My many project cars and trucks

[M0hi]

Thanks brah. IS300s are pretty sweet and Supras are bad ass. I haven't owned any Toyotas yet, but the wife has a Yaris lol. I want an old fastback Celica





Sounds like you've got some fun plans man. I want to get into road course racing and autocross. I'm only 3 hrs from Miller Motorsports Park in Utah, but apparently they aren't renewing the land lease this fall. Hopefully they don't shut down, they do a lot of cool motorsports stuff out there.

I like your go cart idea, I've wanted to get into shifter carts. I bet they're more fun than racing real cars.

It'll be interesting to see how the hobby evolves in the future. As much as a lot of the restrictions are passenger cars suck, they've caused the industry to develop new tech that has helped the high performance side of things. As we move away from fossil fuels, new types of performance cars, or electric motor swaps will probably become common and eventually the performance will follow along. I'm sure there will be some cool stuff.

I'm really curious to see what happens to things like 90s hatchback Civics when they are 40-50 years old lol. I wonder if they'll have the same kind of following and restoration market that things like 60s Camaros and Mustangs have now.

Yeah I honestly don't know. If you ask me, it's very likely within my lifetime (towards the latter half) we won't even drive vehicles to work. Our hobby will be restricted to racetracks and other courses and no longer allowed on public roads.
I am just super concerned because Supra's are only appreciating in value right now. A kid 5min away from me bought an automatic non turbo for 13k, turbo'd it, somehow blew the engine, and is about to manual swap it for cheaper than outright buying the supra turbo. But I want the satisfaction of owning a from factory 98' Supra Turbo. I grew up poor, so once I graduate and have an intelligent amount paid a month towards loans, I will honestly do what it takes to snatch up a 98 Supra as fast as possible by living off as little as possible. I am going to be that moron that has two cars while living in an apartment because who knows what the price and availability will be if I wait till my 30's.
Just last weekend I met the only guy in my area that has a yellow 70's celica:

Spoiler!

He says maintenance is incredibly easy on it, spare parts galore that he can just pull from so many fairly recent toyotas. He says fixing things is as easy as putting different lego pieces together

[t_raven]

I am going to be that moron that has two cars while living in an apartment because who knows what the price and availability will be if I wait till my 30's.
Just last weekend I met the only guy in my area that has a yellow 70's celica

That Celica is sweet. I only know where one is right now, I'll have to go check on it next time I'm in that town.

Availability and prices are part of the reason I started stocking up in my 20s. If I want to have these cars to build in my 40s and 50s I might as well scoop up the cheap ones when I can rather than paying a fortune in another 20 years.

[wheynweed]

Holy shyt. Wish I had that kind of mechanical knowledge when it comes to cars. Nice work.

[t_raven]

After I came home for Afghanistan last time in spring of '13 I was looking for a 67 or 68 Mustang. I've always wanted a fastback that style but people want a fortune for a rust bucket. I Wanted a cheap coupe I could convert to a fastback.

I lost pics of this one too, but I bought it for $800 with a running 289. This one is low in the priority list so I just stashed it in the corner of my backyard for now.



I sold the engine for $400



And sold the wheels for $400



I bought a Lincoln Mark VII from my buddy for $350. These have the same 5.0 HO that the Mustangs had. I kept the engine, trans, and axle to put in the 68. Wheels are just steelies but tires are good so I put them on the Mustang too. I parted out the rest and made a slight profit. So as of right now the Mustang is free.



I put the engine and trans in the Mustang



I sold the original axle



And mounted the Mark VII axle under it. 8.8 posi with disc brakes, much better than the stock one.



The kit to convert these to a fastback is a little over $4000. I see rusty fastbacks going for around $10,000 and they need most of the same metal anyway. I'll have way less into this one when it's done.

This is the kit

[t_raven]

My buddy parted out 2 T-bird turbo coupes. He put one turbo 4 cylinder in his 90 Mustang convertible and said he'd sell me the other. They are cool engines so I might put this in the Mustang rather than the 5.0 from the Lincoln



There is a DOHC Volvo head that can be adapted to fit this engine, so I think that would be a unique thing to have in the 68 and could still make good power.

[t_raven]

So the Mustang was suppose to be my last purchase for a while. Yeah right, I bought like 20 cars in the two years after that lol.

I bought a 67 GMC next. I always wanted to shorten another long bed like the 72, but I like the sloped hood of the 67-68, and I like the one year only small back window of the 67s.





I really like that the interior is all metal in this one. No headliner, and no plastic door panels



Had a good 235 in it that I sold for a couple hundred bucks



1/2 tons were available with leaf springs or trailing arms. Leaf springs were standard on GMCs, and this style was 6 lug until 71. I wanted trailing arms and 5 lug wheels so I found another chassis.

The last guy had already put drop spindles on it, air bags on the front, and a notch kit on the rear. The wheels are just chrome wagon wheels but better than what was on it. I paid $400. Pretty good deal considering the parts that came on it



I shortened the new chassis. I took a before pic but I guess no after pic. 12" out of the middle and 8" off the rear gives you the same dimensions as a short bed

[t_raven]

This is where I mentioned on the last one that people figured out an easier way to shorten these beds.

I took 12" out of the front









Put everything on the new chassis



And shortened the rear of the bed




I had another early, iron head 6.0L laying around. I bought a cheap 2wd 4L80e, and put those in the truck

[t_raven]

I had some headers laying around that fit 4th gen Camaros and Firebirds.



I had hoped I could make them work on this truck and I just had to pie cut the collector and weld it back on and they fit great



I bought pipes and bends to make exhaust. I swiped Magnaflow mufflers off another project. No pic of it completed but exhaust is on



Engine stuff mostly done



I bought air bags for the rear and new shocks. Made mounts for the bags and made drop blocks for the axle



I used a steering column from a 1st gen S10 so that I'd have a tilt column with auto shifter. I shaved the key cylinder since these have the key on the dash.



I need to sort out the fuel. These trucks have a tank behind the seat and I didn't have a tank I could mount under the bed. I still had the tank from the 98 Camaro and the pump is perfect for running the 6.0. I cut the mount ring out of the Camaro tank



And welded it in the stock GMC tank. First time welding on a tank, I filled it with water. People say that's a bad idea, but I didn't die lol. It's a little noisy having the pump in the cab but really the exhaust is way louder

[t_raven]

Running and driving I pulled it outside. No pump or controls for the airbags yet so I put shrader valves on the air lines so I can air it up and drive it. I haven't finished welding the bed yet either, it's just all tack welded together.



Aired down in it's parking spot.



Plans are to finish welding the bed, match the paint as close as possible to touch up the seams and leave the paint as is. I like the color and the patina.

I'll make front and rear roll pans and paint/patina them to match, swap to a chrome grill if I ever find one, but I like the white grill with the blue paint. Maybe put different wheels on it if I find something used I like.

[tooKOOLforSKOOL]

The blue truck is easily my fave. Damn I love old ratty trucks. Reps for life op

[t_raven]

The blue truck is easily my fave. Damn I love old ratty trucks. Reps for life op

Thanks dude, I think you'll like the other trucks.

This 67 is the perfect compliment to my 67 Firebird so it's a keeper.

[tooKOOLforSKOOL]

Thanks dude, I think you'll like the other trucks.

This 67 is the perfect compliment to my 67 Firebird so it's a keeper.

Dude you could make a killing buying long beds and chopping them into short beds. Nobody wants a long bed and you can get em dirt cheap.

[t_raven]

Dude you could make a killing buying long beds and chopping them into short beds. Nobody wants a long bed and you can get em dirt cheap.

I've been considering it. I'll probably shorten another to sell and see how well I come out on it. There's a guy in Boise that advertises shortening them. I think someone somewhere was doing it for $2000. People considered that a good deal to be able to drive a truck in and drive it out shorter, so it might be worth doing.

[t_raven]

After the 67 GMC I bought a 72 Firebird. Someone wrecked a TA and used it to make this base model 72 look like a TA. It ran and drove but had bad head gaskets. I paid $1200 for it, which was a pretty good deal even with all it's problems.

The night I picked it up. I bought it from a lady that has a gun store at her house lol. She was cool, she has the 77 TA next to it and a 69 GTO in the garage



Back home



The driver's side quarter is full of filler. They didn't make a reproduction one when I bought this but one was released only weeks later, so now the parts exists to fix this.







The tail panel is all beat up too, but they make these, so later I'll get the panels and fix this body



The floor was surprisingly solid. I expected rust holes

[t_raven]

The engine ran but the guy said it was leaking coolant into the oil.



So I pulled it. Once apart it looked like it had clean water, not antifreeze in the oil so it might've been ok and just got some water in it. It ended up being the one to go in the 79 I sold.



and put the 455 from my 67 in it



With the torquey 455 and the 3.73 gears someone put in it, it moves pretty good. I love the view of the shaker when driving these




And where she sits when parked with her sisters. This car draws a lot of attention because this year TA is valuable and people think it's real lol. I don't even like these white with the blue stripe, but I love how much people freak out thinking it's a real TA



This car is what made me want a 70-73 TA. It's got the same wheels as my 67, so I could put them on the 72 and make it look like this



I've never really loved these in the factory white/blue or blue/white, but this pic makes me like the blue with white stripe

[t_raven]

Next I bought a cab and front end off a 49 GMC 2 ton. I always loved these trucks and planned to build one some day. This cab and front end was on cl for $200 so I couldn't pass it up. The door art was cool. The doors were painted in 1950. This stuff sat in an old farmer's field for 20s after his buddy took it off the frame and put it in the field.

This is the only pic I took when I picked it up for some stupid reason.



At the same time this bed made into a trailer was on cl for $200. I bought the cab with plans to buy this bed to go with it, so I picked it up too



laid it all out in front of the shop to get an idea lol.



This being a 2 ton had big front sheet metal, but a guy on cl had a whole mess of parts for these trucks including a complete 1/2 GMC front end, a 1/2 Chevy front end, 2 good doors, 2 ratty doors, 2 good rear fenders, and boxes of parts. The guy just wanted it gone and sold it all to me for $200. I could've resold it all for close to $2000



I had no use for the Chevy front end but my buddy has 2 Chevys and one has the big truck front end so I gave him the 1/2 Chevy front end



I went to a near by wrecking yard that was threatening to crush his old stuff and was clearing it out. He had a few of these trucks there but only 1 GMC. Complete body with frame, 5 window cab, no suspension or engine, but he only wanted $450 so I took it.

[t_raven]

First time this thing moved in 25 years









Back home. The extra bed is for an International. My buddy with the 2 50s Chevys has a bunch of International stuff so I grabbed the bed for him



I have big plans for the 54 that I'll get too later. They don't include the stock frame, and I needed one for the 49, so I pulled everything off the 54 frame



I put the 49 cab on the frame

[t_raven]

I mentioned before that the 77 Firebird suspension and axle went to another project. I mounted the axle on this frame



Cut the front of the frame off



And "clipped" it with the 77 Firebird sub frame



The Pontiac 350 from the same Firebird went in this truck. A Pontiac engine is fitting for a truck with an indian head on the door



The 54 was a long bed, so this frame was too long

[t_raven]

So I shortened it

[t_raven]

Put the front end on and the rear fenders on







Engine bay



Front bumper and running boards on



Drove it over to my buddy's house like that

[t_raven]

The Firebird wheels were too wide, so I put some random steel wheels on it



I traded the Chevy tail gate for a GMC tail gate



I figured I had to do some truck stuff with it, so I hauled off some garbage lol



My Raptor fit perfectly in it. I used air shocks off the Firebird so even with the bed full I was able to air up the shocks and have it still ride nice.



This truck rode surprisingly well it was smooth with that suspension. The axle from the Firebird was 2.53 gears. Even with the th400 not having an over drive, it was only like 2500 RPM at freeway speed.

After buying the 54 I decided to build that one to keep and put this one together to sell it. People went nuts over the doors on this truck. I almost pulled them off to keep them and put on some spares I have to sell the truck. It wouldn't have got anywhere near the interest without the doors. I left it out front with a for sale sign and had it on cl.



I got some stupid offers like always, but finally a guy came up from Cali and took it. He paid me $3500 which was about $1600 profit.

[t_raven]

Back to the 54



Got it off the trailer





It's very common to put these trucks on S10 frames. It's not my favorite swap for a 2wd truck, but I wanted to make this AWD with a turbo 5.3 and 4L80e

The Syclone and Typhoon were AWD with a turbo V6.



Those trucks are rare and valuable, but the frame and suspension is the same as a regular S10, and the AWD t case and front diff are the same as the Olds Bravada so the AWD parts are easy to find.

While looking for a S10, this Jimmy Blazer was on cl for $500 so I bought it. It ran but had a bad transmission pump. The rear of the frame is different than a S10 pick up, but I figured I could make it work for what I want to do



I got the body loose. The lift was occupied. So I hauled it to the recycling place like this and they lifted the body off the chassis for me. Got $100 back scrapping the body



Chassis with engine and trans back in the shop



I didn't yet have the 5.3 so I wanted to make this drivable with the 4.3 out of the Jimmy.
They make a mount kit to put these trucks on S10 frames but it was easy enough to make my own cab mounts

[t_raven]

Put the cab on



I laid out the Jimmy wiring to build the engine harness



Separating out what I didn't need



I have 3 or 4 totes full of wiring from all the harnesses I have reworked lol



And the finished engine harness



I installed the column from the Jimmy, but I'll change this later



I had to extend the steering shaft



I fabricated this pedal assembly to mount the brake booster/master cylinder on the firewall. Stock they are under the floor on a 54.

[t_raven]

With it wired up and running, able to steer and stop, I had to fix the trans. It was a cheap fix to rebuild the pump



The 4.3 would run but it kicked back against the starter and wouldn't always start. I got tired of wasting time and money trying to fix an engine I don't ultimately want. It's frustrating not being able to figure this one out lol. So since it's not the engine I want, I backed the truck into the backyard and left it while I worked on other things.



So now to make this AWD I still needed a Bravada t case and front diff. Had I known I'd find a complete Bravada, I could've skipped the Jimmy all together. This popped up on cl for $500, running with new tires, but ran poorly. It was only like 2 block from my house too. So bought it



I sold the trans for $100, wheels and tires for $200, scrapped body and engine for $200. So I had all my AWD parts and another chassis for free!

Body on it's way to be scrapped



Stock S10 axles are weak and I wanted IRS. T-birds came with IRS and V8 cars had 8.8" diffs which are strong. There are only 2 gear ratios shared between the T-bird IRS and S10 front diffs, 3.08 and 3.73. I wanted 3.08 so I pulled the whole set up at a self serve yard. Found one with 3.08 gears, posi, and disc brakes for $180. I love self serve junk yards.



I removed the leaf springs and axle from the Bravada frame



I bought a 5.3 for $treefiddy. It's suppose to be good with lifter noise. Could be lifters or piston slap which is common on these. No big deal either way, should run fine.



I got lucky and found a 4x4 2000+ 4L80e transmission in a self service yard. They're about $600 if I bought one at a regular yard, but I paid $120 for it. I strapped the IRS to the rear of the frame, set the engine and trans on it to get them out of the shop and rolled all of this out the back

[t_raven]

To be able to put the Bravada t case behind a 4L80e, I needed a custom shaft for the t case. My buddy is going to use the same set up on his Chevy, so I ordered 2 of the shafts. Buying a $500 shaft sucks, but not so bad when everything else has been cheap.



The Bravada had 3.73 gears so I needed a 3.08 front to match the IRS. I found one for a good price on ebay



The 54 was a long bed. 47-55 short beds have a 116-117" wheel base. I think the short beds look too long and wanted to go extra short. The Bravada chassis is 108". I'll keep it somewhere around that when I mount the IRS.

I cut the bed down so I could set it on the frame. Here it is with the front of the bed cut off. I'll cut some out and weld it back together when I decide on a wheelbase



I will put it on the Bravada chassis once it's set up but for now it's still on the Jimmy chassis and sitting in the back yard



On3 turbos are popular for 5.3s. They are cheap but people have had good luck with them. They recently came out with one with a bigger turbine. I'll be using the 7875 from on3. 500hp will be easy with a stock 5.3, and upwards of 800 with better heads and cam.

[DownhillRider]

Man that 67 gmc is so sweet with the short bed and these wheels. The color an patina too hnnnng. Has that aggressive look of an old school stock car.

[t_raven]

Man that 67 gmc is so sweet with the short bed and these wheels. The color an patina too hnnnng. Has that aggressive look of an old school stock car.

Thanks man. I really like the color. I got lucky that I found a 67 in a color I liked with good patina. Paid $1200 -$250 I got out of the engine.

There was actually an identical one in Boise a few months ago for I think $1500. I almost bought it too to cut down and flip. I should've

[t_raven]

After buying the other 2, looking at a bunch of these trucks online and in person, and after selling the 49, I realized how easy it can be to make money on these trucks.

This 53 popped up on cl a couple hours away out in the middle of no where for $400.

5 window 3/4 ton flat bed with a good engine



The engine is either a 270 or 302 GMC from bigger military vehicles. The GMC engines were different than Chevy and the big military ones are pretty popular engines for a straight 6.



The cab is rusty above the windshield which sucks, but everything is fixable.





It was a no brainer for $400. I was out of room at my house at this point lol, so we hauled it to my buddy's house.



This is a pretty valuable and sought after hood ornament. Too bad someone bent the wings

[impossible12]

I appreciated every picture in this thread. GJ man. Amazing work. Glad to see people doing what they love!

[t_raven]

We put the intake and carb back on, fiddled with it a little and got it running





My buddy has as many cars as I do, and has 2 Chevys this style so I parked it with it's friends



I met a guy at a swap meet that had a decent bed and front bumper so I bought those, and when I had room at home I moved it over.





I'm going to keep the 6 cylinder in it, but the factory 4 speeds are terrible. The S10 5 speed is a pretty easy swap and of course give overdrive. They are cheap at self service yards so I grabbed one.



I needed running boards and found a decent pair at a near by yard that is only classics