Project Rocky Mountain High

[Denver64]

Hey all. Well, I've been reading this board off an on for years. Mostly to get ideas for my truck. Well, the time has come and I've decided to do a full frame off restoration. The reason for my title is that I've been helping friends work on their projects for years and either never had the space or never had the right project to work on. I'm elated right now that I'm finally going to be able to work on my own project! As for my project, I bought my 64 Chevy step side short bed probably 4 years ago. When I bought it, it ran like garbage and then I figured out the coil was wired wrong, put a new intake, carb and HEI and it ran great. Still, no time or money to really dedicate to it b/c we bought a house and over the past 3 years that has consumed most of my time. Now, the house is where we want it and it's time for the truck! I figured I was ready also as a little over a year ago I had a friends 80 Monte in my garage and did a bunch of body work. I realized that I have a lot more patience now than I did a few years ago and that I'll work something until I think it's perfect. Put that all together and here I am. I have an OK garage in that it has one bay and a work area (the bay is kind of small but the truck fits). Between my brother and I, we have most of the tools I'll need. As for the plans for the truck, I'd like to put an LS1 in it and keep it manual. I likely won't have the cabbage for the LS1 and the tranny so I'm going to build a 350 in the meantime and use it as a place holder. I figure if I can get a really good base together on this, I can do upgrades over time. So anyway, here are some pics. I thought I had more but couldn't find them and have already started the tear down.

[shrunken66stroker]

That's a solid plan. Update early and often.

[Denver64]

The sunroof is awful! The combination of that and rotted out floor may lead me to trying to find a new cab. I've seen a bunch in the junkyards here in the past and they were pretty solid. Also, need a new passenger side fender (lots of holes in it from bad patch job) and has rot. Doors look like they have a ton of mud in them also. This truck is going to take a lot of patience, but who cares, that's free! More pics of the tear down. I worked on this all last weekend and a couple of nights this week. I'm just really fired up to keep it going. Very excited for the 3 day weekend!

[Denver64]

Going to have to straighten the frame a bit as it looks like somebody was pulling stumps out from the front or towed this and hooked on the wrong place. Also found a crack in the fram just behind the passenger side of the rearend. P/O did a real poor job trying to patch it. So, this is about where I am. Have the bed off and the front end apart. Next I'm going to start ripping apart the cab.

[Denver64]

Hit the post button before I attached the pics.

[Joemomma1]

Is someone a fan?

[aerotruk63]

Nice project! Kinda off the subject, brick on the inside of the garage?

[63sbssbbw]

Looks like a good start
T

[Denver64]

Yeah, I think it use to be a one car garage made of brick and then they added a work shop side to it. I did all the wiring myself and when I did it I found out that the other side is cement block. Our house is the same way. To put up a picture we have to use ancors as there is a layer of plaster over brick. Sort of sucks. Keeps the temperature pretty even in the house and the garage actually stays pretty cool even on hot days.

[ChiefRocka]

Nice !!

Welcome aboard for SJ Cali...

[Anthony Fremont]

Cool, looks allot like my truck. Long live the stepside. Since you're busy now, you can send me that split-bumper camaro.

[Chevy Fleetside]

[MacAttack]

Welcome from the Left Coast!

Mac.

[Denver64]

Thanks all! It's great to be here! Ha, ha, ha! Yeah, the camaro was sort of a barn find. Hasn't seen the road since 1975 and has 48k original miles. An original RS 350. That's my next project. I also have a 71 skylark and a 72 super beetle.

[slepysal]

Another welcome from San Jose Ca

[Denver64]

Just got back in from the garage. Took the doors off the cab and gutted most of the inside. Still have the seat, steering column, and gas tank to pull as well as the glass. I'm hoping to get the cab off this weekend and then pull the engine and trans and start working on the frame.

[Denver64]

One thing that I noticed is that the wiring harness isn't that complicated. Stinks that mine is butchered very badly. Will likely have to replace that.

[Captainfab]

Welcome to the board

You're making great progress quickly. Before you know it, you'll have a big pile of parts that used to be a truck Don't worry if you forget where something goes, there will be someone here that can help you out.

Keep us upto date.....with pics of course.

[javadoc]

Looks good, man... have fun with it! It's great to see another local build going on. Are you done yet?

[Denver64]

Ha! Yeah, just have to throw some paint on it and I'm done! I figure that while I have a full head of steam I might as well keep on rolling with it. I know that in a couple of weeks it'll be time to start buying stuff and then it'll slow down quite a bit. Plus, it's exciting to see what I really have. I'm very curious to start stripping down body panels.

[Denver64]

So, today I worked on getting the cab off. I have everything out of it and apart other than the 2 front bolts. I got sidetracked as I found a guy on craigslist that had a disc brake setup for sale. It ended up coming with the brake booster and the power steering gear box and the brake proportioning valve. Anyway, I got a pretty dang good deal on it. However, the guy said it's from a 72 3/4 ton. I looked at some posts on here and it seems like this may not work. Any one know? If that's the case I think I can sell it to my neighbor as he's looking for that set up. That being said, if I change the springs and spindles, will everything else work? I'm thinking maybe I can get him to get me the spindles I need and trade him the ones he'd need. If anyone knows, I would greatly appreciate some input.

[Captainfab]

There's really no point in putting a 3/4 ton suspension under your truck unless you want a 3/4 ton or want to run 8 lug wheels. As long as you're happy with the steel bushings on the control arms, all you need to do is get your drop spindles and springs and get the rest at your local auto parts store. That is unless you are wanting to stay with 6 lug wheels, then there are two ways to do that. One is aftermarket rotors, the other is factory parts you can get at your auto parts store. If you want the 6 lug rotors I can go into more detail.

If you want to upgrade to the rubber bushed control arms, you'll need to get '73-'87 control arms. You can either bolt them to your existing crossmember or you can switch the crossmember and all to the later style.


Of the parts you just bought, you can use the power steering box, the proportioning valve and possibly the booster.

[Denver64]

Thanks Captainfab! That's exactly what I was looking for. Ok, I went to the junkyard and got the parts I needed from a 1973. I do want the rubber bushings so I went that route. That's good that I can at least use some of the stuff I got yesterday. I talked to my neighbor and he seems interested so that's good. As much as that stuff weighs I could probably scrap the rest and get a good chunk of my money back on it. Probably try craigslist if my neighbor doesn't want it.

[Denver64]

As for a project update, I two more bolts and the cab will be ready to come off. Then it's the engine and trans. Question for you guys out there. How much have you paid to get your frame sandblasted?

[Captainfab]

That depends if you're talking a rolling frame, or just a bare frame.

Originally Posted by Denver64

As for a project update, I two more bolts and the cab will be ready to come off. Then it's the engine and trans. Question for you guys out there. How much have you paid to get your frame sandblasted?