Flipper turns keeper... 67 upgrades

[HSRACER]

I have been a member for many years and do a bunch of work to my trucks but never seem to get around to a build thread. Figured I would document a truck I bought to flip but fell in love with.

I will turn it into my shop truck and am having a hell of a time not going full restoration on it. My wife reminds me frequently that this one was for a daily driver that you can actually use to haul old junk parts in.

It had a lot of things I liked and almost as much that I didn’t. Here are a few photos of what I started with.

Enjoy the ride and comments are certainly welcomed.

[HSRACER]

Love the 5.3 LS and the 4l60e but the stock drum brakes and the nonfunctional gauges weren’t going to make it for long. Also, I believe the stock ride height springs that were torched to lower her down would not meet the safety standards I was going for.

[HSRACER]

So a call to Travis at AZ pro performance was in order and we settled on some 5 lug disc brakes and 2.5 inches drop spindles along with a power booster and bracket set up.

I figured a better stopping vehicle would be a good thing since the LS is way faster than the braking potential of this truck.

[HSRACER]

Got the drop spindles on and the brake rotors. This caused a need for new wheels since my 6 lugs would be replaced by 5 lug steely wheels. The best thing in my mind was to do a semi patina looking truck while making everything modern underneath.

Plan will be to add AC, Dakota Digital Gauges, repair all the rust, new seat, add carpet, relocate the ecu, add electric fans, drop the rear 4 inches, replace the bumper, add new interior paint, add some tunes, new tires, new exhaust, fresh tune in the computer, pull out the big dents, weld the spare tire rack to hold a 5 lug wheel, add seat belts, tint the windows, rebuild the door window tracks and regulators, add some new mirrors, all new door gaskets, and more I have not discovered yet!

[HSRACER]

Bought and installed 4 inch drop springs in the rear and as mentioned in earlier posts I went 2.5 drop spindles in the front. Since this will be my daily driver I am keeping the stock front springs and the 235/75/r15 tire sizes for a great ride.

Have it lowered but I forgot to take final pictures😁😁

I will do better as I go. People love pictures and I apologize for slipping up.

[HSRACER]

After the drop the next step was rust repair. The previous owner replaced the roof skin but nothing else as he hated the job and decided he was done with any more rust work.

I went to show a buddy how solid it was above the windshield and promptly pulled the sun visor down and completely yanked it out of the “fiberglassed” inner roof panel.

Got to give them credit, it looked stock. They did a great job of hiding all the rust up there.

And so it begins.

[HSRACER]

And inner and outer rockers. The cab corners were incredibly solid and stock as far as I can see.

Passenger fender lower cap and behind the tire was bad too.

[HSRACER]

Start the cuts and watch them grow.

[3757chevy]

I like what I'm seeing. Are you staying with the blue interior?

[HSRACER]

Originally Posted by 3757chevy

I like what I'm seeing. Are you staying with the blue interior?

Yes sir. The last picture with the door panels on the back of the bed will give the best shot of the actual color it is now. That was the factory interior color. Don’t remember the code but it was on the glove box.

The white exterior color is factory as well.

[3757chevy]

That answered that.You were posting more while I was typing my question.

[68bowtie]

Cool truck it looks like you have your work cut out for you!

[HSRACER]

Originally Posted by 68bowtie

Cool truck it looks like you have your work cut out for you!

Thanks. I can’t wait to get it back on the road again. We are getting close and by the end of the week I should be driving it again every day.

I am semi retired so I can work all day every day except for one week a month when I actually have to work to pay some bills!

[3757chevy]

I posted the color code in my front end friday's thread.http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...4&postcount=46 That is the color my truck is supposed to be. stevenfromtexas painted his '67 that color .

[HSRACER]

Here are a few pictures of the compressor and lines installed. The ac will make Texas heat bearable.

[HSRACER]

Today we wired up the dual electric fans to the computer control line and added an AC override to turn them on as soon as the AC switch is activated.

Also finished adding the radiator top cover and relocated the wiper fluid container.

Little things the seem to take awhile😁

[HSRACER]

Check out the tire and rim combination for the spare. I have mounted up all new tires on some old worn steel wheels from one of my square body parts truck to fit the patinaed theme.

I know it is not for everyone but I really like the fact that it all looks old and worn when in fact it is in like new condition underneath.

Any comments out there?

[HSRACER]

Took a crappy picture in an uneven parking lot today to try and show the new lower stance. It looks higher in the rear than it really is because of the parking lot slope. When I bring it home in the next couple days I will get better ones.

I am still debating on air ride. I have it on 2 of my 6 rides and not sure if I will add it to the shop truck just yet. Kind of like the thought of just get in and go with no worries.

[3757chevy]

Originally Posted by HSRACER

Check out the tire and rim combination for the spare. I have mounted up all new tires on some old worn steel wheels from one of my square body parts truck to fit the patinaed theme.

I know it is not for everyone but I really like the fact that it all looks old and worn when in fact it is in like new condition underneath.

Any comments out there?

I kinda like blue wheels on the first posts, but it's your call . Static drop is fine for what your wanting the truck for IMO.

[TA_C10]

Did you use the ceramic lizard skin only or the sound barrier stuff too? What was your steps? Epoxy primer, paint, lizard skin?

Thanks, and your build is coming along nicely!

Tom
.

[HSRACER]

Originally Posted by TA_C10

Did you use the ceramic lizard skin only or the sound barrier stuff too? What was your steps? Epoxy primer, paint, lizard skin?

Thanks, and your build is coming along nicely!

Tom
.

We did the sound deadening lizard skin on the floor first because I wanted the kick panels covered and then we painted over it when we did the final interior color.

I didn’t use the ceramic because I am putting carpet over the lizard skin.


We primed the entire interior except the floor and painted every the blue color.

[TA_C10]

So you can put the lizard skin on direct metal with no primer?

[HSRACER]

Originally Posted by TA_C10

So you can put the lizard skin on direct metal with no primer?

We sanded and scuffed the original paint on the floors and kick panels before laying it on. We did prime the new metal that was welded in like the rockers and the lower kick panels.

I am not sure if I would put it over bare metal.

[HSRACER]

I was scrapping 67-72 trucks a few years ago and thought I had a couple of old stabilizer bars laying out back and since this truck didn’t have one on it, thought I better check the back pile.

I did have two that had sunk into the ground and had to dig them out. They weren’t pretty but cleaned up nicely. Bought new mounts and rubber bushings then installed one on the 67.

Wow what a difference in handling that made. The truck no longer feels like it is rolling over when cornering.

Gave the second one to my buddy so he could but it on the 84 square body he is building for his 16 year old daughter.

It is so cool seeing this old junk being brought back to life and makes it worth keeping a junk pile in the back yard!

[clay68c10]

That’s a neat, clean and simple truck. I like it. It’s nice to see one that isn’t over-killed.