Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

Just starting the teardown on my 68 shorty. Bought this truck last fall and the snow started flying early, so until now, due to limited space in my garage i couldn't get going on account of the cold weather. A whole pile of this project is off to the scrapyard and the rest is in the local classifieds, found a donor for a cab that's in repairable condition and for the price of panels, I'll be going to the aftermarket. The cab should be off in a few days and stripped to a rolling chassis for the sandblasters, then it's POR15 and classic performances disc brake conversion, lowering setup, and front end rebuild. Plans are 2/4 drop setup, discs all around, 350/350 combo, whole bunch of aftermarket panels, plan for a resto mod look with a daily driver function. Keep ya posted as the work gets completed.

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

Looks like a good project! I'll follow along for all the fun :lol:

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

O why not Im up for another build this one looks like its gonna be interesting:uhmk:

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

thanks, not much is staying, sold most the original panels already and did some trading for tools etc, these trucks get ravaged up here from the salt so bad I pretty well bought it for the frame and the 4bolt 350. I'm on hold until the 28th as I'm gone on vacation, but there will, with any luck be frequent updates coming over the spring and summer.

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

Should have more pics coming, got stalled after not being able to find a cab to give me a starting point but it looks like this weekend that should change and he frame may even be ready for blasting

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

POR15 arrived today, tore the remainder of the front end off, all the wiring, hoses etc, and the cab is ready to come off, now I'm waiting on an engine jack, they're sold out and may be a week or 2 away, no pics yet nothing worth updating, but I'm still going,just slowly, hoping to have the chassis painted and waiting for the CPP grand slam fund ready for the end of aug and in by mid Sept., then it's the race against winter

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

Looks like a good project and plans. I'll tag along!

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

If it's not one thing holding me back it's another, my engine jack finally showed up and another board member is lending me his cab removal jig so things were looking good, then I couldn't handle looking at the boxes that were piling up in the corner of the garage and had to snoop, new wiring harness..golden, NOS locks and ignition...golden, supreme markers, tail lights and bezels...golden, I troll eBay and buy when the price is too low to say no ;) that's why the parts are so random, then I open my POR15, the marine clean and metal etch are good, the actual rust paint, the seal is broken, hoping the paint is good inside, but without atleast a quart, this is gonna be another major setback, no help with the lack of oilfield construction going on either, this may be a long ass build, where's the shaking my head smiley

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

found a cab from a board member in prince george, hoping to pick it up this week, ordered my cam and intake, some dress up parts and a gasket set, the price was right, ordered my CPP "c" notch kit and engine transmission crossmember kit, now to get a day off to strip the rest down and POR15 the frame before the snow flies. I will post up some pics of the strip down when I get a chance and paint when it starts

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

cool, looking forward to some pictures when progress is made! :chevy:

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

sounds like a nice project to follow:chevy:

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

got home early enough it was still light out, and warm enough to accomplish something, CPPJEFF pulled through and I just got my C notch kit and tubular tranny mount today, about a week faster than expected, and the other parts are just clear of customs, may have the whole weekend off so I'll try and take more and better pics

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

Nice :metal:
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Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

today I washed and degreased for round 1 to start removing everything, engine is ready to come out tomorrow just need some bolts for my intake plate, picking my cab up monday, frames in better shape than I had expected so may even have the por 15 applied this weekend:metal:

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

$500 and 1300km of driving on free diesel from work and I snagged a rot free cab with minor surface rust from a board member who got it with a load of parts he bought. Not the best welds, but this isn't going to be a show truck, unmolested dash, super excited. :metal: He also has a stepside bed, not a huge stepside fan but they are growing on me and for the price he offered I may have to pick that up on my next trip just to get on the road that much faster. Tomorrow the motor and tranny should be out if the weather allows and may even be ready for frame paint

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

doesn't look like much what it was time consuming, pulled the engine, shocks, brake lines,misc wiring and other junk, rust is a pain for sure

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

:metal:Just got off the phone with CPPJEFF, grand slam kit 5.5in, front 7in rear, trailing arm rebuild kit, and poly body mounts are ordered. had to take advantage of the abnormally high dollar, heading out to the garage to continue the teardown, pull the transmission, and hit the frame with a wheel and por15 prep and may even lay the first coat on tonight, pics will be up when i get outta the yard/garage

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

Killer truck dude.

ill be keepin an eye on this, and sup? from another albertan Red Deer/Ftmac

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

Factory rivets SUCK!!!!!!:lol: well not as much done as planned, but more progress, tomorrow I have my buddy coming back over with the welding rig to do a frame patch where the factory fram stiffener has rotted out one side enough to have me worried and install the c notches, removed some more junk and began oprepping the fram for paint:metal:Attachment 643486

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Attachment 643490 the old dodge and my buddy chuck are a lifesave with this rusty old wagon

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

Quite a few of us on here now from AB, you have quite the collection, if all goes well I'm gona try and be done for the big car show in Red Deer next summer, we'll see though, these trucks seem to throw wrenches into plans fast and I have never deal with such stubborn rivets ever:lol: All in the fun of the build, good thing I have buddies that are patient and into helpin out

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

my welder buddies are all busy so somewhat at a stand still, did some frame prep tonight, buffing old paint/rust off hoping for some updates mid next week

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

this thing is going to sandblast if the local guys drop their price to $500 or less, the whole frame prep is way too much work for what it's worth, sandblast would be a "proper" job and not cost me hours of suckin rust and paint only to get frustrated with how time consuming a half ass job is, I want to do this once and correctly, lesson learnt, pics to come soon

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

Sandblast was good and super fast, can't complain now how do I go about this POR15 on blasted metal? all the preps still or just marine clean and apply? either way I'm stoked:metal:

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

Looks Good!

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

The whole "early winter" we get here really lit a fire under my ass lately, thanks I thought so, $200 in towing flatbed to and from the blasters, workin so I couldn't do it myself and $250 to blast, probably 100x better than anything I could have done myself with the buffing wheels and flap discs, getting real excited, may have my quad sold and another $4500 to go towards the build, this truck has officially consumed me hahaha

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

nice build and good decision on the blasting, deff. the best way to prep the frame. good luck

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

Thanks, I got fed up witht he prep work, glad I did though, some more parts showed up today for the motor, machine shop did however decide to double their rates so now I'm gonna be on old with the motor until I have the money for the aluminum heads I want, they somehow figure rebuilding my heads and installing the new parts I have for them is worth $800, pretty sure I can get a semi complete set of ebay for that, just another snag to get by that will positively effect the quality of the build, the extra time will be worht it to me, figuring spring 2012 now to complete unless I have a great winter:chevy:

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

not unusual for a set of heads to be high to rebuild, my dad paid $700 to have a set of small block 461 heads rebuilt several years ago, but if it was me I would do what your planning and just buy a complete new set.

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

That's what I'm thinking myself, mu cam kit came with springs seals lifters and retainers, bare aluminum heads are reasonable and for about $700 shipped to me I could have aluminum heads with roller rockers even if I wanted to spend another $100

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

more parts showed up today, cam kit and intake, bought some engine paint blue silver VHT(just a test run probably go chevy orange), hoping tomorrow to do the frame repair and c notch install if my buddy gets back from outta town and lookinglike mid to late next week CPP rd2 of parts should be in so this thing has to get painted asap

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

Who did you get to do your blasting? I hear Hans at Viking solutions is pretty reasonable with his prices on powder coating. Just finished drilling out all the rivets from the frame. Going out and going to bolt in the rear notch today so then I can get it to blasting and then powder coat. Maybe I should start a build thread one day.

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

Groves did it, cost me $200 just paid cash, they even got the undersides of the control arms, everything, taped over anything they were worried about, really happy with it, a build thread for sure, tomorrow I'm hoping to be shut down at work due to the snow/rain/mud and the frames getting notched and first coat of por15, any luck my lates CPP order will show up soon and by the end of the week I can get working on that, man your truck makes me jealous :lol: should be more pics up all week, even found a storage place for my boat and quad so my garage will be all truck space, much needed:metal:

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

looks good

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

A little more work on the frame done, patch is complete, can't even tell it was done, c-notch is cut in and ready to drill and bolt in after the POR15 goes on, broke two ball joint forks trying to get the passenger lower ball joint to pop.....spindle got torched, too impatient and the grand slam comes with new dropped ones anyway:lol: sorry for the crude blackberry pics, the shop is dark even with the oil rig platform sodium light:lol: and to keep it under 100kb a pic it's easiest for me, blurryness however:alc: as you can see the build is being sponsored in part by various beer and pizza companies;)

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

first coat of por15 to be brushed on today, just rinsed off the metal ready and waiting on the frame to dry, should have some pics up tonight, got off the phone with CPPJEFF, my grand slam is out the door today and on it's way, and ordered the pitman/idler/upper and lower cross shaft kits, somehow I missed that in the initial order, should all arrive around the same time, need to save some money now for the rear 5 lug conversion and rims/tires to have a roller so after this shipment gets here, the motor and tranny will e under the knife until I can afford to get the chassis rolling and install the drivetrain

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

looking good and some nice parts on the way!!!

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

thanks, this por15 is not all that fun, pretty cold here so it's thin coats propane heaters in the garage, door cracked for air and i'm still getting runs and the foam brushes are taking a kicking on this sandblasted metal, the rollers are pretty good but limited for use, finding if you let the run setup a bit and brush it out they cure themselves but this stuff is thick, done the 1st coat 3/4 of the way and need a break from the fumes,pics later tonight

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

first 2 coats are on, need some more brushes to touch up some spots the foam roller missed and where I ran out of foam brushes, few runs, nothing that bothers me this is purpose applied not a show unit and they aren't major, thanks to everyone who gave me tips on the light coats and foam applicators, looks sprayed on for the most part:metal:

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

still too tacky to install the notches and final coat this frame, hopefully late night tomorrow, gonna make some wire hangers for the upper and lower control arms and paint them as well, won't even bother with a post for the engine paint, didn't like it, going with black I think now instead, doesn't take away from the engine bay I think

Re: Finally starting the 68swb fleet
 

Looking good, want to come out and do Mine when the notches are in?
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