'69 Longbed Daily Driver - Project

[IvelDesigns]

some shots of the rear

[IvelDesigns]

bump to get moved to the project forum

[texanidiot25]

Looks really awesome, good work

[Palf70Step]

Originally Posted by IvelDesigns

bump to get moved to the project forum

She's moved for you.

[Luvlegs]

This is the first time I've seen a lowered project that got me thinking about actually doing it.... not bags and all, just a 2/4 or so... Any chance you have any closer pics of the flipping" of the carrier bearing? If I drop my front 2 and rear 4, from what you experienced, do you think the flip would be necessary? I can't believe I'm actually thinking about it.... Looks pretty cool sitting low in the grass like that.

[Spray-Bomb]

Got the bed back on yet ???

Love your truck, take lots of pics !!!

[Clean1971]

Originally Posted by Spray-Bomb

Got the bed back on yet ???

Love your truck, take lots of pics !!!

I agree 100% take lots of pics! You got me motivated to bag mine as soon as I get the 454 in.

[IvelDesigns]

oh yeah. the bed has been back on and i've been driving it daily since mid June. So far I've only had a couple issues, none that couldn't be fix in a parking lot.

However, i flew out to san fran last week (tons of 67-72's out there btw) for 4 days, and when i got home and jumped in to head to work on friday, the compressor wouldn't kick in. So, i drove the econo car to work that day....

long story short, after testing everything for power, unplugging and replugging all of the wires going into the relay switch (no power after the relay), i flipped the main toggle and everything worked as planned. Must have gotten some corrosion in one of the wire plugs after sitting for a while.

I was supposed to meet up with another board member a couple weeks ago to go take some shots, but i wasn't able to make it. Hopefully we can do it soon so we have more pics to share.

[bad6772]

killer truck. i love it ...so simple in design yet so affective on the mind......haaaa i just wrote that...............looks good tony

[IvelDesigns]

Here are a few picks i've taken since getting it back together.

this weekend i'm drivin' up to Cedar Falls for a show/cruise and when I get back, i'm gonna start prepping for body work this winter. by prepping, i mean buying tools and getting the garage cleaned out. So far my list includes shaving the door handles and locks, replacing the cab corners, putting a patch in the bed and putting a 68 clip on. Hopefully by spring it will be ready for me to try my hand at painting. Gonna go with the same red since the interior is still in great shape. This way i don't have to worry about jamming it.

[Spray-Bomb]

Is that at full dump ???

[72BlckButy]

That thing is sweet! Nothing like down in the weeds!

[IvelDesigns]

Originally Posted by Spray-Bomb

Is that at full dump ???

yup

[Frizzle Fry]

Looks great! The 68 clip will look even better!

[Palf70Step]

Too many 68 clips.....You need to keep the wonderful natural beauty of the 69/70 front end.

[snacob14]

Do you only have one bolt holding the rear bags on? DId you use drop spindles in the front?:

Originally Posted by IvelDesigns

some shots of the rear

[68chevy68]

I think it could go just a bit lower....JUST KIDDING! Looks great man!

[IvelDesigns]

Originally Posted by snacob14

Do you only have one bolt holding the rear bags on? DId you use drop spindles in the front?:

that was prior to final fit. i left one bolt out of the top until i got the bottom bolted in. that way i could move the bag a bit if needed.

Yup, 2.5" drop spindles up front, 2.5" blocks in the back. However, with just a bolt in C-notch, the rear blocks are kinda pointless. the axle hits the frame long before the bag bottoms out.

surprisingly, it's not to bad of a ride when the rear is aired out going down the highway. the front tires just barely touch the inner fenders when aired out. 5mph is the max i'd go with the fronts aired out.

my kids love doing wheelies down the road

[Frizzle Fry]

I have basically the same setup on mine but I got rid of the upper spring pad and bolted the bags to the frame. I went with an 8" step notch to get the rear bags to bottom out with 3" blocks. 8" is enough to do that with a Camaro rear sway bar in there. Otherwise I'd say 6" would be enough.

Just in case you are considering going bigger on the notch

[IvelDesigns]

, i've been considering a small step notch. nothing crazy, just enough so that i can get the truck to sit level when aired out, or so that the rear bags bottom out. Either way, I want to find a steel floor for my bed and raise it 4 inches or so. Right now the wood over my pumpkin bubbles up when i air it out.

Oh, and i do have my list of body work items for this winter finalized. These are in order of how i plan to do them:

1. 68 Clip
2. Get Driver door to hang right - sticks out at the bottom a 3/8"
3. Shave rear cab seams
4. Cab corners
5. Patch panel on driver side rear wheel well
6. Shave gas filler
7. Shave stake holes
8. New front windshield
9. Rear roll pan - Maybe a front pan too.
10. Shave door handles
11. Shave door locks
12. Remote hood release
13. Shrink drip rail - no one will probably notice this one, but i think the factory drip rails are to big, so i want to remove it and take out about 1/2" and put it back on.
14. Paint - Same red as it is now, but with clear coat

Since this all will be the first body work I have ever done, I will do my best to keep this thread updated with pics.

We'll see how much of this i get done by next May 31st. I don't plan to park the truck until mid October, or the first snow... which ever comes first. Nice thing is, the truck will be in my garage this year, not 2 hours away like it was last winter.

[IvelDesigns]

well, it has been a good summer. drove the truck nearly every day, and had only minor issues. made many 100+ mile trips in it, hauled a few things, including 19 60lb bags of cement that i needed for the fence i put up in my back yard. all of that, and no big issues. the guy at the lumber yard thought it was pretty cool when i added some air to the back to keep it from squatting so much.

anyways, i think i just made my last road trip with it this weekend. I made a loop around iowa to pick up a welder for the body work i'm planning, and to unload a couch and a few other big things taking up space in my garage. Now i actually have room on both sides of the truck to work.

I also located a set of 68 fenders, and i know where the core support i need is at. thanks teeipup! so it looks like i'm ready to start tearing things down!!

Assuming i finish the dog house i started today, this week, i'm either gonna start pulling the front clip off next weekend, or am going to cut out the rust in the bed wheel well and get it replaced with the patch panel i have.

so yeah, pointless post. i'm just excited to get back to working on the truck, and for it to be in my own garage this time, not 120 miles away

until next time....

[IvelDesigns]

here's this afternoon's progress. I was really tempted to start pulling the front clip, but only had the afternoon, and i don't really have a place to put it. So, until someone is ready to buy it from me (i'd like to see $350 out of it, minus the inners) it'll stay on. at least until all of the other todo's are done.

so, without further ado, here are the money shots for my first every body work attempt.

First, the rust:

[IvelDesigns]

and now, rust be gone!

[IvelDesigns]

new metal in, and a couple weld shots. I'm also a welding novice (you can tell by the burn through i got toward the front), but i'm pretty happy with how things turned out. Grinding will made any booger weld look good, so that's the next step.

for this, i spaced out the spot welds about 4 inches, and just kept goin' from one end, to the other. rinse and repeat. from what i can tell, it looks like there is minimal warpage in the metal. If i had to guess, there won't be any more than 1/16" of mud over this when i'm done.

here's the pics!

[IvelDesigns]

once i get the welds ground down, i'll be moving on to the next task, the Roof Seam. I plan to grind out the seam sealer stuff from the factory, and will do the same spot weld procedure for this as well. I'll probably take more time on this though since it will be much more visible than the bed patch.

Here's a before shot: