68 Stepside ( send me some pics and I'll add em in TJ )
General
Manufacturer: Chevrolet
Year: 1968
How long have you owned this truck?: 4 years
History behind the truck: I bought the truck as a driver, without thoroughly thinking it through. The paint looked nice, and it ran and drove good. I drove the truck from May of '99 through late November of '99. By late November, most of the problems that the truck had became quite obvious. For one, it had developed a "death rattle" in the front end anywhere from 50-60 MPH.
Another problem was the engine. Although I knew it wasn't a powerhouse when I purchased the truck, I think the "snake oil" that had been put in by the dealer was starting to wear thin. In a matter of a few days, the oil pressure on the truck went from 30psi hot, to ~5psi hot. When pulled apart, the #4 exhaust lifter had chucked it's retaining spring, the lifter valley was cracked, and upon full disassembly, the engine was also found to have mismatched rods. That's where you'd think the "project" begins, and it sorta does.
Shortly after the engine decided to go belly up, I noticed a little bubbling in the front corner of the passenger door. So I decided to do what any good truck owner would do....I decided to sand the spot to bare metal, fill the pinholes with a mig welder, and try to match the paint the best I could. Upon sanding that area of the door, I sanded into a bunch of bondo. I was pretty discouraged because of the filler, so I decided to "investigate" a little further. Here's where the fun really begins.
I kept sanding on different panels of the truck, and kept finding bondo. In some places it was nearly a half inch thick. The real kicker was that there weren't any rust holes or anything. The worst the bondo covered up was a few dents.
At that point, I was pretty sick of even looking at the truck, so I didn't do much to it for the next few years, other than drop in a mild engine, and do occasional burnouts...lol Although I was quite tired of the truck, I kept buying parts here and there (which are outlined below), and this summer, I've hit it hard. I'm hoping next spring it'll be back on the road reliably.
Sorry for being so long winded...but that's my story.
Chassis
Suspension type: Coils
Front Brakes: Stock Drum
Modifications: Soon to have a 2 1/2" x 4" lowering kit, power steering, power brakes, and 6-lug discs.
Rear Brakes: Stock Drum
Steering: Manual
Front and rear tire/wheel type: Mismatched tires, 6x5.5 Corvette Rally Wheels
Front differential type / Gears: N/A
Rear differential type / Gears: Truck 12 bolt, 3.73 gears, open carrier
Body
Color Scheme: Flat black (mostly)
Bodyman: Myself
Modifications: Soon to have shaved door handles, customized stock-type fender emblems, smooth rear tailgate.
Paint Type: Rattle-can
Painter: Myself
Interior
Color: Grey seat, black dash pad, black door panels, black and silver (67) glovebox door, no carpet.
Material: Cloth/vinyl
Upholsterer: Unknown
Wiring: Stock GM
Modifications: Soon to have a full autometer phantom gauge cluster, sound deadening material on the floors, and hopefully a tilt column.
Steering wheel/Column: Stock auto column, Z34 steering wheel.
Stereo/Speakers/Amps: In the works, not sure on head unit, but a punch 400a4 amp with a 1.0 farad cap, pushing 2 Kicker Comp VR 12's.
Air Conditioning: N/A
Instrument Gauges: Stock gauge-type cluster for the time being.
Engine
Cubic Inch: 406
Manufacturer: Chevrolet
Camshaft: mild RV cam
Cylinder heads: Stock 882's, worked over slightly.
Valve Covers: Moroso Chrome, will be M/T black crinkle covers again soon.
Intake Manifold: Edelbrock Torker II, soon to be Performer RPM
Ignition System: Stock HEI
Exhaust type: Headers/dual glasspacks
Transmission
Automatic / Standard: TH350 Automatic.
Torque Converter: Stock (soon to be 2200 stall).
Modifications: None at this time, looking to go with a Tremec TKO sometime in the near future.
Shifter type: Stock column shift.
Drive Shaft: One piece.
