"Old Bill" 1968 Chevy 4wd resto/build

[ncgamedog]

A little background info:
This is a resto build of my Grandpa's 1968 Chevy LWB. He bought the truck about 5 years ago from his best friend and high school classmate, Bill, who has owned the truck since new. The truck is in really great shape for its age and just needs a little love. My grandpa and Bill have been friends and played bluegrass music together for years. Bill just recently suddenly passed so we have decided to restore the truck in Bill's honer. The truck has been affectionately referred to as "the ole' Bill truck" among my family to distinguish it from the rest of the fleet, hence the name of the build lol.

Specs on the truck as it sits:
68 Chevy LWB 2wd coil spring rear
327 ci small block
TH400
non AC
Large back window
Ugly sea-green :shaking:

Build Plans:

Engine:
Going with a later 5.7 (350 ci) TBI roller bottom end, bored 0.030 over with new flattop pistons and full rebuild.
Heads are yet to be determined, looking for some early castings with around 70-76 cc chambers and smaller intake valves to create more torque. Performer intake, w/ rebuilt Rochester carb, long tube headers, HEI, ect. Pretty standard stuff. The original 327 runs amazing! It just needs all new seals, this route was just more cost effective for now.

Chassis and drivetrain:
The truck will be remarried to a 1972 4wd frame and axles.
Dana 44 front/12b rear 3.73 posi, both axles are getting completely rebuilt. The frame has been completely stripped, blasted, and repainted along with all the springs and accessories. The original TH400 will be retained and converted to 4wd using a 32 spline 205. I've got all 32 spline outputs for the case as well.

Body/Paint and Interior:
The body is getting media blasted and a few rust spots repaired. It needs rocker panels, a small bed patch, and a new tailgate, otherwise the body is very straight and in good shape. The paint is still undecided but its looking like most all of the CST trim will be deleted and we'll be going with a solid blue color. Something like a Viper blue or Shelby blue. It will get all new "as original" interior as well.

Other:
In general there will be few hardcore mods to the truck. We are using the original leaves with new polys everywhere. We have a set of original solid wheels that will get blasted and painted/powder coated. I'm shopping around for some old school tall skinny mud terrain tires to mount on them as well.

On to the Pics:

Old Bill


Roller Before


Chassis stripped ready for blasting


Chassis and springs blasted ready for paint


Close up of blasted frame


Engine crossmember in ready for paint


Frame after paint


Frame and springs painted


Small Parts ready for paint


Springs painted


Dana 44 before


Stay tuned for updates, working on the axles now....