Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Amazing work. I can't believe I missed this thread before. You need to drive it up to Seattle for some of the shows - or chop Mark's so he can drive it by my office!

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

LOL...I like how you think...well the second thought anyway =)

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

great work az always frizzle fry :cool: :metal: :metal:

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

`69 prototype.

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

I am so glad someone posted a link to this over on the truck side, awesome work, truly awesome! You got huge guts and mad skillz! Also thank you for the very well documented thread. How did you have time to do the work and post all of it too?!

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

wow....

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

:lol: Well, I loved it then and I love it now!
FWIW, I really like Gringoloco's wheels and think you should go with the identical version of the Coy C5's in satin, instead of the chrome- but obviously ya gotta go with what YOU like!

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Great job Mike, I love what you have done.

Mike

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Thanks guys. Well, I took a little break from it, just doing some minor stuff like putting some temp plywood in the back and working on completing all the welds.

I was very close to buying wheels/tires but decided it would be more "practical" to spend the money on suspension and bodywork/glass, etc.

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

WOW Frizzle Fry, that is totally awesome man!! I've been following your 61 build and I was very impressed with the work you have done on it and now this!! That is SUPER cool!!

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

I figured a little tint was in order, and some Coys, though not chrome.

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Thanks again for all the comments. It makes this stuff all the more rewarding. A group of guys were taking pics of it in the Home Depot parking lot the other day :metal: :lol:

Cal- I have a tentative pick up for the 61 this weekend! I had to let the creative juices flow somewhere while it's out! I check your 58 thread out all the time.


Black- That looks awesome, thanks. I'll probably do very light tint or none at all.

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

I am a buddy of Mike's and I have been lurking for a while and finally decided to post...

Just wanted to say that the image above with the Satin Coy's and tint is sweet.

-Britain

:new:

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Well, well, well. Look who we have here :lol: It's the Porsche autocross guy.

Britian has a jaw dropping project of his own. Hint:Turbo...:metal:

You're getting the chevy truck disease and you know it! I know where there's a 71/72 Short/wide big block with buckets just sitting there waiting for you to come take it home... Sure would be nice for all those home improvement projects ;)

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Just what I need, another project...shameless picture of a my project.

Lets get both of ours done and then we will talk.

-Britain

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Shameless indeed :cool: ...and for doing so I went ahead and hooked you up with the same treatment as my Burb ;)

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Nice looking Pinto!

http://dvd.tocmp.com/pix/Ford/images...0Pinto_jpg.jpg

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

While you are there, can you go ahead and lower it a bit in the rear for me.

-Britain

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Thanks for the compliment Britain.

Mike,
I think you should do a write up. With the pictures you have, I bet you would make it in SuperChevy or a similar rag with a full story.

Here's one with a little less tint.


P.S. What kind of welder are you using?

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

No prob :bling:

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

If this isn't a write-up, I don't know what is :o I could see it being condensed into an article type deal once it's done and they have purdy pics to include with it. I wouldn't complain about that;)

Now THAT looks perfect. You nailed it. That's basically what I'm working toward, except I have a 68 clip for it :D

I have a Craftsman (I know, I know. Not known for welders... it was a gift) 110v MIG. And yes it does get the job done. It's supposed to be good for up to 1/4" and I believe our frames are 3/16" Good penetration was evident from the opposite side. With passes on both sides plus the boxing I have no worries. As for bodywork, it's more than sufficient.

Thanks for the PS :)

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Started the thread and had to jump to the end...just couldn't wait.

Very innovative!

Great read, thanks for posting/sharing.

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Just read all 6 pages worth, OMG that thing is wicked, can't believe I missed
this thread. Simply B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L work, you are a Board inspiration :cool:

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Never content with leaving well enough alone, FF goes back to the garage to do some minor adjustments to the truck's scale...

:hm:

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

That photochop on the Pinto proves that all vehicles look better lowered, even early 70s compact Fords!

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Thanks VT and LUV2.

Ok back to reality... :)

You may have noticed that the rear bumper was sitting low. This was because I had to shim the rear body mounts a bit (1/2") to get it back on the road. I knew the body mounts I positioned on top of the frame were gonna have to be shaved. So I didn't want to weld up the body until I knew it was sitting naturally.

I ended up cutting those body mount bushings in half. Here you can see the difference:

Full Bushing:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...g?t=1179507851

1/2 Bushing:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...g?t=1179507851

Body-High/Bumper-Low:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...g?t=1179507851

Body Sitting correctly on frame:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...g?t=1179507851

Now I'm working on bridging the 2nd row seat floor brace over the frame rails and sheeting it all in.

Here's how it all looks from the inside:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...g?t=1179507851

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...g?t=1179507851

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

is it getting step notched?

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Looking hard at the KP notch right now. I think it's a winner :) That sway bar just won't work in a C-Notch, so... ;)

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Remind me to move this to FAQ when you're done with it.:D

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Got the seat mount/floor brace bridging completed. Because I had an extra set of 1/2 height body bushings left over from cutting those mentioned previously, I decided it wouldn't hurt to provide some extra support to this brace. I didn't want to just put a bolt through the center of the bushings because that defeats the purpose that the bushings are designed for; vibration isolation. Since it was such a tight fit to get those bushings between the 1/4" plate and the frame I chose to simply lather the area with POR-15 and slide them in with the floor brace jacked up slightly. Let the jack down with them in place and after the POR-15 dries those things are not going anywhere. The floor feels as solid as stock and should even be stronger due to the added support of the frame.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...g?t=1179600833

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...g?t=1179600833

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

All the outer quarter panel welds are done and ground. Still need to do the top and the inner panels. Here's a couple shots of the quarters in progress:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...g?t=1180226301

Tweaking the gap as I went along:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...g?t=1180226301

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...g?t=1180226301

A million little tacks...
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...g?t=1180226301

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...g?t=1180226301

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Awesome work, when are you starting on mine? :metal:

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

The notch panel in the 3rd door was originally tacked in place when the body was jacked up off the rear frame. So after getting the body all bolted in place the body lines no longer matched up as well as before. That's exactly why it was only tacked:o ;) :hm:

Unfortunately I needed to move the panel forward to get the arch to line up while keeping the horizontal line matched up. Doing this put the wheel arch forward of the 3rd door rocker:(

Since this panel had some rust right in front of the lower wheel opening (where they usually all rust) I cut that section out as well as a relief cut to allow the wheel arch to line up with the back of the rocker. Hopefully the pics will make all that clear as mud...

Panel with rust (under paint bubbles):
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...g?t=1180226301

Panel in new position with rust removed and relief cut (already opened a bit and tacked):

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...g?t=1180226301

Patch:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...g?t=1180226301

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...g?t=1180226301

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...g?t=1180226301

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...g?t=1180226301

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Next I tackled the area behind the door notch. Did take many pics of that process but here are some before and after:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...g?t=1180226301

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...g?t=1180226301

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...g?t=1180226301

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

...and as you can see in the background of those last pics, I'm now working on the floor covers under the 2nd row seat area.

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Looks awesome Mike. Hopefully the other "parts" will be there by the first of the week.

R

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Hey frizzlefry,
I wish i would have gotten mine finished before the snow storm hit a few years back..you have done what i wanted to do to my 71'.Life in general has kept me from getting a new one to start over with.Your tahoe is so sweet.Glad some one got one to this piont.My plan was to try and make the rear doors more like a 96' style tahoe with more of the arch cut into the door but after seeing the way you did yours,i like it much better.it is a little more proportioned.I really dig it.good luck with it.keep us posted.You should look into doing documentation as a side gig:lol: :lol:.Good luck with it.Im sure you now know you are the envy of the whole board.Later..71'tahoe

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Thanks guys.

Ya HR those parts will be here just in time :)

71'tahoe,

Too bad about yours. How far along was it? Did you have any pics? Sounds like you were making it even shorter than mine. It would be interesting to see regardless of condition. You should do one again someday. You already have the screen-name ;)

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

New guy here, I just have to say that this is one of the coolest things I have seen in a loooong time. I read through the '61 buildup so far and that's cool but almost too radical for me. Like somebody said before, this is going to be one of those things that, once done, you'll have people telling you they had or remember seeing before it'll be so well done. Seriously impressive stuff Frizzle.

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Thanks el-cid. I agree it is a different style. People keep telling me I need to shave it but I say "That's what the 61 is for!"

Back to some progress...

Some goodies arrived via greyhound from Hart_Rod enterprises. :D Thanks again Rob! Check out how nicely he packed the liftgate :gi: (it was all inside a box of coarse):

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...g?t=1180587471

Take a guess what the truck bed-ends are for...;)
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...g?t=1180587471

Here's a final "before" shot of the back end:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...g?t=1180587471