The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network - Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

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Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

Got my FatMat and wiring harness ordered on Friday.

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

LUV - Luckily I've spent the last few years accumulating parts! I don't have many parts left to buy (okay, so there's more than I hoped), but now I've got to take the time to put them to work.

Shane - Good to hear! Let me know how the FatMat works out, if you don't mind. I'll be needing some sort of sound deadner so my hearing will be intact after my long drive out to the meet.

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

Okay, latest news is not so good. I've hit two additional roadblocks trying to figure out the install of the rear airbags.

A few months back I discovered that the thickness of the c-notch in addition to the frame (and shock crossmember) would be too thick for the studs on the top of the airbag to stick through. It wouldn't be possible to secure them. The fix for that was to drill out the frame big enough that the nut and washer on each stud would fit through the frame and the bag would be bolted to the c-notch.

Last week I started drilling the holes in the frame, and found out my step-bit was not up to the task. I ordered a new bit this week and it's designed for material up to 1/2", so it should work.

Today I was measuring to find the location for the air fitting hole. My roommate pointed out that the 90 degree air fittings I have for the top of the bag might not be tall enough to stick up inside the frame rail once everything is bolted together. After a couple quick measurements we both agreed he was right. So instead of the 90 degree elbows, I ordered two 45 degree elbows from ***************** tonight. Hopefully they will give me the extra height I need.

While I was ordering from ***************** I decided to buy a 337 Thomas compressor. I have a york compressor sitting on the shelf, but I'm not sure what shape it's in, and I don't know how big a hassle it will be to get it mounted correctly. So I can buy some time by using the electric compressor for now.

More good news, I got my tubular transmission crossmember, disc/disc prop valve, and trailing arm bushings from CPP. I was hoping the crossmember would be black, so it would match the trailing arm crossmember, but it's silver. I guess it'll do.

http://newt0.com/simplegal/galleries...3765_sized.jpg

http://newt0.com/simplegal/galleries...3767_sized.jpg

http://newt0.com/simplegal/galleries...3768_sized.jpg

Hopefully the 45 degree elbows will show up before the weekend and if they will work I can get something done for a change!

Progress pics sometime this week or next... no matter what it takes!

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

Hey Alvin ... I had the same problems when I was putting my C-notches in too. We used a 1" hole saw to put the holes in the frame. You can pick one up at Lowes or Home Depot ... make sure you buy a bi-metal saw. Use lots of WD-40 or some equivalent to keep the drill lubricated and cool while doing the drilling. Also remember, a hole saw doesn't need to spin as fast as a twist drill.

By the way, I got my FatMat and wiring harness delivered to me last week ... but it was way too cold to do much in the shop this past weekend. Suppose to be warmer here this weekend and rain, so it will be a good time to be in the shop. Can't do much else with it being so wet.

The thrash continues. :D

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

I wouldn't use WD40, or any other kind of penitrating fluid. Look for something advertised as a foamy cutting oil. THAT is the stuff that makes a cheap cutter seem good, and a good cutter god like.

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man (Post 2022842)

I wouldn't use WD40, or any other kind of penitrating fluid. Look for something advertised as a foamy cutting oil. THAT is the stuff that makes a cheap cutter seem good, and a good cutter god like.

whats wrong wtih using the wd40 or others?

and goodjob on the build so far its looking good and cant wait to see pictures of it together at the board meet even though i wont be there

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

Keep plugging away!! I look forward to seeing it in July!!!!

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man (Post 2022842)

I wouldn't use WD40, or any other kind of penitrating fluid. Look for something advertised as a foamy cutting oil. THAT is the stuff that makes a cheap cutter seem good, and a good cutter god like.

I was advising to use WD-40 only because most folks already have it in the garage. No need to go out and buy some higher priced cutting oil when all he is going to do is drill two holes with a hole saw.

I have been doing machine work for close to twenty years now and have used dang near all of the petroleum and synthetic cutting oils/fluids out there. I can tell you that in the garage, with a hand held drill motor where you have minimum control over the speed or the feed rate, WD-40 will work just fine.

Any oil used in machining metal is for lubricity, cooling the tool and washing the chips out of the path of the cutter. Nothing more. Nothing less. The only difference in cutting oils is some have additives to improve the finish on the workpiece and are mixed to have higher flash points.

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

Ok, got the fittings today. Here you can see just how much taller that 45 is compared to the 90.

http://newt0.com/simplegal/galleries...3775_sized.jpg

We're supposed to get some ice/snow/rain fun tonight. Hopefully it doesn't wind up too serious.

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

Okay.. not as much progress as I would like to have, but winter has been furious on it's way out. Finally got one rear airbag mounted, all ready to go.

http://newt0.com/simplegal/galleries...4016_sized.jpg

Here you can see how the 45 degree elbow fitting sticks up inside the frame.

http://newt0.com/simplegal/galleries...4013_sized.jpg

And finally, the tool of the trade. I wouldn't want to perform this work with the truck together and sitting upright. It was enough of a pain getting these holes drilled with a bare frame flipped upside down!

http://newt0.com/simplegal/galleries...4017_sized.jpg

I'll take some 'in progress' pics when I get to work on the other side.

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

Gotta love Greenlee holesaws, they make the best by far
Nice progress BTW :)

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

Ok, latest progress update:

Finished drilling/cutting all the holes for the rear airbags!

http://newt0.com/simplegal/galleries...4027_sized.jpg

http://newt0.com/simplegal/galleries...4029_sized.jpg

Also test-fit the trailing arm crossmember before I get to painting the frame. It took quite a bit of persuasion, but all the bolt holes line up now.

http://newt0.com/simplegal/galleries...4026_sized.jpg

Now if I can get the rest of the surface rust cleaned up, I can spray some paint one of these warmer spring days!

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

Lookin' Good! Little to no progress to report on this end ... had stuff to do on Saturday and didn't get a chance to get out in the shop. Spent a little time today piddlin' with stuff that really doesn't amount to much ... more or less killing time in the shop with my Dad.

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

Project is looking good. Call me stupid but when and where is the board meet. I've been off of here for a while. Good luck and I just might join in on the thrash if I know how close or far away it is.

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

Never mind I just answered my own question. 12 hours and 750 miles one way. I think I might pass but let me sleep on it.

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

Thanks guys. Haven't made as much progress as I would've liked, but spring is taking it's sweet time getting here. The first dry day over 50 degrees I'm spraying some primer at the least. I've got to get to the point where I'm actually bolting stuff together, not just moving it around the garage!

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

Keepit up you can get it done..

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

Okay, it's been awhile.

Today I sprayed the first coat of primer on the frame. A couple more coats and the gloss black will go on.

http://newt0.com/simplegal/galleries...4119_sized.jpg

http://newt0.com/simplegal/galleries...4113_sized.jpg

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

:c2: Keep uhm coming :metal:

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

Looking good! Reinstalled all my engine driven stuff today (power steering pump, water pump, alternator) with new brackets, hoses, and such ... also installed the rear window with new rubber. Starting bending my stainless steel gas line from the blazer tank to the fuel pump, but didn't get finished ... need a stainless compression fitting.

Spent some of the day over at a buddy's place gathering more parts that were stored there. Geez, I never remember taking all this stuff apart! :haha:

Progress is being made ... slowly but surely.

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

Okay, I sprayed the second coat of black on the top of the frame today. It's not easy to photograph, but here's what I've got:

http://newt0.com/simplegal/galleries...4357_sized.jpg

http://newt0.com/simplegal/galleries...4359_sized.jpg

and a crappy shot of how smooth it is (in some spots lol):

http://newt0.com/simplegal/galleries...4369_sized.jpg

Now I have to flip it and put two coats on the bottom. I have some striping along the outside of the frame rails, and I'll try to take care of that at the same time.

If things keep up at this rate, it might be rolling before too long.

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

looking good i hope you make your deadline, What kind of bags are thos in ur rear?

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

Thanks, I'm pretty happy with it so far. I decided to run Firestone 2600 bags all the way around. That way if I want to take a spare along (in case I take the 2k mile trip to visit my dad for instance) I only need one bag. I'm really hoping to drive this thing a lot, and I'm trying to plan it that way by not having too many customized parts or stuff that you can't get at a local parts place.

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

Lookin good! No progress to report here .... spent the weekend on a mini-vacation with the family.

Hopefully more to report next weekend.

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

Looking good.... Hope you make it

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

when and where is the Meet?

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

Here are the details:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=220089

More progress pics:

http://newt0.com/simplegal/galleries...4651_sized.jpg

http://newt0.com/simplegal/galleries...4654_sized.jpg

http://newt0.com/simplegal/galleries...4657_sized.jpg

Got some brake lines on tonight, not sure how right they are, but some are on. Cleaned up the garage as well.

May is gonna be a busy month!

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

looking good bro!!!:metal: Don't lose hope, you'll make it!! And if you don't you'll just be letting all of us down. So, NO PRESSURE!!:jest:

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

Well if anything else you are making progress.

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

:lol: I know, no pressure at all! I'm looking forward to getting quite a bit done this weekend. The fuel tank is already mounted and as long as the parts store cooperates tomorrow, I might get the engine and tranny set in place.

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

frame looks good, the tranny CM and the trailing arm CM look *****in man, cant wait to see this thing together

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

Ok, the engine is in, but the transmission crossmember doesn't line up with any of the factory holes. Looks like I might be drilling on my nice painted frame. Also found out that the ARP header stud kit I bought won't work with my headers, so that kinda blows. The fuel cell is mounted as well, but I forgot to get pics (you can barely see it in the back)!

http://newt0.com/simplegal/galleries...gine_sized.jpg

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

Man i cant wait to see it in person .........hint hint :)

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

:agree: What's going on with the thrash?

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

My apologies for my lack of updates in MY OWN build thread. Not much of a build thread afterall, eh? It's been a busy couple of months... and things have changed direction a bit.

A friend of mine purchased an original paint 1971 Camaro. It's pretty cool looking, so I told him I'd keep an eye out for an original paint body to put on my rebuilt chassis. At the end of April I saw a post by Keith (n2billet) about his new project "SwingSet". In the post he mentioned selling both Lucy his red '68 and Ethel his blue '68. I had seen pictures of Ethel from last year, and knew she had just the look I was going for. I contacted Keith, and even though he was out of town on business, the transaction was flawless. It couldn't have been any easier. At any rate, on May 19th, Ethel was in my driveway.

http://newt0.com/simplegal/galleries...4991_sized.jpg

http://newt0.com/simplegal/galleries...4978_sized.jpg

http://newt0.com/simplegal/galleries...4975_sized.jpg

So now I had another complete '68 SWB that I had to take apart... dang these projects get out of hand quick! Luckily my dad came into town on May 23rd, so I had some extra manpower and ambition to drive things along. With the help of a few friends we had Ethel mostly apart in one day. Had it not been for a cab mount bolt welded to the floor board, we would've had the cab off the first day. I set-up a web cam to take a pic every 30 seconds, and compiled the pics into a video.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...37984470014080

So a couple days later (between weather and work), we had the cab on the frame. Now it was starting to look like something!

http://newt0.com/simplegal/galleries...5367_sized.jpg

http://newt0.com/simplegal/galleries...2838_sized.jpg

Next up was test firing the engine. This 350/TH350 combo had sat in my garage untouched for two years. We made a pre-oiler out of the old distributor, and while pressurizing the oil system, quickly discovered there was no oil pressure sending unit in the block. So right away she was a quart low! We stole the sending unit from the other engine, and finally got some oil flowing on the rocker arms. Looked pretty promising. We aligned the timing mark, stabbed the new distributor, took the carb off the other engine, and worked on wiring it up so we could test fire it. So finally, on June 8th, we rolled it out of the garage, filled the block with water (oh, you mean there's no temp sending unit in the cylinder head? Let's go steal that off the other engine too), and with a little spray bottle of gasoline tried to see if she'd start.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...46237619644234

I couldn't believe it, it started right up! I looked at my dad and said, "We're not this good". He replied "Apparently we are!". So we ran it a few seconds and let it sit for a minute. Tried starting it again, and it ran again. Figuring the third time is the charm, we tried it one more time, and that's the one I shot the video on (with my cell phone). So, that was pretty encouraging. One less thing to *really* worry about.

Since then, my dad has gone back home to Tucson, and we've made just a little more progress. Sunday night we had finished up the wiring harness for the air ride switches, so we mocked up everything on the garage floor to see if all the components would work. Again, everything worked just as expected. So again, that was pretty encouraging.

Last night we took the bed off of Ethel's old frame, and set it on the rebuilt frame. It will most likely come off one more time before being bolted down, but I needed it in place to mount my compressor and air tank properly, and to measure for wheel backspacing. It was dark when we got done last night, so I just nabbed a pic with my cell phone this morning.

http://newt0.com/simplegal/galleries...0728_sized.jpg

So I'm not really expecting to drive her to the board meet, sorry guys but it's just not worth it to rush at this point. I'm pretty happy with the quality of the work I've done so far, and I'm not willing to sacrifice that just to run into problems on the road to Missouri. I will still be there, most likely in my S-10.

In other news, I will probably be re-doing Ethel's original frame so I can put her body back on it and have matching VIN #s. But that won't be for quite awhile!

So there you have it! Thanks for taking the time to read all that and catch up!

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

Amazing! I'm glad to see that Ethel went to a good home...

Re: Thrash 2007: Will I drive it to the board meet?

So tonight we swapped the axles between the frames, and I sprayed some paint on the radiator support. While the truck was outside I took some pics.

http://newt0.com/simplegal/galleries...5404_sized.jpg

http://newt0.com/simplegal/galleries...5383_sized.jpg

http://newt0.com/simplegal/galleries...5386_sized.jpg

In this pic, you can see all my air ride stuff.
http://newt0.com/simplegal/galleries...5403_sized.jpg

That's all for tonight. Work continues tomorrow!