Red Line- Customers 45LV Resto Mod Build " Pope's rig" (1 Viewer)

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Bag and tag process for all the doors. During this process, pictures with certain hardware sections get photographed and labeled into the computer and on the zip locks. It is very painstaking. But it has to get done. If we don't, by the time it comes back from CAD plating, we would be in a world of hurt. All this hardware looks to be plated silver from the factory. As we all know, from the hardware standpoint of this era, the bolt heads are specific in their own as well. So we have a list of hardware needed, for broken replacement. That's going to be a chore by it's self.

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We labeled and stamped the door hinges from where they were during removal. Ensuring ourselves that even during the blasting process, we know what hinge goes where!

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Each picture is 1 pic from that day of documentation. 4 straight days of it. Was Brutal. Time for a head break....

Justin

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Seat frames are off to Sand blasting. Bolts are documented, off to the next thing. The dreaded rear hatch and tail gate. All the rust hides in the back. That's a fact...lol
If anyone has a good LV Tailgate handle assembly, Please let me know.....;) l'm going to need one, this one has the normal splitting issue. Rust is starting to show it's normal ugly face.
Justin

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You may want to look into Pot Metal repair for the hatch handle. There is a guy on IG that post his work and looks like he does nice job.
 
Unfortunately most of the remaining LVs have alot of rot, both hidden and visible. Your LV appears to have a solid beginning, but brace yourself for all of the rust discoveries in your future. Someone summed up a restoration of an LV more like a Ferrari because of the lack of replacement panels and parts. You have embarked on a marathon so enjoy the process and try not to be discouraged.
The worst rust on the LV is the rust you can’t see. It will be three layers deep. Especially the rear end and braces. Memories....
 
You may want to look into Pot Metal repair for the hatch handle. There is a guy on IG that post his work and looks like he does nice job.
I had a guy locally do some repairs on my rear latch, he did some kind of a copper dip before the welding and it turned out pretty good. It’s challenging material to work with though for sure.
 
Thanks for the lead with the IG guy. I will look into that!

A local guy does our blasting, he's fast, reliable and he allows us to change media. So we did some soda media and nickel. The soda takes double the time to remove material, however it does not create the heat in the panel like the nickel media. The upper hatch got the nickel material. The outer cargo panels received the soda media. We found this writing on the inner panels, very cool stuff.
All the cargo panels in the rear had USA 112 written on them. Very cool find, so I decided to keep that and not blast the inner side of the panels! The tail gate god soda media blasted except the lower hinge area, we used nickel. You can see the difference in sheen on the bare steel on the inside of the tailgate vs the hinge area.

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Great Thread! Thanks for taking the time to document your work. Yeah, my tailgate and doors and quarters and hood and roof and rockers all looked like that. One of the big reasons behind keeping the patina on mine. I think it looks great as mother nature, time and three paint jobs intended. And I think it saved me about 10K or so in bodywork and paint!
 
Great Thread! Thanks for taking the time to document your work. Yeah, my tailgate and doors and quarters and hood and roof and rockers all looked like that. One of the big reasons behind keeping the patina on mine. I think it looks great as mother nature, time and three paint jobs intended. And I think it saved me about 10K or so in bodywork and paint!


Thanks, it's going to be a ton of work, worth in the end. If I still had my first 66lv, I would have done the same, patina. Only fix rust as needed..lol
 
Another hardware batch is about ready to get shipped out, so...We had to kill an OEM hatch knob, in order to come up with a re-pop solution. Doing that reminded me of a feeling you would get, when you knew your dad was going to whoop your but when he got home...LOL

It had to be done. Still not 100% sure on some details, but we will figure aluminum outer piece, anodized white, with a steel press fit insert. The bolt will be reproduced as well. I'm running on the idea of having it attach the same way, rivet style, so perhaps ill make a tool for that to happen

Justin

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We received our Vintage air unit for the conversion. It's the mark 4 unit. I like the vintage era look and just could not come up with anything better for the situation.
Since the unit is AC only, we are keeping the OEM heater components. Out of those components, the blower tube is well, in the way. We knew that going in. Modification of the tube is going to be the worst part. The idea we ran with is to cut one up, then tape a new shape to it, forming around the AC unit. Think late model dealer/ OE AC units.
3-d printing after a 3-D scan is probably how this will get done. But first we must start cutting and mocking up to see what we run into!

Justin

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Mocked up the AC unit. Started to tape in the the tube for its new shape. Plan is to tape new shape to the air tube and 3d print a new one!

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I have debated for a year if we should put this build on mud. Debated if I have the time to add and reply and so forth. I am always so busy I never really finish a build thread, so that's half my problem. What the heck, perhaps I'll be able to finish this one, So that's my goal.

Project start> Thought's of what I want, VS customer goals. These can be tricky if not painstakingly vibrant through the colors of opinions and operational ques. So with that said. Being crafted is a Red line Resto Mod, Remember that as you scroll through as we go. My End goals are me being me, my guys being them and the customer having trust.

Listed items that will be done to the rig for said driving style and end user goals.
1. Power steering...Blah blah blah.... Yes everyone wants PS. I DIDN'T want to do this, customer needs to be able to due to comfort.
So I crafted up a sweet plan. Use a GM Box... I know all you haters, I get it but, hang in there. GM box allows me to keep the factory column and retain the "3 on the tree" Yes we are mixing this girl up. Retaining the OEM steering is, well not that bad after all! We have a kit in the works just for this, so.....SAG box to factory column and shifting... I'm happy it came out the way it did.
2. Disc brakes. I decided to go only for the front. I get, that I could do the rear too, but instead I'm going with a little of the Original design ques from the era. 78 axles up front and rear. Easy...
3. Engine. It had a 68 302 Camaro v8 in it when we recieved it so I wanted OE. F135? Found one and was thrilled! Then I thought holy smokes I remembered he wants to drive this...LOL so we opted to swap in a 2F...But with a mix.
Must retain the 65 era looks as much as possible, So we will be throwing in some tricks for that.
4. A/C.... Well I need a old school Nip unit but I'm not going through that.....so VA unit that has a old school look and retain the OEM heater...Done. Custom blower motor air tube is the hardest part of that, so no big deal.
5. Restore the body..... Yes a massive amount of work. This body is in good shape comparatively...
6. Restore interior.... Same deal here, lots of documentation and hardware problems, textile issues...no big deal
7. Suspension... The normal 2.5" lift stuff... No issue
8. Tires and wheels, same thing...33's with Re-pop Caps.
9. Misc, drivetrain restoration, wiring resto, etc... No big deal.

Vin, this rig is the first VIN off the line for may of 65, says the SOR.com vin section!
Original paint was Colorado Beige and the off white. Cool color combo that I never see, so we are going to get her back to her OE colors.

Project name is customers last name. No big name stuff on this one for some reason. We have just always called it "pope's rig"

Enjoy


Justin

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our 65 LV also had that exact same rack setup (crossbars, not the wood platform part). We always thought it either had to be made by Toyota, or was made by someone else specifically for the LV's, as the curve on the pieces that fit the roof would have to be truck specific we thought.
 
our 65 LV also had that exact same rack setup (crossbars, not the wood platform part). We always thought it either had to be made by Toyota, or was made by someone else specifically for the LV's, as the curve on the pieces that fit the roof would have to be truck specific we thought.


Interesting. I wonder of was some kind of aftermarket kit for the era.... The mounts are perfectly shaped! So odd'


Justin
 

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