I have had a lot of work completed in the ’69 Truck. I will have an update coming soon. Its been at the school getting work done I can’t complete due to not having the tools. I will eventually will be able to get work like this done…when I get the new tools in the new garage.

Here are some pictures of the new garage and I will put up some more here of it more recently. I have done some work in here also. These are pictures as I was putting up the radiant barrier material (white on the walls).

New garage at night…..got the lights working and what is neat is that in order to save a bunch of electrical wire running to house to get the lights on I have them setup to work with Alexa……just say “Alexa turn garage lights on” that this happens. Works great.

Update on the truck……

Well what was supposed to be just a engine swap, which is done and basically went well…..but what did not was just changing a rear u-bolt. so here we go. While they were trying to replace the rear u-bolt that holds the rear in……well in place……my rear trailing arms were bend.

(This is not a picture of my truck)

This is not the trailing arms that were in my truck – I was unable to get a picture after they were out and disposed of. This picture is from the web of another guys truck but this is the exact same setup. The red arrows show what was slightly bent.

Here is the new tubular arms are the same ones I put on….again not a picture of my truck but exactly the ones I bought. This is this guys project and he installed outside his truck.

Here are some pictures of my truck (below) with all the rear end parts removed….and then some of the mounting points cleaned up and painted. I will have some new pics soon on this part of the project.

Here are some other updates to the truck I have done.

Ok lets go though these one at a time. The first picture is the new set of gauges I put in so I can actually read them, they are 2.5 inches in diameter bigger than the old ones and the lights actually work.

Ok….Pic 7 —- this was with what was supposed to be “stock” ride height rear springs….Uh oh…..looks like a 4×4, so way too high. They would have settled…but I do not think even then it would have looked right.

Pic 8 Went with a 3 inch “drop” rear spring and well it looks much much better. I hope it rides ok.

Pic 9 and 10 getting a new transmission torque converter since the one that was in it was too weak for the newer engine. That project is about done – I need a new transmission but that is a later project, but I will be going with a 4-speed or a 6 speed.

Update 3/25/2024

I have the truck home. As soon as I get a free afternoon….hopefully this week I will get some pictures on what I had done this past year while the truck was at the school. But here is a list:

• New gauges under the dash to show Temp – Amp – Oil Pressure Bigger so I can see them better.
• Engine swap – old 1979 Chevy 350 out (and sold) and newer 92 Chevy 350 in w/some new accessories (alternator – Power Steering – Belts – etc.
• New torque converter
• New 3″ drop rear coil springs
• New tubular “CPP Brand” (stronger and lighter) rear trailing arms to replace the factory bent ones with new bushings – You can see these in pic 5 above.
• New Rear in U-Bolts I put one one and the other was so rusted in I did not have the tools to get it out.
• Rear end painted
• Some touch up paint just were the new parts were put in in pictures above – not a permanent paint covering
• Lots of little do-dads to get all this in

As I said this was supposed to just be a engine swap….but a lot of other things came up. The rear end work was not expected, but with bend trailing arms replaced I know that the rear is tracking straight.

Two projects I have coming up are new side marker lights (Pontiac Firebird) I have them bought and they need refurbished – they will fit flush and I think look better and new LED dash lights. I hope to get these sandblasted in June ’24.

Well…..I am going to be working at getting some new parts that are needed since I did lower the truck. I did a 2.5 inch lower in the front and a 3 inch in the rear. So I am looking at some things needed to correct the new angles since it is now lower. These will be:

Rear shock relocation kit to get the rear shocks at close to a OEM shock angle. This is needed to made it ride better. I also need to get a longer trac bar to also compensate for the lower stance. This will enable the rear end to align better since its lowered 3 inches. All of this will make it ride more stock I hope.

Next project is new cab mounts since mine are totally shot. They are rubber and the rubber in two of mine are totally cracked and worn out. I am hoping this will help get the truck level. The new suspension parts I have put on have helped in getting the truck more level from side to side. But I hope this will get it super close. Right now the drivers front is drooped compared to the rest of the corners.

When I get the truck back up on jackstands I will get some pictures of the plans for the next 4 months.

More to come……