Lost My 65

[Captainfab]

I feel your frustration.........I've been trying for 4 years now to get my Suburban back on the road. Every year I tell myself, I'm gonna make it happen one way or another. Then work happens.

[clemdaddy]

[QUOTE=LostMy65;7162260]Another winter gone by and I still haven't got my sm420 swapped out to the th350. :-(I at least did a little tinkering here and there.)

heres a thought... put her up in the air and slide under and remove the driveshaft...
with beautiful cruising weather here, you will want be out there. and the hardest part of the swap is to get started. with an aftermarket floor shift and all your parts gathered and waiting... its just one weekend.

your truck-story is one of the best on here and the ol' girl deserves the upgrade... 2¢

[jeffg1010]

I've followed your thread for several years and it got me searching for a couple of my dads classic cars, including a '56 Nomad. Through a ton of searching and some blind luck, I was able to get the Nomad VIN #. I was really excited for a few weeks, but even with the VIN, I cannot turn up a lead. How did you locate someone to run the VIN for you? I'd like to find out if our car ever made it all the way to the west coast.
Here is my thread...
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=669126

And here is my website where I discuss the book Im writing called "The Ones That Got Away". http://www.theonesthatgotaway.com It is finally coming together and should be getting publishing approval soon. By the way . . . your truck is one of the first ones I ever researched and it kinda assisted in starting the book. It's taken two years to research other owners who've located their lost hot rods. Are you still interested in having your truck showcased in the book?

[LostMy65]

Originally, I was kinda concerned about how intrusive it is to hire a Private Investigator to track down personal information on another.
I try not to do things I wouldn't want others to do to me. But a few suggested I hire a P.I. to find my truck. Eventually, I googled 'find lost vehicles'. I found a lady on the west side who had a website that advertises finding all kinds of stuff, including lost vehicles.
I sent her an email with a pic of my truck with the License plate. She emailed back in 10 mins that she has all the info on it. $50 through PayPal and she gave me his name, address, and phone number.
I then did Mark's suggestion to write the guy a letter. In my case, the nice older guy was happy I tracked him down. He felt bad that he wasn't able to keep up with taking care of the truck, and wanted the truck to go to someone who'd appreciate it. He did me right.
Like I said, it felt awkward hiring a Private I.
But I feel fine with it now. :-)

[LostMy65]

Originally Posted by clemdaddy

heres a thought... put her up in the air and slide under and remove the driveshaft...
with beautiful cruising weather here, you will want be out there. and the hardest part of the swap is to get started. with an aftermarket floor shift and all your parts gathered and waiting... its just one weekend.

your truck-story is one of the best on here and the ol' girl deserves the upgrade... 2¢

Thanks,
I've been seriously considering your suggestion.
I don't know... I guess I just figured I'd pull the bed and cab off to do this upgrade, but crawling in and out from under the truck is starting to look like the more practical route.

[LostMy65]

Eventually I plan to put some advertisement on my doors.
This is crude, but kind of what I'm thinking.


Here's a truck like I'm thinking :

[likaroc13]

Originally Posted by LostMy65

Eventually I plan to put some advertisement on my doors.
This is crude, but kind of what I'm thinking.

Here's a truck like I'm thinking :

I dig it.

[LostMy65]

No matter how much I played around with doing a fauxtina blue, I just couldn't get it to something I liked.
I have finally hit on something I think looks totally badazzz!
The railing is the look I'm shooting for.
The fender still needs to be sanded out then hit with satin clear.

[66-PMD-GMC]

Looks real

[LostMy65]

Thanks,
Should have the Roof finished today.

[LostMy65]

Yep, really liking the look.
Jumped in both feet this weekend.
Mixed the flat black real thin and covered her in black.

[markeb01]

That looks great!

[LostMy65]

Thanks Mark.
I'm finding I prefer a very subtle sand through.

[LostMy65]

Pretty happy with how the front clip is turning out.

[Palf70Step]

It is looking good!

[LostMy65]

Okay, had some rain this last weekend.
Decided to take a break on my fauxtina attempt.
This will probably be my last pic outside this year.
I know... I've had the goal of swapping out the sm420 for the th350 a couple winters now. By golly! I'm getting it done this winter!

[Palf70Step]

The paint scheme looks really good as it is, so if you were planning more weathering, i'd let it stand as is. Looks super good. Good luck on the tranny changeover. I am debating the same thing here after October on my 64.

[LostMy65]

Thanks Bill.
That actually helps a lot.
I know it's a tough balance to keep from over doing it.
I've sanded and then should have stopped but sanded too much. - to only have to go roll on a little more and sand some more.
But I do appreciate when someone says 'it looks good, leave it'
Here's the other side :

[LostMy65]

Some shots of how the hood came out:

[NevEno]

Looks really good!

[Palf70Step]

[LostMy65]

I put together a list of 'wants vs needs' to establish a reasonable goal for the winter.
Although I really really want to convert to an Automatic, it is far from a 'Need'.
What I 'Need' is safe and reliable first.
Steering is pretty sloppy and maneuvering around - especially with a trailer is difficult.
So I that's what I'm doing first.
.
In mocking up the pump, I noticed the hole in the Water Pump isn't threaded, but is smooth and open to the back side of the water pump. Rather than running a bolt all the way through and trying to get a wrench in that cramped space behind the water pump, I'm thinking of just using an anchor bolt.
.

[jonzcustomshop]

Why not just tap the hole?

also, not in a rush, but when/ if you get some time could you post a straight on pic from the rear showing the taillights, and then get me a couple measurements of where they sit? bed to the edge of the lens center, and upper body line to the top of the lens center would be perfect!
I am going to do a version of the fleet lens on my step fenders as well. ( I wish gm had done this on 60-66 in the first place)

[RKS0069]

Sounds like a good idea but it might be hard to get out without removing the water pump. Maybe try a drop in style anchor bolt?

[Captainfab]

The water pumps with a smooth bore in that hole were for use with a different style of PS pump brackets. The pump actually pivoted on that hole with a nut welded to the ear of the bracket on the backside of the pump. If you want to keep that style of bracket, I would suggest installing threads in the hole with one of the thread repair styles available. The ones from Time Sert or e-z Lok do not require any special tools or taps as the Helicoils do.