Been quiet since my introduction in February! Work got crazy, the truck was in storage for a little bit and I now moved to Ottawa (which unfortunately I don't have a garage anymore :s, I will need to find some place to tinker on this one!)
Anyhow, just wanted to update the community and create a thread where I will document the resto-mod!
A little back story, I bought the truck in February on Route 66 near St-Louis. The truck is in good shape overall, it's running fine, just needs a fair bit of love. This truck was a great platform for me since the previous owner already changed a few things which mean I won't have to hack a piece of history to bring the truck to my flavour and into the 21st century.
Right now, the floor is being changed and should be done shortly. I received the full Mustang 2 kit, 4-Link and Wiring harness this week, so as soon as I get the truck back and find a workspace here I will start working on putting these on!
In the meantime, here are 2 photos of when I bought it. Enjoy!
Henry, I'm in the east end, Rockliff / Manor park area. 2 minutes from the RCMP stables.
The truck is running like a kitten, the previous owner rebuilt the 235 in it and changed the brakes about a year and a half ago. It's still at the body shop in Toronto right now, they are the ones doing the floor job, I didn't wanted to deal with that!
Thanks Carl! Bill's shop is amazing. Got all my sheet metal from him. I'm trying to buy as much in Canada as I can, so they will get my next orders for sure.
Alright! I havn't posted in a while but I've been keeping busy none the less with gathering parts and prepping them for when I would get the truck back.
I picked up the truck last Friday in St. Catharines and hauled it all the way to our cottage in Quebec (1h30 from Ottawa). That was a fun drive!
For many reasons I decided to work on it over-there rather than finding a workspace here in Ottawa, having lots of land will allow me to remove everything and work off the frame. The conditions are not optimal as the garage is for other shinier toys but it will do.
My weekend has been busy with relocating the carport shelter to make space for one of the boat, so I ended up clearing up some trees and spend sometime trying to flatten the land as much as I could with the ATV, not an easy task and it is better than it was but still not flat.
After all of this, I was still able to strip 90% of the interior, unbolt the bed, remove the front end and drained the engine.
Here are some photos:
The truck waiting to be pushed in its new location with his new heart sitting in the bed
Some of the rats nest wiring from the previous owner... and I already cleaned up 1/3 of it back in April
Some of the Interior
With the front end removed, last shot before I close it down for the week.
Alright! Haven't had a chance to drop by the forum in a little while.
I've been working on this truck here and there this winter. I have a propane heater in my "less than optimal" temporary shelter so I was able to work on it even when it was -20 and be somewhat comfy.
So far, this winter I've been able to:
1. Remove the front axle 2. Grind off the frame (up to the rear of the cab) 3. Grind off the cab floor (both sides) 4. POR15 half of the frame (still have the rear end to do). POR15 the floor, inside the cab and under, and did the underside with their rubber/ceramic spray. POR15 the firewall. 5. Strip the interior and reupholster the seats. 6. Installed the Mustang 2 cross-member
And this past weekend I was able to reinstall the seats, install 3-point seatbelts, install the firewall mounted brake booster, did half of the of the IFS and drop the LS in.
Here are some pics:
There is about 3 inches between the accessories and the rad. I will probably go with a pusher fan.
I am really happy with the Speedway Motors bolt-on crossmember and motor mount, it was easy and placed the engine at the right place.
The Holley LS swap pan has the perfect clearance on this swap if any one is interested in knowing.
Now just need to get started on the rear half, 4 link, plumbing, rewiring... this thing may actually run this summer!
