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Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
That's awesome! WTG :metal:
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Dude you got some great skills.....it's really going together nicely ....keep up the good work
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Got some things done on the old beater this weekend. I pulled the original 4-speed trans and crossmember out in anticipation of the upcoming suspension swap. I knew those things were heavy, but holey smokes that trans was a greasy, heavy beast! I wound up firing up the torch and cutting the transmission crossmember and lowering it out with the floorjack. I removed the remaining sections of the crossmember and the attaching rivets as well.
I also installed the automatic steering column, replaced the door handles, cut out the old exhaust, and installed the rear view mirror. I'm getting real close to doing the suspension swap, but I'm going to need to steam clean the chassis first. It's a greasy mess, and that job is not going to be very pleasant. |
Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
I feel your pain, I've spent many hours over the last few months scraping and wiping my frame for new lines, wiring, cross member, and motor trans install. Amazing what you miss while trying to pressure wash it. Good luck, it sure is nice working on when its clean.
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Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
I haven't posted in a few weeks, but that doesn't mean that I haven't done anything on the truck. As I posted earlier, I have a '79 Suburban that I am using as a donor for suspension and whatever else. Well, last weekend, I started tearing it down. Some of the parts were ones I was going to keep, others were spoken for by friends, and I was able to post an ad here on the site and so far have had a lot of responses. It's going to donate a lot of parts, and I'm really excited about how it's going to benefit the '64.
In parallel, I have been pulling the suspension out from under the '64. Here's a few shots with the front suspension removed: http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...igslist101.jpg http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...igslist104.jpg The Donor: http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...slist105-1.jpg And finally, the pest that wants me to play fetch every 30 seconds. She's a great dog, and she would play fetch until her feet bleed. Yeah, she's addicted to that ball. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...igslist106.jpg Next weekend: Pull the final 14 bolts holding the suspension into the Suburban, stream-clean it all, then start detailing the chassis in preparation for the suspension install. Gotta keep knocking things off the list! |
Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
Looking good! I picked mine up for $100 and made it a driver......my winter project is to do the newer front suspension swap from a sub or a long bed pickup......along with some other things....keep it up!
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Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
dogs have got the looks that make you melt, one of mine is just like that...ball, ball, ball ;)
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Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
I got a lot done today. First off, we pulled the front suspension out of the Suburban, then we bolted up the '64 front suspension to the Suburban so it would remain a roller. Then, I steam-cleaned the front suspension and all the rest of the Suburban parts I plan on using. After that, I got on the '64 and steam-cleaned the chassis. What a nasty mess. Oh, another thing: After we bolted the '64 suspension into the Suburban, Brad noticed a NASTY 4" crack in the Suburban's driver's side framerail. It had obviously been in a wreck at sometime in it's life.
I even yanked some more parts off the Sub that I'm going to sell. My buddy Bob, came over and whacked the roof off the Sub so he could use the ribbed roof skin for a '33 Ford sedan that he's building for another buddy. That Suburban has been an amazing donor vehicle. Tomorrow, I plan on bolting the '79 front suspension into the '64, then yanking the 12-bolt out of the Suburban and steam-cleaning it. I'll get the rear of the '64 up high in the air and double-check the chassis and steam the areas I missed. If I have the time, I'm going to McGuyver the '64 rear into the Suburban so it'll still be a roller. Next weekend, I plan on painting the chassis, torching the perches off the 12-bolt, and re-welding new perches. I would like to bolt the rear into the '64 and put her back on the ground. We'll see! |
Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
Another good day today! I got the front suspension installed in the '64, did some more steam-cleaning and yanked the 12-bolt out of the Suburban.
Here's the steam-cleaned front suspension ready to go into the '64. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...slist107-1.jpg And here it is installed. It's definitely got a nose-up stance because there's no engine installed, and the suspension has big blocks springs in it. We'll fix that in the next few weeks. The swap went really well. The suspension is really heavy, and it can be a challenge to get it placed on the floor jack evenly. Once we got it in position, everything lined up. I had to slot one hole on each side and had to drill a new hole on each side as well. It went really quick. I still have to get a steering box bracket from Captain Fab and remove the sway bar frame mounts off of the Suburban chassis. This week, I am going to buy a set of spring perches and hopefully, they'll show up by next Saturday. I'll clean the shock mounts and old perches off of the 12-bolt, and if everything continues to plan, I'll get the rear end installed in the '64. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...slist109-1.jpg |
Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
Dude....
Your a machine , thats alot of work....sounds like your making great progress ..Keep the updates rolling on in..... |
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Thanks! You may think I'm a machine, but after this weekend, I feel like a worn out pup. Getting up for work today was brutal.
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I know that feeling........lol
One day of progress.....3 days recovering....lol |
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I had only one day to work on the 'ol beast this weekend, but I got some of the knuckle-busting work done. The original '64 8-lug rear got yanked out, but it didn't go without a fight. That thing fought me every step of the way. After smashing my finger big-time, I was ready to quit for the day, but Brad fired up the torch and whacked the u-bolts, and then it finally came out. I spent way too much time trying to get the original u-bolts out and wasted a bunch of time doing that. Live and learn.
Got the 12-bolt up under the truck, but now I need to make some calls to Early Classic and order the panhard bar/shock mount relocator kit, along with new u-bolts. |
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Well at least it looks like you've been busy.lol
I'm just checking in on you man everything is looking great. |
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Thanks, Bam!
Yeah, I've been a busy boy lately. I can only work on the '64 during the weekends because my work schedule is crazy from Monday through Friday. I'm also hustling hard to get all the knuckle-busting work completed before it starts turning cold. Once I get the rear end bolted up, I'll mount the exhaust, put the mock-up block and trans in it, set the trans crossmember in place, and then nail-down the exact pinion angle I'm looking for and then I can weld the saddles to the rear housing. I ordered a Super Track Bar kit and a shock re-locator kit from Early Classics yesterday, and they should get here this afternoon. While I have the rear end out, I'm going to flip the front trailing arm brackets and re-bush the trailing arms. It's better to do it now than later! |
Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
I got a lot of work done on the rear suspension in the last few weekends. First, I flipped the forward trailing arm brackets. Pretty straightforward, but you've got a bunch of those pesky GM rivets to remove. I wound up firing up the torch and heating them until they are cherry red, then hitting the trigger and melting the heads off, taking extra care not to torch the bracket. Then, grab the air chisel and knock what's left of the rivets out. When you flip the brackets, you have to drill 2 new holes per side. I wanted maximum strength, so I stepped up the holes to 7/16ths. A total of 16 fasteners, 32 flat washers and some red Locktite and you're done.
The next step was pressing new bushings into the trailing arms. I fired up the torch and burned out the old rubber and removed the guts. Then, I cleaned up the receptacle in the arms with a barrel sander and knocked the new polyurethane bushings in. I painted the trailing arms and frame with chassis black (satin) paint. I bought a Super Track Bar Kit from Early Classic and CPP 5" drop rear coils and mocked up the rear end. I have still not welded the perches on because I have to mock up the engine/trans and carrier bearing in order to accurately get the pinion angle correct. I just wanted to see if there was anything I needed to address before I set the rear in place for the last time. Here is a picture of the rear suspension. Note: the rear axle is yet to be painted, the pinion angle is not set, the shocks are not installed, and the track bar is not installed. If you look close, you can see the new bolts on the forward trailing arm brackets that are now flipped. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...slist114-1.jpg Here's where it should sit at ride height. The wheels are mock ups; the tires are 31x11.50-15 and are really tight inside the wheelwells. I want close to a 30" tall rear tire, and these are relatively close, just a bit too wide. The '79 rear end is 1.5" wider than the original rear end, and that's a bummer because I would love to have a 10" rear rim tucked inside. Not gonna happen, unfortunately. It looks like an 8" will be the widest wheel I can run with this rear axle. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...slist113-1.jpg I have already started on doing some suspension mods on the front, but I'll refrain on posting pictures until the mod is done. Until then, hang tight! |
Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
Nice progress!! Lookin' good. BTW it that a Border Collie?
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Thanks, Allan! Yep, she's a Border Collie. Great dog, super smart. That dog LIVES to fetch. I would recommend that breed to anybody who wants a smart dog that's easy to train and is great with kids.
I have a picture of her that I took on Saturday when I was working on the front suspension that is hilarious. I'll wait and post that picture up with the rest of the front suspension build shots. |
Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
You are doing great work here!
Some of it is stuff I wanted to do, would like to do, and probably will do! I am not much of a search guru, and my tries to find Parklane410 were fruitless. Could you tell me or PM me on how to get in touch with this person? I would like some of those overlays you got. Thanks, and keep up the work. Your pics are super too! |
Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
Hey great to see your making progress ......nice work
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Cool build have not seen it till today the new grill look good
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Looking good Alex. Where are you finding the time to work on this thing? I know you work crazy hours at your job then school as well. I think you are the hardest working man I know! :-)
Nate |
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^^^I hear ya. I try to take advantage of as much of my free time as I can. Unfortunately, the truck has absorbed my free time that was usually reserved for yard work, washing the cars, and right now, hanging Christmas lights. My current goal to get the '64 as a roller before Christmas, then concentrate on brake lines, fuel lines, and some under-hood detailing. The 350 is about to get torn down and inspected, but I don't want too many things going on at one time. That's how vital stuff gets forgotten and you don't figure it out until late in the build!
I was going to ask you if you were going to watch the UK/UNC game today, but that's a given. GO CATS!!!!!! |
Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
I was able to get on the truck for a few hours yesterday. It was really cold and windy, so that kept me from getting a whole lot done. I was able to drive out the lower control arm bushings with the air chisel, and while the lower control arm cross shafts were out, I blasted them clean.
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...igslist130.jpg I am working on a mod to increase caster, so these cross shafts are going to a buddy's house so they can be machined. The intent is to move the lower control arm forward .75", thus tilting the spindle back, increasing caster. The machining will be very simple. Here's a quick drawing I did on Powerpoint to show you what I am going to do: http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...igslist131.jpg In order to do this mod, you have to remove the saddles that are riveted to the center crossmember. There are four of them, two on each side. These saddles are what keeps the lower control arm in position, and are held in place with u-bolts. They are kept from spinning by a stud that locates itself in the spot-faced holes in the lower control arm shaft. Here, you can see a picture of the front crossmember showing the two bolt holes for the u-bolts and the rivet head for the locating stud I mentioned earlier. The stud side is not visible in this picture. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...slist116-1.jpg In order to get the saddles removed, you have a few options. You can grind the heads off and drive out the rest of the rivet. Or, you can fire up the torch and melt the rivet heads off, then drive out the rest. I opted for the torch. I learned quickly that even with the head and tail of the rivet melted off, the rivet stems did not come out without a fight. I had to warm up the rivet stem with the torch and shoot them out with an air chisel. The rivets go through 4 layers of steel (doubler plate, saddle, and and 2 layers crossmember). Once you get them out, here's what the pieces look like after a few minutes in the blaster: http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...slist118-1.jpg Here's what you'll see when the saddles, doubler, and rivets are removed. I decided that I was going to use a 7/16 X 1.25 socket head cap screw as the new locating pin, so the center hole in this picture needed to get opened up to a 7/16 to ensure that bolt would fit nice and tight. The light area in the front is the lip on the crossmember, which will be cut away. Sorry for the dark picture, my lighting was a little goofy yesterday. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...slist120-1.jpg Moving the control arm forward will cause the aft side of the control arm to get really close to the center crossmember, so I removed the lip and blended out the cut to eliminate any sharp edges that could cause a stress riser. You will only need to cut the lip back to where it meets the second metal layer. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...igslist121.jpg That's all I got done yesterday. After the shafts get machined, I put them in place and show you the difference. I promised earlier to show you a funny picture of the Border Collie, Tori. I was burning out the old control arm bushings and she was right in the smoke path, but she was so focused on wanting to play fetch she was oblivious to what was going on. She lives to play fetch. I'll be working underneath the truck and she'll constantly drop her stick or her ball right on your foot to get your attention. Goofball........ http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...igslist127.jpg More to come!!!! |
Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
[QUOTE=chevyrestoguy;5047074] I'll be working underneath the truck and she'll constantly drop her stick or her ball right on your foot to get your attention. Goofball........
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...igslist127.jpg QUOTE] Heheheh it is hard to say no to pets like that.... We had horses when I was growing up, and we had this one pinto mare that was like that. You could not be anywhere within her reach and she wasnt in your pocket or bucket of fencing nails, whatever.... to get your attention. When we get out of the Army I have promised my wife we will get a dog (or two) My wife was a K9 drug dog handler Military Police for 13 years of her career. We both love dogs but Active Duty military life is too hard I think to be lugging a dog around. The Army wont ship them, so you have to pay for that, there are housing restrictions, and then quarentines to some places we have been as well... Sorry to hijack your build, but I have to admit, what you are doing right now with your suspension is beyond my ability to even grasp! :lol: |
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Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
Yea my wife and I only baby sat a border collie for 7 days woo we could not throw any thing enough or play tug of war oh nice cheap build too.
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Nice project! And great C10 to start a nice build. Love your progress pics. And your collie Tori is a real cuttie-pie! :) love them dogs. Mine need an attention 24/7 too.
Keep your pics coming!!! |
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I had a very productive last couple of days and got a lot done on the '64. I finished the caster mod I posted about earlier, so I'll continue where I left off:
In my earlier post, I showed the portion of the mod where the locating pins (the factory rivets) needed to be removed and replaced with 7/16-20 x 1.5" long socket head cap screws. For added insurance, I used Loctite and a stover nut. Here's a shot of the finished installation: http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...pension007.jpg In this shot, you can see the head of the fastener, which will locate perfectly in the new spot face positions in the lower control arm cross bar. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...pension008.jpg In this picture, you can see the difference between a stock crossbar and a modified crossbar. The upper bar is stock, and the lower bar is the modified bar with the newly-located spot faces. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...igslist132.jpg For an added bit of fluff, I primed and painted the front half of the chassis. I gave it a good shot with the steam cleaner and another last blast with the pressure washer, and then primed it. It's not a show vehicle, and the chassis isn't 1000% clean, but it'll suffice. It's a driver and it'll get abused. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...pension002.jpg While the control arms were out, they got blasted and painted. New Energy Suspension bushings were installed and all the balljoints were replaced with Moog parts. Then the moment of truth arrived, and it was time to install the control arms and see if the caster mod was a success. Everything fit perfect. The clearances were excellent, and the locating pins lined up exactly as planned. Here is a shot of the driver's side control arm. You can see just how much the control arm moved forward. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...pension013.jpg Here's a close-up shot of the back-side. If you recall, I had to clearance the crossmember. I now have plenty of room with the control arm at full up/down. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...pension009.jpg Here's a shot of the front side. You can really the .75" difference in position from stock. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...pension010.jpg Here's another trick I did to eliminate a huge shim stack in the upper control arm. On the half-tons, GM utilized spacers on the control arm bolts, along with the normal shims. Because I cut a coil from the stock spring, I knew that the alignment shop would have to add more shims to get the camber correct. So, I went to the wrecking yard and grabbed some other spacers(the fat ones) and added them to the mix. The original set-up was: 1 skinny spacer on the forward bolt, and one fat spacer on the rear bolt. The new set-up is: 1 fat spacer on the front, and 1 fat and 1 skinny spacer on the rear. Not much of a difference, but I don't like the look of a huge spacer stack on lowered vehicles. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...pension004.jpg I finally got to set the truck on it's wheels. The engine and trans are not installed, so it'll come down a bunch when they finally get installed. The wheels and tires are from the donor Suburban, and they are NOT going to be what I am going to run. I am going to have a big/little wheel and tire combo, and I'm still trying to decide what I'm going to go with. In this shot, you can also see the rear height after the spring changeout. It's finally getting there! http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...pension016.jpg |
Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
Awesome!
thanks for sharing your build. |
Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
Got to love the feeling when you get wheels back on the ground....it's one more thing to check off the list....nice to see you back on it and making progress....
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Your detailed explanation and pics are awesome, thanks!
Makes for a really good read and makes me think about stuff... :metal: |
Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
Looking good Alex. Have you thought anymore about your 83?
Nate |
Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
cool build! i love cheap builds, im doing a budget frame off on an 85 myself. right now i have less in it than what a full tank of gas costs!
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It's a great project truck with a lot of added stuff. The biggest plus is that it's a California desert vehicle with zero rust and a nearly perfect body. How would you transport it back to your place? |
Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
Incredible detail and instruction. Very cool engineering.
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Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
Wow awesome progress! Thanks for all the pics! Keep it up!!
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Now this is my type of build....I love your truck and what you are working to accomplish here....I had a friend who built a Firebird once by going into his favorite salvage yard and camping out one week and driving his results out the door when he was done....it had parts from many different GM vehicles in it, but he had a running and driving vehicle when he was done. (His buddies dad owned the place and told him that any car he could put together that week could be his for $500...) So, I love what you are doing here and I love your cheap theme. Keep up the great work and keep us informed of updates!
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Re: Project '64 Cheapskate
Thanks, Owen!
I really love hitting the wrecking yards, because to me, it's a treasure hunt. I am always blown away at the stuff people send to the scrap yard. The great thing about GM is that they were very smart about making things interchangeable. You can find great parts and upgrade your vehicle at the same time for dirt cheap. Plus, it makes you use your brain, which is good. Anybody can open up a catalog and just order stuff, but there's a real thrill when you do your homework and research everything and it works perfect and you have almost zero money tied up in it. My '64 has been a blast to build, and I've got some cool stuff planned for it that you guys will definitely like! Cool, cheap, stuff. |
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