Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
 

This felt a little like Christmas day when you open your present expecting the Red Ryder BB gun and only got a Christmas jumper knitted by your Nan.

At least your eyesight will be safe....

P. :D

Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
 

Or worse Santa forgot to leave your present and you have to wait till he can get back by......

Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
 

This build is looking awesome. I love the attention to detail in all that line bending. My fuel lines did not turn out how I wanted them. Now that I have seen how you do your brake lines, I am thinking there is definitely going to be another set of fuel lines made for my truck in the future. In the meantime, I am going to use your welding wire trick to make my brake lines so I can get the truck driving again.

Here's one shot of my fuel lines. I didn't take many pictures of them.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.n...ad958f947d5118

Looking forward to more progress.

James

Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
 

Dang Alex, we're all out here in the cold waiting for you to open the garage door so we can see what you've done....

Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
 

I bet he's been driving it around with Kustombrad and he just getting running shots and so on. He's probably been done with it for a while and just didn't want to intimidate us. Or he could just be busy too......One day I'll turn on the computer and there will be updates and all sorts of cool stuff for me to drool over.

Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
 

......call off the search party!
I have been slacking off on posting up pictures lately, and I had been blaming it on a buddy at work who works in our IT Department, and he offered to refresh my computer and install the latest anti-virus programs, along with a bunch of other upgrades. Three days after he got it, he went out on Medical for 6 weeks! It really wasn't his fault, because I have a tablet that I surf the net with, but I never knew how to post pictures until Brad coached me through it. So, here goes.....

I had been procrastinating making the power steering hoses because when we Z'd the chassis, I got a little carried away on trying to make the inner fenders look "stock" and I didn't leave a gap between the lower lip and the top of the framerails to route the hoses from the box to the pump. I didn't want to drill holes through the freshly painted inner fenders, so the only other way to do it was to bring them through the frame. The other issue was that the hose routing had to clear the steering linkage, which was now 2" higher due to the "Z". Here's what I came up with:
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps72c09c01.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps786dc8ea.jpg
I had the hoses crimped only on the side that attached to the box and then established the route I wanted. The GM steering box that I used (1979 C10) has casting lugs built in, and I drilled them for 5/16 fasteners and butterfly clamped the hoses to each point. The hoses have a nice route with no kinks, and to ensure that they wouldn't rub on the feedthru hole in the frame, I made a clamp and wrapped it in heatshrink. To secure the clamp, I built a 90 degree bracket so the clamp rides flush to the frame. The hoses make a hard right after they go through the frame, and they are not easy to thread on to the pump, but that's something that I knew was going to happen.

Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
 

I also built some reinforcement brackets for the front sway bar. When frames get "Z'd", the swaybar winds up being bolted to the weak side of the frame (forward of the cuts). I'm running the larger swaybar, so I made the reinforcements out of 3/16 steel plate and bent them up using a press brake. I drilled them up for 1/2" bolts, Grade 8, of course. In the next few weeks, I'll be pulling them back off and painting them chassis black, along with the swaybar.
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps8b0eb7de.jpg

Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
 

I am currently wiring the truck using an American Autowire Classic Update kit (500560). I'll post pictures later. I had to buy a crimper set for the wire terminals, along with some other stuff. Right now, I am figuring out my wire routes and how I can integrate a lot of the updates I have added, like the Flarestat 105, transmission lock-up wiring, underhood lights, and trailer lighting. I don't want anything to look like an add-on.

The bad part is, it's been cold here, and I haven't been in the mood to do wiring. I did get some of the groundstraps done, like the engine to chassis one, and the engine to frame one. I used nice flexible woven straps and wrapped them in heatshrink. Turned out nice.

Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
 

Nice to hear from you & see some progress! As always, I dig your ideas & clean work. :bowtie: I don't feel like doing much when it's cold either. Guess I'm just a wuss. :lol:

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Darn it I've got to go to work but when I get back I'm going to catch up......grrrr........Now you want to post.

Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
 

How long are the power steering hoses you had made? Never even thought of tapping out the bosses. Thanks for the info.

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Super sano, as always. Gonna have to start lookin' for a dragster to push, methinks! Glad to hear from you, Alex.

Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
 

500560 / I have one just haven't open the box figured you would get to it before me so you can share the what not to do.

Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
 

Thanks! Right now, I'm doing some of the jobs that require a lot of drilling and cutting, and it's hard to get motivated when your hands are cold and stiff. Gotta get it done, though.

Haha, my timing is terrible!

The hoses are right at 34 inches long. I had the hose shop crimp the 90 degree ends that secure to the steering box, then I figured out the route and trimmed (2") the excess. The guy at the hose shop thought he was doing me a favor by making both hoses out of ultra high pressure hose, which has a steel braid inner and an abrasion protective outer jacket. Getting the hoses to make the hard bend right at the steering pump and then trying to get it to slide over the low pressure nipple was a royal pain. I'm not 100% satisfied with this, and I won't know if they'll be OK until I fire the engine and spin the pump. If they want to leak, I'll just pull the hoses and make them out of a more forgiving material.

I've got a couple of potential candidates, but I've got to get this thing done before I can offer my services. Right now, I am at the weird stage of the build, where you seem to invest so much time and effort doing stuff that nobody will ever see. I always comment on this when I'm looking at cars at a show. I can always tell exactly where the builder finally got fed up and threw in the towel and said, "it's finished". Investing the time to work out all of the little details sucks when you're in the middle of it, but it's the most satisfying when you're finished.

Here's what I have learned so far.......this kit will require you to either buy or rent the crimpers for the Packard 56 terminals. They are spendy ($125), so I decided to buy a crimper set from Tool Aid for $80 that has 5 different Die sets in it, but none if them are for the Packard terminal. I did a couple of test crimps with a die that's real close (the Weatherpak one) and I'm not 100% satisfied with it. If you crimp a 16 gauge terminal with that die, it distorts the body of the connector, but if you use the next size up, it works OK. I need to invest more time in coming up with a procedure that will work.

Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
 

Ahhhh......that's so much better. Just a little update is well worth it. Thanks for updating us.

Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
 

I was looking for a small project to do in the evenings after work, and I decided that the grill was a great one to tackle. My grill was a Craigslist purchase a while back, and it was cheap because it had a couple of dents and the factory anodizing was really cloudy. The inner brackets were also covered in surface rust. I drilled out the rivets and completely disassembled the inner brackets from the grille. At this point, I removed the dents and straightened the center mesh. You can never get the dents out completely because the aluminum stretches when it gets dented. It turned out pretty good.
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...psf9057926.jpg
After sandblasting and paint, the brackets were ready to reinstall. I removed the factory anodizing from the grill by spraying it with Easy Off and letting it sit for 45 minutes. I then polished the grille, along with the headlight bezels. The center of the grille was really pitted and didn't polish out very well, so I decided to paint it the same color as the center of the wheels.
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps9fb95f95.jpg
I even installed a pair of flat lens H4 headlights. I'll make the final decision on them after I get the grille installed. I may go with round lens H4 lights if the flats look too "late model".
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps7830ecd4.jpg

Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
 

Have you used these headlights before? I'm thinking that in the future I might be going that route. I just want to know what you think.

Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
 

grill looks great as does the power steering lines, are your headlight bezels aluminum or chrome? I just bought a truck which has a beautiful aluminum grill but no bezels, just trying to get a few ideas, thanks.

Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
 

What a great build, so many ideas in all parts of this build without breaking the bank. I am really wanting to know how the ride and drive comes out with the turned over trailing arm brackets and moved forward LCA's, can't wait to see this on the road. Have a great holiday and keep up the fantastic work.

Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
 

They kick butt, and you can upgrade to higher wattage bulbs for an even brighter viewing path at night. There is a limit to how high you can go on wattage due to the small wire gauge of the stock headlight wiring. I would recommend going to a headlight relay upgrade for anything over a 75 watt bulb.

My bezels are aluminum, and are far from perfect. Actually, they match up pretty well to the grille, which isn't perfect either. As far as I know, nobody makes aftermarket aluminum bezels, so you have to find a nice used set. The chrome ones have a brighter finish than the aluminum ones, and I don't know if they would look out of place against the aluminum grille. I would have to think that it's been done quite often.

Thanks for the nice compliment, and Merry Christmas to you as well! I am also very anxious to see how all of my mods work out. My next step is to do a lot of research and study shock rates and lengths to get the best ride I can. Shock selection is one area where most guys don't think about. To me, it's one of the most important things you can do.

Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
 

Thanks for the info. Make sure you show us your findings on shock theory. I'll be interested. Merry Christmas.

Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
 

I was thinking that in one of your posts that you were concerned the steering column may contact the upper control arm, due to the frame height difference of the donor--and that you had a fix in mind. Did I miss the fix, or did I just dream that? Given your capacity for ingenious engineering, I don't want to miss a trick!

Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
 

H4 headlights are the best thing ever for us who drive the early stuff and want way bright headlights! I started using them in the 80's and am hooked. The flat lenses I originally got for my truck but they didn't look right with the curve of my fenders so I gave them to Alex. They look pretty cool on his truck! I got a convex face set for mine. Now here's the cool thing with those lights...you can replace the bulbs! They come factory with 55/60 watt low/high beam but I always installed 55/100's so I had killer high beams. I've always run good alternators so I didn't have any issues and really liked how the lights worked. On our trip home from Bakersfield in October I figured it's over, I can't see for crap anymore, not knowing Alex was thinking the same thing. When I rolled up to my garage I realized my drivers headlight was way dim. I figured I'm not playing fair now since every new car has stupid bright LED or HID it was my turn. I grabbed a set of "off road use only" 90/130 watt bulbs (no blue!) and figured it was my turn to piss off the world. They're soooooo awesome and I only got flashed once since I've installed them and that was from a lowered Honda (I'm pretty sure I blew his eyebrows off when I returned fire) so I'm good!

Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
 

I cycled the suspension from full compression to full droop, and when the suspension was in full compression, the steering shaft was pretty close to the upper control arm. I didn't have the lower control arm snubber installed, but as an added safety measure, we clearanced the control arm. For the fix, we went "old school". I marked the area, which was about the size of a quarter and warmed it with a torch. Once it got to temperature, I grabbed a 1" diameter steel rod and laid it position and smacked it with a mini-sledge. It left a perfect radius with no sharp edges, and I didn't have to remove the arm and weld in a section of tubing. A simple, effective fix.

Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
 

You guys have really sold me on this. My wife drives a little Kia and every body in their mother blind you while driving....oh that sucks, but one day.....lol.

Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
 

Here's a quick shot of some wiring work I've been doing. Although the harness connectors are in the stock locations on the firewall, I'm trying to hide all of the wiring as much as I can. Here is a picture of the forward lighting harness, which normally lays on the inner fender. I decided to hide it inside the inner fender instead, so the harness makes a 90 degree turn and goes through a grommet. The harness is covered with a woven overbraid that I bought from So Cal Speedshop. I made my own clamp standoffs and JB Welded them inside the inner fender and clamped the harness to them.
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...s44a0b486.jpeg
I'll post up more pictures soon.

Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
 

Nice!

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That's cool.

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That's the highly technical procedure I plan to use to "clearance" my '67 frame for the power steering box--I believe a 2 1/16"trailer ball will make a good impression.

Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
 

Very nice!!:metal:

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Look forward to the pictures of it mounted up. So the overbraid you used is it going to be weatherproof on the underside of the fender? I know a lot of the 93-02 Camaro guys do this same trick. But I was worried about the wires being exposed to road grime and such. Its a fantastic idea and looks very clean in the engine bay.

Bret

Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
 

It's funny how the details makes things so cool.

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I did more wiring today, before the rain came and stopped my progress. I mounted the horn (stock '95 Tahoe) on the forward side of the core support, and it tucks out of site behind the core support wedge panels. I wired the horn using a Weatherpack connector, and I coiled and stowed the electric fan wire (the orange wiring in the picture). I am running a mechanical clutch fan, but I retained the wiring just in case I wanted to upgrade to an electric fan in the future. The next step is to figure how I want to route the headlight wiring to the grille, and I'm thinking of using a grommet and sneaking it in directly adjacent to the driver's side headlight.
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...pseac7ac8c.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...psee796578.jpg

Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
 

I like your thinking.

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Although I haven't been posting much lately, I have been working on the '64 as much as possible. I have been doing wiring mostly, and spending way too much time trying to hide it all. I have also been trying to figure out a clean way to route the PCV and brake booster lines. My intake is an Air gap, and Edelbrock decided to place the fitting location for the vacuum t-fitting directly below the rear float bowl of the Holley. After much research to determine a solution, I found that this is a very common issue and there are dozens of threads online with guys in my exact same predicament. I could run a 1" spacer, but I don't like the way they look. I am deciding between whether to run the PCV line forward and drill and install a fitting in the intake plenum or to just remove the intake and drill my fittings in an out of sight location. Here's a pic of the line if I run it forward (disregard the crusty old mock-up Holley and the fact that the TV cable isn't in it's bracket):
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps5497c9d4.jpg
I also built some wiring conduits for the wiring that ends up on the front of the engine. It's just 3/8" tubing, with 3/8 clamps under the intake bolts. Real simple, and it cleans up the top of the engine. On the driver's side, I brought the alternator wiring up to the mount and routed it under and around the backside:
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...psb104939b.jpg
I'm still doing the finishing touches on the gauge cluster, and I'll post up pictures when I'm done. It's turned out nice, so far.

I think I'm just going to bite the bullet and yank the intake and start drilling. The current PCV tube route is really close to the arc of the throttle linkage, and putting the fittings in the rear will make the engine look more tidy.

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How did you cap your tubing for the wire to run through without the wires rubbing raw on the ends? Did you just flare them and went from there? I'm just curious. I really like this idea and think it looks great! Killer work as always.

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Man that looks fantastic. I will be stealing that idea. Always look forward to your updates and pics they are very inspiring.

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I flared the end with a single flare and used the 5/8 inverted flare fitting that came on the line and trimmed a .625 bypass cap and slid it on the end. I then drilled a hole in the cap for the wire. I wanted to have a waterproof assembly because I like to wash my engines often.

Thanks! I wish I was working faster and this truck was running and driving!

Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
 

I like the conduit. Glad you're still movin'!

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I was wondering about that. Do you have any pics purty please. I'm now curious...lol. Thanks.