'68 basket case resto-mod
- Thread starter Napoleon047
- Start date
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- Jan 5, 2004
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- Paint Lick, KY
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I almost quit reading when i saw it wasn't going to be OEM, but your sheet metal skills kept me interested. Excellent work on the metal!
- Thread starter
- #23
Tool box
The tool box is way cool
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2012
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- 630
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- 17,202
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- Winter Park, Florida
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- www.cruisermatts.com
Cool build, curious though as to your choice of the 205? Have you considered a Dana 300? You could probably free up a couple inches of driveshaft length, it has a lower low-range, and it probably weighs less. Just a thought.
- Thread starter
- #26
Been busy with some work travel and other projects. Kind of ironic because i ordered rockers from real steel so I didnt have to wait 8 weeks like everyone else was quoting. They don't fit perfectly, i had to add a 1/4" spacer to the front to match the door opening and make it all work.
I also moved the rear axle back 1" to make the driveshaft doable without any crazy custom components. It's pretty short, but it should work just fine. Standard Saginaw CV front driveshaft from chevy applications, with both the slip yoke and tube cut down. The flange is a NP208 front on the back of the NP205. 1310 land cruiser flange from drivelines NW. I have another driveshaft like this that I will use for the front, but it will have to be retubed and I will likely need a longer slip section also.
I also moved the rear axle back 1" to make the driveshaft doable without any crazy custom components. It's pretty short, but it should work just fine. Standard Saginaw CV front driveshaft from chevy applications, with both the slip yoke and tube cut down. The flange is a NP208 front on the back of the NP205. 1310 land cruiser flange from drivelines NW. I have another driveshaft like this that I will use for the front, but it will have to be retubed and I will likely need a longer slip section also.
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- Thread starter
- #27
Yep, I looked at a Dana 300, but buying the adapters and price of the transfer case weren't worth the additional expense considering how little additional work this drivetrain is taking to fit.
Not only do you have metal skills, you know how to take pictures. Very helpful. Your build page is already worth a bookmark.
- Thread starter
- #30
For the bed area, I made a framework out of 1.5" tubing and angle iron. This does a couple things: creates real structure for the roll bar to mount to and makes it much easier to do the sheet metal, all I need to make are skins.
I got the bed floor made tonight, due to the width constraints of my bead roller, I had to make it in two pieces, but I am still happy so far. It isn't attached yet, and like anything run through the bead roller, it's warped.
![20170502_212104[1].webp](https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachments/20170502_212104-1-webp.1452488/ "20170502_212104[1].webp")
I got the bed floor made tonight, due to the width constraints of my bead roller, I had to make it in two pieces, but I am still happy so far. It isn't attached yet, and like anything run through the bead roller, it's warped.
- Thread starter
- #31
Here is a shot of the underlying structure. I wasn't a fan of the step in the front portion of the floor, so I opted to make it flat right up to the front of the wheel wells.
![20170412_194137[1].webp](https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachments/20170412_194137-1-webp.1452497/ "20170412_194137[1].webp")
I have never said this before, but if you ever find yourself needing to sell this project, please call me. I would rather have a tub like yours over a resto any day.
Cool!
- Thread starter
- #34
Got the floor welded in last night
- Thread starter
- #35
This is high praise. I have no immediate plans to sell it but if I do I will keep it in mind.
- Thread starter
- #37
Finished up the inner fenders
- Thread starter
- #38
I was able to remove 5/8" from the lip of each front fender and get rid of most of the rust. The fenders are not as rigid, which worked out since the driver side needed to be straightened quite a bit. I am not planning to use fender mounted turn signals so the loss of rigidity should be no issue.
- Thread starter
- #39
It took me forever to decide what to do with the rear gate. The rear doors I had were not only smashed in but rusted beyond repair so I was starting from scratch no matter what. I took inspiration from the wife's Rav4 and settled on a single large swing gate.
The hinges are heavy duty bullet hinges from my local steel supply that cost $4 each. They are used on stock trailer doors and ramps among other things. Another advantage of the bud built quarters is they are beefy enough to weld directly to without reinforcement. The gate itself is over built so I can mount a spare directly to it instead of a separate carrier - once again, Rav4 inspiration. I might turn the inside into a small storage compartment.
The hinges are heavy duty bullet hinges from my local steel supply that cost $4 each. They are used on stock trailer doors and ramps among other things. Another advantage of the bud built quarters is they are beefy enough to weld directly to without reinforcement. The gate itself is over built so I can mount a spare directly to it instead of a separate carrier - once again, Rav4 inspiration. I might turn the inside into a small storage compartment.
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- Thread starter
- #40
The back of the windshield frame and defroster ducts are pretty bad. Going to have to get creative on this one but I think I have it figured out
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