Fixrupr

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by landarts

Let me tell you about a cool happening. Last week I listed a complete 1967 front clip on the local craigslist for $400. I got a few calls right after I listed, but as usual a few no shows. Typical for most Craigslist shoppers. Monday I received a call from a guy that was interested in the clip, he kept talking about how he bought this 4x4 that had a wrecked front end and needed to replace it. Then he goes on to say that he was really looking for a 72 clip for the truck.

Well I happen to have one of those over at the storage unit next my house, I told him that that clip was 100% complete, rust free and the body work had already been done. He says give me your address and I will come and get Tuesday afternoon.

I gave him the address and the next day he shows up with the $450 and we load it. Then he goes on to tell me that he drove 10 hours from Vegas to get it and was on his way back so he would'nt be late for work.

Wow I was blown away that I had local people that said they were on there way over and never showed, this guy drove 10 hours one way.

Now thats dedication to your cause.

No kidding. He has some serious faith in people too. I can't count the number of times someone has sold a part out from under me when I told the guy I was on my way to pick it up. That would really suck after driving for 10 hours.

I wish we were closer. I could use that 67 front clip but the gas for me to come get it would be nearly what you are asking for it.

[landarts]

Yeah I ve been through that before. Last year there was a 72 4x4 blazer on Craigslist for 800. It ran and was in really decent shape. I told the guy I would take it. He said be over a 4pm the following day because that is when he gets in from work, I said no problem see at 4pm.

The next day I get there at 3:45pm wait in the truck till 4pm thinking he is going to pull up anytime. Finally at 4:10pm I knock on the door and the wife answers and says he got home 45 minutes ago and was out with the guy that just bought the Blazer.

Well you could imagine I was really pissed and want to tell him (&^)&^*)&^*&^*&^, but I didnt . I did not want to stoop to his level and gain the bad karma. Three days later I picked up a clean 72 suburban for the same cost. Oh well!

[landarts]

Painting the cab today, all has been prepped, taped, seam sealed and wiped down for a few coats of base & clear. Pictures to follow.

[landarts]

We have it painted! Here is the last piece of the puzzle after 3 coats of base and 2 coats of clear. Everything went smooth.

I sprayed the sealer and the first coat of base, Tony shot the 2nd and 3rd coats of base and the sealer. Tony is a friend of mine that has mentored me through the entire paint job. He has shared his procedures and little tricks on how to shot base/clear. Up until this time I have only shot single stage paints. Tony has been great not only as a teacher but a friend as well.

I also want to thank Craig for helping with tech questions on the paint and coming over to my house to expect parts before painting. He has also been a great wealth of knowledge for this build. Without friends like this I am not sure what kind of success I really would have had.

Once again thanks for all the help and knowledge you have shared toward the project.

[67cheby]

wow...NICE !!

[VA72C10]

Looks great!!!

[XxCHEVYMANxX]

Nice Job! Looking forward to seeing it all together.

[landarts]

Next step that I will complete today is shooting the Raptor Bed liner. I went with the black colored kit from TP tools. Once I get the truck back together I will be making a removable show deck from left over 3/4" flooring material and new metal bed strips painted to match truck.

Overall I should only have the cost of the metal bed strips which about $60, the wood was given to me by my neighbor that is a wood floor specialist, and I already have the paint.

See picture below - similar to this but with painted metal instead of chrome or maybe powder coated.

[landarts]

Well been geared up to start assembling the truck back together after the paint job. Been thinking through the process of what I should do first so that I dont put something back on the truck that will have to come off for another part. Like putting the front fenders on before the doors which I was about to do.

Then I noticed that I painted the bolts for the hinges with the batch of bolts that are black, so now Im getting ready to shot them with the LeMans Blue so they match.

I have also decided that I will use anti-seize on all bolts and die electric grease on all electrical connections.

So here is the plan for now.

• Install doors, front fenders, inner fender wells
• Install new wiring harness while there is nothing in the way inside of the cab
• After wiring install hood, grill and bed
• Finish wiring to rear tail lights
• Install Buddy Bucket seats and shoulder harness seat belts
• Install bumper brackets and bumpers
• Install all glass - doors, rear and windshield, wings after rebuilding them

[landarts]

Finally got putting the sheet metal back on the truck. Here are a few picts of the front clip installed. As you see the new wiring harness is sitting inside the cab. That will be the next order of the rebuild, to get it wired so it can move on its own.

Put the hood on to get it out of the way so it does not get dinged. When I shot the Raptor liner in the bed I will also remove the hood and shoot the underside with black Raptor.

Note: I searched all over the site and found various ways to install my new hinge springs on the freshly painted hood hinges. I kept seeing threads where people would use a floor jack to expand the spring, then they would put items like wrenched in between the spring to load it to a stretched state. Once I got the spring on the jack I thought why put items in between the springs, so I grabbed one of the hinges and placed it with the spring and slow let the jack down. It work awesome, took about 1 minute for each spring to be installed on the hinge. Wish I could have taken pictures but I had one hand hold the hinge and the other twisting the floor jack handle to let it down.

[landarts]

This week end I will be sorting out the new wiring harness and prepping the last few little parts that need paint. Mostly small items so I can hang them up and paint all at one time.

Need to finish prepping cowl and shaving the antenna hole, going with a under dash unit. Then it will be ready for LeMans Blue.

[XxCHEVYMANxX]

Lookin good!

[landarts]

Well made it through the holidays and getting back to the project. I am starting to install the EZ-wiring 21 circuit mini kit. I have finally got the stock hole patched with a piece of 18 gauge, then drilled a 1 1/4 hole for the grommet. Mounted it to the firewall on the inside with pop rivets. Then mounted the fuse block next it with rivet-nuts. Ran all the wire to the front, back and interior areas.

That is where I got stuck, trying to make sense of the wiring to the ignition switch. Looked around on the forum for some answer...got few and then some seemed to just confuse me further. Found a set of colored electrical diagrams on the forum that were created in Autocad then converted to PDF. Downloaded and printed them in tile format and taped together.......that seemed to help.

[landarts]

First I would like to confess my lack of knowledge when it comes to wiring and the electrical system. I have read and reread as many books and threads as I can to get me through the process of installing the EZ-Wiring kit. There has been a few members who have really helped me through the trouble areas , for that I am grateful.

As for how I would grade the EZ-Wiring kit, well lets just say for a novice its probably not the kit I would recommend. Their instruction booklet is vague and their customer support has not returned any of my phone calls. Other than that it is a quality kit for what it is. If I had the knowledge I would have put a step by step log of the Ez-wiring install to our year of trucks...I guess it would be a Ez-Wiring conversion to 67-72 trucks.

I know the cliche " you get what you pay for " that being said Im good with kit I got what I paid for. Lesson learned.

[fakerwade]

The truck is looking great!! Too bad you don't live a little closer,,I'd give you a hand on the wiring.

[landarts]

Hey thanks for the props - I too wish your were closer, I dont think I will have any hair left after this wiring!

[landarts]

Getting close to wrapping the new electrical harness install. I have really been getting side tracked, bouncing back and forth to other items that need done. Plan on wrapping up by this weekend and get the bed on so I can drive it out of the garage.

Still have a few items to double check on the new EZ-wiring harness, then I will get her fired up.

[landarts]

Here is a mockup of what I possibly will do with the 72 suburban.

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by landarts

Here is a mockup of what I possibly will do with the 72 suburban.

I'd like to cut one down to the short bed truck length. Pull 12" or so from in front of the rear wheel and a bunch more from behind the rear wheel.

[landarts]

Yeah that was what I was trying to do in the mock-up. Still need to figure where to take a little more out. I think it would be a fun project as long as the proportions looked right.

[landarts]

Here is one more for comparison, with the top one being the shortbed version.

[landarts]

Got the radiator installed and hoses hooked up. Sprayed the top of the frame rails with 3m undercoating. I will finish the under side in the spring when its warmer out and I can use a power washer.

Next to move the bed onto the truck and put the battery in.

[landarts]

Moved on to rebuilding the window wing vents and installing new rubber - pictures to follow.

[XxCHEVYMANxX]

Originally Posted by landarts

Moved on to rebuilding the window wing vents and installing new rubber - pictures to follow.

Any progress on the vent windows? I'm going to be doing mine soon.

[landarts]

The vent windows are done....what a pain that was. They look brand new and are ready to go into the doors.

My vent windows were in bad shape, the rubber was either missing or so dry rotted that it just broke off. I followed the steps in the FAQ to rebuild mine.

Tips:

• Use dish soap to get the rubbers in place
• drill out the rivets as per he faq
• used cleaner wax with a buffer to make them look brand new

My wing vents were slightly pitted from me doing the welding repairs on the rain gutters above. Did not think to cover them up while I was welding. The welding left raised pitting on the glass. I read an article where someone used a carnuba cleaner wax with a buffer to polish out the glass and chrome. I had both available in the shop and gave it a try. It worked wonders.