1/6/06 Got a catalog from Street and Performance 479-394-7113 and talked with Mark (mark@hotrodlane.cc) there in Arkansas. Extremely knowledgeable guy, knows his whole catalog by heart, and had solutions for every question. What he can supply so far is: drive by wire throttle bodies for the intake, wiring harnesses (ouch!!!), Escalade throttle pedal and tach module (to be compatible with 4L80E trans), and re-programming the computers. Gotta use three computers to maintain sufficient energy to drive all the injectors. Total of the above for three motors is about $5450!! He also supplies pulleys, kits, valve covers, and numerous accessories for the motors. Well, I never said it would be cheap. Nils suggests an ATI hub with 6-bolt flange for the fronts of the motor couplings. The cranks will need to be removed and double-keywayed. 1/7/06 Well, in an amazing turn of events, and hopefully (read on to see why the modifier) fortuitous intersection of events has occurred. A week ago I was at Bob's when two brothers approached me and we talked about the Impala and other projects I'm doing including the KK. They mentioned they and their father just completed a 47 one-ton Stude pickup, and would bring it next week. I walked up to the truck yesterday and it is a gorgeous piece, including the chromed grille and 8-foot bed. It is exactly what another $20K and a year of work would do for my truck. He is asking 20, and I offered 12. Within minutes I had two guys talking to me about MY truck at $2500. One showed, the other maybe tomorrow. That would be AWESOME. There will still be a lot of cutting up of the truck, albeit it VERY carefully. But everything, and I mean all of it, is already done. So some required mods and paint will be it for the body. Of course, I have to get the word back from the boys about it. But I am SO jazzed at the prospect of catapulting the project forward a year. Pictures coming soon….All the same chassis stuff will be done, and my mental wheels are spinning……. 1/8/06 I spent about half a day with the old Stude pickup, putting it all back together. I remounted both rear fenders, which required drilling new holes for the right side fender, as the original studs, save one, had all broken off due to being rusted to the nuts. I set the left running board, put the seat back inside, remounted the tailgate, and hung the rear bumper. So the truck is in its most compact form now, the area around it looks dramatically less like a junkyard, and I'm going to throw a cover on it tomorrow to clean up the yard appearance further. I spent the rest of the day doing a lot of tossing, sorting, and garage cleanup. I am totally wasted at this point. I'm going out of town for most of the week, and I just feel like I'm getting some momentum. Perhaps that's how it works. I have asked buddy Saul if I could hang onto the $15K he loaned me to cover a bad customer check (since made good). I want that money to buy the restored 1-ton. I think he is amenable. I need to contact Padfield at Scott's to confirm I'm changing the truck, although from his side it changes nothing. 1/22/06 Went to the Grand National Roadster Show at Pomona and saw a HUGE number of insane cars. I saw Gene Winfield there. I intend to go see Gene Winfield this week at his shop in Mojave with pix of the Stude to get a ballpark # for him to smooth and paint it. I'm guessing around $20K. I also will remind Foose's shop to give me a consult time soon. I also saw Mike Lavalle, Mr. Realistic Flames, and we discussed about $5-8K of work flaming the Stude once done. He says to fly him down from Washington, have the car sanded, masked, and ready in some local shop's booth, and he'll have it done in under three days. I would then have my local guy do the clear coat. 2/7/06 As any veteran reader of my updates knows, NOTHING stays the same. I have foregone purchasing the restored 47 long bed pickup. Instead, I will move ahead with mine. To that end I went and saw Gene Winfield at his Mojave, CA shop, 10 miles from NOWHERE. I found a wandering Chow/Lab puppy in the MIDDLE of the desert, and had to rescue her, as for whatever reason she was there mattered little, as she would be Coyote dinner in a few hours, regardless. I named her Winnie, in honor of Winfield. Gene is interested in doing the body and paint, and I am awaiting a price from him. He also suggested Anacapa Soda Blasting, from whom I had also gotten a card at the Grand National Roadster Show. Turns out they are two doors away from Scott's HotRods. So that will wok out nicely. Manuel there says just bring three guys to help him lift the body off the frame. Here's the plan: Unbolt everything here and just leave it all hanging on the chassis with minimal attachments. Flatbed the entire truck up there, minus glass, gas tank, bumper, seat, etc., and lift everything off in Anacapa's shop. Then, roll the chassis around the corner to Scott's place, about 300'. I will be pulling out the engine and trans as well here. I will take the new wheels and tires up at the same time (nice plan, but I forgot to take them). Justin figures about two weeks to do the chassis work. Then, roll it back into Carlos' shop, have him sandblast the frame, set the body back on, and haul it back here. From there I'll need to immediately get all the body parts primed to preserve them from more rust. That goes for the frame as well. I will have to decide if I want to powder coat the frame after all the fabrication, mounts, etc., are done or just paint it. On second thought, It may not be smart to sandblast the frame until ALL the fabrication is complete, not just what Justin is doing. No sense in doing it twice. I'll do some consulting with Justin about that. So, we're going to dismantle the KK Stude in the next three days and get ready for some progress. Meanwhile, here is a cobbled together photo of what the extended bed configuration will look like: I have entertained some visions of making this somewhat radical. That notion equals a LOT of money. I'm going to play a bit with some designs, run them by Gene, and see what he thinks, both artistically and fiscally. 2/14/06 The KK is at the Soda Blaster, the frame is at Scott's, and the painter next door to Scott's, Santos Painting, has agreed to primer the body parts when done. I went back up there today to deliver the wheels and tires, and the cab was in the soda booth getting blasted. I then ventured over to Scott's and Justin and I discussed some aspects of the build, including where a fuel tank should be mounted, some fire concerns if mounted up front, and constructing a water tank. He suggests waiting until the drivetrain is in, and perhaps putting the fuel behind the cab somehow. I have no objection to this, but I need to get weight FORWARD to keep the front end down! So we'll get some reality on balances, weight distribution, etc. after the drivetrain gets in the vehicle. Meanwhile, Justin has suggested an X-member on the frame to stiffen things up. No argument there, Again, we'll wait until after the driveshaft is in to be sure we clear all that stuff. Justin will also be lengthening the frame 24” behind the cab, retaining my frame rails which are VERY large, and boxing the WHOLE frame. That approach will make remounting the bed easier, although this benefit will be minimal as it will eventually have to be made to tilt up and back to expose the exhaust, rear end, disc brakes, etc. Ditto for the front. Justin will be filling all the holes in the frame to enhance its appearance and strength. Once the entire car has been rough assembled, I will take it all apart and have him do the X-member, the we'll have the frame powder-coated. I'm leaning towards a hammer-tone (black and silver) finish. It so happens a powder coater is moving in across the street from Scott's. So his area is becoming a one-stop shop as it were. This conglomeration of complimentary trades could make for some great synergy up there for all those guys. There is a similar grouping of guys near Foose's place in Huntington Beach. Now all Scott needs is a nearby good and inexpensive upholsterer and he'll be styling. Then he can do the push the car around the corner thing for real for all the trades. It looks like nothing will be done at Scott's this week, and that he should be done by the end of next week, around 2/24/06. The blasting is done as of today (2/14/06), and the primer work should take only a day or two. I need to get my garage cleared to begin the REAL stuff down here. That real stuff is getting the engines into a sub frame, along with the transmission. I am leaning towards using the Ford 203 transfer case for starters. Prior to mounting engines in the sub frame, I need to determine their spacing. On the body and metal front, Scott's might be the best choice right now to do the bed mods, etc. HOWEVER, the issue of COST looms very LARGE when dealing with him or any fabrication shop. If I had about $100K to plunk down, this would be just a matter of making some trips and phone calls. I talked with Nick at Hamrick's and he is overloaded. He is certainly capable. Scott's appears more geared to just getting that kind of thing done. In this arena, you make your choices and you spend your money (just read on). To date I have spent right around $30K. What do I have at this point? I own a BEAUTIFUL Mark Williams rear end, a paintless and disassembled 47 Stude pickup, a righteous Scott's coil over front IFS system (not yet installed), and similarly cool 4-link rear setup, some mega wheels and tires, disc brakes, a chrome Ididit tilt steering column, polished power steering pump, the rack and steering links, and several motors. I also own but will never see $8500 of two BBC Mercruiser motors. What do I have to get rid of that I have purchased so far? Well, those two BBC Mercruiser motors should I ever get them (not likely). Should I get the cash, it will vanish instantly into the project. I have Randy's 454 BBC LS-7 massively massaged MONSTER motor (780 HP) to sell. I got rid of the Grand National Buick Turbo motor already. I have ANOTHER Buick V-6 which was in the Stude as purchased, along with a 350 trans, and the Olds Cutlass rear end. I also have a nice set of Torq-Thrust wheels to sell.
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|Right now it is far too windy to sustain a cover. I'm running an ad in the Recycler to commence this Thursday, and I MIGHT try Ebay next week if it is not sold by the weekend.
It just looks like a long-bed, which is just fine. This is what it will take to fit it all in, so there we are.
Among other criteria to be defined are the sprockets, ATI front dampers, the actual chain to be used, and the engine mounts. The ATI's can be purchased, as can the mounts (although they will be modifed), as can the chains and sprockets, once decided upon. I will need to get the cranks out of two motors for double-keyway work. The #1 motor (most to the rear near the tailgate), is intended for the power steering pump, alternator, and AC pump. There may be no need to modifiy that engine's crank, as it will see no connection to its snout. Should I eventually supercharge these motors, I MIGHT need to modify the snout to run the blower pulley. Vortech does NOT make the modification to their installs, and those packages seems to work OK. But all said, it is not an issue at this time. 