My '86 project so far.

[cadpwrd]

This is the truck I bought almost a year ago. I haven't worked on it much due to the cold winter ( I live right between Erie Pa, and Buffalo NY....BRRRRRR)  It was origionally from S. Carolina (Greenville?) Here is my progress so far.


Just drove her home 3/21/08


4.3 V6...Not gonna cut it.


C-ya  (my old '91 burb in the background)


Doing most of the work in my tiny garage.


Test fitting my 500" Cadillac engine. It was in one of my '75 coupe devilles. It will be a stock rebuild with an Erson cam,Edelbrock intake, and some valvetrain mods. Still undecided on the carb, most likely going with an 870 street avenger.


The bolt-in was quite simple. These are 350 brackets trimmed and flipped (driver's side on passenger side etc.) with Eldorado mounts attached to them. I used and adaptor plate and the trucks 400 trans.


The only issues are the brake booster hitting the valve cover and the pinchweld on the lower firewall needs to be trimmed slightly to make room for the driver's side cylinder head and exhaust manifold. No problem.


Had some neighbors come over to help me remove the box


Had to remove the cab myself.....not fun. I put it up on sawhorses and rolled the chassis out from under it.




Took it to my buddy's garage and cleaned and painted the chassis. His garage is huge....lucky.




Got it back home.

That's all I have for now. I'll get back at it when it warms up out here.

[oldwhity]

Sweet project and I love the garage art!

[JRConnieK10]

 Nice work and you ain't kidding about the cold up there. I had to go up there about 3 or 4 weeks ago. Stayed in Erie. My dad is a truck driver and he had made a delivery up there stopped at the stateline truck stop slipped fell on the ice and broke his hip. So my wife and I went up there so we could bring him home.

[Blazin]

Should haul the mail pretty well!

[cadpwrd]

Sweet project and I love the garage art!

Thanks! I spend alot of time in my garage so I wanted it to look somewhat cool. I found that '69 charger door in a junkyard and decided to paint it General Lee style. I even had it autographed by most of the origional TV show cast.

[oldwhity]

That's cool!

[Flamingbig10]

nice project like the caddy motor

[cadpwrd]

Thanks! I already had the motor from one of my old cars. There is alot of potential for the engines. Plus it's different from what most people see. I don't have to spend thousands of dollars to make decent power. With the upgrades I'm using I should be making about 375hp and 520ft.lbs, nothing crazy, but good enough to start out.

[DnStClr]

Nice work! I'll bet you're glad the gas prices are going down huh? What color will the truck be?

[rockable]

Will you call it a Caddyrado?  Nice project!

[cadpwrd]

Nice work! I'll bet you're glad the gas prices are going down huh? What color will the truck be?

 It's always good to see gas prices go down. As far as the body goes, I'm not touching it now. The only paintwork will be on the chassis, firewall, engine compartment, and door jambs. The paint that is on the truck is decent enough to drive. I want to get the truck running and driving as soon as possible with the new setup. Since I had the front clip off, I felt I might as well paint the chassis. (I was only about 10 bolts away, right?) The truck is totally rust free with the exception of a spot of surface rust in the driver's side rocker about the size of a dime. With a mortgage and a wife, I don't have a ton of money. I also know that the clock is ticking before we start having kids. I figure I can take care of the small stuff now while it's all apart. Put it together and drive it. This way if I can afford to paint the exterior later on, I won't have to completly dissasemble the whole truck again.  Besides, I don't want to be that guy who is afraid to drive his hotrod for fear of messing up the paint. I plan on having some small chips here and there, some rubber kicked up on the bedsides, and dead bugs on the windshield. I'm gonna drive it...hard.

[cadpwrd]

Will you call it a Caddyrado?  Nice project!

I don't know what to call it. Caddyrado? Chevrolac? Got any ideas??

[oldwhity]

Cheville or Caddywompus?!

[69byrd]

Thats a nice project you have there and I love the General Lee door   I am a huge fan!

[cadpwrd]

Thanks! Here's a recent photo of it. I took it off the wall and brought it to the canton hot rod show last month in Ohio. Catherine Bach (Daisy) was there signing autographs and I had her sign it. I also have sigs from Rosco, Bo, Cletus, and Cooter. I know it's kinda redneck, but I loved that show when I was a kid. It's a big part of why I'm such a motorhead today.



I think I just hijacked my own thread!