Slick 60's

I have been on here for about a month, and really digging the info I have discovered. Here is my project and what I plan on doing with her...



First... Picked her up, clear title and running for $600 (plus $50 to get her towed to my house)

Then I concentrated on getting her cleaned up and looking a little better. HOA can be a little tricky around here and my little girl is the only classic vehicle in the whole subdivision.

Gave her a bath and then completely stripped out the interior and washed everything down. Patched up a few spots on the seat and recovered with a cheap seat cover. Makes it look prettier to the Soccer Mom's around here if they peek inside. Going to go over it with a nice high end Serape. Floorboard is super solid and everything cleaned up beautifully, even the mats.

Next... The engine. She started right up and moved around, just did not idle for shit. So I drained the tank, cleaned it out, cleared the lines and made sure there was no residual trash. Then I yanked the carb and completely broker her down and cleaned it up and checked everything. All looked good!

Ran much better, but there was still something a little off. Messed with the adjustments and she was purring better, but there was still a little hiccup. Went after the ignition system next. Replaced the plugs, wires, coil. cap and button. While doing this, came across a plug that was barely in, there was my miss! Once everything was buttoned up (... Pun intended... After a trip back to the parts store to swap out the Button. Dude gave me one for a 6 cycl at the same time he gave me a Distributor for a V8 AND 8 spark plugs?!?!?!!?!?) Fired right up and mAAAn, she sounds nice! Can't wait to cut the muffler out since she has a hole in it anyway! LOL

Slight oil leak around the valve covers, so they were next, as well as the external top oiling system. Yanked the covers, replaced with new gaskets and replaced all the fittings of the external oiling system with brand new shiny brass and copper fittings and lines. My Father was a Plumber, so I picked up a few tips and they turned out pretty nice.

Also fixed the hood latch, which was not catching to start. Put a small lock on it so there are no flip up surprises! Of course, as all this went on, I cleaned and repainted everything I touched and then some! Driver's side fender well was also stripped and repainted using bed liner. Nice and pretty looking!

Now that she seems to be running just right, charging and all that good stuff, I will concentrate on finishing up painting the engine. Then the real work...

Want to run dual pipes, so looking for a set of Ram's Head exhaust headers to start, if they become too elusive or pricey (Yes, I know of the repro's for $350) I will look into Straight Headers. Then run down to GlassPacks or Porter's. Not sure which way to go yet. Want a nice deep sexy rumble and a nice deep bark when she is opened up. Then have them exit right in front of the rear tires.

Wheels - Running matching stockers, but cleaned up. Size of rubber will be determined by the drop I am able to put on her. (More about that in a bit.) I am not concerned about the width up front, want good turn radius, but I want the rears to be as fat as possible. No matter what, I want the radius to compliment the lowered distance of the wheel wells.

Lowered - Looking at putting about a 4" to 6" drop on my girl. I don't have the pockets for a bag system, (would love it) but looking at either flipping springs or a kit. Open to suggestions!

The cab is pretty solid, just a few spots to strengthen up, but the bed is trash. She came with a long Flairside and I want to replace with a Styleside. Any help here would be appreciated as well...

There are a few other simple things I want to play with, but besides making sure all the gauges work, nothing major. I want to Flat Matte Clear the paint to keep the beautiful Patina that she has been achieved. The fun will come with trying to match the Styleside bed's paint with the current cab. I have a buddy that specializes in high end painting and he wants to try and "age match" it... Should be an interesting experiment!

Any inputs, ideas, suggestions or whatever, please drop me a line...

Thanks,

JB

Cool truck. Patina is great on it, matching the bed will be an adventure. Lowerings easy, front, drop beam, rear, flip front spring hangers and cut and extend shackles 2-2.5". Give ya pretty good drop without have to cut and mod anything. Good luck

Get some reverse eye Mono Leafs for the front, they give about 4 1/2 inches of drop.
Sid's dropped axles are excellent but they will get you 3" - I have the reverse eye monos.
I would not advise the monos for the rear - most who get them don't care for them on these trucks.
I did my rears by removing leafs from a stock F 250 spring - it's nice and reasonably low but has enough support to drive the truck.
The ride is nice with the combination too.
Here is a pic of my 64's stance for you reference - 225 x 60 x 15s front/275 x 60 x 15s rear



Welcome to Slick 60s.

Thank you much guys... Looking into your suggestions as we speak...

The shop where I worked at years ago, we took a non-running '65 Short Flair and in 4 days built this...


Drove it up to the Jalopy Showdown in Pa. Had a few headaches, but nothing major. Got bored with always fixing the engine (WAY toooo much power), so I sold it and hunted for another project. Enter the '62... Now below is the stance where I would LOVE to get the '62 to look... Yes, I know there are a few differences between the long Flair I now have... But a guy can dream!

I have reverse eyes front and back 3" drop axle and axle flip in back.My Uni sits pretty close to the pic in your post.I do have to add that I have not drove it yet so I cannot vouch for the ride quality.Hopefully It will leave my shop for final paint,body this spring.

Update on the 'Ole Girl... While trying to track down a set of Steelies, I was directed over to a local Pick 'N' Pay and Lo & Behold... A '68 Short Styleside! I can get the bed SUPER cheap! Sooooo, back to my original idea of chopping the rear chassis and installing the short bed on my long Flairside. If anyone has done this, any advice up (besides, "Don't do it") will be appreciated...

Greg D - Very slick looking ride! Clean...

Well as far as advice goes if your gonna do it then do it with a 64 to 66 bed not a 68 as they are completely differant .


Rick

Rick,

HOW, different? I was not able to take any measurements when I laid eyes on the body.

Thanks,

JB

JB the body lines are completely differant if it is a 68 not sure about wheelbase itself but the body lines wont even come close to matching up with your truck . You would be better off finding a 64 to 66 longbed and shortening the bed itself down . Lance did this years ago as well as shortening the frame of his truck .


Rick

Update... Concerning the body lines, I am no expert on these Beast's at all and definitely would not have been excited if it looked off. When I saw it, it looked like it would match up well. So I called the owner of the Salvage lot and he said that it was entered into the computer incorrectly and it's actually a '65!!!

I am heading over tomorrow to take a really close look and take some measurements. Will snap some pics as well.

Ok if its off a 65 it will work and match up just fine after some frame surgery .


Rick

Are we talking about a flair side or a style side bed.

Styleside Unc he has a Flareside now and wants to change from long Flare to Short Styleside .


Rick

Update...

One man's trash is another man's treasure...

My Flairside bed was in really rough shape, but hey, you never know??? So I threw it up on Craigslist and sure enough sold it to a guy for $150! Took about 30mins to remove it from the frame with about a 2 hours of shooting the wind. Man I love this hobby! You really meet the greatest people.

Heading today to look at a '66 with a locked up V6. Hoping I can scavenge enough out of it to make the trip and purchase worthwhile. Really only want the bed, so we will see?

A locked up V-6? Unique beast for sure.

Well, the V6 turned out to be an Inline 6...! Makes more sense... Huh?!?!? Truck was total junk and the seller, nice as he was, was pricing it out of nostalgia. Had a bunch of new sheetmetal as well, but suddenly was not included in the originally posted price. So, the search for a new bed continues...

It's ALIVE!!!!!!!!



After about a month of tweaking, adjusting, cleaning, rewiring, painting, cussing, recussing, plumbing, etc. etc. etc. , the 'Ole Girl is ready to be fired back up... Primed the carb and BOOM! She started right up! GlassPacks go on tomorrow. The straight pipe is quite "rackety"

Still some wire cleanup to be done, but pretty much done with the engine bay. Next is lowering it and then shortening the frame for the shortbed.