Big Block's Return-Its All About The DETAILS Man..

[Stepside]

Lookin good Paul! You know I'm a fan of an ole square body! I don't think you ever mentioned what year of truck your working on... looks like 79-80. What bigblock are you running?

[Tamiya Cowboy]

Rod

The year of the square style is 73 threw 86 with the main changes being the front clip. This is a 77 the motor I built 10 or so years ago it is a 468 witch is a 454 punched then lots of head work and a monster cam and super stiff valve springs to deal with the big lob of the cam it is sitting around 500 + hp

[Stepside]

was that truck originally a big block truck? what trans are you running behind that monster?

as for the square bodies, they ran from 73-87 in the trucks and up until 91 with the suburbans and blazers. I was just guessing you were 73-80 based on the front marker light in the fender, 81-87 used a square style lamp instead of the rounded one. My 'stepside' is a '75.

I don't know if Glen is on the forums anymore, "Iron-man," he had a squarebody also, I think...

[Brian in PA]

You beat me to it Rod. you also forgot to mention that the crew cab trucks were also the square style until 91 too. They changed the front grill section to allow for the mini quad headlights in the 88- 91 style vehicles. The front clip was different from 81 through the 87 or 91 style.

Brian

P.S. some chevy truck trivia. The 88 round truck style was designated by chevy as the "CK" stlye. What was the previous years called?

[Tamiya Cowboy]

No it was a small block truck when I got it 17 years ago and a 4 gear. I switched out the 350 and went full roller 355 with DART heads. Then the cam broke in my 69 chevy short box little show truck that was a 406 with EB Alum heads one it so I re cam'ed the 355 and put the EB alum heads on that and had this big block built. Little info the guy who built the big block is a engine builder that use to big "Big Daddy Don Garlets" motors way back in the day thinking about pulling it out and having it turned out to a 572 he did a 672 for a buddy of mine but I would have to 2nd on the house to have that built. The 462 I have a TH400 behind it and it was built for crawler and high R's in the mud shifts very very hard on the street but I like that. I might change my mind on the front clip and put the burb one on it I have a complete one that is in perfect shape but the kid wants the old style round I would like to change his mind..

[Tamiya Cowboy]

Ok well it has been sometime since I have updated the rebuild. I have been crazy busy with work and I just have not had time I have even farmed out some of my Rc builds to Jon so i would have some time to work on another build for a friend BUT the kid has been working on it as have I here and there but lets get this brought up to speed..


Ok Bat Fans when we last left off are Dynamic Duo had feel into a little issue.. RUST!


Just seeing how far i need to go.



And lots of it way worse then we had thought but after 15 years of rocks and mud I was not real surprised. So we set out to cut out all the floor boards/ inner and outer rocker and inner and outer cab corners..

We used POR on everything as we put it back together. Everything that was old was grinder wire brushed then POR'ed.


Inner Rocker.

Then I did not get picks of each step but here in the passenger side all done.



Then after booth sides were all welded in and the welds buffed smooth with a 80 grit flap disk on a grinder we 60 grit sanded all the floors and preped them and POR'ed all that too. Now this week the hole cab on the chassis is going to go have the back of the cab and the inside of the cab lined with bed-liner.


So 2 weeks ago we had a change of mind and went with new GM doors as we were having some fitting issues but the new doors fixed that issue here are some picks with everything fitted.



Now also 2 weeks ago the kid went and re loomed all the wiring under the hood with all new Red loom and new black loom junctions and he repainted the air cleaner top and bottom the same Red as the truck and tossed in a new K&N 5 3/4 tall filter on his own dime even and it came out real nice.



Now we still have to change all the belts and hoses and respray the block black but that wont take much.

So now here we are as of this weekend. First it is hot and HE*L here over 100 and the shop does not have air. I called in some help with the back of the cab and jams and the body work down the sides of the cab cause I found after taking the back window out that the cab had been punched very very hard about 6 inches under the back window and I found all kinds of no good but myself and 2 of my friends that work in a body shop spent all day yesterday straightening the cab and i forgot to take picks but here is the end result.




Now all i have left on the cab is the glaze coat witch is on the driver side and the passanger side is done and the roof and jams. We fixed and minor dings in the new doors and fenders cause they always have them and took all them off and they are ready to go to paint tonight. Here is the kid hard at work in the heat taking them off for the 4th time I think.


He also sanded out the visor by hand and fixed a few minor cracks in the fiberglass today too.



And here is the pile that is going to the body shop tonight.


And one more thing it was 102 yesterday in the shop when we shut down at 3:30 and today at 2 it was already 101 in the shade good temp to stop at..


Enjoy guys comments always welcome helps to keep us going that is for sure we are on the down hill slide now..

[gun]

wow Paul looks like yall had a busy weekend and got alot done now its all down hill !!!!!! looking good

[Ultrashort]

Well done Paul ! Nice to see how you work and kill the rust on the other side of the ocean. Can you send some cbm of temperature to Germany ? Its damm f*****g cold here (maybe 45-50 °F and that in summer time!) Crazy.

[Tamiya Cowboy]

Originally Posted by gun

wow Paul looks like yall had a busy weekend and got alot done now its all down hill !!!!!! looking good

Thanks Much Shane..if my son would not of coned 2 of my friends in to help bust the body work out on the cab we would of been sunk..

Originally Posted by Ultrashort

Well done Paul ! Nice to see how you work and kill the rust on the other side of the ocean. Can you send some cbm of temperature to Germany ? Its damm f*****g cold here (maybe 45-50 °F and that in summer time!) Crazy.

Thanks much ultrashort.. Rust is not a big issue like it used to be but this truck went threw the hay day of road salt now they use a byproduct of the corn based flue it does not rust out cars or wreck the roads. And you can have some heat still hot as **** here!!

Good news tonight the panels will be painted tomorrow and then I hope the cab next week if the money is there to do it..

[Lil Giants]

Hmmm, had your son not had a crash you'd probably would've fallen thru floor sometime this summer... looks like you owe your boy a big one Paul!

[Tamiya Cowboy]

Originally Posted by Lil Giants

Hmmm, had your son not had a crash you'd probably would've fallen thru floor sometime this summer... looks like you owe your boy a big one Paul!

LOL Nope I think he still owes me..LOL..

Friday afternoon we got done with work early and we were able to get the cab in final primer and the cab is now ready for the paint booth.

Finishing up the metal etch primer..



Cab in high build I might block 2 areas out tomorrow a then out the door to the guy that does my spray on bed liner to have the back and inside of the cab blasted with liner.

[CrimsonCorsair]

I am simply amazed at what someone who knows body work can do. It looks great!

[Tamiya Cowboy]

Originally Posted by CrimsonCorsair

I am simply amazed at what someone who knows body work can do. It looks great!

Thanks Much Crimson you to can learn it just takes time and trail and error and you will get it..

Well on Saturday we loaded the truck up and to it to have some bed liner work done to it..


We had the back of the cab done were the box meets the cab and 1/2 of the inside of the cab done in bedliner..Now this type of bed liner I think is the best I have had Rino and Linex and they were to be the best and i think they both stick I have had both of them peel and get hard and lose there color and no one ever wants to cover there product like they say they will. Now this liner is more rubbery and thicker and is not slick and keeps its color I have very happy with it on my F250 front bumper and in the bed of it..

So here are some prep picks I was too late to get before;s of the back of the cab..



And the afters.. the liner is 1/8 of a inch or better in areas thick.





So that is it for now I have to paint the lower dash and behind the seat red this weekend and we will be starting on redoing the interior parts too this weekend the body will get in the paint booth on next Tuesday by buddy is behind on painting and he just cant give me the booth time till then.. So getting close about a week out for putting it back together!!


My son made a big score today the 85 chevy we got the seat out of for the truck also had some really good interior parts that just need redid. So he go all the inside parts but the dash it was junk and the chrome drip rails today for $75.00 So pretty dang good deal..

[dirtpusher9]

The truck is looking good Paul. I done almost the same amount of work on an 81 Chevy for my son several years back, gave the truck to him, a couple months later he he tore the front clip off and bent the frame all up. All that work and money for nothing. Should have known better.lol

[Tamiya Cowboy]

Originally Posted by dirtpusher9

The truck is looking good Paul. I done almost the same amount of work on an 81 Chevy for my son several years back, gave the truck to him, a couple months later he he tore the front clip off and bent the frame all up. All that work and money for nothing. Should have known better.lol

Thanks Much Joe.. Tristin wont get a chance to tear it up as he wont get to drive it much it all ..


OK lots done this week on the truck. Here we go..

The kid tore after the rear slider window since it was alum finish he taped it all off and etch primed and sealed it then the same black as the wheels and bumpers..




It will go off to get tinted this week so it is ready to go in later next week the cab gets painted on Tuesday.

Ok then we started on the interior parts we could not find a dash and new was not in the budget so repair was the only way to go. I used a glue that is sort of like CA it is for fixing dashes Eastwood Corp makes it then it sands very nice so of like a filler. So after I fixed all the cracks I 60 grit the dash down then hand sanded it with 180 and we used 3m rocker panel spray. We use the corse and the med grade first a lite coat of the corse the many many coats of the med to give it a even texture.



Sealer Primer



Then Burnt Maple was the factory color of the seat so all the trim work same color..




Also we did the A and B pillar trim parts.

Here are the finished parts next to the door panel that came out of the same truck so you can see what they did look like before and after.


Next we did the under side of the dash and the area behind the seat that is not covered by trim parts and needed to be painted the Holly Red..





Now the cab is ready to go to paint next Tuesday and we will work on the door panels this weekend and get them back to new also I have to work on the gas gauge as the wires at the tank need some work and we are coming close to putting ti back together again.

The kid also started working on the front end grill parts he got the head light bezels ready for paint and i got them painted but I want to polish the chrome before I take picks..



Thanks Much Guys for Looking..

Also I forgot a little shop upgrade. Got a FinishLine Air Dryer yesterday man is this thing way better than my 20 year old Sharpe one..

[Manfred]

Paul,

great work at time.

Manfred

[Tamiya Cowboy]

Originally Posted by Manfred

Paul,

great work at time.

Manfred

Thanks Much Manfred for the great comment.

[Tamiya Cowboy]

Well behind of were I wanted to be again but life happens and I could not get the cab sprayed last week or this weekend so my buddy that owns the body shop got it done for me today and I got it back tonight and WOW it came out great!!



But I could not wait and I had to start putting some parts one so I 3M rubber undercoated the inside of were the water sheds off the windshield and put the new leaf cover on it and also put the new hood gasket on it too.



You can also see I sprayed the defrost ducts black again and then I had to set the restored dash on it..



Now I have a new alum fill in piece for the dash too Ill put that on at the end..



Tomorrow night I will fix the pos and neg wires to the fuel tank and get ready for the box to go on. My buddy sand blasted the body lift blacks today also and when I got home my son had already dipped them in POR so they will be dry in the morning. I hope to drop the box on it wed night..

[Dreamweaver]

Can't believe I am saying this about a Chevy... Looks great... Tell Tristin I said Nice job...

~Mike~

[Brel]

outstanding work on the truck,