LowDown
Glutton for Punishment
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2011
- Messages
- 30
CompD members,
My name is Andy and live outside of Baltimore, MD. I have built a few rock crawlers over the last ten years including a few Toyotas and Jeeps. I completed my last project major project in July 2010; a Jeep based racer I built for the Raush Creek off road series. Check out Crawl Magazine, issue no. 26 for an article the owner wrote about the race series and the build.
Other than fabricating, I have a great family including my wife and our two boys.
I found the blue '68 W200 Crew, a former Air Force truck, on a farm in Luray, Va in October 2010. At the time, my wife and I had been contemplating buying an older 3/4 or 1 ton truck to do work around the house and eventually pull a single car hauler for my personal off road project (Toyota 4Runner). Having a small family, the four door cab immediately stood out to me. The truck was (is) ugly and rough as hell so I wanted it bad. My wife was on board with the project so I got the ball rolling. The timing worked out and I brought the '68 home with the help of my two good friends, Austin and Rob.
It was worse than it looked. The a-pillar floors and body mounts were gone. The bottoms off all four doors were completely rusted out and there was very little left of the rockers and door sills. The front of the cab was sitting on the frame. The doors were so out of whack that the driver's front was really hard to open and was lucky if it would close. The fender/cowl seams were gone and the inside of the cowl was really bad.
At some point, a 383 was swapped in along with a radiator out of something like a '55 Chevy. Whatever butcher did the swap, cut the core support and put a hole in the hood to clear the radiator neck. All four leaf packs were shot; the fronts were negatively arched and the rear main leafs were cracked.
The plan WAS to bring the '68 back to life but rust really compromised the structural integrity of the cab. I hated to let it go but it was the best thing to do.
Fast foward to May 2011; I came across a Craigslist add for 4 Sweptlines including a complete '66 D200 (318/727) Camper Special which I brought home 5/5/2011.
Thanks to Shane for hauling and Rob for making the ride to help load the truck.
Fast forward to November 2011; I found a '91 12v 6BT donor truck in PA so I'm going NV4500/diesel instead of with the BB.
I'm still linking the front suspension, new rear leafs, a GM D60 front axle, Dodge D70 rear axle, hydro boost brakes with discs on 4 corners, and power steering along with a hydro assist ram. The body will remain stock for the most part.
I'll get a build thread once I figure out where to put it!
Also, I'm looking for some parts including a 6BT-NV4500 engine plate, bell housing and clutch fork.
My name is Andy and live outside of Baltimore, MD. I have built a few rock crawlers over the last ten years including a few Toyotas and Jeeps. I completed my last project major project in July 2010; a Jeep based racer I built for the Raush Creek off road series. Check out Crawl Magazine, issue no. 26 for an article the owner wrote about the race series and the build.
Other than fabricating, I have a great family including my wife and our two boys.
I found the blue '68 W200 Crew, a former Air Force truck, on a farm in Luray, Va in October 2010. At the time, my wife and I had been contemplating buying an older 3/4 or 1 ton truck to do work around the house and eventually pull a single car hauler for my personal off road project (Toyota 4Runner). Having a small family, the four door cab immediately stood out to me. The truck was (is) ugly and rough as hell so I wanted it bad. My wife was on board with the project so I got the ball rolling. The timing worked out and I brought the '68 home with the help of my two good friends, Austin and Rob.
It was worse than it looked. The a-pillar floors and body mounts were gone. The bottoms off all four doors were completely rusted out and there was very little left of the rockers and door sills. The front of the cab was sitting on the frame. The doors were so out of whack that the driver's front was really hard to open and was lucky if it would close. The fender/cowl seams were gone and the inside of the cowl was really bad.
At some point, a 383 was swapped in along with a radiator out of something like a '55 Chevy. Whatever butcher did the swap, cut the core support and put a hole in the hood to clear the radiator neck. All four leaf packs were shot; the fronts were negatively arched and the rear main leafs were cracked.
The plan WAS to bring the '68 back to life but rust really compromised the structural integrity of the cab. I hated to let it go but it was the best thing to do.
Fast foward to May 2011; I came across a Craigslist add for 4 Sweptlines including a complete '66 D200 (318/727) Camper Special which I brought home 5/5/2011.
Thanks to Shane for hauling and Rob for making the ride to help load the truck.
Fast forward to November 2011; I found a '91 12v 6BT donor truck in PA so I'm going NV4500/diesel instead of with the BB.
I'm still linking the front suspension, new rear leafs, a GM D60 front axle, Dodge D70 rear axle, hydro boost brakes with discs on 4 corners, and power steering along with a hydro assist ram. The body will remain stock for the most part.
I'll get a build thread once I figure out where to put it!
Also, I'm looking for some parts including a 6BT-NV4500 engine plate, bell housing and clutch fork.
