These trucks are tanks! What did you use to protect the chassis with?

 

There's really nothing ***** left to this truck aside from the body. The rest is E350. It's rustoleum paint.

Pulling the manifolds off I busted 5 bolts, the pass. side rear most bolt was already broken so 6 total. They're all out now and tapped.

 

great read. i like your work too.

 

Thanks!

The headers are installed, I made life easier on myself and just pulled the fenders off. The collectors went from 3" to 2-1/2" so I put them in the lathes and trimmed them. I started running the exhaust the other night. It's going to be 3" duals with an H-pipe and the pipes will be exiting out of the back somewhere. I haven't decided where quite yet. I've built a few exhaust before from scratch, the last one was on my 1969 C60. I'm going to buy some V-band clamps sometime soon so I can take it apart easier if I ever need to.

I also managed to break a plug in half when I was cleaning the mating surface on the head. The EGR tube didn't want to come off so I won't be needing that anymore either. It's apparent the wiring is a mess in this truck! It's not bad looking with the fenders on so one day I'll address that too.

On to the pictures....


Here's what's left of the collectors that I'll be using.

My daughter and I put these on. I was really worried about these since I moved the engine up an inch and a half.



Shiny

 

i wish i still had mine. i had a 53 pickup 4 cylinder. engine seized, frame cracked.
found a 53 wagon that the guy hit a pole with.
pulled the cab and set it on the wagon, and cut the bed down to fit. it was a hair under 4 foot.
the Hercules 6 purred like a kitten. i was fabing up the rad mount from 4 cylinder to 6 cylinder when a guy made me an offer i could not refuse.
i made close to 5 grand off the sale that i really needed to expand the body shop.

 

So many people have a memory with an old ******, I find it great. I've talked to a lot of older guys about them since it's a great conversation starter. I've had random guys pull in my driveway countless times just to look at it. Between this truck and my others it happens quite often. I refuse to part with it again no matter what the offer is.

Since I broke the EGR tube and had no plans in making the EGR functional again I went ahead and cut it up to make a block off plate. I cut it off, welded the hole shut and milled both sides perfectly flat, painted and made a gasket for it. I'll be installing ss hardware to hold it in place. I've looked at the downside for deleting it and I can live with them.

I'll update again when the exhaust is completed. I have quite a few things I've started that need completely finished still so I'll be working on them also.

 

Cool rig, how do you like the airbags?

 

The bags were one of the last things I did. I probably have 1-2 miles and a few burn outs with the setup before I tore the front end and exhaust apart. Compared to the 1 ton springs that were on the front it is a night and day difference. My wife has a 2017 grand cherokee trailhalk that is factory air ride front and rear. I would say the ***** rides just about equivalent to her jeep. Really all that proves is that my brand new shocks are doing their job.

 

Well the headers are on and exhaust is completely finished. I've had her on the back burner and have been concentrated on my other truck most of the spring and summer trying to get that one road worth and now it is, it still needs work but is wrapping up its a 1969 Chevrolet C60. The headers worked out quite nice. I tig welded the whole thing, went 3" all the way with side exits slightly pointed to the ground after the rear tires. I cut almost all the slip joints off of the pipes because I don't like the way they look on an exhaust, it's not clean enough for my liking. Whenever I build an exhaust I build them so that they cannot be seen at all if possible. The only sign of the exhaust on this thing is where they exit. I painted the whole exhaust black too. Hopefully that'll help it last a little longer since I went carbon.

You Tube

 

I've haven't done much to her lately but some progress has been made. She now has mirrors and new headlights. For the most part this summer like any other time of year is all about work. I got her out every chance I could. The sound of the exhaust is perfect to my ears and getting deeper the more I drive it and heat those mufflers. She's up for the winter now and I'm looking into an air compressor and tank for it.

Does anyone have any experience with interiors here? I'd like to put carpet or a nice rubber floor mat but since she's so far from original I can't just buy one for a ****** truck. Is there a go to product that's somewhat easy to work with that will look good? She'll always be a rat rod but a nice somewhat detailed interior would be very nice.