The '69 progress (warning: lots of pics!)
Dec 31, 2007 | 11:22 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 59
Likes: 0
From: Pensacola, FL
The '69 progress (warning: lots of pics!)
I have gotten a few requests for pics, so here we go. Some are when I got it 5-6 years ago, some are of last winter/spring when I was painting it, and some are the "completed" shots. I still want to change the wheels, but that is in the distant future right now. I have other priorities right now.
First, this is how I got it, 6 years ago in New Mexico from a local housepainter who was reportedly the second owner. Unknown mileage, very tired 350 and pretty much original everything.
I cleaned it up a bit, took off some of the old man accessories:
Over the next couple years, I drove it everyday to school and work. It went down for a couple weeks when I rebuilt the motor (No pics on this computer) and for a couple months one summer when I pulled everything off the frame and rebuilt the chassis/suspension/brakes. I bought the Silverado at the end of 2005, and decided to tear the '69 down to paint it. I bought a little welder and a set of hammers and dollies, shaved the firewall, filled a bunch of extra holes and did some minor body work. I painted a bunch of little stuff but I had to throw it back together really quick to get it out of my parent's garage as something came up (I lost my makeshift paint booth lol). I drove it for a year in white primer sealer, then tore it back down to finish it properly.
This is my "booth"; it worked well enough for a first timer paintjob.
Painted the fenders...
And doors:
Cab and bed:
On the hood, I wanted to do something different from everybody that slaps black or white stripes on orange cars. I decided on HOK Platinum Pearl. The color chip is actually a dark gray, that I thought would look really great.
I taped out the stripes out freehand (I love 3M fineline tape!):
And sprayed them. Much to my surprise, the stripes turned out silver. Of course, I am an idiot, as apparently the color chip had a dark base which is why it was much darker than mine. I hated it at first, and almost sanded it all down to redo it, until several people that saw them complimented me on doing something different. So I left them. The cool thing is, the stripes change color depending on the light; somethings they will look almost white; other times, they look black.
Holy orange peel Batman! One way to fix that...
Since I am not a huge fan of stripes on tailgates, I just painted the letters platinum instead. Freehand taping those letters sucked, but fineline tape came to the rescue again.
Now comes the painstaking process of fitting all the parts back together. Of course, nothing goes back on quite the same and you end up fighting a part for hours that fit perfectly before (stupid doors).
Pretty close, I was still painting the gate at this time, and waiting on delivery of the lid.
Here is some of the fleet:
Got the lid too, no more painting for a while hopefully..
Decided to redo the exhaust too, got rid of the Flows for some Hooker Maxflows and a couple cutouts to make it sound as good as it looks. The black painted x-pipe on the workbench is the new system, the silver h-pipe on the ground is the old one sans mufflers, I had to chop them off to get it out.
Anyway, there she is guys. Thanks for looking.
John
P.S. Stay tuned for updates!
First, this is how I got it, 6 years ago in New Mexico from a local housepainter who was reportedly the second owner. Unknown mileage, very tired 350 and pretty much original everything.
I cleaned it up a bit, took off some of the old man accessories:
Over the next couple years, I drove it everyday to school and work. It went down for a couple weeks when I rebuilt the motor (No pics on this computer) and for a couple months one summer when I pulled everything off the frame and rebuilt the chassis/suspension/brakes. I bought the Silverado at the end of 2005, and decided to tear the '69 down to paint it. I bought a little welder and a set of hammers and dollies, shaved the firewall, filled a bunch of extra holes and did some minor body work. I painted a bunch of little stuff but I had to throw it back together really quick to get it out of my parent's garage as something came up (I lost my makeshift paint booth lol). I drove it for a year in white primer sealer, then tore it back down to finish it properly.
This is my "booth"; it worked well enough for a first timer paintjob.
Painted the fenders...
And doors:
Cab and bed:
On the hood, I wanted to do something different from everybody that slaps black or white stripes on orange cars. I decided on HOK Platinum Pearl. The color chip is actually a dark gray, that I thought would look really great.
I taped out the stripes out freehand (I love 3M fineline tape!):
And sprayed them. Much to my surprise, the stripes turned out silver. Of course, I am an idiot, as apparently the color chip had a dark base which is why it was much darker than mine. I hated it at first, and almost sanded it all down to redo it, until several people that saw them complimented me on doing something different. So I left them. The cool thing is, the stripes change color depending on the light; somethings they will look almost white; other times, they look black.
Holy orange peel Batman! One way to fix that...
Since I am not a huge fan of stripes on tailgates, I just painted the letters platinum instead. Freehand taping those letters sucked, but fineline tape came to the rescue again.
Now comes the painstaking process of fitting all the parts back together. Of course, nothing goes back on quite the same and you end up fighting a part for hours that fit perfectly before (stupid doors).
Pretty close, I was still painting the gate at this time, and waiting on delivery of the lid.
Here is some of the fleet:
Got the lid too, no more painting for a while hopefully..
Decided to redo the exhaust too, got rid of the Flows for some Hooker Maxflows and a couple cutouts to make it sound as good as it looks. The black painted x-pipe on the workbench is the new system, the silver h-pipe on the ground is the old one sans mufflers, I had to chop them off to get it out.
Anyway, there she is guys. Thanks for looking.
John
P.S. Stay tuned for updates!
Dec 31, 2007 | 11:40 PM
#3
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 59
Likes: 0
From: Pensacola, FL
Thanks!
The motor is nothing really fancy. It is a 9.5:1 gen I 350, .040" over, KB flattops, 64cc Dart Iron Eagles with 1.6/2.02 valves, Comp XE274, Comp springs, Harland Sharp full rollers, Melling HV oil pump, Edelbrock Performer RPM airgap intake manifold, Holley 650 double pumper. An optimistic computer dyno puts it somewhere shy of 400 hp, but it probably isn't that much. My truck would be faster but the motor is mated to a truck 4 speed and a 3.07 rear end.
The motor is nothing really fancy. It is a 9.5:1 gen I 350, .040" over, KB flattops, 64cc Dart Iron Eagles with 1.6/2.02 valves, Comp XE274, Comp springs, Harland Sharp full rollers, Melling HV oil pump, Edelbrock Performer RPM airgap intake manifold, Holley 650 double pumper. An optimistic computer dyno puts it somewhere shy of 400 hp, but it probably isn't that much. My truck would be faster but the motor is mated to a truck 4 speed and a 3.07 rear end.
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Jan 1, 2008 | 11:50 AM
#8
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 59
Likes: 0
From: Pensacola, FL
All right, here are some more. I got a new camera for Christmas and love it so far.
VERY dirty engine, I usually keep it clean but I have had no time to spare lately:
Hooker ceramic coated longtubes going into the x-pipe:
My cutouts:
*******'s lid:
Equally dirty interior; Billet Specialties steering wheel, Flaming River tilt steering column, Autometer ProComps...and that switch hanging under the dash is the line lock
Plain little Pioneer headunit, and my insanely awesome 4 speed shift **** (/sarcasm)...
which feeds not only my Orion components in custom made-by-yours-truly fiberglass kickpanels...
but also my 2 10s in my custom-made-by-yours-truly sub box which is also the home to the Alpine amp. Nothing fancy but at this point I put myself on a strict budget. It fills up that little cab pretty good.
Another shot of the stock guage bezel with front-mounted ProComps:
My extremely comfortable leather buckets:
I love this shot, see what I mean about changing colors?
Another shot of the same:
And there she is today. Thanks for all the compliments!
John
VERY dirty engine, I usually keep it clean but I have had no time to spare lately:
Hooker ceramic coated longtubes going into the x-pipe:
My cutouts:
*******'s lid:
Equally dirty interior; Billet Specialties steering wheel, Flaming River tilt steering column, Autometer ProComps...and that switch hanging under the dash is the line lock
Plain little Pioneer headunit, and my insanely awesome 4 speed shift **** (/sarcasm)...
which feeds not only my Orion components in custom made-by-yours-truly fiberglass kickpanels...
but also my 2 10s in my custom-made-by-yours-truly sub box which is also the home to the Alpine amp. Nothing fancy but at this point I put myself on a strict budget. It fills up that little cab pretty good.
Another shot of the stock guage bezel with front-mounted ProComps:
My extremely comfortable leather buckets:
I love this shot, see what I mean about changing colors?
Another shot of the same:
And there she is today. Thanks for all the compliments!
John
