There is a big Orange Rat in the Garage

There is no replacement for displacement, my dad told me a long time ago. I'm very excited to have a big block to be dropping into my pickup. Just recently I got some paint on it while the weather is still warm enough to apply it. Growing up I did not like the Chevrolet Orange engines. I thought orange was just a bad color for a motor. However it grew on me, and now it is the color of Iroh's engine. With a little chrome and aluminum to break it up it looks awesome. Just need to bead blast the intake manifold and get the oil pan on.

Progress in school has been a little slow. I only get at most an hour and half to work on my fenders a day. It makes getting the tail lights in a long process. I've got one of the fenders stripped of paint, I need to get it primed before I am able to completely weld the taillight housing in. In my opinion though I think the Cadi lights will add an awesome custom look to the truck. If they look bad I can always cut them off in the future and re do them.

Just a bunch a pics

Today I'm just gonna post a bunch of extra pictures I have that I haven't let you see yet.

 The bed is all there just dismantled

 They don't make screws like they use to. That is a craftsman too, lifetime warranty.

 Original Straight 6 put up a fight but out it came.

 Rust converter on the frame rails.

 Got it home parked in the driveway.

 Fender off, one of the hinges needed to be rebuilt.

 Built in cup holder.

Rebuilding the fenders so they fit the cadi lights better but this gives you an idea of what they will look like.

I ain't nobody dork

I've been trying to get caught up with all the progress I've been making on my truck in the past year and half or so I've had it. In the last post I got up to where Iroh got moved to a shed for the winter. So in the spring I began scrapping down the interior, and taking everything out of it. I picked up a like new seat from a '05 Colorado, a tilt steering column from a Chevy van. The cab has the only three spots of rust I'm going to have to fix on the whole truck, above the windshield, bottoms of the doors and a little on the left cab corner. I sprayed the interior with flat black primer, so it's looking pretty good.

 For the rest of the truck I will be getting new independent front suspension, I have a 454 big block Chevy that will make its home between the fenders. It's bored, steel crank, and double roller timing chain. I don't have a transmission at the moment, but I've got a Ford 8.8 rear end to get the power to the wheels. I feel bad putting any Ford parts in my Chevy, but it has disk brakes, posi, and 3.73 gears, so I'll get over it. Currently I have the fenders at school doing some body work on them. I am customizing the rear fenders to house Cadillac taillights.

6 Cylinders, 2 Flats, No Brakes

Standing in my driveway looking at my dream truck, seeing the potential but also all the work to be done. I started with cleaning the interior out. As It was full of parts, three dead mice,(some farther gone than others) and a bucket of coal for some reason. I found only 3 hubcaps, and that is often how it goes. The seat, even though I had a new seat cover in a box somewhere for it, was completely rusted out. There was no sense in keeping it so that got tossed. However there was good news to be found in the cab. The floor, like most of the truck was solid, and the only thing missing from the dash was one of the knobs from the heater controls. 

The engine was the original 235 straight six, originally putting out a massive 109 horsepower. Don had told me that he had it running. I thought about putting the trans back in it to drive it around as I worked on it, but decided against putting the money into it to do that. Since besides the engine it needed brakes on all 4 corners too. I sold the engine as I had decided an engine compartment as vast as this needed something bigger, eventually big block Chevy power.  

I spent the summer of 2010 pulling wiring, and wire brushing the frame. The frame and the inner fenders I coated in Rust Converter. I put the bed together with enough bolts to keep it together on the frame, but so it is still easy enough to remove. My uncle even donated two tires to replace the flats I had on the back. As winter approached I was not going to be able to keep the truck just sitting in the driveway. I didn't want it sitting in the snow anyway. Much of the work was put on pause, as Iroh was moved to a shed for the winter. Over the winter I did go about acquiring different parts that I could later use. Including a car from my cousin that was gonna make a good donor for a temporary engine, though all that work would have to wait for the spring.

Pure Gold

The day was June 12, 2010 when I bought my truck. A 1955 Chevy half ton short box second series pickup. The history of the truck was short. The original owner gave the truck to his son, who sold it to his son-in-law for $50, from whom I acquired the truck I now call Iroh. Iroh is more of a guy's name but I will often refer to the truck as a she, it is just how it goes. Even though this truck went through three generations before it got to me, it was only driven for 7 years. The clutch went out in 1962 and Iroh was parked. I have the '62 plates that I removed from the plate brackets when I brought it home. I paid a total of $2500 for the truck and all the parts Don (the guy I bought it from) had. These parts include, newly chromed bumpers, and grille. the original radiator and gas tank had been cleaned out, new stainless steel taillights, new oak wood cut for the bed, weather stripping and the list went on.

(This is how she sat on the back porch where I picked her up. We tore down a fence to get her out.)

Since the transmission wasn't in, neither were the brakes, we trailered Iroh home. That probably didn't surprise you after seeing the picture. We were about to roll the truck off the trailer when I noticed the back tire had split open and the inner tube was bulging through. It proceeded to go off with a bang when it rolled over it. I finally had my dream truck in the driveway, I just had a lot of work ahead of me. Which I still do, I'm just trying to catch up to where I am now. I love my truck.
Next time I'll let you know more of the condition it was all in, some of what I have done so far and what some of my plans are for Iroh.