I feel Slovenia 64 SWB BBW build

[Raceaprilia]

This is my first build and it is learning process as I go.
I live in USA for 4 years now and am from Slovenia- Europe. Check this link, Slovenia has only lil over 2 mio people but sooo much to offer, nature is like paradise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwwfwhg-mG0

Saying that I will be posting with my broken english but this is the only way to get better. In 2011 after 2 years looking at american muscle cars and driving myself nuts I had option to buy 73 Charger from original owner and so I did. Nice car and I did learn to change/repair whole lot of stuff on V8 engine and buying/using standard wrenches was experience of its own also. It is gone now to have more attention at new owner since I am in Chevy zone now.
Back to the point. It all started in March 2012 when it was for sale in local CL. I did not really had everything figured out yet at that time but we made a deal. 64 LWB SBW. It was all original except several paint jobs, not rusted out too bad. I was looking to find solid cab and that it is all there to start with, all other can be easily changed/fixed/fabricated. V8 283, 3 on the tree. Nice driver, no PS, PB stuff, this might be one of the meaning of american muscle-you need it to operate those trucks. I already forgot how it was to drive no PS, PB car but memories came back right away. Target was to make it dependable driver and enjoy it. It turned lil bit different, way loooonger and it was fun and still is fun building it. At the moment I look for 64-66 SWB DD but no luck within my budget so far.
I will post my progress as it was going along till today and update my progres proudly after.

[Raceaprilia]

It was mid of April 2012 when I decided to start working on truck. Lil cleaning, painting - month two tops. Yea right. I am detailed oriented and have hard time to jump out of my skin-but it would be good for a change sometime...I only have 0 and 1 options, there is absolutely nothing in between. My plans crushed right away seeing I had some work to do before I will be satisfied. With parts pulled off of the truck I realized my garage is going to be a CHALLENGE.

[flashed]

Looks like a fun project and your english is pretty good and your home country looks beautiful.

[Raceaprilia]

I was still frustrated and undecided on my daily search on local CL. This came up one day. 68 frame with static drop, member here on forum used another frame to bag his truck. Lil expensive at the time but over all less problems to fix my truck faster. It was blasted, painted in the past, still shiny. Was no showroom condition but very strong start for DD as my intentions are. Gas tank at the back, 15x8 front, 15x10 rear, good tires, drop spindels, cpp drop springs all around, drop block at the rear, 3.08 12 bolt rear end, front sway bar, 5 lug. HAPPY!

[Jeff La]

Nice truck, Keep us posted with plenty of pics.

[Raceaprilia]

Now one problem was solved but another on my list - short bed convertion. Got one local when buying bumper on CL. I love how it works out sometime. No pics of short bed since it is stored still but I like this one of my old frame/bed with lil bit of MAD MAX theme sprayed on for fun. No need to say it is in my language right
Another pic when major cancer was cut off of cab and ready to be blasted. I started with aircraft paint remover, rust resolver,... but it did not get me any progress at all or desired result. Blaster was next on my list and things started moving along when my new toy was in house. All I can say is WOW. Fine grid sand and it looks like new sheet metal. I figured out at that time all parts from my truck were in good enough condition to do it right. I did sand blast and paint satin black with epoxy primer under all parts but outside sheetmetal. No pics taken at the time, now all parts are boxed and waiting for their turn to be used again. Outside sheetmetal is work in progress right now.

[Raceaprilia]

As I went along cab was blasted and primed. Went step by step, working long hours at work and sometimes just do not have time or energy to work on this beauty as much as I would like to. I did first clean all metal and put primer on, blasted also all new sheet metal to clean that black coating which I do not like for some reason under my painted project. Then cutting, welding,... Lesson learned. Do not cut as much as new sheet metal size is, cut as much you have to cut rust out . NO more! One cab corner give me hard time due to different shape than the one on cab. Gave me few more hours of fabrication but it worked out fine. And my cab did get BBW convertion at the time. Local scrap yard had one cab with it and inside panel was chep and just could not resist temptation. I guess new back glass is on the wanted list also.

[Ta2Don]

Welcome aboard!!! Good looking start to your build, looking forward to updates...

[Raceaprilia]

Had some more work done to fenders and cab. I was reading the other day and somebody said over here to try your door with rubber before you go ahead from weldind. And I am so glad I did. Outer rocker panel top lip had to go in half inch or close to that. Now it will actually close when finished and assembled with rubber.
Front fender had some damage when blaster did clear away all the bondo applied trough years. Had to cut spare part fender to make part of it fit in. Turned out just great. I forgot to mention, my doors had ALL available mirrors mounted. Some holes were visable, other once again covered with bondo. Welding those take some time to finish. I did blast doors on the outside. Looking surface rust on the inside i just cut away bottom portion to have free acces and blast them inside out. It gave me some more expenses with both new panels but they are like new again. My friend google showed me HOW TO do it right not to have too much bending from welding heat.

[Raceaprilia]

Cab and front clip is now in final adjustments phase, did have to cover some openings in firewall, not all were original with truck. Still debating cost of aftermarket tilt steering column due to moving shifter on floor. Maybe I can get one cheap at local JY, will see. Priority now is to get cab and front clip painted.

[Raceaprilia]

As I post pics it look like work in progress. Guess what -not true. Last summer was hot. My project was on hold for few months. Went to Europe for 2 weeks, lil bit around and at the end no work done. Did manage to do some work to the engine. Said I want to keep it cheap and started to clean old good ruunning 283. NASTY on the inside. Cleaned all inside out, change few worn valves, all seals, painted it, prepare it to PS, AC is still on list,... I should just buy used 350 instead at the time. Once again not so good decision but as I said learning process. When i look at it now I like it a lot.

[Raceaprilia]

I had to do something on 3 speed transmission. I like the shifter position, gear ratio not as much. Reading again and T5 look like good choice. Auto trans is nice but not for european plus this was manual trans truck to strat with. CL search and T5 is at home. WC ofcourse. All good, 10 spline input shaft as I have right now, fresh rebuild. Considering it as nice score. When it was time to put it behind bellhousing something does not match. It was FORD bolt pattern! Did my homework again with this site and google. Sold T5 for same price as I paid, lucky I guess. S10 is the way to go. Unfortunally no one on CL locally seel them from 4.3L engine with 26 spline input shaft. I found camaro WC T5 for $200. Not sure what is inside but lets take a risk. Got it home and had to spend some money changing synchrons. Spent good bit more then I paid for trans. It is OK now I finally got over it. I got 2 newer WC trans after that for cheap with S10 tailhousing and Ford bolt pattern from 2.2L s10. One is perfect, one is parts trans. Tried to use tailhousing but my is mechanical speedo and will keep it that way. Did already sell some parts, maybe it will make up for extra cost on my trans. 283 with V8 camaro trans is going to be. New clutch is in and it sits perfect on frame, driveshaft shortened and good to go. Added some stainless headers also and cranked it up. It was nice to hear it again - this was my first engine teardown after all. I am going to keep bench seat and plan is to have camaro tailhousing. Have few options how to do it. More likely I will cut opening on cab under seat, reinforce local area and make it fit under seat. Any pics to get ideas from members on this would help a lot. I am at the point on truck now that I need some help from members on individual problems to make it happen.

[1963c-10]

Project is looking great

[Raceaprilia]

Seat is done. Blue vinyl with light grey cloth and some white inserts. Inspired by original custom seat out of 63. Donor was custom seat also because original spring bottom side on mine was broken apart and local scrap yard wanted fortune for one spring type to rebuilt mine. Lowered foam on the seating part little bit. Turned out good and I like it.

[chevyrestoguy]

Wow, very nice work!! The truck is coming along very nicely.

I really like how the seat turned out.

[McMurphy]

Your seat turned out truely fantastic !! I really like it

[Ta2Don]

Originally Posted by McMurphy

Your seat turned out truely fantastic !! I really like it

[1963c-10]

Truck is coming out great....keep the pics coming. Seat looks great also. What did they charge you to do the seat if you don't mind me asking?

[Raceaprilia]

Originally Posted by 1963c-10

Truck is coming out great....keep the pics coming. Seat looks great also. What did they charge you to do the seat if you don't mind me asking?

Not at all, it was $350. I sandblasted and painted frame prior myself. Top part is all new material inside out, on bottom part they cut off around inch of to get worn out foam away and substitute it with half inch of new material to make it bit lower. I was quoted in $450 range by few other to do this pattern and by the look of the final product I believe I did right decision going with Ashley custom upholstery (ashleycustomup@aol.com) in York county, SC. He was also happy with color choice and outcome.

Thanks for all positive comments, it keeps me motivated during sanding the cab

[markeb01]

What an impressive build, first time I've seen it. You are really moving along at a good pace, a great deal of work accomplished in a relatively short time. I also love the seat, that turned out beautifully. The engine/chassis looks fantastic.

It's not surprising to see the old 283/327 engines look really cruddy inside. Prior to introduction of the PCV (Positive Crankcase Ventilation) valve, the road draft tube at the back of the engine block was the only method to remove damaging fumes from inside the engine. The problem was, it didn't ventilate the engine very well at low speeds. This resulted in tons of sludge everywhere from the oil pan to the rocker arms. Newer engines with a PCV valve almost always look clean inside by comparison. But like you said it's all part of the learning experience.

I really like your truck, keep up the good work!

[Vernski]

Welcome to the forums and the USA, beautiful country Slovenia. There are places here as nice as Slovenia so I hope it has been a welcome change for you and or your family. The work you have done on your truck is clean & tidy and will look great after paint. I know what you mean about sanding it's my least favorite thing to do also. Again welcome...Vernski

[Iron-Butt]

Good work. I like the seat.

[Raceaprilia]

Two months passed by since my last post of progress. Went back home for two weeks and then slowly start working back on truck. Cab and front clip are ready for painting, firewall is painted already to get idea how it will look like when done. Still debating white top or not. Well; debating to go white only on roof top or white as they were from factory. What do you think guys? Which would look better? Comments welcome. Section around grille and tailgate lettering will be white also.

Had to make rear cab mount due to my frame is out of 67+ truck. Could just buy one but forget to do it on time and it would not arrive soon enough... Cab was painted satin black under floor and covered with 3M undercoating for added protection from road usage before placing back on frame. Puzzle finally starting to get in place.

It should sit around 8" high measured from ground to bottom of cab rocker panel when rear tires are changed for something smaller and wider. Rear are now 4" taller in diameter then stock size in front and truck is leaning forward and the look of it is not my favorite but will have to do untill christmas or good CL deal.

[McMurphy]

I just noticed how far back the shifter was on your transmission.
I was wondering if you had to do any sort of modification to that for it to work in your cab.
In the photos before the cab was put back on it looks like it would have come up through your seat, it sits so far back.....

All in all though this is looking great !! You have made some super progress on it

[theastronaut]

Very nice project, great work so far! Was good meeting and talking to you at Blue Ridge Fest!