75 SBC 40 Restoration

[miller]

Hard Top Went For a Ride

so I loaded my hardtop into the back of a Chevy 1500 to find out about half way home of the 7 mile trip that I should have tied it down. Passing by a corn field in this great Wisconsin winter a good gust of wind picked it out of the truck and sent it flying into the next lane on its fiberglass top sliding down the road. I was only going 35mph, but I will have to say I am pretty impressed with how it came out. The rear door upper header cracked, the pax door header is a little bent, the rear corner fiberglass is cracked and a bunch of rivets that hold the fiberglass on broke. I put it on the tub and everything lines up like it should. Lesson learned! I drilled up rear doors, tire carrier, reflectors and emblems.

 

[PixelWrangler]

I'm glad your top made it without too much damage!

Sudden drops in air pressure work like magic in unloading a pickup. I had three 55 gallon drums get sucked up out of the middle of a load that was otherwise tied down pretty good, I thought. Everything had rope over it except the barrels in the center of the load, they seemed to be pinched in there pretty good, so didn't bother with them. Won't make that mistake again. Went across a bridge over a ravine on a windy evening on I-14 north of LA. Felt something funny in the truck, looked in the rearview and saw the silhouettes of the barrels dropping from the sky into traffic. Very surreal! Luckily they didn't hit anyone. I recovered one, couldn't get to another on the center divider and never did find the third. Had they been loaded open side up, most likely wouldn't have happened.

I still get heckled by friends when I insist on throwing more ropes or tie-downs over their loads. Then I them them how I became the "I-14 bomber" and they let me finish.

 

[miller]

Going to the painter

With the hardtop on I verified all doors fit normally and then disassembled the hardtop. It needs some work, the panels are pretty rusty and the top drip rail. I am saving that for fall, late summer. I got the rear gate installed and drilled and all the door, tire carrier mount plates welded. I purchased new OEM running boards and they fit good. Removed tub and put it on its side and finished welding the mid bed support. Finished up welding the roll bar supports and got everything ground down. Pounded all the dents in the rear bed out and it actually looks really good. I did have some more rust on the pax rocker to cowl seam so I repaired that. After searching awhile for a reasonably priced painter I found one. Went and saw his work and he came over and looked at the project. About 5500 is what the estimate is which is fine by me. It will be going to paint in a few days. While the tub is out I am going to get the frame sandblasted and powder coated.

 

[miller]

Frame work

Now that the tub is out for paint the frame needs some work, mostly redoing PO stuff. Removed old radiator supports and welded in new. Installed new rear axle wheel bearings, seals and disc brakes. The rear transfer case propeller mount was a home made mount. I ordered AA cross member mount kit. The old mounts were bolted and threaded into the frame and that's it! That did not make me real comfortable so welded scab patches with nuts welded to backside so mounts can be removed if needed. I ordered the front mount kit from AA so I will do the same on the front. The front currently has the original 2F isolators.

 

[miller]

I got the frame back from sandblasting and powder coating. Looks awesome!

 

[miller]

Wow its been a couple of months, life got in the way. I have resealed and painted the axles, transmission and transfer case. I resealed the engine and painted. I still need to build it backup . Today I got the axles and springs back on the frame, nice visual progress. My tub is still sitting at work waiting for the painter to finish up a mustang, hopefully next week. I don't want to bug him too much and get a crappy job. Tomorrow I will try to get the engine built back up. I was hoping to drive it this summer, but its coming fast!

 

[64Rotorhead]

I got the frame back from sandblasting and powder coating. Looks awesome!

Just curious what they charged you for frame sandblasting and powder coating?

 

[miller]

$443.00. Frame ,motor mounts ,radiator support and rear disc brake brackets. That was to sand blast and powder coat. Money we'll spent in my opinion!! They did a good job at masking all the threaded holes in the frame. I have had no issues with it going back together.

 

[miller]

So still waiting on the painter. He has had it for 6 months now and just started on the tub last week.. A little frustrating. I still have quite a bit of work to do on the frame, but here are a few pictures of how its coming along.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

looks good

 

[miller]

Well, still waiting on the painter for the tub. I should get it in a couple of weeks. In the mean time I tore apart my 8274, cleaned , sandblasted, painted and reassembled. Warn sent me a new sticker kit for free. Installed it tonight and ops checked good. I am pretty happy with how it turned out. I was able to re use all the original parts.Seats are done, front and rear heaters are painted and ready to be installed.

 

[miller]

Well on to the next painter. He had my project since march. He wanted 2k up front which is 40 hours of work which at the time was fine. I went over to see what was done and he said he needed another 2k to keep going. It only looked like about 25 hours of work which is when I felt the guy was screwing me. All he did were both qtrs. and rockers basically what you see in the pictures above. I was supposed to get this back in summer for about $5500 for everything, including hardtop. I told him I wanted everything blocked out and ready for paint then he would get 2k, once painted the rest. Oh and that I wanted it by thanksgiving. He was reluctant, but agreed to do that. He called me a week later and said to come and get it that he could not work that way(needed money up front)-WTF. Oh and he just bought the paint and it will be an extra $500. Not more than 15 minutes later I went with some friends and picked it up. I told him to shove that paint you know where! So on to the next shop. I took it in on Friday and they said they would be done in a couple of weeks, they put a guy on it until its done, and they were $10 hour cheaper. The first painter was recommended by some friends. Hopefully I will be putting this thing back together soon! Should have done it myself it seems to be a lot easier that way!!!

 

[antFJ]

You are at the exact same spot as i am in my build... Your panels looked fairly straight before - i think the last guy got a little over zealous with the body filler. To block both sides of the tub has taken me about 30 hours and that is sanding by hand. Wish you more luck with the next guy! Your patch panels came out great.

 

[miller]

I told the last painter I wanted everything to look straight and he said to do that the whole side would pretty much need filler. The sides are now in primer and do look pretty nice and straight and have not been blocked yet. I have never done any filling or painting, but it looks like this truck could be sponsored by Bondo!

 

[miller]

So far I am pretty happy with the new shop. Here are a few pictures. Everything in primer and ready to block.

 

[miller]

Got the hardtop panel repairs done. The drivers side panel needed the most work. The front post was gone and the rear lower corner in bad shape. I also got the roof rain gutter sandblasted, made some small repairs, 2k epoxy primed and riveted roof to rain gutter with new rivets and seam sealed. Going to body shop on Monday.

 

[miller]

Ambulance doors. These were a lot of work! The outer skin was in bad shape, but the inner pan had some rust but not bad. I bought some Evapo-Rust and soaked the doors in it for a few days and was amazed at how well that stuff works. It removed all the surface rust that was there. Instead of buying skins I went and bought a piece of 16gage flat steel from Menards and fabbed up both outer skins for $30 bucks. The 16 gage is hard to bend with a 4 foot Northern tool brake! The bottom bend I basically made a crease and then had to finish it with a hammer. It turned out good though. On both doors the corner pieces were also rusted so made paper templates and replaced the metal that was bad. Also going to painter on Monday.

 

[Flipper1938]

Nice job!

 

[dad4x4]

just read through your build thread and it looks great with a lot of progress made. ready to see it after paint!

 

[miller]

Yeah me too. Been ready. Hopefully right before christmas. I have a couple weeks off it will be nice to start putting it together. thanks!