The rebirth of El Scrocho

[gkesseru]

I purposely did not put the front clip on until everything in the engine compartment was done. The last major problem was to get the headers to seal. I tried everything, filed the header flanges flat, copper, aluminum, etc. They all leaked because they are for either square ports or round ports, while my World S/R heads and the headers have oval ports. Final solution was to use stock manifold gaskets with hi-temp copper RTV on both sides of each gasket. Here is truck with everything but the front clip ready.

[gkesseru]

The truck has inner fenders,firewall, and inside of hood painted body color. I painted the engine in a wrinkle black with all polished stainless hardware and polished valve cover tops. I'm going for the Harley engine look, with a little chrome on wrinkle black. I think the engine will contrast nicely surrounded by a sea of Orange Mettalic.

[VA72C10]

Looks really good! I am going back and forth on doing black with the polished on my block/heads/intake vs painting them body color also and having the polished parts as the only pop...your black engine is making me lean that way...

[gkesseru]

Front clip, less hood, is on. Only one chip in the paint, luckily it's under the headlight bezel. I now understand why some guys keep the hood off for a while. Looks too good to hide.

[VA72C10]

Love that last shot! Looks great!!!!!

[gcburdic]

Looking fan-tab-ulous!!!

[67 c10 guy]

very nice, love the color

[dccarpenter]

Looks great, thanks for the detailed writeup.

[67cheby]

wow...i hadnt checked your build in a while, NICE JOB

[gkesseru]

Got the bumper and hood on. A lot of masking tape and blankets for protection. Only took about 20 adjustments for the hood to close properly, but fortunately no scratches. Thanks go to my wife for her help in getting the hood on.

[67cheby]

well.... whats the hold up on the bed ......lets get crack-a-lakin !!!

[gkesseru]

Just took the white oak boards to the local Amish sawmill today to have them planed to size.

[gkesseru]

The interior is almost done. The 6 way power heated bucket seats are from a Pathfinder. The 3 point seat-belts are from WESCO. All that's left for the interior is a console between the seats and carpets for the door bottoms.

[gkesseru]

I made the bed-boards last week and took all week to get the finish to where it's acceptable. I like wood that's still wood to the touch but real smooth.

Here's the finish process (after final planing and sanding):
2 coats teak oil cut with thinner for maximum penetration all sides
1 coat all teak oil
2 coats teak oil, tung oil and spar varnish equal parts
I mixed this so the spar varnish would stick to the teak oil and added tung oil which is another penetrating varnish that hardens more than teak oil.
wet sand with 800 grit using more mixture for the fluid, wipe off
wait 2 days, wax with Minwax Paste wax, heavy coat. The wax I can reapply every month or so...


Put the wood bed together yesterday and mounted the bed today. The assembly of the wooden bed was truly a PITA. I don't see how GM could have built these in an assembly line pace. Mounting was a one-man job using a chain hoist and a come-along. I spent a lot of time per-measuring the frame holes to get the wood drilled right. It paid off as all bolts just fell in first time.

[spike38]

Looks sharp!!
Man that paint just glows in that light.

Spike

[VA72C10]

Niiiiice! Looking good!

[gcburdic]

Great job on the wood....how did those WESCO belts work out....did they install okay?

[gkesseru]

I had to make 4 90 degree brackets for each end out of L material. The driver side outside had to be located a few inches forward, but all the rest used the existing mount holes. I bought it with the 11 inch bucket seat versions and they look perfect, like they came with the buckets. I'll post a picture tomorrow.

[gkesseru]

Took El Scorcho in this week for a front-end alignment, which went well.
Here's a couple of shots in a parking lot. First time I could do that. Front end has a 2 1/2 drop spindle and one coil cut off. Rear has 4 inch drop springs. Front has about 1 inch of space above the stock bump stops and rear has about 3 inches of space. I think I may try a 1 1/2 inch spacer to drop the rear further. It's cheap for the price of two U bolts, as I already have some square stock thick enough to do the job. I bought the square stock for the bucket seat frames, but the local steel supplier only sold 20 ft lengths.

[gcburdic]

That's some mean rake right there!!!

Looks great!

[gkesseru]

I can get the floorjack under the front end, but there is only about an inch for the handle to pump up/down at first. I went over my first speedbump today and cleared it, holding my breath.

[VA72C10]

I think it will look great with an extra 1 1/2" rear drop. Will still have a nice rake to it.

[67cheby]

looks great

[McClinton527]

Awesome paint booth style lighting in your shop! being a body shop guy that appeals to me greatly!

[gkesseru]

That's where I got my inspiration, at a local body shop. ...