Rotten 66 Farm Truck Build

[jdorrough]

Small update. I was able to salvage my old grill, bumper and radiator support brace. I didn't get fancy with it. The bumper was bent pretty bad where someone hooked a chain directly to it. I torched the worst dents and smacked them with a hammer then moved onto primer and paint. The other progress made was the A/C system from vintage air is now installed. I work alone and this was definitely a two person job. I'll wait until I can drive it somewhere to get the system charged. I think I'll cry if any of the fittings leak and I have to pull it all back out. Next up, the bed. She's rough.

[72cs20]

Nice work throughout!

I like that control panel for the VA system. Is it back lit? I don't they offered that one when bought mine. I may need to upgrade.

[roll_the_dice]

Looking good! The A/C is definitely a 2 person job! Fortunately, my wife helped bolt things down while I held the inside unit. I have not had any leaks under the dash...but have at other places...funny part is where I did the work, no leaks...where I had fittings crimped from an outside source and paid $...leaks! Go figure!

[jdorrough]

Originally Posted by 72cs20

Nice work throughout!

I like that control panel for the VA system. Is it back lit? I don't they offered that one when bought mine. I may need to upgrade.

I'm glad you asked. You reminded me that when going through the install, I remembered seeing an extra wire labeled for lighting but I didn't hook it up at the time and forgot all about it. So, sure enough when I hooked it up, the control panel is in fact back lit. The picture below shows which parts light up. The A/C text also lights up when you have the selectors moved to cold or defrost.

VA Part number-473276, they also make a chrome one

[72cs20]

Nice! Yeah, I like those controls way more than the rotary controls I have.

[jdorrough]

Getting close the finish line. I have included a couple pictures of the latest efforts. I ended up buying most of the bed parts as the original was just too far gone to rust and dents. The bed panels needed more work than expected (holes missing, incorrect lines, ugly welds, ect.). I also added a pic of the interior now that it's finished up with the speakers installed.

[jdorrough]

All buttoned up other than the mufflers and tailgate. So close to beating the streets with this thing.

[cwcarpenter98]

Looks good! You should make a trailer with the old bed if it can still bolt together

[88Stanger]

Damn fine job!!! Love the color! Great looking truck....

[roll_the_dice]

I agree it looks great! Love the setup. You are going to enjoy driving it so much. It is such a good feeling after all the work you put into it! Enjoy!

[joesscamaro]

Your truck looks like it turned out nice! Enjoy!

[Tempest67]

Wow , that is a very nice looking Stepside.

Well Done

[jdorrough]

Thanks for the kind words fellas. I dropped it off yesterday morning to have A/C charged, alignment, and exhaust installed. I quickly remembered why I'd rather do the work myself when the estimate came back. I'm dragging my feet on finishing the tailgate as I've yet to decide the "right" way to paint the raised Chevrolet lettering black while leaving the rest of the tailgate red. I'll post some pictures of whatever I decide to do. I couldn't bring myself to throw the old tailgate in the scrap pile so I decided to make a piece of garage wall art with the help of all the miscellaneous stickers I've collected over the build. I added some pics of it and the exhaust I went with. They're Borla's crate mufflers for the LS3.

[jdorrough]

The shop that installed my exhaust did a great job (Economy Auto in Ashland, VA). The X-pipe was a tight fit but they made it work and I'm happy with the sound, look and performance. After I was finally able to hear the motor notes vs the obnoxious open headers, it became pretty clear I had something ticking within the engine. It didn't take me long to find the problem when I pulled the valve covers. Cylinder #1 had a broken intake valve rocker. I'm pretty confident it was shipped that way from Blueprint, but there is no way to be sure. The piston wasn't black from firing and the headers weren't blue from heat on that cylinder. What I will say is that Blueprint Engines didn't flinch when I called them to explain the issue. They stood by their product and didn't try to point the finger back at me. I had a new head with all the gaskets shipped to my shop within a week. Honestly it ran good on 7 cylinders, when all 8 started playing nicely it's just insane.

[jdorrough]

I read different post on here trying to determine the best way to paint the lettering on the tailgate. There didn't seem to be a consensus so I went with the approach that made the most sense to me. I started by cleaning up the spot welds it was shipped with. I then primed the whole thing to give me some protection on the bare metal and to have a nice base to paint on. I then painted just the backside of the tailgate black. I put down 3 light coats. If I were to do it again, I'd dial those up to 3 or maybe even 4 medium/ wet coats. I then shot the whole thing in red. This is where the fun started. I wanted to balance letting the paint dry enough vs the clear coat window so I started sanding around the 5 hour mark. I wish I'd have waited a bit longer. I wet sanded with 600 grit which was much harder than I expected. It took me about 4 hours of sanding to get all the black showing. I sanded through in handful of spots that I fixed with a little brush. I finished by shooting a tack coat of red on the inside and clearing the whole thing with 2 wet coats. It's not perfect by any means but I'm happy enough with the final product.

[jdorrough]

Finished Pics.

[SkinnyG]

Looks fantastic

[cwcarpenter98]

Wow, that looks great!

[Low Elco]

Dang, I wish I still worked in Ashland 3-4x/yr. I'd have to see this in person! Great work!

[88Stanger]

That looks so good!! Great job!!

[The Rocknrod]

Good progress, thanks for the updates.