Steve's 64 Short-bed Project

[SteveCanup]

True that! Slickitis is baaaad! I love those backup lights too....I was looking at the pics again and realized that the doors and bed do not have trim or trim holes. The hood does but almost all of the trim is missing. Interesting! The door handles have the "custom cab" chrome surrounds though.

[SteveCanup]

Still trying to run down the owner of the '66. He is in prison and is supposed to be released in January. I may be waiting awhile to get in touch with him....hoping that he is willing to sell the truck. He has a mid-60's Chevrolet truck sitting about 3/4 mile down the road in a field that is in very good condition...just sitting there. What a waste....

[SteveCanup]

I got to drive my truck in the Christmas parade. The photographer for the city attends where I am a minister. We had our neighbor, who is a local school teacher for a private school, and her two sons ride in the back. We all had a blast!

[SteveCanup]

My neighbor is a mechanic and we're planning to go take another look at the '66 that's close by sitting in the weeds. I want to take some sockets and check to see if the engine is seized. Will try to get more pics also. The owner is supposed to get out of prison next month and he is in his late 60's...hoping that he needs money and will want to sell the truck. Originally, I wanted the truck for parts for my '64, but now I'm leaning more toward obtaining it and getting it running and driving. If the engine isn't seized or damaged, that will likely be the goal. The truck is in decent condition except the bottoms of both doors are rotted out. The passenger window is missing, but might be down inside of the door, and I have an extra window stored away. Anyway...stay tuned....keep fingers crossed that obtainium will occur, lol.

[SteveCanup]

Well....the '66 has what appears to be a seized engine. I used a huge breaker bar with my socket and the engine would not turn. The odometer was showing a little over 86,000 miles and I wonder if this is accurate. The truck has possibly been sitting for 30-40 years now. Anyway, waiting to see if I can run down the owner next month and see what happens. Might be a dead end....but I still would like to have the bed and hood...

[SteveCanup]

Well Merry Christmas to me....yesterday, my truck broke down on the local interstate. Had to have it towed home....finally. It's hard to find someone to tow a vehicle on Christmas eve. Anyway, the bracket that attaches to the frame that the clutch Z bar rotates on broke. I got on the interstate and when to shift to 5th gear and the "nub" that the Z bar rotates on sheared off. It was a loud pop....and then....no clutch. Anyway, I've found one on ebay from a '65 that will work, just waiting for the seller to accept my offer. In the meantime I will probably try to repair the one on my truck. And I realize that there is a grease fitting on the Z bar which has never been greased in the seven years that I have owned the truck....and probably in many years prior. So...maintenance IS important! Find those grease fittings and squirt grease....lol. Anyway, if this is the worst that happens, then I'm going to be okay. Everyone have a great Christmas and a Happy and Safe New Year....and 2022, incidentally sounds like "2020 too"...lol.

[SteveCanup]

Z bar bracket fixed (welded) and I'm on the road again. I ordered another from the interwebs and it will be here later this week. All is good....Happy New Year to everyone....stay safe!

[SteveCanup]

Dealing with a slight "roar" in the driveline at 55-60 mph. I have determined that the tailshaft bushing in my T-5 was worn. One of the
"signs" is fluid leaking, even after replacing the seal. So I have the tailshaft and the driveshaft at the driveline mechanic. He was hoping to have it finished today...IF the bushing came in. Undoubtedly, it didn't come in. Hopefully tomorrow.



I also installed new upper bushings in my Jaguar IFS upper arms. I did it without removing the springs....don't ask....but it rides much betterer. Looking forward to cruise-in season....Spring is coming early here in S.W. Virginia, supposed to be in the 60's all week and mid-70's on Sunday.

[SteveCanup]

On another note....I still haven't been able to find or run down the owner of the '66 languishing in the weeds of the backyard of a local house. Of course the truck is still there...unmolested.

[SteveCanup]

New bushing and seal in the tailshaft, but it is still leaking. A drip at a time...I've read that these tranny's are notorious for this. Anyway, it took care of the "roar" in the drivetrain. It is smooth. I might search later for a 302/AOD or a 351/AOD....right now all my $$$$ (vig) is going toward gasoline (thank you Biden)...

[SteveCanup]

Went out and rechecked my tailshaft situation this evening....it is NOT leaking. There was a small "wet" spot on the underside of the tailshaft at the end...but no puddle at all on the floor. Now to go get a "gasoline loan." Btw, I heard that Biden was in the hospital.....he couldn't stop Putin (pooting)... I'll be here all week.

[SteveCanup]

I need a democrat to help me buy gas for my truck. I want to drive it, but I can't afford $5 a gallon gas anymore. Any takers?

[SteveCanup]

Spring has sprung! Got the truck out yesterday and ran some errands....also took some pics. It was a beautiful day so I took some time in the garage and "piddled around", lol.


Here's my tailgate "before"...


And "after"...


My plan over the next few weeks is to rework the bedsides. I rushed to get them painted and now the paint has "shrunk" and I have scratch marks, etc. showing up. Novice mistake....I knew better. Now to fix it right.
Stay tuned...

[SteveCanup]

On another note...I drove my truck to a week-end retreat and got 23 miles per gallon on the trip. I went 125 miles on 5.44 gallons of gas. That works out to 22.98 mpg. My '64 has the original 292 V-8 with a '93 GMC Sonoma T-5 speed with .86 fifth gear and I still have the 3.73 rear gearing. This was interstate driving 2/3's of the way, but also over a mountainous area. So the 5 speed was definitely a great improvement. I did drive 2 mph under the speed limit on the interstate...68mph vs. 70 mph, but so was most of the traffic. I did "dog" it a little going over the curvy mountain 2 lane road because I wanted to show-up the little "ricer mobile" that thought he would tailgate me over the curvy road, lol. That $4+ a gallon gasoline still hurts....

[SteveCanup]

Started on the bedside repair yesterday. Forgot to take pics, but here's the result so far...



I am going to shoot some hi-build primer on this area of the bed and let it shrink for a week or so. Then shoot some more white on it.
It is definitely not a "show truck" by any means, but I want it to look better than the "bubba painted it in the backyard" truck. No offense to the bubba's out there...

[SteveCanup]

I recently became aware that my turn signal did not cancel when making right turns. Since regular driving requires said turns, and I use my signals, unlike the majority of people driving out there, I needed to find out why it was not working correctly. I found the plastic cam had the right turn arm broken off. This was the same plastic cam that I replaced about 5-6 years ago. It was brittle...anyway, I ordered a new cam from LMC truck and I ordered the wrong one. So while I had the steering column apart I decided to fix....read "modify" the 'collar' since I have the T-5 floor shift. Here's some pics...
The Mess...

The "Collar" after removing the bung (I don't know what else to call it, lol) from the side of the collar. I should have taken more pics, but I removed it with my 4 1/2" grinder. Sadly it is potmetal, so I couldn't weld the opening up. I used a secret method to fill the hole.

...and pics of the column after I put it all back together. It looks much better....it's small stuff, but it makes a big difference to me, lol.



I did order a new entire switch from National Parts...so I'll have to take the wheel off again....anyway...stay tuned....

[My wife's nightmare]

Nice work on the shift collar modification. It used to be easy to find a floor shift collar but those days are long past. I have had some luck with 65-66 Mustang columns but those seem to be disappearing around here too. Good progress on the bedsides as well. I really wish I had some bodyworking skills, not that I have a lot of skills at much of anything, but that is an area where you can definitely save some money on a home built truck.

[SteveCanup]

Nice work on the shift collar modification. It used to be easy to find a floor shift collar but those days are long past. I have had some luck with 65-66 Mustang columns but those seem to be disappearing around here too. Good progress on the bedsides as well. I really wish I had some bodyworking skills, not that I have a lot of skills at much of anything, but that is an area where you can definitely save some money on a home built truck.

Thanks Doug! The bedside is "waiting" on paint right now, lol. Letting things dry and shrink...then shoot some paint. Looking forward to cruise-in season. I'm so ready to get out of the house, if I can afford it, that is.

[SteveCanup]

Bed side repaint this afternoon...the first coat...


I shot the second coat on and with the lighting I couldn't see how heavy I was shooting. Got a "line" or sag in the paint....grrrrrr.
I will let it dry overnight and see if I can sand it out with some 30000000 grit sandpaper and reshoot.

[My wife's nightmare]

"Sags" are my signature. That way I know there is enough paint on the panel so I shouldn't have to worry about rust coming back through