Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

Hi, I'm finaly starting my build thread for my '68 shortbox. I bought this truck March of 2010 and it's my first car. I plan on making a decent driver out of it. I'am not expecting it to be perfect at all, just a nice looking daily driver. So far my dad and I have have done some brake, exhaust work, and a bunch of little things to make it safer to drive. Currently we have the motor pulled so we can change the clutch, paint the motor, change engine seals, and paint the front of the frame. We also have to fix a crack in the frame where the power steering box is. This spring/early summer we will be swapping the '70 cab and front clip for a '68 cab and clip. The '68 truck that we will be using is a factory big block, air conditioned, and bucket seat truck. My '68 already has a disk brake conversion from a '71 suburban. My truck is a custom, it currently has a 327 out of a '68 impala and a truck 4 speed. I'am thinking about painting it blue with the grill painted black. I'am also considering painting a black hockey stick stripe like some of the '69 camaros had on the side. Thanks for looking and I will try and keep this thread updated as I work on the truck.

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

Some more pictures of it this summer and some of the way it is now.

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

what color are you gonna paint it? you gonna keep the 70 nose or give it that slant hood! hahah the 68 front clip? stock? custom?

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

Glad to see you are working on it!

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

Awesome man, enjoy it!

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

I'm thinking about painting it Le Mans Blue, Marina Blue, or Cortez Silver with the '68 grill painted black. I'm going to put the '68 cab and front clip on it. It will be alittle of both (stock and custom) so I guess you could call it a very mild custom. I will either get or make a hood scoop and I'm thinking about putting some SS emblems on it but that is still in questioning. I'm trying to use photoshop to make a mock up of it.
Posted via Mobile Device

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

I'am too, but it's a real bummer not driving it. But atleast it will look better and it will be safer to drive.
Thanks.
Posted via Mobile Device

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

Where Can i order that Air cleaner?

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

LMC is where I got mine and it was reasonably priced too.

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

I'm still working on cleaning up the frame rails and engine. For my birthday my parents bought me a factory tilt steering column from a 72 chevy. It is slightly damaged but it should be fixable.

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

I painted the motor last night. I still have more engine parts and the frame to paint. I still have to fix the crack in the frame and do some brake line work. I will try to get some pictures of the motor up tonight.
Posted via Mobile Device

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

http://i1206.photobucket.com/albums/...ckShack047.jpg
http://i1206.photobucket.com/albums/...ckShack054.jpg
http://i1206.photobucket.com/albums/...ng20113023.jpg
http://i1206.photobucket.com/albums/...ng20113022.jpg

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

Just as quick thought, those tall valve covers might not fit. Do you have a body lift on the truck? It seems some trucks they fit some dont, just thought I would throw that out there before you tried sliding it in without confirming you have the clearance.

Matt

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

It has 4in. blocks in the rear and a extra leaf spring on each side in the front. I can't see anything that they would hit. Thanks for the warning I will have to make sure they fit.

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

I think he's referring to the valve covers hitting the fire wall. With a body lift it would help space the engine away from the body.

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

Its been awhile since I've done a update so here its goes. I jacked my truck to take the wheels of so I could clean up the rims and my dad noticed that the u-joints were worn out. So we tore the hubs apart on the passenger side and replaced the u-joint and put in new bearings and seals in the hub. We also painted up the hub housing, caliper, and part of the axle tube on the passenger side and put a new rotor and brake pads on. We still have to do the same thing on the driver's side but we are gonna do that when we get it back together. We are almost done with welding the crack in the frame and will hopefully have that done soon. We still have to paint the front of the frame and do some more brake work. I'm hoping to get the frame painted in a couple days.

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

Looks good.
Just take your time and do it right.

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

Thanks! We are definitely taking our time haha.
Posted via Mobile Device

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

Its been too hot out to work on it this past week. I did get some of the paint stripped off of the frame and will hopefully get the front of it painted soon.
Posted via Mobile Device

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

Nice progress 68 shortbox. Glad to see another of these fine trucks are getting the attention they deserved. Looking forward to seeing this come together.

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

Thanks! I can't wait to drive it again its been way too long.
Posted via Mobile Device

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

engine and front axle look really really good! keep it up!

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

Thank you!
Posted via Mobile Device

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

I decided that it would be easier to pull the front clip off and paint the front of the frame. I got all but two of the bolts out that hold the front clip on and I disconnected the wiring. If everything goes as planned we will pull the clip off today. While the clip is off we might just go ahead and do the cab swap too. I'm also considering taking the 4in. lift out and bringing it back down to stock ride height.
Posted via Mobile Device

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

With the help of my dad, brother, and a friend we got the front clip off. It wasn't as heavy as we thought it would be. I will try to get some pictures up soon.
Posted via Mobile Device

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

Looks almost like a tri-power aircleaner for a big block till ya notice only one wing nut on it! :lol:
Looking good :mm:

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

much better!

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

Nice build!!!

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

Thanks I just hope the paint doesn't burn off right away.
Thanks!

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

Here is a picture of the front end with the clip removed and a receiver hitch I bought from a guy in town.

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

as crazy as it may sound ive had good luck on painted motorcycle headers keeping them wiped down with armor-all ;)

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

Sorry for not posting any updates in a long time. Between school and health problems it is kinda hard for me to work on my truck. I painted part of the front frame rails with Chassis Saver's semi-gloss black but it came out too shiny. I took a few pictures of the frame rails when they were painted but I can't find them now. My dad and I scuffed up the frame rails for a re-paint. We are going to paint it with Chassis Saver's antique satin black. I hope it doesn't come out too shiny this time. My neighbor help us weld the cracks in the frame and I have a picture of the final product of that. I will also post a picture of what everything looks like now and I will get some pictures of it once we get the frame rails painted.

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

:mm:

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

Looking good bud.

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

Thanks!

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

My dad and I got the frame rails painted a few days ago. I'am happy with the shine of the paint but it left brush strokes. We will have to sand the paint a little bit and then top coat it and hope the brush marks go away. I thought it was pretty neat that a bolt got molded into my heater box cover at the factory so I will include a picture of that.

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

:chevy:

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

Just a little update. We got the frame rails top coated about a month ago. We also got a few other parts painted. We are rebuilding the power steering pump and cleaning up the heater box and core. I will post some pics of the frame and my cat(he guards my truck and my Dad's Camaro). Once we get some of the other parts assembled I will put pics of those up.

We purchased a radiator core support bushing kit and thought my truck had the 67 and 68 bushings but now we realize it has part of the 69-72 bushings. Will the 67 and 68 bushings work with a 70 core support?

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

I ordered a chrome dome light from Brothers Truck Parts and just wanted to post a buyer beware. I could of lived with the dull chrome but it looks like a little kid took a sharp object and scratched it down one side of it. We called Brothers and the lady on the phone said that 99% of the ones that they have look like this. I know it wasn't very expensive but if I would have known they all looked like this I wouldn't of wasted my money on it.

Re: Project First Car '68 Shortbox Fleetside
 

We got the power steering pump assembled and ready to go in. We also got the motor ready to put in. I still have some more parts to paint and assemble. I am in the process of touching up the paint on the motor. There is still quite a bit of stuff that has to be done before I can drive it again. The cab swap is going to be on hold for awhile. The weather hasn't been very good up here. One day its nice and sunny out then the next its a blizzard.