Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

This is just a thought I've had for a while now. Since you're down under, in the world of right hand drive. have you thought of a right hand conversion. The 63 double hump dash would simplify it somewhat. Most of the suspension would cross over and I believe that a Holden truck steering box would work.
Anyway, just a thought. Looking great, keep after it.

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

My 71 camaro is RHD. It was converted "professionally" back in the early 80s when it was imported here. Ever seen a chevy aircon turned upside down and mounted to the other side of the car? The firewall had bits of gal sheet rivetted over holes.
Dont mention the wiring!!!!!!!!
So I put about 6 months into tidying up the junk and re-doing a whole lot of things. Had to get a new drag link custom made, you dont want to see what was on there.
At least the dashboard was done in a custom molding that was apparently commonly available back in the day so that side of it is ok.

Anyhow this truck doesnt need to be converted, it comes under "classic" rules here so we just drive em around as is. I dont have enough life left to spend any more of it down the rhd rabbit hole.

BTW the double hump dash had me thinking about it for quite some time, but its really the tip of the iceberg.

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

So the chassis has been braced, chopped in half and kicked up 4" in the rear.
While its in 2 pieces its fairly easy to move around so its off to the blasters.

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

So yes that old chestnut, welding 4" rings into the rear suspension crossmember.
Then made up some frames to mount the cab to the rotisserie.
This cab is so big that my poor old rotisserie wont allow it to fully rotate.
The rockers hit the floor and the cab top corners hit the shed roof so i cant go up higher or down lower. But I can get the rocker area up to about chest height which makes all the rust repairs very accessible.
Its amazing, so much rust in the bottom 12" of the cab and then basically nothing.

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

Back from blasting.
Etch primed all the nice clean bare metal..
Next thing is getting the chassis halves back together.
Spent a few hours grinding, levelling, aligning, clamping, measuring, repeat repeat repeat. Used every clamp I have and a few load ratchet straps.
When I was happy with it, it didnt take very long to get it all welded back together.

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

Put the front suspension back together with all new joints, rubbers, shafts etc.
Drilled new locating oles for the bottom shafts at 1/2". At full travel there is no interference and no grinding required.
Hoping this plus the tilt back on the crossmember will give me good castor.
Got the rear assembled with all new joints etc, stitch welded the trailing arms, flipped the rear suspension crossmember.
Rolling chassis is all together but with no springs so I can jack it right up and right down and check for any interference.

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

Ok so got the motor and trans sitting in there and auditioning some headers. Long tubes will be out due to the ride height or lack of.
Tried a couple of different shorties, supposed to be for our trucks, but one ran right into the left motor mount, and the other was hitting the chassis on one side and well clear on the other. I dont know what kind of jigs these are made on but theres some variation for sure.
Ended up going with some silver ceramic coated block huggers.
Had to clearance the left side motor mount a little, but otherwise all good.
Was thinking of using the rams horns I have but theyre small outlet ones.
Large outlets are not easy to get around here and they weigh a ton so shipping from the USA is not cost effective.

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

Next up we need a transmission crossmember.
In the last pics it was sitting on the original 1963 only park brake system crossmember with a jack under it to stop it collapsing.
So after working out a good height , I used 3 pieces of 1" square 1/8 wall tube stitch welded together.
My theory is I have about 3 times as much steel in the vertical section compared to a simple piece of 3x1". It doesnt flex at all.
Final touch is added the fittings off the old crossmember so the park brake works same as always.

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

Does this all need to be engineered to drive on the street? Or can you just be all "hush-hush"?

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

Lots of nice work on this!

Good luck, Rg

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

Thanks for looking guys.
Its kind of funny that Ive never found a discussion about engineering on these boards and I feel like Ive been through all the heavy modded build threads.
It will have to get a roadworthy certificate from a licensed tester.
I know a few guys who do this, they say they dont do favours on this, its not worth it, they take the responsibility seriously.
If they spot something that appears to be modified beyond regulations they will refer me to an engineer for certification.
Airbags are pretty obvious, z chassis, engine replacement with 30%+hp improvement, camaro front subframe grafted into original chassis.
They all say that they dont know these trucks, not common at all around here, so they are unlikely to pick up on any mods if they are done right, blend in to the surroundings etc.
Australian regs are pretty stringent, maybe less for commercial vehicles than passenger cars.
How will you go in Canada?

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

Where I am in Canada, there are no mandatory inspections. A cop could order a Vehicle Inspection (VI), and assuming someone is willing to inspect it, it would undergo a safety inspection and (probably) a structural integrity inspection. The standards here are nothing like the standards you need to pass.

My Lotus 7 replica (clubbie to you?) had to pass safety and structural in order to get a serial number. Having a serial number first is gold.

My tube-frame rwd-conversion V8 Pontiac Firefly (MKI Suzuki Swift to you) was merely "Hi, I'd like to put plates on my '87 Firefly please" and it was on the road.

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

I am always shocked about how lenient California is about classic cars. Especially compared to other countries

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

Is California typical of the rest of the US?
I see some threads on here and there and think, you gotta be kidding you can get that on the road.
It would not happen here due to the conservative nature of the engineers.
We dont have that many people, we cant afford to lose any.
So I'm hoping for a Firefly style inspection at this point.
I'm very confident of the safety, just dont want to have to deal with the bull**** of proving it.
Most of what Ive done has been done a gazillion times before so the testing has been done.

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

You guys would have fun over here in Germany... not!
Can´t get anything legal...

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

No fun in Germany?
Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, Audi, autobahns, bratwurst, beer, schnitzel, more beer, German Shepherds?
Its not all bad.

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

Well thats the good part of it.. but for US classics or any vehicle mods ist the hell.
Need paperwork for every single part I add to a vehicle (german testing paperwork). Even for a LED Bulb or something like that..
No US Based Company provides that paperwork.
If you start modding a Frame you won´t get a Registration, period!

All my chevy´s are technically illegal because I added US mods. Even if a german inspection engineer would approve it, the Police could impound the car to check if the engineer did his Job the right way...

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

So I made a little jig and used it to make up some engine pipes from standard bends.
Once I had these on, the rest of the system was pretty straightforward.
Its all 2.5" aluminised steel and its pretty straight, with no crossover pipe, not enough ground clearance for that.
It goes up over the rear axle but I cant finish the tailpipes till I get the bed back on and up to level it up to the cab.

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

Nice work! Just the kind of build i love to follow!

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

Thanks for stopping by and commenting.

Busy time of year for us, havent had much time to post lately.
Bush fires are nuts.
Lots of people losing everything.
We're not really affected being in the centre of Melbourne.
Fires are not in the big cities, but the smoke in the air here is toxic.
February is traditionally peak fire season, so fingers crossed on that.

So next the engine is out and getting some attention.
Block has been cleaned up and honed.
Original flat top pistons miced up ok.
New rings, bearings, cam, lifter, timing gear, oil pump.
Heads have been cleaned up and crack and leak tested and seats cut.
Original 4 barrel manifold blasted and painted, new hei dissy.

Also tore down the trans.
New everythng inside and a transgo shift kit.
New converter with a bit higher stall to hopefully deal with the bigger cam.
Not its first rodeo so also a lot of helicoils too.

Engine is sitting back in now, hopefully forever.
Mounts are in original position on chassis rails and redrilled position on the crossmember thats been relocated forward.

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

Looks nice :thumbs:

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

Thanks captain, we meet again.
Actually some of these next shots are right up your alley.
The old rusted out mounts on the radiator surround panel.
I see that you are making these now.
Yours look much nicer than mine and if it didnt cost a bomb to post them here I'd be onto it.
They should be as popular as rockers or cab corners or fender bottoms.
Anyway a few hours with the grinder and hammer and vice and welder and we're all good.
I was pretty lucky the centre section is pretty good, just the mount areas needed attention.
Then its off to the blasters.
Mocked up the radiator as well and measured up for hoses.
Also fitted a mini starter which fits nicely in with the tight exhaust.

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

Good looking truck! :chevy:

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

Holy ****. Just after my last post Covid hit.
We thought it would be over by Easter, last year. Almost Easter again.
Our entertainment industry business has been smashed by regulations and lockdowns. We have had a lot of support from our bank and the government, but its been very tight financially. It has given me a lot of time to get other stuff done, without any income to do it, but I've been avoiding the internet. Too easy to get into an argument about politics or pandemic response.
Anyhow we're doing some shows again, getting a few bucks in.
Stress level is back to reasonable.
So I've decided I'm ready to start posting again.

These pics show some shock top mounts I made and some mods to add air shocks to the front end. With an onboard compressor it should be enough lift to get me over speed humps.
Also pics of the reamer I put though the spindles so i could flip the tie rods to underneath. Gets them into almost horizontal at ride height.

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

These pics are a bit random and historical so I gotta cast my mind back a bit.

Cut the original panhard bar, threaded both the cut ends, turned out some solid bar and ran a tap right through. Adjustable bar now, set length at ride height.

Started working on cutting down the bedsides but realised I need the cab back on to do the many mods needed to match the bodywork to the kicked up chassis.

Had to make up a 1 piece tailshaft, had an old shaft that was too long with the right rear yoke to suit the diff. Fitted it with a new front yoke with the same u-joint as the rear and a new trans yoke. then took out the rear springs to check crossmember clearance at full down. All good.

The rolling chassi is almost complete so time to get into the cab. Radio speaker hole is a mess with lots of cut bars and the green!

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

I'm sure the green paint looked fab on the farmhouse roof. Pity they had some left over really.
Gonna have to get rid of all of it if i want real paint to stick.
Dashboard was pretty hacked up for maybe a radio upgrade or maybe a cb radio. Decided to just cut it out neatly and replace with flat sheet. i dont intend to have a sound system at all so gonna keep it clean. Might throw a bluetooth speaker in there and run off the phone ifi want some music.
Didnt know at the time there is a repair panel available to fix this. Must be a common problem.

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

If i every see that shade of green again...

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

Nice work so far.

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

damn fine work here sir! Love the 63 dash dbl hump.

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

Thanks guys, for looking in and for the encouragement.

Spent a few days filling holes in the firewall.
Unused aircon holes, clutch linkage holes etc.
There were a couple of holes looked like they were drilled with a pick or maybe a chisel.

I know you gotta do whats necessary with whatever you have sometimes.
Part of the charm of "secondhand"
Pretty happy with the end result.

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

I just read your thread and I don't know how I missed it. you do some real nice welding and the project is coming along nicely. I am a little disappointed that you decided to make it a short bed since I am a fan of the long beds but I'll be following your work. Excellent.

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

Thanks for coming by and thanks for the positive vibes.
Gotta say the decision to shorten wasnt an easy one, I really wanted a long.
Until I actually got my hands on this truck I had never seen one up close.
Its BIG. Too big for my available space, both for storage and workspace.

A few random odd jobs while waiting for some rust repair panels to arrive.
I bought some "inner rocker " panels, absolutely useless
Bought a different type from another supplier, even more useless.
Fair dinkum if anyone can make these actually work, they are capable of making something out of flat sheet, why bother buying this junk.
Was trying to avoid buying outer floor sections.
These are 3" too long for the post office so end up costing 3 times their value in shipping.
So I bit the bullet and ordered some.
3 months later theyre totally lost somewhere.
Ordered again from Summit this time, more expensive but they arrived in 2 weeks. Next week original order turned up. So I'm over $500 into these panels now.
So in the meantime working on heater, stripped, needs new core, easy to get.
Hooked up parking brake cables, had to shorten due to chassis cut, got some swaged connectors from a yacht rigging supply guy.
Also got all the top end bits on the motor,

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

Seeing builds like this makes me wish I knew what I was doing:lol:

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

I only think I know.
You may be in a better position than me.

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

So I cut the original tank mounts out of the cab.
I got a rear mounted tank from Brothers, but lost the pics of fitiing that in.
Propped the frame up all horizontal and started framing the bed.
Made up a front and rear support from tube.
Because of the 4" kick up, the front support has to have 4" spacers.
I decided the lateral forces on spacers with any load in the bed may be too much, so the front one is fully welded and diagonal braced.
So then I trail fitted the cab, was a bit worried about clearance for the tranny and the HEI dissy but they fit with reasonable clearances.
I had machined up some bed boards, just standard pine shelving, but a bit wider than standard. 2 of the original steels were totally rusted away and again availability of new parts and shipping costs made me investigate spacing them out a bit extra and I'm pretty happy with the result.
With the cab on and everything level, i propped up the bed side panels to get the lines to match with the cab lines. then i was able to set the bed front panel height. I welded some 1" angle steel to the panel at the right height and drilled it to suit.

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

Usual unplanned situation, every horizontal surface becomes a workbench,
Was sort of planned, I heavy wire brushed the wood grain and then treated the boards with strong tea stain and steel wool/vinegar stain, then refitted them and threw tools etc at them, dragged tool boxes and other items across to get rid of the new pine shelving look.
While waiting for floor sections, had a go at the grill disaster.
I cut out the rest of the grid section and welded in 3 1/2" square bars that match in pretty well with the original horizontal sections.
As usual this is driven by the difficulty in getting replacement parts here, 63 grills are hard enough to get in the USA.
There's Ray the workshop supervisor flat out again.
The floor sections have arrived so the cab is back off the frame and onto the rotisserie.

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

Glad to see that Ray is there for quality control purposes.

Can never be too careful....

Looking good, like the idea of ageing the newly stained bed wood, will be borrowing that.

Do you have a picture of the bed stained? Interested in how the Tea treatment turned out. I am thinking about using Danish Oil on a wire pad but open to other options. My bed floor is old oak reclaimed from a barn so have several options.

P. :D

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

Hi Paul,
i did a bit of experimenting with the tea and the steel wool/vinegar and combinations of which one first.
I thought the steel wool/vinegar gave me what I was looking for best and a second coating enhanced the first. A second coat of tea didnt seem to do anything extra.
Either one gave me a nice grey weathered look, but as some time has passed it has turned to a brownish like baltic pine look. Dont know if thats from the natural yellow pine tannin coming to the surface, it might be that the steel wool residue is actually rusting.
The wire brush I used was on a drill and dug out the grain pretty heavily so all the soft pine is gone and the hard bits of grain are left, like its been sandblasted. The results I got with the stain may have been influenced by having very little soft parts to get in to.
Heres a pic from a little further up the track, the board across the back is untreated to compare colour.

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

I like the effect you have achieved on that.

Mmmm.... might have an experiment over the weekend.

P. :D

Re: Upside down, back to front, long low 63 fleet
 

So here we have some extremely rare pics of rust in a C10.
Outer floor sections, lower a pillars, lower b pillars, footwell sides, outer rocker panels, lower cab corners.