Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

Well, after being a member for 3 years with nothing to contribute, I finally dragged home my "dream truck", a 1968 Chevy Shortbed Fleetside. I"ve loved the bodystyle for a very long time, and found someone who'd trade me even up for my old 1994 S-10 Blazer with a SBC. I"ll do my best to use the search function before asked redundant questions about things that I"m sure have been covered hundreds of times.
Currently, the truck has a 250 inline 6 and supposedly a Muncie 4 speed, set in, but neither are hooked up. MY plan was to run the drivetrain as is, and work on making it a safe and dependable truck before bothering to swap out the drivetrain. However, I know very little about the engine, and even less about the trans. I don't even know if I have all the parts to make it roadworthy. Time will tell.
Now, the bad news. The guy I traded to painted the truck himself, red, white and blue. Doesn't sound too awful until you see what he did to the clearcoat. I kid you not, the guy clearcoated the truck, and then threw glitter all over it. I don't mean put glitter in the clear and sprayed it evenly. He threw it on the truck like he was feeding chickens!!! There's mailbox numbers screwed to the hood, Tiger-print cloth all over the dashboard and doorpanels, and probably a slew of problems I have yet to discover.
Anyways, looking forward to gathering as much info and knowledge as I can.

-Josh

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

As long as is what you want, how cares how ugly it is, just makes it easier to remove tha paint without felling bad.

Have fun,

Darren

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

Congratz. The red white and blue didn't look to bad, but the glitter, thats rough, i didn't notice till i read that part, i thought it was just dirty in the first pic, lol. Good luck on fixing her up and be sure to post pics. oh and by the way you gotta post some interior pics, im dieing to see the print interior :)

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

I'll be sure to get interior pics tomorrow, just for you. MY wife laughed when I opened the door. You'll see!!

-Josh

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

Hey neighbor! Looking forward to seeing your build.

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

Thanks! Hopefully I"ll have it roadworthy before I know it.

-Josh

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

Looking forward to how you fix it up.

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

looks like a victim of a poor restoration i hope you fix her up!

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

want to see how this turns out.

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

Josh, When you said the PO threw glitter on like he was feeding chickens, I laughed so hard. That was funny man! :haha:
Your truck is a good one. Doesn't seem to have dents or rust, so when you get the interior replaced and exterior painted that's gonna be one fine truck, for sure!!

I am looking forward to watching your progress....:)

Bruce

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

Looks like a good truck to start with. I like the 6 cyl 4 speed combo.

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

x2

It's a pretty original paint job, I say if you like it maybe try to wetsand through the clear for a weathered look :uhmk:

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

The Tiger Print interior.

-Josh

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

The seat is kind of cool...... ;)

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

Years ago, I pulled some 6-lug 5-slot aluminum wheels off a 85 K5 Blazer from the junkyard. I've been saving them forever, hoping one day I'd have a cool truck to put them on. I even polished one to see the difference. The fronts are 15x8.5 and the rears are 15x10. I got some junker 275/60's to put on there to roll the truck around on from a local auto shop.

Also, I"m buying my 94 S-10 blazer back for $1300. I'm gunna steal all the parts I can off it to get the Captain up and running. My dad thinks the guy we got the truck from is full of BS. He said the engine and trans were all rebuilt, but I don't see any evidence of any new gaskets or sealants anywhere. So, to save money in the long run, I know the drive train in the S-10 is solid because I either built it or had it rebuilt. I'm wondering if the Blazer fuel tank will work in the C-10. Stay tuned!!

-Josh

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

looks like a good start. You're keeping the tiger print right? lol j/k.

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

Boy,that must have been one nice blazer you had.lol

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

Makes me think more Evel Knievel than Capt America. Either way, good luck!

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

Josh,
That seat has potential. I bet it cleans up nice and will look good man. :cool:

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

Looks like she needs just a little bit of help... Need to polish out the rest of the slots..

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

I bought the blazer for $900 with a blown 4.3 v6. I stuck in a 0.040 over 350 with Vortec heads. It's got a stout 700R4, and it's been a good truck. The only down side is that it's an S-10. If I rob all the parts I want, it'll have the 350 with the Serpentine setup, possible power windows and locks, tilt wheel, maybe the buckets and center console, etc. We'll see.

FRENCHBLUE72, polishing the wheels is on my very near to-do list

bruceman1968, it looks like someone stuffed a couch pillow under the seat cover on the driver's side. I"ll see if it's salvageable.

m6z, the Tiger PRint is currently lookin for a new home.

-Josh

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

looks like a bicentennial truck.,,.but really,,,even with all that bad makeup i can see a fine lookin truck

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

Looks like a decent platform to start a nice build... I will say the interior is an epic fail. LOL

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

Id make it mechanically sound and leave it alone!!! That thing is awsome!

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

ya drive it like it is, tiger !

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

haha, that tiger print is more horrible then i thought it would be, but that bench seat if i can be fixed seems nice, Im interested to see what direction you take this in.

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

OK, so my plan is to rob the 350/700R4 out of my 94 S-10. The 350 has a serpentine setup on it from the original 4.3L. MY question is, which power steering gear box can I pull out of the junkyard and bolt on and go?? And, what kind of issues am I going to have with the high pressure hose? Is there a standard-to-metric hybrid hose? Ca I bolt in an older standard pump into the serp belt bracket and roll with that??

My plans are to do a static drop on the front and put air bags in the rear with a ride leveling valve. As a diesel mechanic, I have access to all kinds of air ride goodies used on big trucks. I got 2 air seat frames out of some 9200 series International tractors for my Dad's 59 chevy truck. I might snag another pair for Captain America.

FOr now, I need a pair of doors and a tailgate. The holes for the latch on the driver's door have been pulled through and the door is currently "secured" with a bungee cord. I need to get a 55 gallon drum of paint stripper to get off all the glitter and see what I'm working with. Long term plans are 4 wheel disc, lowered, front and rear sway bars and Cadillac SRX LED tail lights (I have the tail lights already). I"ll figure out what else I want to do as I go.

-Josh

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

I went to the junkyard today and picked up a few goodies. I got a power steering gear box from a 1980 C10 1/2 ton, glove box dor, passenger door hinges, power booster brackets, newer wiper cowl ( not pictured), V8 motor mount brackets and a spare ash tray. I have a brand new high pressure p/s hose and I checked to see if it fit in the 1980 gearbox, and it fits PERFECTLY!!!! I was so giddy. No gueswork or hybrid hoses. YAY!!! So I'm pretty satisfied with my findings today.

-JOsh

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

Today, I bought another shortbed fleetside bed. It's already got the roll pan and smoothed tailgate, and inner tailgate latches. I think I'm money ahead buy getting one already done. The mouldings and stake pockets have been smoothed out. I dropped it off at a freind's house. He's going to see if it's possible to graft on Cadillac SRX taillights. I"ll post pics if it happens!!

-Josh

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

I got up early and figured I'd start polishing one wheel a day before work, just to get that over with.

-Josh

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

Nice job. Keep at it!

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

lol, dig it man .. ya gotta run the paint for a little while! interior should be gone ... yesterday! I totally dig the diamond seat tho! the rims are coming out awesome

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

More junkyard stuff today. Found a replacement driver's door, some long tube headers, a trans crossmember, and a pair of sun visors. The door on the truck has the holes for the door latch ripped out, lus the window regulator is stripped. The headers only had surface rus on tem. I hit them with a wire brush and ten the silver high temp header paint (they were out of black).

-Josh

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

those white letter tires are begging to be shaved to wide whites!!!Cool project!!!

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

I'm with 72freak, that thing is the SHIZZ. I would drive the crap out of that !!!!

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

Man, someone really did a number on that paint/interior :lol:
I agree with others about the seat, not too bad. The exterior - dang, why the big numbers on the hood and the sparkles? :lol: :lol:
Bet the truck looked nice/decent when the paint was fresh and without the sparkles.

... then again, looking at the paint - it looks rough, was it rolled on? :lol: why is it all bumpy lookin?

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

im glad your fixin her up because she wasnt lookin so good.

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

The previous owner said he was feeling "patriotic" when he decided to paint the truck. IT looks more like an act of treason, if you ask me. The paint is all bumpy becausse the dumbass clearcoated the truck, and then threw handfuls of glitter into the clear. I guess he put the numbers on the hood because he was tired of people asking what year it was. Or maybe he was living in the truck, and his address was 1968. Either way, the numbers are off the hood, even though the hood is scrap. Swapping out the bed and the door means less glitter I"ll have to strip off later. Honestly, I"ll drive the truck "as is" as long as I can get her road ready. I need to get new tires before that happens. The ones on the truck now are old and dry rotted, but they give me a visual on the actual tire sizes I want and how much I want to lower it when I get around to that part of it.

-JOsh

Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

Haha funny, glitter needs Togo
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Re: Captain America 68 short/fleetside
 

I just got a set of slots myself and I want to polish them. What are you doing to get them looking like so good?