61 unibody "Turk" project build
Posted: October 15, 2010, 5:08 pm
So I have been putting this off long enough
I purchased my first 1961 unibody back in 1976, at the ripe old age of (deleted because of the laughter from the other room) for $1000.00. It had 98 thousand miles on it, from a friend of my fathers, for college transportation. To this day I have been unable to find a single picture of it
It was originally pale yellow with a 292, t-98, chrome reverse rims and mooneyes, 10 inch tires on the back and 8 inch on the front. No dings no dents, black painted roll bar, the rear bumper was a made of three inch c channel with a piece of 2x6 redwood attached, burnt with a torch and covered with envirotech for that shinny look, Boy was I cool!!!
I worked on it with the tools at hand, which was minimal, and replaced kingpins, intake manifold and carb, rear pumpkin ect, put in a rebuilt 292 from San Francisco Engine Remanufacturing, because of the mileage, and the belief back then that an engine was only good for about 100 k,.. , it appeared to be good for another 100 k, per Art, the builder, when I returned the rebuild because of a bent rod. Along the way it got a root beer brown, metallic, Imron paint job.
Fast forward a number of years and the uni is gone thanks to the gas shortage of 1979, even and odd fueling days, two block long gas lines, twelve miles to the gallon up hill, down, hill with the wind, against the wind, loaded, empty, two barrel, re jetted four barrel, lower rear gears...you get the picture.
I bought a fully loaded 1980 Volkswagen rabbit, brand new, for 7600.00 I made my car payment, insurance payment, kept the tank full and put $10. a month back in the bank on gas savings alone...those were the days!
Fast forward some more, and just over two years and a lifetime ago, my youngest got in a fight with a fence in the 2000 dodge Durango, on a rainy day and the dodge lost. I then spent a small fortune on it once all the repairs were done because the dodge 318 now wants to run on alternate 7 cyl. Even after replacing everything, except the wire loom (that’s next) .Then it dawned on me...I do not even change the oil on my cars, and I used to do it all, sooooo... the madness began.
I began looking at eBay because I did not know any better, and found and bought the long bed, then two short beds in stupefied succession, looking for that special elusive 61 uni.
Along the way I found a hobby I could share with my two boys and bought a 61 step side for my youngest,
we began working on the trucks together, buying pieces and parts here and there, in an effort to jump start my need to build, repair, or just do something with my hands, something I had always done, but stopped after a very trying six years where I lost both parents and my only sibling.
Then one day, while trolling on Craigslist, I found The Turk. Having learned my lesson not to buy trucks sight unseen, I traveled the distance to look at the truck.
I ended up back at the house at three in the morning with the Turk on a rented trailer, and my ecstatic son driving a 1966 step side in original paint, a daily driver to be sure, it made the return trip in much better shape than the Durango, and you don’t want to know!
I bought them from a nice Veterinarian, whose’ husband had bought them for their twin boys, and due to marital difficulties, and lack of interest by her sons, just wanted the trucks gone.
I was told the Turk had been left in a barn for twenty years, after the 223 had a hole punched in the block by a rod on the number two cylinder, and other than some rather large dents in the quarter panel and a lot of mud wasp nests, it is in grand shape.
Having originally bought a Gibbons/Cordoba ifs kit and having the 292 out of one of my unibodies, rebuilt, I decided to put it all in the Turk.
So for the past year I have been working on the Turk when I can in between my real job, and all the other things that need to be done. I am currently at a point where the engine is rebuilt, if you can believe it by Art, at San Francisco Engine. He is in his eighties and still going strong. The trannies I have available have been gone through and painted, although I am still looking to put a t-5 in it. The Cordoba suspension has been mocked up, and the chassis is ready to be sand blasted and painted.
I have a lot more pictures but have to find a way of shrinking them down to a reasonable size from photo bucket. I hate it when it takes up the whole screen and I am doing it one by one.
John
I purchased my first 1961 unibody back in 1976, at the ripe old age of (deleted because of the laughter from the other room) for $1000.00. It had 98 thousand miles on it, from a friend of my fathers, for college transportation. To this day I have been unable to find a single picture of it
It was originally pale yellow with a 292, t-98, chrome reverse rims and mooneyes, 10 inch tires on the back and 8 inch on the front. No dings no dents, black painted roll bar, the rear bumper was a made of three inch c channel with a piece of 2x6 redwood attached, burnt with a torch and covered with envirotech for that shinny look, Boy was I cool!!!
I worked on it with the tools at hand, which was minimal, and replaced kingpins, intake manifold and carb, rear pumpkin ect, put in a rebuilt 292 from San Francisco Engine Remanufacturing, because of the mileage, and the belief back then that an engine was only good for about 100 k,.. , it appeared to be good for another 100 k, per Art, the builder, when I returned the rebuild because of a bent rod. Along the way it got a root beer brown, metallic, Imron paint job.
Fast forward a number of years and the uni is gone thanks to the gas shortage of 1979, even and odd fueling days, two block long gas lines, twelve miles to the gallon up hill, down, hill with the wind, against the wind, loaded, empty, two barrel, re jetted four barrel, lower rear gears...you get the picture.
I bought a fully loaded 1980 Volkswagen rabbit, brand new, for 7600.00 I made my car payment, insurance payment, kept the tank full and put $10. a month back in the bank on gas savings alone...those were the days!
Fast forward some more, and just over two years and a lifetime ago, my youngest got in a fight with a fence in the 2000 dodge Durango, on a rainy day and the dodge lost. I then spent a small fortune on it once all the repairs were done because the dodge 318 now wants to run on alternate 7 cyl. Even after replacing everything, except the wire loom (that’s next) .Then it dawned on me...I do not even change the oil on my cars, and I used to do it all, sooooo... the madness began.
I began looking at eBay because I did not know any better, and found and bought the long bed, then two short beds in stupefied succession, looking for that special elusive 61 uni.
Along the way I found a hobby I could share with my two boys and bought a 61 step side for my youngest,
we began working on the trucks together, buying pieces and parts here and there, in an effort to jump start my need to build, repair, or just do something with my hands, something I had always done, but stopped after a very trying six years where I lost both parents and my only sibling.
Then one day, while trolling on Craigslist, I found The Turk. Having learned my lesson not to buy trucks sight unseen, I traveled the distance to look at the truck.
I ended up back at the house at three in the morning with the Turk on a rented trailer, and my ecstatic son driving a 1966 step side in original paint, a daily driver to be sure, it made the return trip in much better shape than the Durango, and you don’t want to know!
I bought them from a nice Veterinarian, whose’ husband had bought them for their twin boys, and due to marital difficulties, and lack of interest by her sons, just wanted the trucks gone.
I was told the Turk had been left in a barn for twenty years, after the 223 had a hole punched in the block by a rod on the number two cylinder, and other than some rather large dents in the quarter panel and a lot of mud wasp nests, it is in grand shape.
Having originally bought a Gibbons/Cordoba ifs kit and having the 292 out of one of my unibodies, rebuilt, I decided to put it all in the Turk.
So for the past year I have been working on the Turk when I can in between my real job, and all the other things that need to be done. I am currently at a point where the engine is rebuilt, if you can believe it by Art, at San Francisco Engine. He is in his eighties and still going strong. The trannies I have available have been gone through and painted, although I am still looking to put a t-5 in it. The Cordoba suspension has been mocked up, and the chassis is ready to be sand blasted and painted.
I have a lot more pictures but have to find a way of shrinking them down to a reasonable size from photo bucket. I hate it when it takes up the whole screen and I am doing it one by one.
John