My wife calls it Mater
 

Ever have one of those deals that you just can't pass up? Too many good things are in place to ignore the universe? This truck is it...

I have another thread on here about a '65 longbed my son & I bought from a friend. Well, this project landed on the table & free delivery was offered between the time we saw the longbed & it was hauled to us.

When I got it the bed, cab, & front clip it was setting on a '65 longbed frame. I wasn't fond of cutting the frame since it was in great shape. Well wouldn't you know it, another friend of mine had a shortbed frame that someone had used (I think) '72 parts on to convert it to 5 lug.

The longbed frame was sold, the shortbed frame was acquired in trade for an intake manifold & some old carbs.

Another buddy was cleaning out his grage & found a set of front fenders that are not perfect, but damn close. For a days worth of help in his shop he gave me the fenders.

One day I was looking at engines for sale on Craigslist, I mentioned it to a friend & said his neighbor was selling a SBC 400 with a little B&M blower. That engine came with a TH400, B&M shifter, & an aluminum radiator. Needless to say I picked that up & stuffed it in the corner with the rest of the parts.

So here we are, my plan is to have a fun (I did mention the little blower) daily driver to blast around in. I've got just over $6k sitting in my sock drawer plus the usual paycheck bits to get it done.

Sand blasting the cab, straighten the bed, fix up the set of fenders on my shelf. New glass, maybe some boommat, new rubber/felt, upholster the seat, & carpet. Paint the frame, straighten out the suspension, drop the 400/400 in. Now I know that is not all I will have to do, but that give the high points of the project.

Give a look at the pictures, throw in your 2 cents. At this point I'm really trying to ID the suspension & rear axle as I'm not 100% sure of the year.

Re: My wife calls it Mater
 

Here's some other pictures with the bed & front clip off.

Re: My wife calls it Mater
 

Looks like fun,..........................................and a lot of work!

Re: My wife calls it Mater
 

Can't beat getting good deals like that. Your rear looks like a factory trailing arm rear end, so to find out if it's a 65-70 rear with 5 lug axles or a 71-72 rear, you need to measure the width of it. The 71-72 rear is a little wider

Re: My wife calls it Mater
 

The one other off the bat question I have is, what's the deal with the low hump? Like I said, it's getting a TH400 & I don't want to cut something up that shouldn't be cut up.

Are they special in any way?

Re: My wife calls it Mater
 

It will fit fine, no need for a high hump.

Re: My wife calls it Mater
 

A TH400 fits under a low hump no problem.

Re: My wife calls it Mater
 

Pulled the rear end out the other day. Removing the lowering blocks and going with the stock stance for now. Maybe this winter I'll go with some type of air ride. The spring on the driver's side didn't drop as far as the passenger side, maybe new springs?

Re: My wife calls it Mater
 

So I've got a couple questions...

First, it's clear for some reason that the PO of this frame had some "ideas" and tried to flatten out the bend in the frame on the passenger side. My question is, why is this here? If I don't need to have it then I might just cut it out and weld in a new piece.

Next question, did Chevy really weld the bumper onto the frame? This sounds crazy to me as every other vehicle I've had it's been bolted on. But with the bed on it does sit in the correct place. I'd like to cut it off and do something a bit more fun.

Plus with closer inspection on the rear springs I can see the one that isn't dropping is bent. I ordered new springs today along with new bushings for the control arms & traction bar.

Re: My wife calls it Mater
 

Chevy didn't weld bumpers to the frame.
That bend in the frame on top near the front cross member is there from the factory. Looks like someone put a cut in it? - http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=737912

Re: My wife calls it Mater
 

They not only cut it but beat the crap out of it trying to make it go away. I looked on my other '65 and saw it there so I knew it was from the factory.

Thanks for the link, based on that I think the best way forward would be to just section in a new piece of frame.

Re: My wife calls it Mater
 

I dropped the cab, fenders, doors, & a really nice grill I found off at the sand blaster yesterday. Got all my replacement body parts ordered. Found a guy selling a floor section with decent inner & outer rockers for the passenger side.

Today I'm pulling off the front suspension, dragging the frame in the garage and fixing up all the funk someone did along the way.

Re: My wife calls it Mater
 

Cab doesnt look as bad as mine was when it came off a farm near Alexandria, LA.

Re: My wife calls it Mater
 

It's pretty typical around the bottom but better than my LWB. Pretty much the reason I kept the SWB in the first place.

Re: My wife calls it Mater
 

So this vent window had a wood screw instead of a rivet. Is there anything I need to know about fixing this? Just your average hardware store rivet or is there something special I need to get? Recommendations anyone?

Re: My wife calls it Mater
 

The 4 body mounts, I'm going to cut out and flush mount fender washers.

My question is, are all 4 of them oval? I see one is but the others are messed up enough I can't be sure. I'm thinking yes...anyone?

Re: My wife calls it Mater
 

They weren't on mine.

Re: My wife calls it Mater
 

Its coming together nicely along with gatheringbthe part(s) also . . .

Re: My wife calls it Mater
 

After some inspection I figured out that the two in front were oval & the two in the rear were just round.

I did have a couple questions on the front suspension...

This has the stock '65 frame but is using '72 A arms & spindles. I had planned on using the stock steering box but am now thinking about switching to a Vega steering box for the tighter steering. I've read that the Vega steering box is recommended for vehicles under 2800 lbs. I can't say what my truck will weigh, but with the 400sbc & TH400 I'm guessing it will be close to 3800 to 4000 lbs. I'm thinking if the 2800 lbs limit on the Vega is correct, then it's not an option. Anyone have any input on this or other close ratio steering boxes I can swap with minimal frame mods?

Question 2 - I though I saw somewhere on this forum that with the stock frame, stock steering, but '72 spindles that I would need '65 inner tie rod ends & '72 outer tie rod ends. Anyone have any info on this?

Before you start typing about the FAQ, I have searched it and didn't find answers to either of these questions. It is certainly possible that I missed them though.

Re: My wife calls it Mater
 

I have no idea about the Vega steering gear, but for the tie rod ends, it depends on what you do with the center link for the steering. If you use the stock center link, then yes, you'll need to run the 65 inners and 72 outers. If you use the 72 center link, you wouldn't have that issue

Re: My wife calls it Mater
 

Thank you cwcarpenter98, I have the original center link. I'll be placing my order tonight!

Re: My wife calls it Mater
 

Given that I am on a budget, sort of, I had planned on going with the stock ride height & adding Air Ride down the road. But since I've got everything apart now, I'm feeling like some "adjustment" is in order. I've been looking around the forum & I'd like to add some rake to it.

At this point the only thing I've spent money on that I wouldn't use is a set of new rear stock height springs.

I'm thinking about going with a 4 1/2" drop in front, with a combination of drop spindles & shorter springs. Now for the part that I'm somewhat unsure of...rear drop. I've read of people going with just 3" drop springs in the back & in my head that sounds right.

I am amazed that, in posts about "showing your ride height", most people post pics of their truck at an angle, or on a sloped road, or in a way that give you no realistic view of what the ride height looks like. I have found a few with 4 1/2" front & 4" rear that look like they sit pretty level. I'm looking for some rake so that is why I'm thinking 3" drop springs would be "right".

Can some of you post some pics of you truck height with the front & rear height? Also, I think with the spindles & springs there isn't much else I'd need to change. Are there other parts I'll need to change in addition to the springs & spindles? Like shocks, or lower sway bar mounts, or ??

Re: My wife calls it Mater
 

Rear end went in pretty smooth, just waiting on the panhard bar. That should arrive in the next couple days, along with the drop spindles.

Going to finish up the brake lines & drill the motor mount holes. The sections of frame the PO cut out just happen to have the upper holes for the motor mounts in them.