Calf's 69 Crew build, and CNM67's 67 shorty build

[Calfdemon]

The metel appears to be a little thinner than 18, probably closer to 20, but the 18 works well for patching as you dont blow holes through it as easily (so says CNM67... I dont know how to weld (yet!!)).

As for the corner, our last resort was to shape some metal for the corner, but finding a donor piece is the easier way to go. Luckily, Fordman is hooking us up with the corner piece we need, so that problem is solved and will be welded in when it arrives!

[Calfdemon]

A quick update on my 72 which was a donor "swap" truck. As of today, it became a full blown donor truck for my project and CNM67's truck. It decided to break down on me right after I bought the crew and after messing with it trying to figure out what was up, I took it to my mechanic.

The final verdict is that the distributor broke, causing damage to the timing chain and making it jump about 40 degrees. When it broke and damaged the chain, it did some other wonders to the inside of the engine and caused some issues with the valves... Anyway, it is fixable for a cost (isnt everything?) but not at a cost I am going to pay for a truck I just want to be able to move around until I sell.

So since the truck pretty much would have to be sold not running, I have pretty much decided that there is no point trying to sell it. I will be taking everything useable by my crew and CNB67's truck and the left over good parts, I will pull to sell. When it is done with, I will get it towed away as scrap. It will pretty much just be a cab, frame, and banged up front body parts by that time anyway. Now I dont need to buy a bed to help sell it, so with it deciding to die, It really kept me from having to make some additional purchases.

The other benefit is that I have a 390 core that I was going to use to do a rebuild for the 72. When I got the crew, it has a rebuilt 460, so I dont need the 390 anymore and was giving it to CNB67 so he could do a rebuild for his truck. With my 72 dying, he now will acquire a bunch more parts for the 390 rebuild!! The 72 will live on in spirit in 2 other trucks, so kinda a blessing in disguise. Just wont get the money on the back end to appease the old lady, but Ill make it up to her somehow I guess... Honey-do list, here I come...

[hivewax]

I'll be looking out for what's for sale to help fund the honey-do list.

[fbomb100]

well that bites it breaking down like that... well at least you can make do with it for parts at the green hell truck

[CrypticRacer13]

that sucks that she had to go down like that but its ok if you get two better trucks with the donor parts

[Calfdemon]

Soon... Have not heard from Fordman lately so I dont know if he has been able to find the roof to cut the piece. Since my 72 died, I might just cut it myself from that truck, but would hate to cut up a perfectly straight, rust free cab in case someone wanted to buy it when I am done with the rest of the truck. So if there is a corner available that I could buy instead, I would rather go that route (price depending).


But we are pretty much at the point where the next step is to repair the corner, so the sooner the better. If I cant get one, I will just cut it from the 72.

[BobbyFord]

Not trying to be a jerk, but I'd be a little skeptical with that diagnosis. I've never seen a distributor "break" and cause damage to the timing chain/gears and valvetrain on an FE motor.

[Calfdemon]

I dont know the complete extent of the damage as I chose not to have him dive into the motor to see. I wanted a quick easy fix and it wasnt going to go that route so I chose to call it quits. The distributor definately broke as we had it out and we saw it. The timing chain is also visibly damaged and jumped 40 degrees. The rest is speculative but still more than I am willing to pay at this point.

Ultimately I will see the extent as we are going to pull the motor and tear into it for Caleb's 390 rebuild and will salvage as much as we can. But either way, it was more than I want to put into a truck Im not keeping so easier to go the donor route than try to sell a non running truck.

As for my mechanic, probably the most honest guy I know and has proven it time and time again. And he spent several hours going through the truck checking everything to figure out what was up. Still didnt charge me a dime.

Anyway Bobby, throw your opinion out there ANY time! Its always welcome and I would never think of you as being "a jerk"...

[Calfdemon]

Double post

[BobbyFord]

Nice that he didn't charge you!
What exactly happened to the dist.? Broken gear?

[Calfdemon]

Yeah Bobby, the gear pretty much shattered.

To update this thread a little, we have gotten a little more of the metal work done above the drip rail and are pretty close to tackling the corner piece now. Still trying to get a donor piece from another source, but if not, then we will just cut it from the 72.

In the meantime, I have been taking apart the 72 little by little with the few hours I have after work each night. Currently trying to see if I can use the wiring from the 72 in the 69, as the 69 has some sections of its wiring that is pretty hacked up. The 72 wiring is very clean. As I take the 72 apart, I know where all the wiring goes, but marking it anyway because once I have it out, I know I will be puzzled if I dont.

CNM67 gets his truck tomorrow morning and we want to replace his cooling system ASAP, so pulled the big 4 core radiator, the water pump, and therm housing yesterday to get it ready to put in his truck. He is coming by tomorrow and we will pull his components and replace them with mine from the 72.

Im holding off on doing anything to the 69 until we finish the welding and metal work, as I want to paint it (myself.. gonna give it a shot) before I start putting all of the 72 stuff onto the crew. Got the rotors though (hopefully they are the correct ones) so going to get that done here soon. Maybe tomorrow also... Once the metal work is done, I hope to start having some pics to put in this thread... Cant wait till it starts to look like a complete truck!

[Calfdemon]

Figured I would catch this thread up to date. Things have been slow going lately just due to schedules being full and finding time to get some work done on the crew. But here is where we are as of right now...

Went down to a local pick-a-part and got a donor panel from the roof of a wrecked bump. The front passenger corner that we needed was rusted through, but the driver corner was good, so we decided to cut it and try and make it work:


We cut out the rust from the corner of the 69 Crew and CNM67 was able to get the metal welded in so it is now rust free. Didnt fit exactly right as metal was from the wrong corner, but that part can be smoothed out with some bondo:


Once all the metal had been replaced and ground down, we put some bondo in place.. The bondo work is not done at this point as it needs more sanding, layers, sanding (rinse and repeat)... But that will be done soon hopefully (raining today).



I ended up taking the doors and hood off of the 72 and putting them on the 69 for test fitting purposes. They are not perfectly lined up yet, but work for now. Going to finish getting them properly aligned before taking them off again for paint. But once they are aligned, they will be marked for easy re-hanging.


And here is the shell of the 72 donor (bed will be coming off for the 69)


I cleaned up the rear frame and took off all of the surface rust before coating it with a few coats of rustoleum. I was going to do POR-15, but its a little overkill here in SoCal and I am not doing a full restoration anyway. The Rustoleum should prevent any further surface rust and work just fine for the nice weather and lack of road salt we have here:



Now, we need to finish the bodywork, get the body panels all lined up and then prep the truck for paint. In the meantime, I need to get the bed, wheels, front bumper, frame gas tank, engine, and tranny pulled from the 72 and then it will be off to the scrapyard and out of the driveway. The bed, wheels, and front bumper will be used on the 69, the 2nd tank, engine (for rebuild), and C6 tranny are for CNM67's truck.

Got my new rotors, new calipers, pads, and new brake lines for the 69 Crew and will be doing the front brakes as soon as the rain stops (hopefully today).

So, moving right along. A bit slower than I had hoped, but its getting done little by little.


EDIT*** - More data loss and picture plugging... I had redone the front brakes of the truck after a long ordeal of trying to find rotors for a 69 F350 SRW truck. They don't make them anymore and I found the last pair of rotors on the internet that any place had in stock.. Anyway, here is a picture of the new brakes:

[CNM67]

"Got my new rotors, new calipers, pads, and new brake lines for the 69 Crew and will be doing the front brakes as soon as the rain stops (hopefully today)."

Damn rain is killing me today I had BIG plans for both trucks but it'll have to wait.

[FoPAR]

looks good always nice to have someone helping out and it sounds like a win win for both of you.

[CNM67]

looks good always nice to have someone helping out and it sounds like a win win for both of you.

Yeah man if we wouldn't have meet here on the forum I'm not sure he would have bought that crew cause of all the holes in the roof and my truck would definitely still be sitting in the dirt at my dads house.