returned to start the refinishing process the next day. This was supposed to be just a quickie paint job for the show. Then, like I said insanity set in. Can't have a blue dash with a red and vanilla exterior, so out comes the glass... And gauges... And everything. I begin stripping the dash, and my uncle starts on popping dents and such. But that's nothing. We start brainstorming.. Next thing I know the welder is out and...



We don't need no steenkin door handles... And the dash gets stripped and primed.



Eventually the fuel filler gets welded and filled since the tank was previously relocated to the bed of the truck.


Interior job is going easy, the tin is good. Pic of the floor

[bob-n]

With the handle shaving roughed in, the attention turned to the roof. There were a few good size dents in the top, the rear seam was split, and the drip rails were more crooked that our politicians. I wish I took pictures of the roof, but you can see the quick primer patch job in the first post.

The front fenders had the lower corners patched from being curled under, and I thought picking up a pair of fenders would be easier than straightening the poor patch job. After much fitting, fenders were test fit.



Next, I moved to the rear of the rig to stay out of the way of the roof repairs. I decided that the gas tank needed to live under the truck where it belongs. Problem is... Its a 62. No kit made. So I went out and grabbed the fuel tank out of the old "treasure chest" and it almost fit in the rearmost gap between the frame rails. I then cut the rivets on the rear most crossmember and flipped it around, closer to the rear of the frame. When we did this, there was energy stored in the chassis and it flexed... About 3". There always was about 3/4" twist to the box, but now we knew where it was stored. We loaded the chassis weight onto the jack while fastening the opposite corner to the floor. We welded the crossmember back in and added a little reinforcement. When the dust settled and the metal cooled, I made some straps and dropped the tank into its new home.



The straps take care of the front to back movement, and then I fabbed a tour crossmember to prevent any side to side movement. Of course all the straps are padded with flat neoprene strips



At this point the colors are known and I need to to order what is on my mind....

[bob-n]

Flake was ordered from Big Daddy Roth in "ruined retina red". I decided to put on two different sixes of flake, .025 ans .015. The larger flake to get the big pop, the smaller flake of fill in the gaps and add all the sparkle. My uncle layed on the base red (becaus we had some free red) and the first couple layers of flake before I got there after work. After that we alternated coats because we have two completely differently spraying styles.

Everything was going well... Until....



Not once. Not even twice... But 5 times. Five £€&$@ flies in January. In Wisconsin. There neede to be a solution. Maybe a sacrifice....

[bob-n]

Once 13 layers of clear were on, it all seemed to look ok. Paint still has the wet ripple to it, but it had the look...





The last fly that landed in the paint got pushed in and cleared over. No kidding. I wanted a corpse to scare them away when the rest of the body was being painted. As soon as the roof was done it was taped over and the dash prepped. I had to pick up a little more red... And I had a heart attack. Regular old GM code 72 base coat red is $246 per QUART!... that is twice as much as a GALLON of my body color is!
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[bob-n]

The black I chose to use was rustoleum automotive satin black to ease any repairs. I painted the insert in the ceiling first, then taped it off for the main body color, then taped that off to only expose the dash for the red flake job. That way we rip off one section, and cover another and spray again with less chance of damage to the fresh paint. It took a couple days, but the red got sprayed first, then the base body color to fill between the red an the black. The color chosen for the main body was Chrysler Cool Vanilla from a 2005 dodge Magnum, but with a little more pearl and a lot less gloss. It is done in basically an eggshell finish.




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[bob-n]

Now we're starting to feel a little time pressure. I piece together the dash, reinstalling my gauges, glove box, etc.



I had to stop at this point to wait for a friend of mine to pinstripe the interior. He laid down some very simple designs and it fits the truck perfectly.

I ordered "custom molded carpeting" from summit. I think custom molded means you only have to make 17 slices in it to fit it. A layer of matting went down first and I actually think I made less slices in it.

Seat was then popped in, and we waited for the glass guy to show up so we can tape up to shoot the jams. I added a new wheel from Moon to bling it up a little



Once the glass was in everything started humming along again. Got all the jams sanded, repaired, etc then primed and painted. The Cool Vanilla really covers like crap. It took a minimum of 8 coats to cover light grey primer, but the color looks good when dry. I almost changed color when it was wet though. It went on very yellow and looked terrible. It took 2 days to finally settle in.



At the same time we also repaired some dings in the nose piece and hosed some color on it too

[bob-n]

More soon...



Next.. Body color, fun with wood, I learn to hate cats, crappy lying suppliers, and sprint for the finish
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[McMurphy]

Ok you guys were moving at warp speed, it is an amazing turn around!!
Surprising is that you took time to take photos!
I often forget to shoot the camera and I am just putzing along on mine !!

I am hooked though, will certainly enjoy seeing this one come together.

[jimmythompson1964]

Cool build and nice color combination

[srziemkowski]

Love it!

[hopped up]

great work! you know i love me some flake!! 13 coats!!!! damn!!!
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[bob-n]

This is funny. I looked at this yesterday on my ipad to add the next few steps and the pics are out of order, so I stopped. I look at it today and the pics are now back in order..? WTF photobucket??

Thanks for the compliments. We were really flying through it.. didn't show a lot of the detail work.. undercoating, frame painting, trim work, polishing EVERYTHING...

Als onever explained the name. I sent my girlfriend a pic of the roof right when it was done being flaked and she said it looks like a strippers shoe.. I'm like.. "What???" she says you know... a hooker's heel.

it stuck...

[awbrown]

signed on ....