The “2nd Best” ‘60 Chevy wagon build…

Looks great....that color is perfect!

 

He's an anxious Okie, Roger, with a very dry wit. Eatin' this stuff up as fast as you can dish it out.

 

Quick update…we’ll call this one.
EVERMORE CLOSER…!!!

With the front clip and most of the grille parts back on, I had to go to the parts store and get some new clips for the outside fender trim…expensive little suckers…a buck apiece…but when your others are all rusted and broken, you gotta pay…!!!


Ahhhhh, new clips for the trim…nice…

And here’s a front clip shot, the only thing I’m missing right now is one horn…out of four I had, only one works…guess we’ll go to the junk yard this week…


And a shot of the completed front clip…look, you can even see those cool road rashed blue pans below the bumper here…

So, after we got the front clip on, I ran wires to the front and rear and to all the dash parts…


Here’s a shot of most of the dash wiring…it’s close to being completed…

I used a Rebel wire harness…got a few extra fuses in there that aren’t being used in this panel right now…


Ain’t wiring fun…???

There’s all that was left of a Rebel wire harness…and of course, the original wire harness laying there...it's so much junk now. FWIW, there was plenty of wire to reach everywhere necessary…


Check it…almost done…yeah …riiii-iiight…!!!

When we completed the wiring this past weekend (Oct. 27th), I pulled the column down. I had it hanging off a wire from the ceiling after I painted it and I stuck it thru the firewall and bolted it up partially…I needed to check the fit in the u-joint I used to put the two together and to see if I had enuff clearance for the column shifter to match up to the T-400 shift linkage. I do.


The column is ALMOST in here. Note the U-joint connecting the two…and if you look closely, you can see the oil guage sending unit. We purchased an electric oil gauge and an electric water temp gauge...and mounted the gauges below the dash.

I’ll pull the column back out and have the top part of the joint TIG welded before I permanently mount it.


Hey, check that…it’s starting to look like a ’60 Chevy dash…I've sent the speedo (center dash pod) down to be cleaned and rebuilt, if necessary and set the odometer back to zero...that way I'll be able to tell how many miles are on the car...

I put the ’61 Impala wheel on just to see what it was going to look like, I still need to put all the guts in the column to make the turn signals work…then we’ll see if we can fire up the engine…the carb is overhauled and all I have to do now is run some fuel line and change the oil.


The new aluminum cross flow radiator is sitting, waiting for us...

...to get the underside of the hood painted and then we’ll fit that…once that’s on, we can set the rad in and find the correct height for it, buy a couple of hoses and put in some anti-freeze…

So, we're a lot closer to driving around the block…

Hey 3WLarry...this is going to be-

To be continued…

R-

 

Wow, what an impressive build thread.

I don't spend much time here on the HAMB any more, but with a torn ACL I'm recovering from, I had a couple of hours to read through your thread this morning.

I love those big GM wagons, and the 2 door Brookwoods are at the top of the cool list.

You and Dan are doing some impressive work. Now if only I could get out to the garage!

 

Hi Roger.Nice build going on there.Like my Grand Father used to say"Slow and sure beats the hell out of quick and dead".
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

Thanx Hudson, appreciate the compliment...and woodbutcher, slow and sure is the only way Dan and I know how to work to get something done...

R-

 

...........and when you and Dan are done with the wagon, you're coming to my house to finish my 56, right?

 

hmmmmmmm, ArizonaGeezer, I think maybe I'm going to roll my '48 Cadillac sedanet in the garage next...I've been itching to get going on that...oh, I just bought a '51 Willys Aero two door sedan...I might have to turn that one into a "gasser" sometime between now and the '48 gettin' finished...after that, I've got an open garage...

R-

 

Roger, I just came out of the ether and saw your thread. Nice build Man!

Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

Sorry for the late reply Roger, here ya go, my wife's grocery getter.

 

Just read all 11 pages! What a cool build! Solid.

what kind of wheels/tires are in the future?

thanks for sharing!

 

Looking for a roof rack

 

great work and a cool build to follow, subscribed.

 

Update # 14…

Anyone notice we skipped thirteen…??? No, I’m not superstitious…or anything like that…I don’t believe in triskaidekaphobia (look that up in your Funk & Wagnell’s…!!!). OK hold on, OK, OK, I’ll admit it, I am…just a little bit…and I have a very valid reason for that. Ask me about it in person some time.

Anyway, let’s just call this update:
THINGS ARE GETTING PRICIER…!!!

Think not…??? Shock absorbers for the wagon set me back $105.00 for all four…I had to go buy another quart of paint last week to finish the underside of the hood -$118.00 (plus tax), PLUS another quart of PPG’s epoxy sealer- $108.00 (plus tax) and I get the good guy discount (yeah, it’s not much of a discount, but every nickel I save helps…!!!). A couple of brass parts for the tranny lines and a phenolic carb spacer set me back $48.00. I spent $25 for a couple of hard lines for the carb and tranny, plus some bulbs for the dash lights…another $75 bucks for a turn signal mechanism/canceller and arm for the column, some cardboard kick panels and a couple of door lock knobs…another $100 bucks for jute padding to go under the $300 carpet, $75.00 for more plastic door panel material, last night I spent $28.00 for some rubber tranny line…good thing I bought the tranny cooler at the pic-a-part for $10.00, I see Eckler’s has them for $58.00, at least I saved some money there, a headliner for $169.00…ahhhhhhhh, the list is almost endless. Never let anyone tell you that you can build a car for next to nothing (unless you own a junkyard AND an auto parts store…!!!)…!!!

The above list does not include the more expensive items we’ll need…and we’re closing in on those fast…need a drive-shaft shortened, a new carrier bearing, new u-joints, dual exhausts, tires…ad infintum…!!! How much are we gonna sell this wagon for…??? Depends on how much $$$ we put into it…and we usually don’t include our labor…

Oh hey, Silverado85, where ya been…??? Good to see you on here. Pumpman, thanx for posting up those pix, is that first pic the driveway of your home/garage…??? Sure is cool looking if it is. If our wagon comes out half as good looking, we’ll be happy. Racer756, we’re going to use the five-spokes you see on the car, we’ll just paint them back to the standard gray like they used to be and the tires that are on the wheels now are just roll-around tires and will be used only around town…they’re a bit old and I don’t think they’ll last out on the street/highway…we found out the rear end is a 3:70, so when those tires go bad we’ll go find some new ones…and Jimmygee, can’t help you with a roof rack, I know of none around…!!! 1959 Nomad, thanx for the post…and for looking in…your wagon is looking good…!!!

OK, back to the build - we got the brakes bled the other day and only had one small leak…and that was the line that went into the drum…a couple of turns and no more leak…I done good, who said putting in brake lines was troublesome…and we’ve got a good peddle now.

We got a lot of little things done the past couple of weekends…so without further adieu, let me show you:


Coated the underside of the hood with epoxy sealer…notice the yellow tape preserving the patina…???

The Champagne color went on easily…as you can see the Sunday I painted this the weather was nice…and it’s always easier to paint outside, the ‘dust’ simply blows away on the breeze and doesn’t settle on the car…or the other painted parts in the garage, let alone on the light fixtures hanging from the ceiling. As you’ve seen I taped off the edges to ‘preserve’ the red ‘patina’ of the hood…we’ve decided we’re not going to paint the car until next year sometime (it’s all about $$$ at this time…!!!)…IF at all. Someone may need this wagon before we get around to it and we’ll let them decide how and what color to paint it. I have my own ideas on it, but we’ll see how it goes.


And here it is, all Champagne colored.


And while I was at it, I painted some smaller parts...

…the kick panel retainers, the rear seat ‘rests’ and the dome light…I think the painted dome lights’ll look good on the new tan or sand colored headliner…

Oh, BTW, I went to the junkyard and pulled another dome light out of four door sedan and added it to the rear of the wagon…so now I’ve got two dome lights in the car…one directly over the spare tire well so you can see what you’re looking for when you finally get home at midnight after that long trip and you don’t want to go find a flashlight to see where your suitcase containing your keys to the house are…!!! Simply open the door and you’ll have plenty of light.


I also painted the rear seat brackets, the one’s that make the seats fold…that was fun trying to get them painted in the car…but it got done.

Thot I’d toss this one out there…the pic below shows the pile of cast-off and extra parts -- ’60 Chevy stuff we no longer need… I have two two-speed windshield wiper motors if any of you need one…once we got the big block in place, the two-speed motors wouldn’t fit past the distributor, so we had to keep the single speed…it works fine-we’ll just have to not drive fast.




And here’s the pic of what’s left of our “baggy box”…I tossed the box and laid it all out on the floor so we can see what’s left to put back on the car.

Look at the pic below, it's all wired and ready to go. As you can see the center pod is back on the dash… ...and let me tell you how expensive it was to have that speedometer fixed - $170.00 to have the odometer replaced, set back to zeroes and the unit cleaned and ‘greased’ up so it’d work like a new one. I about fell over when he told me the final price…it'd BETTER work like a new one…!!! The ’61 wheel looks good on the column huh, and the last thing I have to do is put the gear indicator back on the column…then that part of the build will be done.


The dash and column are all done…


Here’s the last thing we put on the car-new shocks…those went back on last weekend.

I thot I’d show you a few of the “trick” things I’ve done to the ’60…and these are things NO ONE will notice when the car is painted, but they’re little details you prolly won’t find on any other ’60 Chevy…

Anyone out there recognize this little item…there’s two of them on the wagon…OR there WAS two of ‘em…!!!

OK, give up…??? Those little items go on the sides of the taillight area…on a more expensive model like a Bel Air ( Parkwood wagon) and Impala (Kingswood wagon) they are made of aluminum and polished…I didn’t like the look of them on the wagon, so I shaped a couple of metal pieces, welded them in, tossed some bondo at them and sanded them off…now they look like part of the body…right…??? NO ONE will ever notice I did that…!!!


See how clean that looks…!!! Stay tuned, I’ve got another little ‘trick’ I want to show you in the next update…

So, that’s it for this update, it’s…

To be continued…!!!

R-

 

Roger,

Your wagon project is really looking good. I was able to put 4,000 miles on my Brookwood this summer. After the Lead Sled nat's in Salina I pulled the springs the previoius owner had torched and replace them with 3" dropped coils from Eckerts. Rides great and sits nice and low. I know you used 2" dropped on the front but they told me they didn't have 2" dropped springs for the back, only 3" drops for all four wheels.

 

I feel your pain on the parts prices. Mighty cool car at the end, though. Another nice touch on the tail light rim.

 

Not many comments lately...either we've lost a lot of readers...or people are bored with a 'stock' build...!!!

No matter...my bro and I are continuing on to the final parts of the build...

UPDATE # 15

Let’s call this update:

Our (second) Goal.

Since we missed our mid-summertime goal of having the car driveable, now we want to be able to drive this car by January 1, 2014…

But, since this is a “build” thread let me show you some pix of the past few weeks happenings and how we’re achieving that:

While I had epoxy mixed up when I sprayed the taillight areas, I didn’t want to waste what I had left so I had Dan sand the balance of the interior pieces, plus the new moldings I made (more on that later), and the body around the rear quarter window.



Some months ago we killed the rust under the trim with some of Eastwood’s rust killer. So I had Dan sand off some of the original white paint on the body in order to spray the epoxy around the rear quarter window (he gets all the 'fun' jobs)...…Dan spent quite a while sanding it down to bare metal, that old paint is tuff, but he got it taken care of. Now we’ve put the stainless back in, then we’ll put the quarter windows back in (after I have them tinted) with the new rubber…that should essentially take care of the window situation in the car…


Here’s a shot of the area and the polished stainless back on.

Oh, here’s a look at the rear park lights, those are new lenses…the wiring is done and everything is working like it should:


Sorry for the blurry photo…

I had an old tranny cooler left over from my Cadillac build, so I built a couple of mounts and mounted it directly behind the grille and in front of the radiator, then bent a couple of metal lines to go thru the radiator support…they come thru right under the battery box and you cannot see them at all…I bought nine feet of tranny cooler line and ran it thru the passenger’s side motor mount back to the side of the T-400 tranny. Once I was satisfied with the cooler installation and where it was, I slid under the car and hooked up the tranny lines. I had to take care of the cooler installation before I put the radiator in as there is simply no room to get my hands between the radiator support and the fender support to try to mount the cooler…you may think there’s a lot of room behind that grille, but trust me, there isn’t - the horns barely fit…!!!

Once that was taken care of, we finally grabbed the hood and put it on…and surprisingly, didn‘t have to adjust much of anything, save the passenger’s side fender required three spaces to push the fender out a bit to allow the hood to close without hitting anything. Did we get lucky or are we just good at building cars…???


Nice…and hardly any adjustment needed.


I didn’t even have to adjust the latch at the front of the hood…looks good, eh…???

Basically, the body is done as far as I’m going to go with it right now (love the patina look…!!!).

After the hood was bolted on, then I could figure out how high to set the new AFCO crossflow radiator, didn’t want the hood to rest on the tanks or the radiator cap. FWIW, the radiator is courtesy of my bro, Dan…he won the ‘hot rod’ portion of the autocross at GoodGuy’s event here in ColoRODo in 2011 and got several certificates for good stuff…we’ve used a couple of them-one of them was for anything AFCO…so we needed a radiator…got this ‘direct fit’ rad from them…another certificate was for some Auto-meter gauges…got them for free too and they are hanging under the dash now.

While I had the car in the air, I crawled under it with my measuring tape and measured the distance, put a level on top of it to make sure it was level…and then mocked up the radiator. On this radiator, I had to drill my own holes in the aluminum side pieces to match the stock holes so it wasn’t simply a case of setting it in then bolting it in place. I had to make sure it didn’t get set in too high…


Took about an hour to get it leveled, centered and holes drilled and filed, but it got done…looks like it should work fine…

I’m not sure now that I’ll use the radiator shroud I painted all up purty as that big block takes up a lot of forward room…!!! Guess we’ll see when we get it running…now all I have to do is go find radiator hoses…and of course, plenty of other parts to make the engine run: spark plugs, plug wires, oil, oil filter, air cleaner filter, anti-freeze, tranny fluid…yep, more $$$...!!!


Man, my photo shooting skills suck right now…talk about not holding the camera steady…!!!

While the car was still in the air, I figured I’d better go find the driveshaft and get under the car and measure…I couldn’t quite figure out how to measure it since it has a carrier bearing right in the middle of the X...so I decided to pull the driveshaft apart and see if I could put the T-400 yoke on it…it took some hammering to beat out the old u-joints but I got ‘em out (the bearings inside the caps were still good, but I’m going to put in all new U-joints.). Then I noticed one of the caps I beat out was busted, I guess from me hammering on it, so I left the u-joint out, slipped the T-400 yoke into the back of the T-400 and then fought the stock driveshaft in so I could bolt the carrier bearing in its place…I’m only going to have to shorten the driveshaft about 2 ½”…too bad it didn’t work stock length…oh well…it would have saved me $150.00 ( not counting the cost of three new u-joints)…!!!

Remember I told you I’d show you another little trick I did on the ’60…??? Well, here’s another little thing I did to “improve” (at least, I think it improves the interior)…although it took more work than simply a little thing…!!!

Remember this shot…???

Notice the metal piece that goes all the way across the door.

Well, that’s from the original door panels, and the fronts and rears are made the same way from the factory. The stock vinyl cover extended to the window, effectively covering this metal piece. I didn’t like that the door panels would have vinyl here since I painted all the rest of the moldings Champagne…and the moldings surround all the windows except the doors and rear windows. So I ripped all the old vinyl off to find the door panel cardboard is simply attached to the metal pieces via staples, of course, the original factory cardboard was warped and rotten from being wet and had to be redone anyway. After I tore off all the old vinyl and cardboard from the metal pieces, I cut some new door panels out of plastic panel material (it doesn’t warp when it gets wet)…and in the photo above and below you can see it on the doors…oh yeah, those armrests are out of a Buick, about the same year and so are the door releases…anyway, I made the panel and added clips onto the panels (I hate screws in door panels and being able to see them). The "clips" will be hidden by “landau” foam and new upholstery…and then I modified the metal. I trimmed the bottom of the metal off with my shears, then had the bottom folded under so it had a nice straight edge. It’ll hold the new door upholstery material in place, and hide the top of the plastic panel. Then I drilled a couple of holes for screws to hold the ‘new’ molding on.


Here’s a pic of it after I modified the piece…notice how much shorter it is at the bottom now.

In this photo you can see I had to weld in a small piece of metal (shiny part) on the ‘molding’ because the original piece left room for the vent window handle…and the reason the molding is so dark is because I put Eastwood’s rust stopper on it to stop it from rusting…from here I sanded it, shot some epoxy on it, and then tossed some bondo at it to smooth it out, then shot some paint on it. When I put it back on the door, the Champagne colored moldings went all the way around in the interior of the car… Cool, eh…???


After I had it fitted, I sanded the primer down and shot some new Champagne on it…

I painted the arm rests as well…that green simply didn’t go with the colors I’ve picked out for the interior.


Looks good, eh…??? Notice I even upholstered the arm rest in vinyl…

Now the painted moldings continue all the way around the interior…next I’ll pull the old rubber off the doors and shoot Champagne on the molding around the glass. That’s the only part of a ’60 Chevy molding that’s not removable (and after that happens, I’ll replace the rubber)…!!!

Oh, the green tape that’s on the door is simply me trying to figure out how to do the upholstery…I’m using vinyl and fabric…the vinyl will go top and bottom of the green taped area and the fabric will go inside that and be pleated. However, the passenger’s side door has a different pattern taped on it so this one may not be the final look…

Well, that’s it for this update…next time I hope to have driven the car around the block…or two…!!!

This may or may not be continued…!!!

(Yeah, it will as I’ll need to give you an update on the interior and how the car drives…!!!)

R-

 

continue! continue!

 

We're here man, just waiting and watching!

My '27 T Roadster build: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t= 734383

 

I have been following this whole build thread, and waiting for the next "episode". Love your build, simple, cheap and with what you have and can scrounge up. This thread has inspired me to keep on keepin on with my 62 bel air project. KEEP IT UP MAN!!!!

 

Please continue the updates!!!

 

Keep the updates coming!


Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

Roger,your attention to detail is whats going to raise the bar a bit higher.

I love the look. HRP

 

That car is so cool and in capable hands as usual. I'll try to stop by soon.

 

As Freddie Prince from the old show "Chico and the Man" would say "LOOKING GOOD"

Keep it up

 

One if my favorite chevy models. I absolutely love your builds very educational keep posting

 

I have a question for you guys. On my 61 it had a lot of tailgate rot. That area had to be rebuilt.
We had to make a new channel for the window to sit in. what I need is the wheels that the window channel sits on do you have any source on getting them as mine are nonexistant.
Any help would be appreciated.

 

Lookin' good Roger!!!

Thanks for taking the time to write and take pics for us.

 

Lots o work done to this one.

 

Very Kool, I enjoy reading your build post. All of your cars that you build all sit right.
I can't wait to see how you wrestle the front end. I just learned to settle with mine. It
is growing on me. Please continue I'm seeing some stuff that I forgot to do.