'69 Chevy pickup project.. parts truck, page 8

[dragonfly2k3]

oh yeah, if you're buying a wire brush to clean the frame go out and buy a small 4" grinder with a wire brush, it will make it MUCH cleaner and save you lots of work/time. I picked one up a few weeks ago for 20 bucks at an ACE.

[boostedfury]

nice pickup ken cant wait to see it at the wednesday night meet....

[Scapegoat]

Originally Posted by dragonfly2k3

oh yeah, if you're buying a wire brush to clean the frame go out and buy a small 4" grinder with a wire brush, it will make it MUCH cleaner and save you lots of work/time. I picked one up a few weeks ago for 20 bucks at an ACE.

I've got a cordless dremel sitting here which will be perfect for cleaning out some mounting points for the ground

[Scapegoat]

Originally Posted by boostedfury

nice pickup ken cant wait to see it at the wednesday night meet....

I can't wait either lol.

If the weather is decent enough I should have time to sort out the rear wiring sunday. Which means I should have it out tuesday and wednesday. I've got till next saturday to get her inspected lol... so I'm good till then

[ThePrimerSuspect]

Originally Posted by Scapegoat

you've done brake work before? I could def use help once I get everything I need to convert to power disc brakes. Of course... I've gotta buy some damn rims for the 5 lug conversion... 6 lug ftl...

installing the supercharger should be fun though

did the 5 lug swap on my cougar last summer. the only reason im not SAE certified is because nowhere i ever worked would pay for it. but yeah, id say i know what im doing

[Scapegoat]

Originally Posted by ThePrimerSuspect

did the 5 lug swap on my cougar last summer. the only reason im not SAE certified is because nowhere i ever worked would pay for it. but yeah, id say i know what im doing

sweet.

I'd rather have a hand in my project instead of taking it to a shop and dropping it off, waiting... then picking it up.

The big issues is... what to buy first... power disc brake, 5 lug conversion and new rims... or supercharger and fuel system...

the former would run around 2k from kits, the latter... around 3k...

I should probably worry about stopping before i worry about going.

[poolmike]

The truck will fight you with age/rust. If you are doing a disc conversion, it would be a great time to pull the front control arms and change the bushings and ball joints. I will be heading to Shorty's this week for some Jeep parts, I'll see what they have for '71-'72 disc brake stuff.

Is it a coil spring or leaf spring rear suspension??

I wish you were closer. I would jump right in on this project.

[Scapegoat]

Originally Posted by poolmike

The truck will fight you with age/rust. If you are doing a disc conversion, it would be a great time to pull the front control arms and change the bushings and ball joints. I will be heading to Shorty's this week for some Jeep parts, I'll see what they have for '71-'72 disc brake stuff.

Is it a coil spring or leaf spring rear suspension??

I wish you were closer. I would jump right in on this project.

leaf springs are goooone

[poolmike]

Originally Posted by Scapegoat

leaf springs are goooone

As in someone took them out....or it has the much better factory coil springs??

[Scapegoat]

Originally Posted by poolmike

As in someone took them out....or it has the much better factory coil springs??

don't know

got the truck home... after having it towed

Alternator or battery, most likely both have died and need to get replaced. Truck starts right up when the battery is jumped, but won't stay running for too long.

first project... new alternator and battery

[dragonfly2k3]

If i were you i would do the 5 lug swap first. At the same time you can do suspension bushings and any other traction upgrades you intend to do, you will definately need it with a supercharger on there. Plus, i imagine having a power disc brake set-up will make the truck much more enjoyable to drive.

[cburwell]

Originally Posted by Scapegoat

ah yeah, what are those little heat shrink tubes called?

www.jameco.com

They have just about any wiring equipment you will need. You can order heat shrink tubing by the diameter and length. I usually order a whole bunch of it (10' or so) and just cut it to length as I need it.

[Scapegoat]

home and running. Replaced the battery and jiggled the wire and we were off. Made it to the KoP mall and back no problem.

Needs a bigger engine though, that 350 is underpowered...

Anyway, some pics

[poolmike]

Truck looks good. Depending on what you are looking to do performance wise....that 350(if it is a 350) can be made to run good. A stock Powerglide trans and highway gearing in the axles with those rears tires will kill it. That engine just needs a good tune up with a matching set of plug wires, put some timing and fuel into it, and it should run strong. It appears to have some good sheet metal, which is a huge plus. It also appears to be a coil sprung rear suspension, also a plus.


*edit* that xhaust is hideous. Cut that crap off.

[Scapegoat]

haha yeah, the exhaust is horribly welded together... and I think those are cherry bombs!

It's loud as ****, and barely moves out of its own way.

The 350 needs a tune. Its got a nice tick in the right side, lifters too tight I think?

The body is in great shape. just need to sand her down, align some panels and get her sprayed. But all that will wait until after the drivetrain/engine are where I want it.

My goal, as I said was around 500hp... i know with a supercharger kit I can pull 400-450 at 8-10psi, go with a different cam and better flowing exhaust headers should land me near my goal... and probably make me happy with performance.

Luckily the exhaust bolts up at the header, so it would be easy to remove it, bolt on some borla or flowmaster mufflers and then bolt on some more tubing. While I love how ridiculously loud the truck is... it doesn't put down the power to warrant it.

She made it to the mall and back today, so I'm happy... I'll be able to bring it out to the tuesday meet. But I need to get the truck inspected soon...

[The Captain]

My brother bought an abandoned approx. 1974 c10 flareside to take the crate motor out of it, but apparently the truck has some rare options like dual gas tanks etc. Not sure if you're interested or if they'd even work on you're truck, but i could talk to him and see what is left.

[Scapegoat]

Originally Posted by The Captain

My brother bought an abandoned approx. 1974 c10 flareside to take the crate motor out of it, but apparently the truck has some rare options like dual gas tanks etc. Not sure if you're interested or if they'd even work on you're truck, but i could talk to him and see what is left.

I'd be interested in knowing whats left

[poolmike]

I'm going to try making it to the Tuesday meet to see the truck. That '74 is a completely diferent truck.

[Danronian]

Looks like a solid project.

I agree that the 350 could be a performer if you give it some love. I would figure out what compression your engine has since the 350 did come with heads of different combustion chamber sizes which can make the difference between around 8.5:1 motor, or something over 9:1. If it came out of a 70s chevy, it probably has the 76cc "Smog Heads" on it, which will give you less than 8.5:1 I believe. Some of the HP early 70s and 60s 350s did come with smaller 64cc combustion chambers, but i don't think they flowed enough to make much power. If you do want to keep the 350, the "Vortec" heads which can be bought through Summit or straight from GM, are cheap, around $500 for the pair, and have 64cc chambers and flow very well for being factory parts. I don't believe many blower kits work with the vortec heads, since they take different intake manifolds, but I haven't really looked into 350 parts for a while, so that could have changed.

A simple tune-up, a cam, maybe a new timing chain, and checking the levels of the floats in the carb, and maybe a carb rebuild (pretty easy, and they sell the kits in Summit or at pepboys) will make the truck feel 100% I guarantee!

When I got my 75 malibu (350/th350 trans) it was such a dog with a worn-out cam (wasnt broken in right a would bet), a worn out carb, old plugs/wires/dizzy parts, and the entire suspension was original with 100k miles on it. Now it's a completely different car that runs perfect! Of course, it took years of work, and everything is now replaced. But an old chevy is like that, so good luck!

[Scapegoat]

thanks guys.

I'm excited about the work involved with an old vehicle such as this.

I'm going to give the 350 some tlc as after 37 years it deserves to run the way it should ;)

I'll do some research into the heads and see what works with a supercharger. There's nothing cooler than an old v8 with a blower

Poolmike, if you make it out tuesday that'd be awesome. But they're calling for thunderstorms, course that could change at any minute.