heres a few pictures of the latest progression my '69

heres a few pictures of the latest progresson my '69
more pics

nice..... something has been done to your inner fenders, but what? how much of a chop did ya go? looks real good so far. what engine are ya planning to go with?

Some serious work done in those pics! Nice job. Keep 'em coming!

he has done lots more than the pics show! Grafted on a new top fixed hacked up rockers, and firewall, z'd the frame swapped to 85 running gear and brakes he hasn't been working on this truck long at all for the amout of progress! He is putting in a wide motor!

Hope you didn't mind me filling in some blanks Mike!

Kevin

is the trailing arm crossmember flipped like i think it is?

looks awsome! i actuly didin't realize the the frame was Z'ed at first. nice work.

ondrew

yup!

Very nice work!!

:phat: What kind of panard bar set-up is that? :fb:

What does flipping the crossmember like that do? I have never heard of doing that. Very nice progress so far keep us posted..

nice

might be a stupid question but when you z the frame like that what do you do with the trans x member? wouldnt that make for some strange angles?

I think he made a newcrossmember and raised it up!

I think flipping the xmember allows for more ground clearance!

maybe this will answer a few questions,the reason this truck is so heavily modified, the only thing left of the original truck once i got ride of the rotten body and the worn out and hacked up suspension, all i had left was frame so i decided to build a custom truck. the two cabs i used came from djracer and the rest from from '69 long stepside(have great set of stepside fenders and useable tailgate left over)and the complete suspension from '85.for the questions, the inner fenders were trimmed to clear the 3" z'd frame, the trailing x-member was flipped to less'in the angle of the axle end of the trailing arm with the 6" drop in the rear, not nessicary but looks better to me. worked out fine just had to redrill a few holes.also added 4" rings to run exaust trough.the panard bar came in a kit from early classic enterprice,awsome stuff. as far as the engine it is a hot little 396 backed by th400 with 2800 stall rear gears 411. i had to custom build motor mounts to lower engine almost 2"and fabbed trans mount to raise trans 1.5" ,the motor and trans has been in the truck fits great. with all the changes, i am mocking every thing up to make sure there are no problems later. comments and sugestions welcome. i'll post more pics with more progress. thanks.

How tough was the 4" holes? I assume it was done while you had the cross member out of the truck?

I am quasi thinking of doing the same thing.

How tough was the 4" holes? I assume it was done while you had the cross member out of the truck?

I am quasi thinking of doing the same thing.
it was done with x-member out, just cutt some 1/2" wide pieces of 4" pipe ,took the plazma cut the holes ,test the pieces , bolted x-member back in , tacked the pipe in , removed x-member and welded up. could be done in the truck i guess.

Kick a$$ work my friend!

Tight!

What are you going to do for carpet to cover the new trans tunnel ?

Your truck reminds me of what mine looked like 3 years ago. Same yellow and I even found a green rust free door too.

Nice work.

Nice progress

all he'll need is high hump carpet!

all he'll need is high hump carpet!
it's gonna have custom center console to cover any problems there.

Mike got any pics of the speaker box you did for the other truck? It was too sweet!

wow....nice progress

ok kevin, here are some pictures of the speaker box in my red 86.

All of us "frame off" guys know thats a lot of work, clean and precise...
good work

this was his first try at this type of box!

it all looks great to me :metal: that box looks really good i thought about takin a old gas tank and doin sumthing like that with it

Gosh I'm old. I always thought two 6x9's and a killer 30amp output, am/fm with presets was the cat's meow.

What does flipping the crossmember like that do? I have never heard of doing that. Very nice progress so far keep us posted..
in the pics below there are two different trucks both with ece's 6" drop kits the top pic is my with the x-member flipped , the second is not flipped ,as you can see in the pictures on my truck the axle end of the trailing arm is alot closer to level. don"t know if it really needs it ,i just think it looks better.

Nice job on the truck. I guess I'm blind, because I'm not seeing the difference in the trailing arms. Did you C-notch? Did you use shock relocators?

Rob

O.K. I see the difference looks like it would help out the pinnion angle and eliminate any of the vibrations that may come from such a drastic drop.. If its not too much trouble could you show some pics of your pinnion angle as it is now?? Thanks Luke,

i wonder if you could just flip the brackets on the crossmember instead of fliping the whole crossmember? you would probably have to exchange left for right but i think it would work.
ondrew

I finally get it. I thought you meant the trailing arms were flipped upside down, now I see you were talking about the crossmember.

R

O.K. I see the difference looks like it would help out the pinnion angle and eliminate any of the vibrations that may come from such a drastic drop.. If its not too much trouble could you show some pics of your pinnion angle as it is now?? Thanks Luke,
frenchblue72, i don't have any pics of my pinion angle, on my truck i'm using a later model rearend , i had to cut the axle perchs off and i'm using a new set of perchs from ece, my pion won't be set until the truck is almost complete and pretty much at finished ride higth , but it does help if you were stock axle because of the severe pinion angle. i could have got by with out flipping the x-member and just corrected the pinion angle before welding the perchs on. just a note , the x-member work was done with the cab and bed off of the frame

Lookin good Mike ... nice job ... jyd

Gonna be one awesome ride when you're done!!

Wow does that look good! I really like the sub box in your old truck too! I can't wait to see what else you have planned for this one.

Top notch fab worh there.
On that speaker box... what did you make that out of?

That speaker box is great. I have drawn out the plan for one like it in my '67 but that is a while off. I wanted to put the plan down to remind me (got a lot moving around in the head now ;)

heres a few pictures of the cab after bodywork and primer.

Very nice.:D :metal:

looks great

and heres some of the latest progress on the late model bed i will be using. the bed was shortend by 4 1/2" . the rear step was shaved and the front step was cut off and raised up to line up with cab. i liked the look of the bed sitting lower on the truck instead of raising the bed to line up the bottom of the bed.

more bed pics

looks great, do you have any plans to mod the wheel wells on the bed to match the fenders?

looked at it alot and don't think i will, but not 100% sure

Lookin Good Mike! I need you to work on mine so huury up on yours!;)

Very nice truck. Top notch fab work.

Hey Mike,... Just a quick question. How did you Z the frame and not have to drop the front frame horns by the core support? Is the frame only Z'ed behind the engine? Great looking truck!

i wish i had the tallent to do something like that! i guess thats why i like to keep it stock so i won't get confused btw:phat:

i wish i had the tallent to do something like that! i guess thats why i like to keep it stock so i won't get confused btw:phat: You aquire the talent by practice. Granted some folks are more gifted by nature, but if you have the desire to modify things start small and learn as you go...:)

the frame is z'd right behind the core support annd right in front of the cab. the complete suspension is raised as one unit,custom moter mounts were used to lower the motor down . the motor and trans were pre fit with exaust to make sure evrey thing fit .once the bed is complete the whole truck has to come back apart for the last time.

i wish i had the tallent to do something like that! i guess thats why i like to keep it stock so i won't get confused btw:phat:
if it weren't for the help and knowledge of a good friend ,then a lot of the custom fab work wouldn't be done on this truck.

here's a few moire pics of the latest progress

Very Nice!! :metal:

more pics

more pics

might I say... AWSOME!!!

keep up posted........great pics, me like em!!!good job

Mike it looks good in the pics but better in person! If you plan on keeping the fat motor through that ragged fram filter in the trash!

thanks guys , kevin the fram filter was used while i painted the engine , i'm going to run a k&n oil filter or would you recommend something else. more pics coming soon. i am also looking for opinions on which bed to use , i have the modified late model bed in the pics in this thread and have also aquired a very staight and rust free '70 stepside bed. what do ya'll think.

system one would be best but a/c, wix, purolater anything but a FRAM!

thanks guys , kevin the fram filter was used while i painted the engine , i'm going to run a k&n oil filter or would you recommend something else. more pics coming soon. i am also looking for opinions on which bed to use , i have the modified late model bed in the pics in this thread and have also aquired a very staight and rust free '70 stepside bed. what do ya'll think.
DEFINATELY the original stepside... I don't like the new stepsides on our trucks, but then again, it's your truck so it's your call.

Mike,
Looks amazing man. Got a couple of questions.
1.) What's the part number or application on the headers? I see they are hedman 3/4 length. Getting ready to find something for my 67 w/ 454. Looks like you had to do a little trimming on the frame. Do you think that would of been an issue if you didn't need to lower the motor?

2.) Those valve cover look awesome!!!! What...when...where...how??? More info, please.

thanks

You are giving me inspiration, After seeing your handy work I'm hittin my garage first thing in the morning. looks great keep it up. local13hutch.out

Mike,
Looks amazing man. Got a couple of questions.
1.) What's the part number or application on the headers? I see they are hedman 3/4 length. Getting ready to find something for my 67 w/ 454. Looks like you had to do a little trimming on the frame. Do you think that would of been an issue if you didn't need to lower the motor?

2.) Those valve cover look awesome!!!! What...when...where...how??? More info, please.

thankskevncar, the headers are the heddman elite series ,i think they were 69 camero big block shortys , i have the part number but i'll have to find it for you,and yes my opinion is that they will fit the stock chassis set up with minimal mods to the frame. the valve covers are from EDDY MARINE, they are a marine aftermarket company , i got lucky on these , there was a boat sales place here local going out of busness and picked them up for $10.00, they are aluminum and were polished but these will be painted with a little air brush work

Cool to see new progress pics. Looking killer!

I definitely vote for the correct era stepside bed.

kevncar, the headers are the heddman elite series ,i think they were 69 camero big block shortys , i have the part number but i'll have to find it for you,and yes my opinion is that they will fit the stock chassis set up with minimal mods to the frame. the valve covers are from EDDY MARINE, they are a marine aftermarket company , i got lucky on these , there was a boat sales place here local going out of busness and picked them up for $10.00, they are aluminum and were polished but these will be painted with a little air brush work


What motor mounts are you using?

I have the 72 BBC mounts and the same headers. Right now, the driver's side header is hitting the frame side of the mount.

What motor mounts are you using?

I have the 72 BBC mounts and the same headers. Right now, the driver's side header is hitting the frame side of the mount.

I have the tubular motor mounts from performance online.com. Do they look like they will have the same problem you're having with the stock mounts?

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g71/kevncar/DSC01537Medium.jpg

No, the stock mount has a reinforcing ridge that is interfering with the header.

Might be the way for me to go.

Nice transformation. You do good work.

Progress looks great. One question...

Why did you put the square piece on the crossmember? Is there clearance problems with the cab?

jay_dawg , the square tube was used to gain clearance for the drive shaft, the transmission was raised to level the engine after the frame Z

the valve covers are painted and a little more progress on the engine