Conversions not for rookies- 928 power in '63 Chev PU + personal dilemma
11-19-2004, 04:20 AM
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Conversions not for rookies- 928 power in '63 Chev PU + personal dilemma
Background-
Fellow Rennlister BrendanC(from San Diego) put out a request for help retrieving parts he'd purchased in Washington State, 1200+ miles away. I live about an hour from the seller and will be trailering another car to the LA area sometime soon and offered to bring the doors and rear hatch along.
Arrangements made and I go to get the parts. In an enviously uncluttered two car garage sat the unibody of an early 928 on a homemade steel dolly. all suspension and powertrain have been removed and are beside the car. A fender(sold on eBay) gone, and the doors and hatch are off the car, but otherwise there seems to be nothing wrong with it aside from disassembly.
I ask why he's parting out the car. Seems he plans on transferring the entire drivetrain into a 1963 Chevrolet pick-up. The whole works...suspension front and rear, everything, even the 5-speed . I offer that his choice of projects might not be the easiest to complete(let alone start) and he confesses that he's a freak. I didn't pursue that subject and instead focused on the body shell he mentioned needing to discard as soon as he finished taking out parts needed for the conversion.
He said he drove it home(running roughly) just a couple months ago, having bought it with the conversion already in mind. The body meant little to him.
But what a body it is! After he let slip that he needed to get rid of the body ASAP once he measures out mounting references for the project, I took a closer look. Nominally a '79 (no title), it appeared surprisingly clean in all the normally hidden places and showed no sign of having ever been wrecked or suffered heavy impact. It has no sunroof or side moldings. I could see evidence of the original tan paint, a white paint job, and lastly the silver it wears now, but no other worrying items. What really surprised me was that the "Crush me with a floor jack, please" unibody subframe extensions had only one little pushed in spot that barely rates mention. I mean,the body shell is clean. Like "never driven in the rain" clean. I asked why he didn't just fix up the car. Story goes that it belonged to the neighbor of a relative and had been sitting in a garage for a number of years and he'd stop by and offer to buy it now and then. In the meantime, he developed a notion that having that 928 drivetrain in another less pretentious car would be neat. Or maybe even his old Chevy pick-up! This festered in his brain for a while and then here a few months ago the owner finally said yes to his over-the-fence bid. His sole drive in it was from there to his garage, under 10 miles or so.
His raised eyebrow and the inflection in his voice when he said I look like I need the body gave me confidence that I could maybe take it off his hands fairly cheaply, if not for free. Then I'd have my car to provide mechanical hard parts and I could build a stripped down car around my "spare" 300 hp M28/12 motor. I told him to call me when he finishes removing what he thinks he wants off of it. Question is... how long do I wait to call back and not sound over eager?
And I made him promise to call me when he gets his 928/chev pick-up done, but I don't expect to hear from him for quite a while on that.
Fellow Rennlister BrendanC(from San Diego) put out a request for help retrieving parts he'd purchased in Washington State, 1200+ miles away. I live about an hour from the seller and will be trailering another car to the LA area sometime soon and offered to bring the doors and rear hatch along.
Arrangements made and I go to get the parts. In an enviously uncluttered two car garage sat the unibody of an early 928 on a homemade steel dolly. all suspension and powertrain have been removed and are beside the car. A fender(sold on eBay) gone, and the doors and hatch are off the car, but otherwise there seems to be nothing wrong with it aside from disassembly.
I ask why he's parting out the car. Seems he plans on transferring the entire drivetrain into a 1963 Chevrolet pick-up. The whole works...suspension front and rear, everything, even the 5-speed . I offer that his choice of projects might not be the easiest to complete(let alone start) and he confesses that he's a freak. I didn't pursue that subject and instead focused on the body shell he mentioned needing to discard as soon as he finished taking out parts needed for the conversion.
He said he drove it home(running roughly) just a couple months ago, having bought it with the conversion already in mind. The body meant little to him.
But what a body it is! After he let slip that he needed to get rid of the body ASAP once he measures out mounting references for the project, I took a closer look. Nominally a '79 (no title), it appeared surprisingly clean in all the normally hidden places and showed no sign of having ever been wrecked or suffered heavy impact. It has no sunroof or side moldings. I could see evidence of the original tan paint, a white paint job, and lastly the silver it wears now, but no other worrying items. What really surprised me was that the "Crush me with a floor jack, please" unibody subframe extensions had only one little pushed in spot that barely rates mention. I mean,the body shell is clean. Like "never driven in the rain" clean. I asked why he didn't just fix up the car. Story goes that it belonged to the neighbor of a relative and had been sitting in a garage for a number of years and he'd stop by and offer to buy it now and then. In the meantime, he developed a notion that having that 928 drivetrain in another less pretentious car would be neat. Or maybe even his old Chevy pick-up! This festered in his brain for a while and then here a few months ago the owner finally said yes to his over-the-fence bid. His sole drive in it was from there to his garage, under 10 miles or so.
His raised eyebrow and the inflection in his voice when he said I look like I need the body gave me confidence that I could maybe take it off his hands fairly cheaply, if not for free. Then I'd have my car to provide mechanical hard parts and I could build a stripped down car around my "spare" 300 hp M28/12 motor. I told him to call me when he finishes removing what he thinks he wants off of it. Question is... how long do I wait to call back and not sound over eager?
And I made him promise to call me when he gets his 928/chev pick-up done, but I don't expect to hear from him for quite a while on that.
Last edited by Parnelli Joneser; 11-19-2004 at 07:07 AM.
11-19-2004, 01:33 PM
#2
Thanks again Alex. I agree that the shell should be saved.
After over 2 years of pretty much a 928-less life because of ongoing projects, I have decided that driving them with SMALL projects is much more fun then NOT driving them with LARGE projects.
Lets just hope the best for this guy.
After over 2 years of pretty much a 928-less life because of ongoing projects, I have decided that driving them with SMALL projects is much more fun then NOT driving them with LARGE projects.
Lets just hope the best for this guy.
11-19-2004, 02:05 PM
#3
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Keep in touch w/ him and offer your 928 knowledge as he will need it when the time comes to get it running. That way you'll be able to keep your interest in the shell alive and your help may be appreciated when it comes time to get it.
Last edited by tresamore; 11-19-2004 at 03:45 PM.
11-25-2004, 10:34 AM
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I wish I would have taken a picture of the pick-up, it was sitting outside, just a cab under a tarp kind of centered on a frame with bare wheels.