Joined: September 16, 2003 Posts: 880 Location: Saratoga Springs, UT
Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 9:00 am Post subject: My 1959 (60 model year) DC "Roach" Build Thread
Well, I figured it was high time I actually added a build thread for Roach.
I was involved in a pretty serious car accident in December 2008. A 2002 Escalade going 50 in a 35 rear ended me in my 66 bug while I was stopped. After we settled on the value of my bug with the insurance agent. I was left with my 66 13 window. As my medical bills piled up and a settlement was not happening anytime soon, I was forced to sell my bus. About that same time, my brother spotted the roof of a bus when driving home from work and called me up. The deal was struck truck unseen and he was shipped out here to Utah.
I don't have a picture of Roach when he was found, I yet, the phone that had them died and I am trying to get some picts from the PO. This was one of 2 trucks the owner had, he had a 58 single cab and this 59 double cab. I actually got the stories mixed up about how he got the dc and scab.
The PO bought Roach in 1963 if I remember right. It was crunched in the 70's and built to run again in the 80's and has sat in his yard since the early 90's. It is originally Dove Blue, but was resprayed 3 times. It was painted mint green in the mid 80's and then white later. I picked it up in 2009. Here it is on the truck:
Interior:
I called it Roach because it had this on the rack and I thought it was pretty accurate:
I tore down the engine, rebuilt the carbs and got it running again. This is a video my wife took of his maiden voyage:
After that, I pretty much decided to drive Roach as he stood until last year. I'll post more later. _________________ "When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car."
Last edited by ldsvwguy on Fri Mar 23, 2012 12:37 pm; edited 1 time in total
Joined: September 16, 2003 Posts: 880 Location: Saratoga Springs, UT
Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 12:33 pm Post subject:
More pictures. The dc had been in one heck of a rear ender and was hit on the driver's side. The cargo floor was solid, front floors had the usual rust.
Inside of driver's side:
Outside damage marked:
Cargo floor
The gates are all OG seamed gates, but they all were pretty dented up and had rust holes on the bottom.
The bulkhead was rocked. Not sure how someone can pull that off.
Both sides were jacked. Wheel wells were cut and then patched with incorrect wells. To make it even worse, the patches stuck out about an 1/8" inch and the sides were just filled with bondo.
_________________ "When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car."
Joined: September 16, 2003 Posts: 880 Location: Saratoga Springs, UT
Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 7:35 pm Post subject:
61TXghia wrote:
LOL, screaming tires on maiden voyage. I love Double Cabs.
Those tires were so old that they shredded during this trip around the block. I was rolling or the rims when I got back home. _________________ "When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car."
Joined: September 16, 2003 Posts: 880 Location: Saratoga Springs, UT
Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 10:05 pm Post subject:
Somewhere around the Modesto area in CA. The driver was a pretty cool guy from what my brother said. _________________ "When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car."
Joined: September 16, 2003 Posts: 880 Location: Saratoga Springs, UT
Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 1:17 pm Post subject:
More Updates:
I sent Roach down to Big Mike's shop, Washington County Collision and Customz to have the bodywork done. This is after blasting:
Mike got to work on the bad driver's side:
The Passenger Dogleg was full of rot and bondo:
More to come. _________________ "When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car."
Joined: September 16, 2003 Posts: 880 Location: Saratoga Springs, UT
Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 11:01 pm Post subject:
I keep digging through them and post some more. _________________ "When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car."
Joined: September 16, 2003 Posts: 880 Location: Saratoga Springs, UT
Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 9:46 pm Post subject:
The lower hooks for the front seats had been cut out and filled with tar. I guess they were going to use some other type of seat but never finished he job. Lots of random welds all over the seat area.
The floors have been gone for a long time. Here is the old floor patch:
Both of the battery trays were rotted too.
While the truck was gone, I started getting to work on the seats.
This after blasting, priming them in the garage. Wife was not too pleased with the gray primer dust all over her side of the garage.
She was even less thrilled with the black paint, but the frames came out great.
A nice package arrived for me from Matt Miller.
I could not help but be stoked with how awesome these looked! I jumped right in and started getting this on my fresh frames.
Bottom:
_________________ "When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car."
Joined: September 16, 2003 Posts: 880 Location: Saratoga Springs, UT
Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 9:55 pm Post subject:
Stack of seat goodness!
Back to the body------
Here the funky green sides have been installed. How sweet is that to NOT see the crappy lipped patch job! My wheels back from fresh paint.
Seamed gates being straightened:
Nose:
While Mike was sorting the metal, I was sorting the engine.
Here it is, just about done:
_________________ "When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car."
Joined: September 16, 2003 Posts: 880 Location: Saratoga Springs, UT
Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 11:16 pm Post subject:
After seeing Cjsmitty's incredible build, I'm almost embarrassed at mine but i appreciate what I have. Anyway, here is another update:
What i will be running for tunes:
SecondSkin AlphaDamp .060 Dampening
Tsunami 4g amp kit
Tsunami Battery Terminals
Stinger 6-channel Twisted Component cables
Audiocontrol Three.2
Kicker ZX700.5 Amp
Alumapro ALC 5.2 Component system
Alumapro BP-12
Running off an ipod touch with no head unit.
_________________ "When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car."
Joined: September 16, 2003 Posts: 880 Location: Saratoga Springs, UT
Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 8:32 pm Post subject:
Thanks! I'll keep posting as the build moves along. _________________ "When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car."
Joined: November 12, 2006 Posts: 643 Location: Auburn CA
Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 6:57 am Post subject:
ldsvwguy wrote:
After seeing Cjsmitty's incredible build, I'm almost embarrassed at mine but i appreciate what I have.
Thats crazy..... You have done a great job with your DC and it looks great! Don't think for a second mine is perfect because there is no such thing when it comes to restoring a car Keep up the good work and keep us up to date with your build and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.
Joined: September 16, 2003 Posts: 880 Location: Saratoga Springs, UT
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 8:45 pm Post subject:
Thanks for the encouragement guys.
Here are some more shots. I have been working on wiring up the audio right now. I'm just about done and will start laying down the dampener friday or saturday. After that will be engine and interior. I've forgotten how much of a pain assembling the popouts and pretty much every window was. I haven't had to do this since 92. I'm actually wondering if Wolfgang assembles windows now....
Anyway, here are some updated picts.
_________________ "When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car."
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Keep up the good work and keep us up to date with your build and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.
