Devastation and Reform - abused, beaten, and botched yet unrefined 67 SWB

[DesertCat]

Lies.

What you expect from anyone selling a truck on Craigs-lies-t, and yeah, he did. Lied about the engine. The trans. Tires, brakes, lights... on and on. To make matters worse, most all of the work done to this poor beast defies any form of rational thought. Prepare to be amazed as we work our way through.

However he didn't lie about everything for instance a few important items - lack of rust, a clear title, and a true short bed and frame. Cool, I can work with that.

So the deal was cut and I had bought a truck that I would not lay my own eyes on for another 3 months yet as I was still in Afghanistan. That was two years ago and I'm still working over there.

[DesertCat]

The plan is to build this as a truck.

• It will haul stuff within reason
• It will be simple, strong and fun
• I will not spend a ton of money on it

Oh, and it has to look cool too. I plan on making it look like it would have had I done this in the late 60's - early 70's. A bit of hot rod and a bit of salt flat push truck with a mid-century modern vibe.

So being I only get home a few weeks per year I have enlisted my sons to work on it when I'm gone. They will be joining the site and commenting in this thread as well.

Here is more of what we started with, nothing too horrific yet:

[DesertCat]

So far I'm happy. I am told it starts pretty good, is loud, and moves when you get it in gear. If you can find a gear.
Brakes work but take the effort that Fred Flintstone would need to stop a top-fuel car without a chute

Must be a torque beast if it has to be chained down!

Also in the pic you can just make out the welding on the column and shift linkage. These are signs - not good ones.

[DesertCat]

My wife told me she had the boys move it off the driveway because it had a small trans leak. Hmmm... wonder why it's leaking...

[DesertCat]

Moving to the interior we find the cheapest carpet known to man and seats and wheel from something not of this era. First thing to go.

Found a seat from Tom (t korinek - awesome guy with great parts) and found a cover on Ebay. Once I get around to changing the cover I will sell the old one, it's in really good shape.

[Xeen]

LOL the engine is chained to the frame that's awesome!
I think that driveshaft is only in the transmission by about 1/2" thats scary right there.
It makes you wonder if the body is more bondo than metal...
Isn't it crazy what some people think is good engineering and or mechanics?
Subbed I really want to see what happens next.

[DesertCat]

Stay tuned, there is more but it would take a true artist in his craft to top the driveshaft fail

[1955GMC]

Desert Cat,

I'm all in for this one! I cannot wait for the next set of photos.

[Low Elco]

Ok, I gotta see where this goes.

[DesertCat]

Finally got our internet restored here in Talibania, sorry for the delay.

Episode three;

I won't bore you with the fact the "New" front tires the PO put on are date coded old enough to enlist in the military or the fact that nearly an average of 3.5 lug nuts were holding each wheel on. Not very imaginative.

Next we'll look at some minor, some major, yet interesting fails and blunders, such as "shaving" and custom trim work, custom wiring, more transmission woes, and what lurks under the valve covers - yikes!

Starting with the shaving, I have to commend our beloved PO for actually MIG welding rather than just filling holes with Bondo. Great, but he missed the memo about keeping the sheetmetal cool so it wouldn't warp. This looks much better than those pesky letters on the hood and nicely accentuates the self-tapping HVAC duct screws holding the grille trim in place.

Ironically, the trim looked pretty straight and I would have kept it but, well you know...

[DesertCat]

More "real straight" body pics, sigh. He did tell me that the left bedside looked like it had a tire chain fail and beat it up a bit. A bit? Are you kidding me?

The inner wheelhouse that ties the inner and outer bedsides together was half ripped out. Undaunted, PO slung some mud at the carnage, gave some feeble attempt at block sanding, and expertly applied the gravel-smooth topcoat.
Actually looks much worse in person than in the pics, like some kids beat it with pipes and bats.

Also never mentioned the right rocker had a new custom style-line at least it shows that it isn't rusted out.

[thelonerife]

I like the rear steelies

[DesertCat]

Originally Posted by thelonerife

I like the rear steelies

That is funny, I tried to buy yours remember?

[DesertCat]

Today's episode - bumpers

Didn't get any pics of the front bumper brackets, primarily because there weren't any. Did you know that you could attach a front bumper with just two bolts? The other bolts were there, cleverly attached to nothing.

Thing shook like a Chihuahua on espresso

But for your viewing pleasure it is my privilege to present the sport bumper bracket fine art gallery:

[Hart_Rod]

The p.o. had a lot of creativity .....
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[DesertCat]

Yikes! A week has slid past since I last updated this.

Today's lesson is about engine maintenance and repair. We will start with the fuel delivery. Raise your hand if you see anything stupid or unsafe and yes, this was after the fuel line was moved so it wasn't resting on the exhaust manifold

[DesertCat]

Moving along. The engine actually ran pretty strong but had a tendency to smoke especially at start up. Hmmm, some valve seals should take care of that I thought, so no big worry, take care of that in due course.

Figured would make myself feel better by giving the old engine a nice new coat of paint, a new manifold and carb, and generally fix some stuff along the way. So as I was cleaning I also noticed the HEI wiring fail. Groan. Okay, another for the list, no biggie.

One thing I should point out here is the engine had the cleanest oil I have ever seen in an engine that wasn't nearly new. Had good oil pressure too. What happened next was shock and horror. Check out the "oil" under the valve covers. Wonder what grit that is.

[bigguy69]

I'm in
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[cAlvis165]

Looks like your regular old 80 grit oil to me!

[72chevynoob]

Im in! I hope there arent too many more surprises.
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[DesertCat]

Originally Posted by Xeen

LOL the engine is chained to the frame that's awesome!
I think that driveshaft is only in the transmission by about 1/2" thats scary right there.
It makes you wonder if the body is more bondo than metal...
Isn't it crazy what some people think is good engineering and or mechanics?
Subbed I really want to see what happens next.

Originally Posted by 1955GMC

Desert Cat,

I'm all in for this one! I cannot wait for the next set of photos.

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Ok, I gotta see where this goes.

Originally Posted by Hart_Rod

The p.o. had a lot of creativity .....
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Originally Posted by bigguy69

I'm in
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Originally Posted by cAlvis165

Looks like your regular old 80 grit oil to me!

Originally Posted by 72chevynoob

Im in! I hope there arent too many more surprises.
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Thanks guys. Yes there is a bit more devastation to come and we'll be getting into the reform part shortly.

While all the crap is getting uncovered, the good thing is that I would have gone through all this eventually so that I know the condition of everything. The way this is playing out it is all getting gone through before she's a driver.

The really cool thing is that my sons are currently doing all the work (you'll see shortly), doing a great job, and I am still getting a kick out of this. This is weird because I have done several full blown restorations in the past but never had anyone do any work for me other than a machine shop. Still, I'm having a ball.

But I digress... there is more of our artist's work to be admired, so without further adieu, I give you the poor man's five lug conversion. The moral of the story - don't use the wider axels in a narrow housing

[cAlvis165]

I guess you sorta' had rear brakes...

[DesertCat]

Originally Posted by cAlvis165

I guess you sorta' had rear brakes...

Well, I figure about 3/4 of a 1/2 ton's brakes, so that's about a 3/8 ton rear end?

Might partly explain the Fred Flintstone brakes

[DesertCat]

Once I saw the condition of the engine there was no doubt that it needed to come out.
I found it very quick and much easier to pull the front sheetmetal to get the old mill out. Although there was one skeptic checking out my work...

[Low Elco]

Good progress! Don't get cocky!
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