Oh Joy!
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Oh Joy!
Welcome! You have 60-66 friends here.
In reply to SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) :
I've been watching your build closely here and on the 67-72 forum. I almost traded a motorcycle for a 62 long box GMC and watched your frame video a bunch of times...but the truck had no title which is a no-go in oregon. This one will be much easier than yours to chop and drop 
Yep, it will be.
And, if I may suggest, stick to the "proven" formula. I had my own motivation of doing things different It's easier/faster to just what everyone else has done.
Expensive day in the shop.
Holey fuel tank:
"Patina" where it shouldn't be:
Spent the last couple of weeks on wiring and fuel tank relocation. I bought Speedway's universal 22 circuit kit and a bunch of Packard 56 terminals to essentially duplicate the interior harness/fuse box, since amazingly the bulk of the rest of the wiring is in really great shape. I de-pinned the bulkhead connectors at the firewall and under the dash so from under the hood it still looks like a factory harness, and stock replacement harnesses will plug right in.
I wanted to relocate the fuel tank from the cab to the back but I don't like how low the typical Blazer tank hangs, so I deviated from the formula a bit. Some examples of using a 53-54 Chevrolet car tank are floating around the forums. Tanks Inc offers this tank in an 18 gallon version with the tray for an in-tank pump assembly, but with a pickup tube as well. The examples on the web implied that the tank would tuck up flush with the top of the frame without heavy fabrication. I don't see how that was possible, so I dropped the tank a couple of inches and sawed a big hole through the frame rail for the filler neck. I put the bumper back on and couldn't see the tank so I'm happy. The filler neck will come up through the bed floor until I figure out something better.
Next project - suspension. I don't think a coil spring works this way.
2" drop front springs and 1.5" rear lowering blocks on the way. Next phase will be drop spindles and rear springs (along with a brake upgrade).
Past few weeks have been busy. I'm bad at photo-documenting so this is more of a log for me to remember what I've done to the thing.
-New-to-me tires mounted up
-Fuel tank replacement completed
-Front springs and shocks replaced. I effectively lifted the truck with the 2" drop springs, that was kinda disappointing
-Flushed cooling system, new thermostat and gaskets. Nobody makes the thermostat housing gasket for this particular truck so i had to cut my own.
-Finished off all of the wiring. Everything works, no magic smoke.
-Replaced rear main seal. I don't think i'll ever do that again. Truck still leaks oil so i ordered a drip pan.
I've been doing short shakedown runs in the neighborhood until tonight. I put about 45 miles on it, mostly freeway, to return a borrowed engine hoist. It cruised at 60ish, temp never climbed, oil pressure was steady, stayed in gear...it was great! No vibrations or bad noises...just did old-truck things. It's pretty amazing how much vehicle dynamics have improved, though...
The truck really needs to be shorter and lower though. I think i'll let the credit card cool off for a bit but I think the drop spindles/disc brakes and rear springs are coming sooner rather than later.
In reply to caseyjones (Forum Supporter) :
Looking good!
Well, my patience is short. After commuting to work with the truck last week, I decided disc brakes were no longer a luxury. Parts are on backorder so we'll see when I actually get them.
New side window and vent window weatherstripping is installed, that makes such a huge difference in livability. Same with new sun visors and the new rear view mirror.
Went to the pick n pull and snagged a front sway bar from a '77 1/2 ton. Waiting on bushings to get here from Rockauto. Hoping that improves the handling a fair bit.
Since I'm waiting on parts I thought i'd try to bring some of the paint back to life. Realized pretty quickly that the top coat was never gonna look good. It was super thin and had flaked off all over the truck. I thought, "I wonder what some Easy-Off would do to this?" and impulsively sprayed some on the bed in a section that would get cut out if I shorten it. It took off the nasty top layer and didn't touch the turquoise layer underneath. This led to a weekend of inhaling really bad fumes.
The rough side:
The good side:
Bringing back the white roof, too.
The turquoise base layer is actually a repaint over the original color. It's a really close match. The black is a primer coat between the two color coats. There was some rough body work on the driver's side wheel lip. I'm done with the bed sides and doors. I'm nervous about the hood. I keep telling myself that the top coat had to come off no matter what, and in the worst case I take it in to get a few panels resprayed.
Cool projects!
Mind if I ask what size tires you used on the 15" rally wheels? Just for reference on a couple of my own projects.
ClemSparks said:Cool projects!
Mind if I ask what size tires you used on the 15" rally wheels? Just for reference on a couple of my own projects.
Thanks! These are 255/70R15 all the way around on 8" rally wheels.
Thanks!
Lots of oven cleaner and a couple of magic erasers were sacrificed for the white roof. The hood has a ton of bare metal spots now, too. My plan is to spray black primer and very carefully sand through it where there is still original paint.
In reply to caseyjones (Forum Supporter) :
did you already drop the rear? or is it an illusion? it looks lower in the most recent pic than the ones in previous posts. also, too bad you don't live close to me. we'd already have you stopping with late-model discs all the way around. that's kinda what i do. ;-)
Cool movement on the project. Spitballing and it's not my project so do whatever, but I wonder if you could have some kind of cheap paint like Brightsides boat paint mixed to roughly match the body color you have now, and do a roller paint job on the hood only for the time being once you get it de-rusted and primered. More work than what you're suggesting but seems more likely to go well?
In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :
Good eye! I put the 4" lowering springs in the rear, expecting the front drop spindles/disc brake conversion to be here soon...but they are still in backorder limbo. It's a bit of a tail dragger right now.
In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :
I'm open to ideas on the hood...I don't have to hurry since summer here is really dry. I should probably do my research on techniques others have used too.
If it turns out looking really fake I'll just strip the whole hood and let nature start over on it.
Not much happening on the truck-found a way to get my drop spindles/disc brake conversion parts that were on perpetual backorder by piecing it together...same cost but I got to pick the bearings and calipers. Parts are trickling in over the next week.
I also found not one, but a pair of NP440/A833 overdrive transmissions. Not sure yet if/when I'll make the swap but for the listed price I figured I wasn't going to lose any money. These have the early GM bellhousing pattern so will fit my bellhousing with minimal modification.
Damn, this disc swap is hard work. I'm replacing all of the brake lines too...dreading that and drilling and tapping a new vacuum port on the manifold.
Looks good!
I was looking into potential disk brake conversions (with a drop spindle) for the '69 that BentValve passed along to me. It seems that if you want to stay with 6 lug, you have to get specific "swap" rotor from one of the specialty vendors. Is that what you have there?
(and by this, I mean, I don't think there's a stock application that used this rotor with 6 lug so the speciality vendors are sourcing rotors specifically drilled in this pattern, I expect)
caseyjones (Forum Supporter) said:
I also found not one, but a pair of NP440/A833 overdrive transmissions. Not sure yet if/when I'll make the swap but for the listed price I figured I wasn't going to lose any money. These have the early GM bellhousing pattern so will fit my bellhousing with minimal modification.
This intrigues me. I have a similar caliber truck (SBC/3 speed) that I acquired a NV3500 5 speed for. I have put off the installation because hydraulic clutch, driveshaft length, and trans mount will all be a pain. NP440 looks like it's closer to my 3 speed physically. Yours must be 1981 vintage, as I understand that's the only year for that bellhousing (right?). Only drawback seems to be the big step from second to third. What do you think?
In reply to ClemSparks :
Yep, I bought CPP's 6-lug version of the 73-87 HD rotor and their drop spindles designed for the 64 ball joints and tie rod ends. It's the only spindle I could find that wouldn't grow the track width. Everything else came from rockauto.
In reply to JJK :
I know only the early ones had a Chevy pattern...I think I read 81-83 somewhere but don't quote me. Word on the forums is that these can be fragile if you are really hammering on them but there are improvements that a good trans shop can make to help. I also understand these have the same or very close to the ratios in a 700r-4. I think it will be a good match to my 292, and would work well behind a mild SBC...but my real experience with it is carrying it from my Jeep to my garage floor, so take this all with a grain of salt!
Late night test run was successful. I'm so happy with the stance and the brakes. Need to get it in for an alignment and then drive it for a while to figure out if/how much more to drop the back end...
I like lowered trucks, sometimes I regret buying 4wd. Looks good!
I wouldn't drop the back any further without dropping the front the same amount. I like the slight rake.
On my '77 my lower control arms up front are 3.25" off the ground; the crossmember is 4.5" off the ground.
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