Update:" Project Brown Hornet "

[ECU PIRATE]

Men,

I thought I would post some more pics of my 82' SWB project before I start replacing metal and hitting it with the rattle can. She was pretty beat up when I bought her (as the pics will show). Hopefully I can get her on the road and to paint before the baby comes in January.

1st pic of the interior as it is today. I am thinking about replacing the bench with (2) buckets and a console from a 80' Suburban. Need to replace the dash bezel (cracked in half right by the gauges) and the dash pad (getting a donor from a 84' GMC dually). Also going to switch out the rusted doors & door panels with donors I got from another member (thanks again RonnieTheBull).

2nd pic is of the Olds 260 V8 / th350 combo she is currently running. It is orginally a 6 cyl. Canadian made truck but, somewhere along the way, the 6 was swapped out with the drive train from a 76' Oldsmobile Omega.

Slow going but I hope to get some work accomplished in the next couple of weeks after I fix a small tranny leak @ the modulator. Then it is time to strip some paint

[plugs]

i will be watching this build aaron mcdonald

[ECU PIRATE]

Picked up a few goodies from the Fox Farm in Loundon County, Viriginia today courtesy of my buddy Will from high school. Unfortunately, the only pick I am able to post is the pic of the door panels from the 80' Suburban (notice the sweet factory speaker pods). I also managed the score the buckets and console from the same Suburban as well as the glove box & dash bezel. Will the dash bezel from an 80' fit an 82'? I picked up a new dash pad from an 84' GMC dually while I was at it. Am i the only idiot who is having troubles uploading pics onto this site?????? Probably so................

Finally managed to get some more pics uploaded with the help of the site administrator. The last pic is of my 16 month old daughter sitting in the driver's seat of my 68' Camaro (which has been garaged pretty much since 1990 - the inspection sticker inspired in 1998)...........

[ECU PIRATE]

Haven't had a chance to update this in awhile on my build. Going has been slow as of late but, I am making some progress. Some pics of the gutted interior and the ol' girl minus her front clip. Getting ready to swap the motor out for a vintage 81' slightly stroked truck motor with 50 or 60k on the rebuild. Second to last pic is of the hacked up dash with aftermarket gauges. Thinking about swapping out the whole gauge cluster from another truck if it is feasible.

[ECU PIRATE]

Some updated pics of the interior. I still need to get my buddy over to weld in the brackets and bend my seat tracks to the contour of the cab floor..................

[Driveway Dreams]

I love the work light! Cool to see an update. The seats look real nice and will prove to be a nice adition in the form of comfort. Good job.

[Slofarmtruck]

Looks good! Now you have me on a mission to find those exact seats!

[ECU PIRATE]

Driveway Dreams & Slofarmtruck,

Thanks guys. The all of the interior stuff (dash, buckets, console, door panels, dash bezel (woodgrain since removed) and the glove box door, was free. My buddy from high school set me up. Now I am just waiting to put it all in

[ECU PIRATE]

Some recent progress pics.............. Just waiting for the weather to warm up so I can finish the body work on the fenders and doors and put the refreshed core support and radiator back on

[ECU PIRATE]

Some more work completed as of today and some additional goodies that have been scrounged and acquired for the truck. The motor is strong and needs some paint and some chrome. I may save it for the Blazer project or build one out of the 3970010 block I have stashed in my garage

[Oldschool82]

looks like your knee deep in your project. keep up the good work. like to have seen that 68 camaro you restored. I had a 68 and now have a modded 01 SS. Here are a few shots of it. I will also keep you in mind if you want my grille. I will definitely be parting with it one day.

[ECU PIRATE]

Originally Posted by Oldschool82

looks like your knee deep in your project. keep up the good work. like to have seen that 68 camaro you restored. I had a 68 and now have a modded 01 SS. Here are a few shots of it. I will also keep you in mind if you want my grille. I will definitely be parting with it one day.

Thanks Bro. I will take some pics of the Camaro tomorrow when I am at my folks place to drop off my little girl for the day. I am waiting to finish this truck as well as my Blazer before I have the Camaro re-painted (last paint job was in 88' and the trannie rebuilt). The car has been in storage since 90'.

[Oldschool82]

oh...that would be great! I didn't know you still had it. Here is a pic of the 68 I had. this was taken the day I got it, before I did anything to it. The custom 1990 Chevy truck was mine too at the time. Wish I still had both of them now.

[ECU PIRATE]

Originally Posted by Oldschool82

oh...that would be great! I didn't know you still had it. Here is a pic of the 68 I had. this was taken the day I got it, before I did anything to it. The custom 1990 Chevy truck was mine too at the time. Wish I still had both of them now.

Nice ride. Brings back fond memories of my youth spending the summer in Monroe. Funny how everybody's front yard in North Louisiana looks the same. My old man turned me on to Camaros when I was still in my teens. He was always the hot rodder but, marriage, family and the military got in the way. i still count my blessings that I still have that Camaro that I got when I was 15 and could not even drive (I just turned 38 a couple of weeks ago). As I probably told you before, I haven't even put 7000 miles on that car since then......................... Now that I have (2) kids of my own, I hope to save it for one of my girls or a grandson down the road if the Lord blesses me that way. I am kicking myself right now for sending the parts Camaro to the scrap yard. I may be down that way this fall to go deer hunting with my Uncle Roosevelt on the family property in Columbia, La. You know anyone down there selling a 50's or 60's Chevy truck (roller)? Looking for another father & son project with my dad to keep him occupied since he retired a couple of years back

[ECU PIRATE]

Some more goodies for the truck............

I pirated the dash out of my Blazer. Damn near flawless with one hairline crack @ the speaker grill. (3) sets of back of the cab trim that I have acquired from the local pick and pulls - (2) sets 73-80 ; (1) set 81-87. Also the Cheyenne metal door panel inserts from the Blazer and plastic trim with door pool straps from the 80' Burb. Goind to use the Cheyenne dash bezel and dash trim since it's in good shape. Looking to do a 77-80 interior in saddle. Now we just need to find a junkyard headliner and get it re-covered. The wife is on my to clean up some of this stuff out of my man cave but, what is a basement for if not for storage. Nice cabinets though..............

[ECU PIRATE]

Here are some door panels that I picked up for an 80' Silverdao that are going in the Hornet. The right color to0.............Once I can get my buddy out of the house, we can weld in the inside supports for the buckets and get this project moving. This has almost come to a standstill with the new baby

[ECU PIRATE]

An old pic of the front fenders from the 85' front clip before the were stripped to bare metal and primed. Just a few rust spots and dents that have since been repaired. The bottom set are extra that need a little work due to a front end collision in the truck I pulled them off (one repop; one original)

[ECU PIRATE]

Just picked this up last night on trade from a buddy.......an M20 complete with Hurst Competition plus shifter and 11" high stick. Some might say not in a square body but, I say HELL YES!!!!!!!! Now all I really need is some quality time with my motor and get this show on the road. 15 months is the garage is way too long..................

[knightowl73]

lookin good bro, your getting some real good condition interior pieces up there. I lived in Ashburn and would go to the yards in Md and Wv sometimes but never find anythng that good. im diggin the tranny in the square. what you gong with for wheels tires a,d paint scheme (apparently brown)?

[ECU PIRATE]

Originally Posted by knightowl73

lookin good bro, your getting some real good condition interior pieces up there. I lived in Ashburn and would go to the yards in Md and Wv sometimes but never find anythng that good. im diggin the tranny in the square. what you gong with for wheels tires a,d paint scheme (apparently brown)?

Thanks knightowl.........Nice to see a somewhat local boy on here. With the color of the interior as it is now, we are definitely going to stay with the brown. My old man always had a brown truck when I was coming up. The next time my cousin is in town, we are suppossed to hit some big yard in WV or western MD that he saw on "American Pickers". He is in the process of doing a 57' Ford Panel truck.

I figure I might do the deepest, darkest shade of brown that I can find. The wife really wants me to sell it but, not with the Muncie going in it. The cammed up 350 is only temporary. My old fraternity brother (who lives in Paoli, Pa.), is going to look @ a 396 block & heads for me today. I believe they are out of a 66' Chevelle....................Finally going to get a chance to build me dream motor that I have wanted since I was 15...........

As for the wheels and tires, I think I am going to run some stockers for the time being until my kids get a little older and I have some more available cash.

[ECU PIRATE]

The 66' 396 short block and heads I just picked up. By the casting number, some sources say its from a SS396 Chevelle. I can't confirm this at the moment (the block has been decked) but, I am excited since my buddy scooped this up for me for a C note. The 350 is just temporary now until I can get the money to rebuild this and put it in the truck

[ECU PIRATE]

Well it seems like I have not updated this build thread since August. Have not had much time with kids, work, and wheeling and dealing for parts for my new build. Some pics of the progress over the last two months or so. The weather is clearing up a little bit so, we can start cleaning and detailing the motor before we bolt it up to the Muncie and drop it in. I decided to change the interior color of the truck so out goes the brown paint........stripped it to bare metal where it can be seen and shot it with a little self etching primer. The outside pics were the 1st time the old girl has been outside in almost 1 1/2 years

[ECU PIRATE]

More of the same...........a little mod on my fenders with Cheyenne emblems off of my old K5. I think it looks nasty with the Cheyenne interior.........

[75ChevyGuy]

Quite a project! Just a quick question though, what are those seats out of? I need some bad, so any help would be great!

[ECU PIRATE]

A little Memorial Day progress. It's getting there slowly but surely. My wife and kids are still at the beach for another day...............Way to quite in the house!!!!!!