Chuckin - 68 Build Thread

[Chuckin]

Starting to work on my 68 chevy again. Just bought a '97 chevy that was in a wreck and am pulling the 5.7L chevy engine out of it. Has a throttle body/fuel injection manifold system. This engine was rebuilt by Jasper Engines and has 7,000 miles on it since the rebuild. I don't know much about engines, or restoration, I'm leaning-as-i-go.

Here's the engine:

[Chuckin]

In the meantime, the 68 is getting bodywork done. I paid a guy 10 years ago to do this truck. He painted half of it, and ran off with the whole bed of the truck, and about 75% of the payment. Now is round 2. Hopefully this guys stick around. I am buying a aftermarket bed from Truck Shop in Orange County,CA.
ALSO, the first guy did some crappy work (I thought he did me good before he ran off). New guy found blistering, so had to grind down and rebuild up.

[Chuckin]

Getting the aftermarket bed assembled. Manufactured by Counterpart Automotive. All is seeming to line up pretty well. No major problems. Had a few problems with holes lining up, just had to widen them a little. Not a big deal. Tailgate is not lining up perfectly, will need to do some modification. Cut and finished the wood bed myself. Used oak.
Have my assistant helping me. He's happier than he looks.

[dmack91]

Looks nice. Hope you have better luck with this body guy. Keep us posted.

[Hutch]

Nice work.
Post some more pictures.

[Chuckin]

Got the Cab, Fenders, and Radiator Support back from the shop today! Color change to white. Ready now to fit the new motor. Will post an update on how that goes. Bed is now in the body shop.

[68 Stepper]

Looks great, I am learning towards painting mine white, looking forward to seing yours put back together.

[Chuckin]

Originally Posted by 68 Stepper

I am learning towards painting mine white

There's just something about the chrome with a white backdrop that looks super clean...

[hugger6933]

Looks good I too am gonna paint my 68 4 eyes white with blue int[ so far is the plan]. Your gonna love the Vortec motor! Are you gonna leave the injection or put on a carb? If going Carb just a hint You will need a special intake for small block with Vortec heads but it is most def worth it. Jim

[Chuckin]

Thanks Hugger, I'm planning on keeping the fuel injection. I may change some things up in the future, but getting this new engine and computer figured out is enough on my plate.

[Chuckin]

Got the engine out of the '97 and dropped into the '68.


I bought these Tubular Engine Mounts from Performance Online (POL) out of Corona, CA.

[Chuckin]

I almost returned them, until I realized the problem was with my frame, not the mounts. I had heard that frames run in different thicknesses in these years. So I had to notch out the from so the holes on the mounts could reach the holes on the frame. Also, If I didn't do this, the holes on the engine mount and frame mount would not line up. I think once everything is for sure in the right place, I might do some welding to reinforce the frame and mounts.

[Chuckin]

Spent some time with the body guy last week getting some kinks worked out with the tailgate. Everything seemed to be going good until it was time to line up the tailgate. Here are the problems and the list of things that had to be done to fix them. Once again, these parts were all aftermarket from Counterpart Automotive.


Overall, it wasnt too bad. but the worst was that the shape of the tailgate didnt match the shape of the bedside.


Body guy fixed it by putting about 1/4 inch of metal infused filler to change the shape of the back of the bedside.

Now off the the paint booth!