Project Pancho Villa - 1978 SWB

[BruthaMan]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for all your kind words and encouragement. There is NO WAY in hell I could have ever done this with the kind hearted people on this forum. I spend countless hours here, searching, reading and absorbing the thousands of combined years of experience!

Here's where I am:

1) Cab needs one final sanding of the 2k primer and ready for paint.

2) Bed coated inside, out, and underneath with Dupont Epoxy primer. Had a few small dings here and there that I filled with Rage Extreme. Love that stuff, but learned quickly to only mix enough for about 3-4 minutes, or it's toast.




The bed had a lot of little rust pits towards the front. At first I was not going to worry about it and just let it go, but I started filling them with the Rage and just kept going. Still have some fill work to do on that, then I'll sand it down. I figured with this much work and effort, not point in cutting it short now.




3) I've spent weeks going back and forth over Rally Wheels or Torq thrust 20s. In the end, it was just too much more money right now, and I really do like the old school rallies with raised white letter tires. So I bought a set that had been sandblasted off Ebay and ordered some Argent Silver paint from TCPGlobal (House of Kolor) to paint them with. Got two of them in Saturday, should have the others tomorrow. Ordered new rings and center caps, along with some tribar spinners. I may switch over to 20s down the road, but for now, it will be rallies with BFG T/A Radials.



4) On the same token, been wresting with color. Blue, Silver, Black. Blue, Silver, Black. Blue, Silver, Black. I've changed my mind a dozen times, each time with "how will it look with these wheels, or those wheels." I finally locked it down and went with Black basecoat/clearcoat. I have an Iwata LPH-400 I bought for the work.

5) I've got parts all over the house now. Thank God I have an understanding wife. In fact, so many parts, some are still sitting on the front porch! (We live in a secluded neighborhood). Garage is packed with the frame, the bed and cab on home built stands. Just not enough room!



6) Brakes came in! I ordered dual piston calipers, a rear disc brake kit, a chromed master cylinder and slotted/drilled rotors. Figured with a 383 stroker, I needed better braking though I don't plan on racing. Got all this from Performance Online.

[BruthaMan]

7) 700R4 came back from the shop last week. Completely rebuilt and had them put in a Corvette servo. It's sitting in some plastic trash bags to keep the dust away until time to install. Lower control arms, sandblasted and ready for paint. Had to order new shafts as the threads on one were tanked after pressing the bushings out.



8) Gears and Easton posi unit came in Friday. The 12 bolt axle is sitting on the back porch, gutted, primed and painted with the GM Restoration Black paint noted above. Hopefully have that put back together and on the frame this week.





9) Motor has been in the shop for months. At first I told them to put me on the back burner and they did, then the past month been kinda harpin' on them a bit. I stopped by Friday to see it. Pretty much had everything ready, other than break in. Got to see the heads with the Comp gold rollers. Edelbrock Endurashine Air Gap intake and 600 CFM carb.


10) Western Chasis 2.5/4 drop kit is ready. Rear hangers and shackles have been installed. Below is the spindle(s) still in box.



Still have a few minor things to purchase. Waiting (patiently) for the one-piece windows from Kapt Kaos. Won't get mine until the others on the GP are finished because I procrastinated and waited to decide to get them. Need carpet. Still to determine audio system, but will be a nice one. Need a radiator, new R4 AC unit and odds/ends. It's coming together though. Not "going together" as fast as I'd like, but I keep telling myself it will be worth it!

[BruthaMan]

Stopped by the machine shop last Friday. Had them press in the bushings, shafts and ball joints for the upper/lower control arms.

Had the 383 hooked up to test kit they use for break-in. Waiting on the harmonic balancer to come in, the one I previously had wouldn't work for this kit. Snapped a few pics of it:





This coming week should be a good week for progress. We had lost the lower control arm shafts somewhere (sure I'll find them once it's over), so had to order some new ones. With these in place, suspension can be completed. Motor/tranny dropped in, brake and fuel lines, and off we go!

[72 CustomCamper]

Maybe this will help you on paint. This is how good blue,silver and black go together...




Chuck

[BruthaMan]

Thanks Chuck, that looks very nice!

I went ahead and bought the paint. Going gloss black, which is what it originally was. Figured if I went ahead and bought it, would be one less thing for me to worry about and focus on other needs.

[OLDIRON69]

Nice build, love the square bodies!

[BruthaMan]

Thanks OldIron!

More updates. Upper/lower controls arms married up with the spindles. Front suspension is just about together. New brakes, new dual piston calipers.








Gas tank mounted. Sanded it down and painted it aluminum silver. We had sandblasted the tank straps. Picked up some new tank strap pads to keep it quiet.




Picked up some wheels on ebay that had been sandblasted and painted with "bass boat" type metallic silver. They didn't sand them down after blasting either, so we sanded them down nice and smooth, then re-coated them with the correct argent silver.





Have new beauty rings, center caps and tribar spinners to add to them. Going to let the paint cure for a week or so (going by the spec sheet) before mounting the BFGs.

Using Kustom Shop Argent Urethane on the wheels. Came out pretty good!



Slowly but surely, it's coming together! Big thanks to my buddy, Kent, for all his help! Guy knows more about these trucks then I would ever dream of.

Trying to take care of all the little details and document everything. Can't imagine ever selling her, but if I do, will have a complete build documentation for it.

[menace121978]

awesome progress! starting to come together!!

[tvblazer78]

Looks very clean.. And I love the brakes that you put on it. What kind are they again?

[BruthaMan]

Thanks guys!

The fronts are dual piston calipers. Rears are single piston. I bought the entire braking system (and rear kit), including master cylinder and proportioning valve from Performance Online.

Update! I visited the machine shop. They finished my 383 stroker motor. I had them build it. I was going to "attempt" it (have never built a motor before, but taken them apart) but the shop owner gave me a good deal because I let him put me on the backburner for a few months.

Man alive! That motor sounds so sweet! I'm going to pick it up on Monday. I'll take the camera and try to shoot a video of it starting up. It's complete, top to bottom so all we have to do is drop it in. Wanted to take it home today, but no room in the garage. Will be making room for it this weekend. Just about to the point that we can drop it in anyway. Holy moly...this is my first "built" motor. Never had anything that sounded like that!

[JohnC]

Congrats on the progress man. Sounds like it is coming along nicely. Can't wait for some video of the 383. It sure did look nice in the pics.

I only wish my wife was as understanding as yours! She loves me and all, but not enough to have all of the garage! She has to have her parking spot!

[BruthaMan]

Hey John,

Thanks bud! Yeah, it took some "persuasion" to make that happen! Right now our hallway and kitchen is filled with parts (mostly for the interior) and she's putting the pressure on to get the cab painted! Can't imagine why

More updates:

I bought some NOS GM door skins on Ebay a few months ago. I must admit, that I fell victim to "not reading the d@#m ad" as I believed them to be NOS Doors! I was thrilled with my tenacity to scoop them up on BIN. Only to later realize, they were not doors, but door skins.

The though of replacing the skins was daunting, to say the least, but to my surprise, these were not too bad to install at all.

I used a cutoff tool to splice the very ends of the folds open, to get a screwdriver in, and pry them up. Used a wire wheel to get the sealer off. A couple of spot welds (I had bought some spot weld bits on Ebay a while back too), and they came right off.

I bought some 3M Panel Bonding adhesive. Kind of expensive at $50 a shot, but it was enough to do both doors. The surprise? Yeah, there had to be one! That adhesive kit requires a special 3M applicator. We go to the local paint store, and they say "$227.00" please! Ouch! Fortunately they know us and told us we could borrow it for a day, so we lucked out there!

Here's some pics.

Removing the old door skin:



Old door skin is off:



GM Part number (kept documentation for both skins):



Using 3M Panel Bonding Adhesive - That gun is expensive, but our local paint shop let us borrow it for the day!



New skin on, fits like a glove!



We're about to move the frame out of the garage and mount up the rear axle with the new 3:73 gears and positraction, then mount the tires! First time in months she'll have some skins on!

[JohnC]

Looking good man! Keep it up!!

[BruthaMan]

Thanks John!

Guys, what an awesome day! Cloudy overcast all day, 62 degrees. That's free air conditioning around these parts!

Today, the frame came alive with wheels and tires! We got the rear end bolted in, fuel lines cleaned up, wheels mounted with some new BF Goodrich 275/60 15s (all the way around).

Today, she stands tall, as she's been without shoes for several months now

Engine hoist has multiple uses. Rear frame lifted up to slide the rear axle into place, then lower it down gently till "pop," the center eyes pop into place:




Another angle:




Rear disc brakes are snug, but fit just right:




Couldn't just let her sit with no bling, so we broke out the new center caps, removed the chevy logos carefully with a razor blade (my friend is going to put them on his 82 center caps), drilled carefully, and mounted the new tribar spinner caps (spinners):




And of course, Christoper (my Grandson) is out giving us a helpful hand, as always. All my friends/family keep telling me I'm really building this truck for him. You know...they could be right






Hoping to get the motor and tranny mounted by weeks end, and get a video of the motor. I've already heard it at the machine shop. They broke it in for me, while I was there. 383 Stroker. Unbelievable

[Jonboy]

Looks really good. Have you flattened the flanges on the skins yet? If not, you might be able to finagle a door skin tool off of one of teh tool trucks or the body supply house you are using. Makes the job tons easier.

[BruthaMan]

We've done one door so far. We used a dolly/hammer, very very carefully. I'll check around, though, and see if we can pick up one of the specialty tools for a final flatten. Thanks for the tip!

[JohnC]

Looks awesome back on the wheels and tires man!! Keep it up!!!

Grandson is one lucky man if it does turn out for him!!!

[OLDIRON69]

It will be a brand new truck when done..The square bodies are my first love, then again they are what I grew up with..

[bigblock73]

Damn, progress is looking sweet!! Can't wait to see the truck whn it is finished.

What is happening to the old wheels?

[BruthaMan]

Hi Jeff,

I sold the old wheels to my neighbor. I didn't ask him his plans when he bought them, but a week after he purchased, he stopped by while we were working on the truck and said the bolt pattern was different. I offered to buy them back, but I think his mind was thinking "nah, I bought them and it was my fault."

I know he's not going to use them, so I'm going to try one more time to buy them back.

[flamingbig10]

looking real good

[dieselarmy13]

Man, nice work!

[jchav62]

What an awesome build!!! I'm usually not able to see the pics on this thread, but today I can. I love everything you've done! Great work!

[JohnC]

Originally Posted by jchav62

..I'm usually not able to see the pics on this thread, but today I can...

I don't know if I could handle that!

[BruthaMan]

Thanks guys. Lost a day, today. Spent the day at the salvage yards. I couldn't believe it, but I actually found some good door trim sets for my new panels. I had ordered some Custom Rod Doors from Capt Kaos a few months ago, then a few weeks ago, decided not to use them. I had also scored a new set of door panels on auction from Ebay (correct versions for the 78-80 models), so now I have a complete insert/trim set.

Next was a visit to the local O'Reiley's. The guys there know us by name now, we've been in so much. New power steering pump, starter, thermostat, new hoses for *everything*, new clamps, royal purple motor oil, a case of royal purple ATF for the new 700r4, Wix racing oil filter, ac delco spark plugs, new optima battery (only the best!), a 700r4 tranny mount and various other things for the engine compartment.

I expected around $800 and something, and was right on the mark. $872.00. The *little stuff* is killing me more than some of the bigger stuff!

Went ahead and picked up a remote starter so we can fire up the 383, hopefully by friday.

Next week, we paint the cab and doors (at least), then mount the cab and start assembling the interior, which I pretty much have everything for that, except the seats. Looking around for some low back buckets now, but not having much luck yet.