Daily Driver '65 LWB

[tincan1966]

Time for a small update. Been enjoying the truck and the 19 MPG it gets. So far everything is working great- got about 1000 miles on it. Scored an original V8 radiator, shroud, upper steel hose, t-stat housing, side baffles, etc. from a local salvage yard, so got rid of temp set up and installing it all with a clutch fan.
Will be down a couple days, making a few other minor adjustments/changes. May try to get the rear lowered about 2".

[tincan1966]

Nothing really new around here, other than removed bed yesterday to fab up mounts and install my Suburban gas tank under the back. Very simple install, making a square tube upper support and using the OEm lower strap. Notched the frame and gusseted for the filler neck. had previously made my own in tank pump assy for the TBI and now after driving for a while, am satisfied with the operation and wanted to move tank from the temp location in the bed.

Downside to this project- the PO had installed a steel floor in the bed, a nice job with 3/4" tuning to make up for the wood. However, apparently he lost track of where the cross sills went and came up with a couple extra, LOL. The bed sat about 1" too high in the back and was offset to the drivers' side about 1 1/2". Now the worst part- it was welded onto the stands. Every cross sill had at least 2 welds, in almost impossible to get to spots. 3 hours or grinding, cussing, cutting, cussing some more, chiseling and a whole lot more cussing, it came loose.
Tomorrow's mission is to removed the unneeded cross sills, clean everything up, install new sending unit in tank and hopefully re install the bed over the weekend.

[tincan1966]

Originally Posted by tincan1966

Time for a small update. Been enjoying the truck and the 19 MPG it gets. So far everything is working great- got about 1000 miles on it. Scored an original V8 radiator, shroud, upper steel hose, t-stat housing, side baffles, etc. from a local salvage yard, so got rid of temp set up and installing it all with a clutch fan.
Will be down a couple days, making a few other minor adjustments/changes. May try to get the rear lowered about 2".

UPDATE -- The original fan shroud would not line up with my fan, due to the poly urethane motor mounts being thicker( I used what I had) Adjusted trans crossmember and changed out mount, helped a bit, but still too close for comfort. Made steel shroud and installed 2500CFM electric fan with manual "on" over ride. Cooling great!
Pic taken during test fit, removed, cleaned primed and painted, now.