Project 68 - Radical Rebirth of my First Truck

[kxmotox247]

Most of you who know me... know me for the Baby Blue 67 short bed I owned. I ended up selling it in 2016 so I could fund a couple of other projects.

Long story short is this is the rebuild of my first running vehicle. I've owned it since 1996 and it came from the Joppa Illinois area. It's a 1968 Chevy LWB C10 CST with a factory 396/400. The truck had a 67' front clip and had obviously been in a wreck or two judging from the damage uncovered after stipping it.

This was my reliable transportation for many years and I had a great time driving it. It's been tucked away indoors since around 2000 and I'm just now getting around to building it the way I want.

Unfortunately the problem with this truck is that the frame was badly damaged in an accident and there was significant rust in the bed and bed floor. This kind of forced my hand into turning it into a short bed and replacing the frame. My plans are to save as much sheet metal as possible and swap it all over to a No-Limit chassis.

I'll share some pictures and I hope you guys enjoy seeing them. Major props go out to those members who are self disciplined when it comes to documenting their projects. Thank goodness for the cell phone's convenience or there would be no pictures. I'll likely have to go back and forth to add/edit comments.

So here she was back in 1998 in Carbondale Illinois.

[kxmotox247]

The 68 was always in the backdrop waiting it's turn.

[kxmotox247]

Here's a few disassembly pictures. You can see how bad the frame was tweaked. Amazing that it held alignment.
Surprise... surprise. I never had any issues with the transmission other than a dry pump seal. Low and behold there was a chunk missing out of the bellhousing.

[kxmotox247]

Mangled cab mount. You can see how the driver's side rail is pushed.

[kxmotox247]

Like every other painting project.... I always strip it down to bare metal. I have access to a glass bead blasting cabinet that's big enough for fenders and even a hood. For stuff like the cab we have a mobile blasting guy come to the shop. It works out great.

I usually open up a few other access holes in the cowl to get everything blasted. You can see how the truck was probably rear ended and the bed smacked the back of the cab.

[kxmotox247]

All things considered the cab wasn't terrible. Very little rust at all in the rain gutter and windshield area. Some in the cowl but minor. I decided to replace the entire floor since a couple of the supports needed repair in addition to the outer edge/inner rockers. Kick panels, pillars, cab corners and rockers.
I went ahead and welded up the cab roof seam and rebuilt several sections of the weatherstripping flange on the driver's side. Pulled a few small dings and filled those. Knock it all down with the DA and get the epoxy on.

[kxmotox247]

Time for the new floor. I braced the cab and then hung it up. Once cut... I dropped out the old floor and I wheeled the new one in. I lowered the cab right back down onto the new floor. Overall for the price... this high hump floor from sokyclassics was a decent fit. By the time I would have blasted the floor top and bottom... bought the patches and fit them... this saved money and time and I know that rust won't come right back.

[kxmotox247]

Time for the new chassis. I narrowed down my choices to the Roadster Shop or No Limit Engineering. When speaking with both vendors I felt that Rob and Tina @ NoLimit were willing to work with me since my order would be slightly different than the standard chassis. Roadster shop makes a quality product also but they were extremely rude in person and over the phone when I asked them a few questions. That made my choice easy.
Rob is making one of the best chassis out there. This thing is a work of art. As promised... the chassis was finished in 10 weeks and we went to pick it up. This one is set up for coilovers or shockwaves. Raised rear rail kit and dropped spindles. Front and rear swaybars. Wilwood brakes. I custom ordered a Winters quickchange and had it shipped to them to install.
I had to cut the brand new floor for the transmission tunnel and notch the rear brace for the driveshaft. No big deal. The wheels are just for rolling things around.

[kxmotox247]

So now that the cab is back on... it's time to start fitting doors, fenders and the rest of the sheetmetal. This is a nasty game of on/off until it's time to paint.

[kxmotox247]

I've got the bedsides temporarily set into place while I measure for wheels. The target was a 20x10 with 4.00 backspace. This is a Billet Specialties wheel from another project. Not what I'll be using but a dang nice wheel. I have a set of 315/35/20 tires for mockup. Looks like I can squeeze in 20x12's as long as I get the backspacing perfected. This is an old photo... I have wheels on order right now.
Just for grins these are the Hills Rod & Custom inner fenders. You can see how much height difference and additional clearance there is. They are HEAVY fiberglass and well made from what I can see so far.

This is about all I have right now to share. I almost have the cab patches finished but no pics yet. I saved the driver's side fender and I'm debating whether I should try and save the old passenger fender and core support. There's very little left of the original truck so I'm tempted to save what I can.

[nlped]

I’m in! Killer start.

When I moved to the US, I was 10, I lived in Champaign... Colony West... a LoNg time ago. I remember it being COLD as I’d moved from Panama

[72 tigger]

Doing it right and nice shop too!

[raggedjim]

Watching...

Good work, Rg

[Stickman]

Well done, I'm in for this one.

[kxmotox247]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the compliments. I'll have to look and see if I have any interesting photos to add. I've got wheels on order but I don't have the color worked out. I think picking color and wheels are two of the most difficult things to do. My wife says black but I kind of feel like keeping the truck the same orange/red that it was. Both seem kind of plain to me.

[kxmotox247]

Originally Posted by nlped

I’m in! Killer start.

When I moved to the US, I was 10, I lived in Champaign... Colony West... a LoNg time ago. I remember it being COLD as I’d moved from Panama

I hate winter! I know where Colony West is. My school bus in the 80's went thru there and stepmom lived in that neighborhood. Small world!

[nlped]

Originally Posted by kxmotox247

I hate winter! I know where Colony West is. My school bus in the 80's went thru there and stepmom lived in that neighborhood. Small world!

Yes it is! I went to Bottenfield Elementary...but it was in the 70’s.

[72 tigger]

I always thought this was one of the best looking trucks on the board (I like black) this is his build http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=394656

[kxmotox247]

Originally Posted by 72 tigger

I always thought this was one of the best looking trucks on the board (I like black) this is his build

Yep! Agreed. I have pictures of that truck saved. Very classy.

[Janz99]

Who did you order the short box bedsides from? How has the fit and finish been so far?

[kxmotox247]

Originally Posted by Janz99

Who did you order the short box bedsides from? How has the fit and finish been so far?

I got them from Cooper Restorations. I had a Goodmark set with marker lights but sold those and bought these. I think they are Tri-plus. They look identical in quality. I can tell you that the front bed panel bolt holes don't line up with an OEM front panel but that's minor. I'm sectioning the inside skins and raising the floor 4" so mine will be highly modified. I have not tried to swap over the tail light or reverse buckets yet.

[Janz99]

Thanks for the information. Do you remeber how much freight was on the bedsides?

[kxmotox247]

Originally Posted by Janz99

Thanks for the information. Do you remeber how much freight was on the bedsides?

I picked them up in person so no freight... and no damage.

[drewbert41]

Hey, I've been in this garage before! Thanks for the hood lip trim. Truck is lookin' nice!

[kxmotox247]

Originally Posted by drewbert41

Hey, I've been in this garage before! Thanks for the hood lip trim. Truck is lookin' nice!

You're welcome. Glad you could use it!