Green Gus the 68 shortbed convert

[hewittca]

Thanks guys! I've been really anxious to work on the truck but just don't have the parts necessary yet to tear into it. One thing I could do that I haven't figured out yet is modifying the inner fenders. Once I add drop spindles, the stock wheel tubs in front just aren't going to work. I'd love to throw some Hills tubs and Porterbuilt hinges in it but can't justify that kind of cash. I know at some point I saw a thread on modified raised stock tubs but can't find it now. I'm thinking about going this route instead, and in the meantime running tubless until I figure it out.

[smbrouss70]

Here you go, but he never quite finished them.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=258732

[hewittca]

Originally Posted by smbrouss70

Here you go, but he never quite finished them.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=258732

That's the one, thanks! Man I wish he finished that Tahoe, it was an awesome build.

[hewittca]

Picked up some 5" springs this weekend to replace my heated stockers and threw them in. These are the springs that Graham57a was running in his badass '72 before he swapped out to some 6" springs. The truck sits level where it is but I'm not a big fan of the level look. Once I add spindles/blocks I will mill the blocks down to give the truck a 1" rake.



I took the truck out to test them and I'm pretty happy with how they feel. Right now I have no notch and about 2" of travel but have not bottomed out yet. My daughter tagged along in "her" truck and we found a cool new spot to take photos down by the Yadkin River.

[Graham57a]

Looks awesome man, those old springs look tired haha. So what is your plan out front now?

[hewittca]

Originally Posted by Graham57a

Looks awesome man, those old springs look tired haha. So what is your plan out front now?

they were happy to be relieved of duty. Up front will be getting some 2.5" drop spindles to bring the fender down to right at the top of the rim. I will have to take out the inner fenders to run it this low. Then out back I'll bring it down another inch with drop blocks. Should look something like this:

[Graham57a]

Originally Posted by hewittca

they were happy to be relieved of duty. Up front will be getting some 2.5" drop spindles to bring the fender down to right at the top of the rim. I will have to take out the inner fenders to run it this low. Then out back I'll bring it down another inch with drop blocks. Should look something like this:

Looks perfect man, I am battling the same inner fender issue on my orange truck. I don't want to run PB hood hinges and have to cut the fenders up but I am too low to run factory inners and hinges.

[hewittca]

Originally Posted by Graham57a

Looks perfect man, I am battling the same inner fender issue on my orange truck. I don't want to run PB hood hinges and have to cut the fenders up but I am too low to run factory inners and hinges.

I was just looking at your pics again, yeah you're really close! Do you ever bottom out? From what I've figured with my highly accurate experiment of jumping on the bumper while recording, I have about 2-3" of normal travel up front. I measured about 2.5" of clearance after I add drop spindles so I may have to do something. I'll probably wait and see how close it is in reality and if it rubs at all, and then go from there.

[Graham57a]

Originally Posted by hewittca

I was just looking at your pics again, yeah you're really close! Do you ever bottom out? From what I've figured with my highly accurate experiment of jumping on the bumper while recording, I have about 2-3" of normal travel up front. I measured about 2.5" of clearance after I add drop spindles so I may have to do something. I'll probably wait and see how close it is in reality and if it rubs at all, and then go from there.

Yes I definitely rub often haha. There is a company called All American Billet that is now making hood hinges for modified inner fenders that bolt in the back of the fender instead of the firewall. Probably next winter I will be installing a set of Hills Rod and Customs inner fenders and most likely those American Billet hinges. I will have to trim the inside of my front fenders but that should be it.

[hewittca]

Originally Posted by Graham57a

Yes I definitely rub often haha. There is a company called All American Billet that is now making hood hinges for modified inner fenders that bolt in the back of the fender instead of the firewall. Probably next winter I will be installing a set of Hills Rod and Customs inner fenders and most likely those American Billet hinges. I will have to trim the inside of my front fenders but that should be it.

Interesting, I haven't seen those hinges before. Those are really nice, but too nice for my truck I think. I don't mind cutting my firewall so if I have to I'll probably go PB style hinges. I do like the Hills inner fenders as well.

[rusty76]

Nice pics. I’m sure your daughter is sold on the truck being hers.

[hewittca]

I've been trying to figure out the history of my truck, but have been met with some roadblocks. As far as I can tell for certain, the truck has been in this area of NC its whole life including the previous 20 years with the same owner in Kernersville NC (right outside of Winston Salem), and I was told it was purchased new locally in Winston Salem. That means it could have only come from one place, Modern Chevrolet which at the time was in downtown. I tried calling Modern but of course their records don't go back that far. Regardless, I'm going with this since it's the best and most probable scenario. That being the case, I decided to bring the truck back to where it was (most likely) purchased to recreate a great photo I found from the "Modern Chevrolet Truck Headquarters" lot on the corner of 4th and Broad. The dealership has moved and the lot has been replaced by a new building, but these photos are both taken from the exact same spot.

1963


2018

[rusty76]

Cool shots Cory. I go by that spot almost two to three times a week. Our shop is close to the ballpark. I remember Modern being there up till they moved. I hate that they are at the north end of town now. Oh well. If only our trucks could talk.

[hewittca]

Originally Posted by rusty76

Cool shots Cory. I go by that spot almost two to three times a week. Our shop is close to the ballpark. I remember Modern being there up till they moved. I hate that they are at the north end of town now. Oh well. If only our trucks could talk.

Cool! Yeah I go by there every day. My kids go to school on Poplar St. I remember the vacant lot there when I moved to town in '08. Never thought much of it until I saw that old pic and realized it was the Chevy dealership! The showroom was on the opposite corner of the same intersection, which is now an apartment building as you know.

[rusty76]

Crazy how things change. There is another car show close to the apartments and the piano place in the fall I think. I couldn’t go this year but I feel like it was probably pretty good.

[slowcpe]

Just went through your whole thread. Cool truck! Found it (again) while looking at ideas for "fauxtina". In the process or bringing home a '72 that has a primered hood and passenger door. Reading up on ways to blend the new paint and preserve the original patina. Yours turned out perfect!

[hewittca]

Originally Posted by slowcpe

Just went through your whole thread. Cool truck! Found it (again) while looking at ideas for "fauxtina". In the process or bringing home a '72 that has a primered hood and passenger door. Reading up on ways to blend the new paint and preserve the original patina. Yours turned out perfect!

Thank you! Yeah I think it turned out ok. At first I didn't think it matched that closely but after getting used to seeing it painted I don't even notice that it's not original anymore. I've also had quite a few complements on the truck overall in person and no one has ever noticed it's not original, so I suppose it's close enough!

[hewittca]

Figured I'd post an update since it's been a few months even though I haven't done much to the truck. I rode around on the 5" CPP drop springs for a while and they were fine just cruising...





...but I discovered they have a load carrying capacity of about 10 lbs (sarcasm) after carrying my kids and their power wheels through the woods. I then tried to haul a 1/2 yard of dirt and that was a mistake. That was a rough ride home!







With spring upon us, I reluctantly put my old springs back in so I could get some work done around the house. My father-in-law just got a new lift so I also had to try that out and get my first good look at the bottom of my truck.







I wasn't quite happy with the rake of the truck with the old springs back in, so I machined some 1/2" spacers that I will use in the meantime until I can get around to notching the frame and putting in the 2" blocks. I also had a chance this past weekend to bring the truck out to one of the best cruise ins around my area in Kannapolis NC.





That's it for now. I still plan on doing the whole spindle/disk swap but that will probably be pushed off until this winter. I'm getting too much use out of the truck right now to put it up on stands!

[GR8-68]

Always enjoy your posts Corey, hope you and the family are doing well

[cornerstone]

Awesome truck with perfect look.

[rusty76]

Looking good Corey. Glad to see you using your truck like a truck. There’s also a cruise in Lexington that’s looks to be nice too. It’s downtown. We have one in Welcome and soon to be Midway too. Pretty neat.

[hewittca]

Thanks guys!

Yeah there are quite a few good cruise ins around this area. Larry told me about a good one in Kernersville, and there's also a great one in Pilot Mountain.
I always tend to gravitate towards Kannapolis though, I guess because that's the one I've always gone to. I need to start checking some of these other ones out.

[Mikes68C10]

Originally Posted by hewittca

Thanks guys!

Yeah there are quite a few good cruise ins around this area. Larry told me about a good one in Kernersville, and there's also a great one in Pilot Mountain.
I always tend to gravitate towards Kannapolis though, I guess because that's the one I've always gone to. I need to start checking some of these other ones out.

Wow! Now that's what I call a transformation of love!
Great detail, great story, great craftsmanship!
Super inspiration!
Congrats!
Mike

[hewittca]

I'm slowly making progress toward doing the spindle swap, but before I can get there I needed to finish up the mods in the rear. I decided to go with a bolt in c-notch from CPP. Overall I'm really happy with it. The fit was really good given it was all prefabbed and is being bolted up to a 50 year old chassis. I just had one small gap between the notch and frame on the left side that was due to a deformity in my frame. I think I will eventually weld in the notch just for added reassurance. Other than that my only criticism is that the bumpstops included are pointless because the differential hits the bed floor about an inch before the rear even touches the bumpstops. Before the notch I bottomed out routinely on 5" springs. With the notch, I haven't bottomed out yet but I'm kind of worried to see what it does to my bed floor if/when I do bottom out after I add in 1" blocks.





While I was under the truck, I decided I would go ahead and try out the trailing arm bracket flip trick. After all the work of removing those rivets, it turned out to be a fruitless endeavor. The pinion angle was much worse after the flip than before. In fact, the pinion angle was almost perfect before because I have a two piece driveshaft. If you have a single driveshaft, this mod may help but don't waste your time if you have a two piece. I was able to correct all my driveshaft angles simply by raising the carrier bearing which requires flipping it 180 degrees and relocating the mount as you can see below.

The other thing I tried while I had those mounts off was adding in a 1/2" spacer to recenter the wheels in the arches. I think 1/2" was too much because the wheels looked too far back after I added the spacers! I may mill the spacers down to 1/4" eventually, but for now I think I will leave them out. In actuality, I think I have enough room to slide the bed forward a bit to help compensate for the slight forward shift of the rear with the large drop I'm running.



I think the last thing I need to do in preparation before I can do the spindles is replace the exhaust. It is poorly fit and would hang within 1" of the ground after spindles so I definitely need to fix that! For now though I'm just going to enjoy driving the truck for the summer.

[Janz99]

Truck looks great! I love seeing the updates as progress is made.