My many project cars and trucks

[t_raven]

Since this is a 3/4, it's not only a long bed, but the frames are different in other ways I don't like.

Another guy I know is putting his truck on a 2wd S10 frame. I traded him the Bravada rear axle for his 1/2 chassis. It's in good shape



There are a few common swaps to give these trucks better suspension. A S10 frame or clipping a stock frame are the most popular and I've already done both of those. Another less common swap is Jaguar suspension. After a lot of research I decided it was a pretty killer way to get modern suspension on a stock frame.

I was hoping to find a cheap car to part out and keep the suspension for close to free but found a guy selling just the suspension before I ever found a whole car so I bought what he had.



That gives me full independent suspension, 4 wheel disc brakes, rack and pinion steering, and the differentials are pretty strong.

That year Jag had the same bolt pattern as Chevys so I grabbed an old set of steel wheels.



I'll build the new chassis later. I parked it out back with the 54



The whole purpose of this truck is to sell at a profit. I have $1500 in it and could have it together and drivable with around $2000 in it. I know I could make a profit at that point, but I might fix the body and at least primer it, maybe paint it. If I do paint it I'll probably install AC and try to get as much as I can out of this truck.

I'm thinking I'll make it look similar to this one if I only primer it



I keep a spreadsheet for all of my projects. With the 3 trucks lumped together, after selling the 49, I have $3000 left in the other 2. I could get around that for the 53, and should be able to make more if I make it nice enough. I should easily make enough to make the 54 close to free.

[t_raven]

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

Thanks man. It's an addiction but it gives me a purpose in life lol.

'mirin that avi you thick bastard

[HairyWBush]

DUUUDE you are a Pontiac guy just like me. So jealous you were able to pick up those 1st gens for that cheap. You can't come close to those prices now. Shame. I remember them being dirt cheap 10+ years ago. You have to give me info on that 70-72 Trans Am!!!
Here's pics of my past T/A to relate to this great thread





as you can see the wheels looked very similar to your Fikses

[t_raven]

DUUUDE you are a Pontiac guy just like me. So jealous you were able to pick up those 1st gens for that cheap. You can't come close to those prices now. Shame. I remember them being dirt cheap 10+ years ago. You have to give me info on that 70-72 Trans Am!!!
Here's pics of my past T/A to relate to this great thread
...
as you can see the wheels looked very similar to your Fikses

Nice TA. I don't think I've seen those wheels before. Hard to go wrong with any kind of split 5 spoke though.

I still find some decent deals on 1st gens but I wish I'd bought more in high school. I passed up a 67 Camaro for $500 because the roof was rusty and they didn't make a new one at the time. You can buy every piece of a 1st gen now so it's easy to sell them in any condition.

[t_raven]

Speaking of 1st gens, I've wanted a 68 Camaro since I was 12. My mom bought me a subscription to Hot Rod magazine for my 10th birthday and after looking at all the 60s muscle cars I decided I wanted a 68 Camaro.

I was trying to find one when I bought my 67 Firebird. I figured that would hold me over while I looked for a Camaro. I later grew to like Firebirds more though.

After all those years of buying and selling cars, I never found the right deal on a 68. 1st gen Camaros are in huge demand and go for more than Firebirds. There is always a 67-69 Camaro want ad on craigslist in my area. I figured it was a long shot but I put up a wanted ad and miraculously a guy responded with some cheap Camaros lol.

He had a bare 68 shell he wanted $1500 for. I've seen people pay $3000 for a total pile of rust and replace everything this car is missing anyway, so I was ok with $1500



The 67 had been rolled so the roof was smashed in, but he only wanted $500 for it and it still had doors. I knew I could make profit on this one so I took it too



He bought them from a crazy old farmer but left them in the guy's field. He said they'd been sitting there for more than 20 years. The old guy has other cars and is weird about new people coming over, so the seller loaded them up and met me at the shop where he works





We used the fork lift there to put them on my trailer





Back at my place



68 quarter was smashed but I expect most of these cars to need quarters anyway

[t_raven]

67 Roof. They make all the panels to fix this



Got the 67 up in the air



I don't know how a car can sit in the dirt and be snowed and rained on for decades and not have rusty floors but the floors and rockers were as solid as can be on both cars



Trunk floors were solid too and this is a common rust area thanks to trunk lids leaking



67 tail panel looked pretty good



I needed to roll it around so I strapped it to this little truck bed trailer frame I borrowed form my buddy



68 in the air



totally solid on the bottom too

[t_raven]

Tail panel is terrible though



I strapped one of my spare axles to the leaf springs so I could roll this one around



I mounted some casters to where the sub frame bolts and rolled it outside



Since I had already stole the engine out of the 67 Firebird and I didn't have plans to use the stock suspsension, I removed them to put under the 67 Camaro



I still have the chassis from the 67 GMC so I set it on there so I could roll it back out for now



The plan was to sell the 67 Camaro and keep the 68. I figured it'd be an easier sell with a sub frame and axle under it. The stuff from the Firebird would be pretty useless to me anyway, so I it all under the 67 Camaro







I paid $2000 for both Camaros without titles. I knew they'd be worth more once I got titles. It's a hassle but I know how. I sold the 67 for $2000. So I basically traded the suspension from the 67 Firebird, which I could probably have only sold for $300, for the 68 Camaro.

The 68 will be a keeper and I won't get to it for a while. Not sure how I'll build it yet. I already have doors for it. I'll probably use a 2nd gen TA axle and sub frame since I have spares and it's easy enough to make them fit. I'll either put a 6.0 or 454 in it. If I can find some used body panels for it, I might get it drivable in the shape that it's in and enjoy it a little until I can do get around to doing all the body work.

[chickenbroccoli]

epic

[t_raven]

It had been a few years since I sold those Talons and I got the hankerin for another DSM. This AWD 5 speed 92 Laser came up on cl for $800 so I went and got it







The body isn't too bad other than these dents and a couple spots the clear is faded and pealing.

[t_raven]

It ran but barely and the clutch is worn out.

No surprise it was the ECM making it run poorly



This kind of stuff pisses me off. Someone tied into a bunch of the ECM wires for who knows what, but they are all intact enough to work. I might have to repair this later on



I hate how the bumper had been cut, ac parts were missing, the rear bumper cover is not from a Laser. I'm a few hrs from Boise but found a couple AWD Lasers at the Jalopy Joungles (self serve yards) over there.



Some of the random stuff I grabbed. I got both bumper covers, driver's side fender, ac parts, a few other little things.



The side skirts were missing off mine and I got lucky that the one at the yard had them



I put a good ECU in it, pulled out the fender, installed the side skirts, and drove it like that for a while until the clutch was too bad to shift anymore.




Rather than mess with DSM link and a stock ECM I wanted to play with Megasquirt on this one, so I bought a DIYPNP kit with the right connector for DSMs.

[t_raven]

There's a full write up on how to assemble it for a 4G63T, so it was pretty straight forward



The only thing not stock on the car is the turbo. It looks like a Chinese 16g. It's leaking oil so I'll either rebuild it or replace it. A 16g should be fine for what I want to do with the car though, so I'll get a 16g if I do replace it.

I bought an intercooler



I'm running speed density on the Megasquirt and it will control boost, so I bought a wideband o2 and boost gauge



I bought this gauge pod. I don't know why they made it so one over laps the other though, I might have to get something better



Adjustable fuel pressure regulator and DSM fuel line kit



BOV is just a cheap one from ebay, but people are usually happy with them, so I'll see how long it lasts.



When I get home I'll put all of that on and tune it. I need to decide on a clutch and install it. If I keep this I'll eventually paint it and install the other bumper covers so it looks right.

I want to lower it a little and maybe put these wheels on it

[t_raven]

And finally to my most recent purchase. 2001 GMC Duramax, 220k miles, crew cab with charcoal leather. Bought this for $4200 with bad head gaskets. It's got new snow tires, a nice programmer and an aftermarket filter/pump. So all of that was a bonus.

I didn't take any other pics but here it is



I sold my 02 for $10k a few years ago. It was almost identical and had 250k miles. I knew I could either make some money on this one or sell my 1/2 ton and have a cheap Duramax.

I'm planning to keep this and sell my 1/2 ton, or just keep both.

plans are:
go through the engine, replace rings and bearings, reassemble with ARP head studs
re-upholster the seats with covers from leatherseats.com
New wheels and tires. Planning to get 20" Novakanes with 33" Nitto Terra Grapplers and leave it at stock height

BMF Novakanes



I'll swap to the 03-07 grill and bumper



I will probably repaint it black and install the side trim that's been removed, but until I get around to doing that, I might spray it with plastidip, either light blue or dark grey





New black paint, newer bumper and grill, and the side trim, with the Novakanes it'd be looking like this but without the lift. Not sure if I ever want to lift this or not. They look good but it's inconvenient

[t_raven]

That's it for the vehicles until I get home.

The trees where I park in front of the shop just took up space and made a mess of my cars, so I cut them down.



Before I left I put what I could in the shop, and crammed all the rest behind the shop



I'm gonna have my driveway replaced and all of that dirt replaced with concrete, all the way to the fence and to the side walk. It's about 3500 sq ft. The guy should be starting soon so I'm excited to see it done and have a nice area to park everything when I get home. I'm tired of a mud pit in front of the shop in the winter time.

[PervedOut]

Man, that hacked-up wire harness makes me wanna go ape-**** (SAFC previously, maybe?). And not surprised at the leaking caps on the 1g, apparently pretty common cause of no-starts and poor running conditions. Ebay turbos, not even once lol...especially since you can get a solid legit 16g rebuilt with zero miles for ~100 more. I have an ebay BOV on mine and it works just fine (just had to crank back the nut because previous owner had it set all the way to hard)

[t_raven]

Man, that hacked-up wire harness makes me wanna go ape-**** (SAFC previously, maybe?). And not surprised at the leaking caps on the 1g, apparently pretty common cause of no-starts and poor running conditions. Ebay turbos, not even once lol...especially since you can get a solid legit 16g rebuilt with zero miles for ~100 more. I have an ebay BOV on mine and it works just fine (just had to crank back the nut because previous owner had it set all the way to hard)

Yeah I've had 3 ECUs that were fried by leaking capacitors.

Do you know a good source for rebuilt 16Gs? I've only been able to find new ebay ones for around $300, or new MHI ones for $1000.

[HairyWBush]

white trans am sir?

[PervedOut]

Yeah I've had 3 ECUs that were fried by leaking capacitors.

Do you know a good source for rebuilt 16Gs? I've only been able to find new ebay ones for around $300, or new MHI ones for $1000.

There are some pretty solid rebuilders on the ******** groups. DSM Classifieds is my go-to.

[t_raven]

white trans am sir?

lol, what else do you want to know? The pics I posted are all I have on my computer

It was a base model car with a 350. The guy that swapped TA parts onto it did a crap job. He welded the fender vent holes and hood hole into these panels from his damaged ones. Doors are rusty but I have others. It needs a trunk floor, tail panel, and driver's quarter. I'll do all of that eventually.

I don't know why but I just love the look of new body panels lol. These are what I need







The 400 that was in it was a late 70s block with the wrong small valve heads on it. Later blocks are weaker and it was the correct block for the 79 I sold, so it was good to have to put in that car.

The 455 I put in it has '71 96 heads from a Grand Prix giving it around 9:1 compression. I put a Lunati cam in it, close to a factory 068 grind. Performer RPM manifold with a quadrajet. TH400 trans, stock 10 bolt axle someone put 3.73s in.

I have a couple 200-4R transmissions, I'll probably put one in this car to have an over drive in it, unless I come up with another cheap 6 speed. I'll put 6 speeds in everything if I can get enough of them lol.

[HairyWBush]

oh that sucks. those are more expensive than a first gen usually.that's why a lot of people like to clone them. the first trans am I looked at was a 73 for $2500or $3500 I forget. I almost bought it but it needed too much work at the time, including a rotted door post. I can never make up my mind if I regret it or not.

[t_raven]

oh that sucks. those are more expensive than a first gen usually.that's why a lot of people like to clone them. the first trans am I looked at was a 73 for $2500or $3500 I forget. I almost bought it but it needed too much work at the time, including a rotted door post. I can never make up my mind if I regret it or not.

If that was a real TA that was pretty cheap, even for a rust bucket missing the original engine.

I personally don't like rare optioned cars. I want to modify everything, so I'll take a base model and make it look how I want it.

Numbers matching guys can jerk off to their chalk marks and date codes and sit around in parks critiquing each others builds while I go drive my modified stuff that is actually fun to drive.

[t_raven]

So I was suppose to be in KS right now taking the auto restoration summer institute classes at McPherson College. My buddy is from KS and has been going for the last few summers. I was broke last year, and planned to go this year, but I took this job in Afghanistan. Hopefully next year though.

Info on their summer institute http://blog.classiccars.com/mcpherso...car-guys-gals/

I'm mostly interested in the sheet metal and interior classes.

My buddy is doing interior this week



He took the seats out of his Rabbit to recover so we'll see how they turn out.



I've always liked to do everything myself and always wanted to be able to make some bad ass interior. Stuff like these:









My buddy picked up a used industrial sewing machine a while back, so we have a good machine to use. Just gotta practice. I'll definitely take their class to get some pro tips

[t_raven]

McPherson is one of if not the best place in the country to learn custom metal shaping.

I'm already got all the welders I want, a torch, tubing bender, bead roller, beverly shear, and a small planishing hammer.

I plan to either buy or build an english wheel



I'll get an assortment of shot bags and mallets and other smaller shaping tools



And a good shrinker/stretcher

[StallionRx]

Mind=blown

Awesome skills and setup.

Seriously admiring your thread.

[t_raven]

Mind=blown

Awesome skills and setup.

Seriously admiring your thread.

Thanks man

[ForumAlpha]

I should just drop off my Corrado and have you finish it for me. Props on being able to do more than just one thing. That is some serious skill

[Tormoz]

Interior design hnnggggg

[t_raven]

Well I figured being gone for a few months was the perfect time to have my driveway replaced and concrete poured in front of the shop.

The did the excavation and laid down the base over the last couple days





I'm excited to see it done, it was pretty ugly with the driveway deteriorated and just dirt on the side

[Slavbrahh]

Fukn awesome.

Legit admiring what you do, I think I know my cars and have toyed with them heaps... Then I see your thread and you legitimately do everything yourself.

Would rep if I wasn't on recharge, keep posting in here though man!

[Niko49ers]

t_raven is MISC's official car guy.



No interest in imports?

[t_raven]

Fukn awesome.

Legit admiring what you do, I think I know my cars and have toyed with them heaps... Then I see your thread and you legitimately do everything yourself.

Would rep if I wasn't on recharge, keep posting in here though man!

Thanks man, I'll be home for a couple weeks in August, and hopefully home for good shortly after that. I'll have plenty of updates after that.

t_raven is MISC's official car guy.



No interest in imports?

Well I have my Laser and my Civic hatchback.

There are a lot of imports that I like, but most just aren't anything I like enough to own, or they are so desired, they are hard to find a good deal on.

I really want an Acura TL type S for a good family oriented sedan that looks good and is fun to drive.



The wife wants an Audi. I'm not a huge fan of German cars, but the 09+ A4s are nice, so we might eventually get one.