1968 - haven't had this one long.....just call it "The '68". It's a decent running straight 6 with a Saginaw 3 speed and a Hurst floor shifter. Since this photo it's become a "Frankentruck" since it is running the camo front clip off the "Turtle" and I've been swiping good parts off of it and putting on the leftovers just to keep it on the road.
1970 - "The Turtle" This was a daily driver for me for a few years. I painted the camo on just to hide the rust. The cab was more rust than metal. It had a tired old 250 straight six and 3 on the tree. It served me well, but it was time to retire this one. She barely made it to my brother's farm where she was dissected. Turtle will contribute his frame and stepside bed to the new truck.
1969 - "Homer" Another old daily driver. I ran this truck for years and just did what it took to keep it running. When He was retired he smoked so badly that environmentalists would have cringed. He's been an organ donor for a while now, hence the missing headlights, master cylinder, and a bunch of other stuff. You can just get a glimpse of my brother's '69 parked beside it. He another member of the Ol' Chevy Truck Club.
"Homer's" dead 327 as she looked during his dissection.
"Homer's" cab after stripping it down. It had a couple dents, but very little rust.
It's a '68 327 4 bolt. I had it bored to .030 over and line honed. I used a new Scat steel 350 crank and TRW forged pistons, so it will end up at 355 CI. I will be using an RV cam, double row timing set, 76 CC 2.02 S/R heads, and an Edelbrock manifold and 600 CFM carb. The compression should end up around 8.7 to 1.
The '70 115" frame after rehab. I replaced all the control arm bushings, tie rod ends, reuilt the brakes all around, and upgraded to a power steering. I decided not to lower it. Who knows, I might actually want to haul something!!
State of the project at the end of September, 2007. Long block has neen installed and the work continues on the cab.
In early October the shocks, headers, tranny, and driveshaft went in.
By the end of October the doors and front clip were painted and assembled. The assembly of the doors is complete and the new weatherstripping is installed.
The engine compartment at the end of October '07. The rubber, throttle linkage, wiring, and exhaust is left to install before she can be fired up !!!
UPDATE: Well it's October '08 now....... The truck's been on the road since Dec. '07. I ran short of money toward the end, so the interior's still not finished.
Here she is in a recent photo with my other baby, "Trouble", a 1977 Shovelhead FXE.
l had trouble with the charging system and ended up replacing the alternator with a '82 80 amp with built in regulator. I also had some trouble geting the clutch linkage working the way I wanted. Other than that, she's been very dependable.
l still need some things that got trimmed off the project toward the end for financil reasons. I have a set of good M/T aluminum rims, but no rubber for them yet. There's no fan shroud in it, but it's almost winter anyway! That can wait 'til spring. The exhaust is still just slapped on, so I need to get it to an exhaust shop and get the intermediate pipes up under the frame closer. The front bumber needs to be replaced too. It looked OK sitting in a parts pile, but after painting it and mounting it I found out it has a twist. The interior still needs a lot of $$$$$ thrown at it, but I'll get to that later.
l'll add more pics and updates as things get better.
DB