Re: Wampus Cat
 

The Rocknrod, Android 04,

Thanks for the encouraging words!


Tailgate Straightening

So, the dents that I had repaired along the boxed section at the bottom of the tailgate apparently also caused a significant curve inward on that area.

The first two pictures show the bottom section of the tailgate compared to a 4 foot long straight edge.

The third picture shows the jig that I used for straightening (similar to what I used for straightening the top of the bedsides). The boxed tailgate is pretty stiff in bending and even with a couple of pieces of steel angle clamped along the bottom of the double 2x4's, the wood bent even more than the tail gate.

However, I was able to use the large c-clamp in the middle to bend the tailgate past yield and straighten it. After several incremental clampings and checking, the result is very straight as shown in the fourth and fifth picture.
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Re: Wampus Cat
 

Very nice work on your tailgate.

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Shop Improvements

I've been doing all of my metal cutting for patches or fabrication with just a hand held grinder and cutoff discs. I've been thinking that it would be nice to have a metal cutting bandsaw for doing some of this work; the cuts would be more accurate and it would make less of a dusty mess than the grinder cutoff wheel. Metal bandsaws are pretty expensive for my limited use, but I started seeing online examples where handheld portable bandsaws were adapted to mount on a small stand with a table.

I found a much-used Dewalt bandsaw locally, took it apart, cleaned it up, and added new drive "tires" and a new blade to get it working well. Then I looked at about a dozen designs for stands on YouTube and picked the features that I liked the best. The stand that I made mounts the saw hanging it from its primary handle, and secures it in place with a single pin that also depresses the saw trigger. Pulling this single pin allows the saw to be removed from the stand and used in a conventional manner when needed.

The first picture below shows the frame in process. The parts on the floor next to the stand are the 1/4" thick scrap aluminum plate that I used for the table, and the electrical components that I mounted to provide an on/off switched receptacle. The frame is made of steel angle from old bed frames that I picked up on garbage/recycle days in the neighborhood.

The second and third picture shows the frame after I added a couple of 45 degree braces to resolve some torsional flex in the vertical part of the frame. Then some sand blasting and primer.

The fourth and fifth picture show the final assembly. The Dewalt saw itself weighs 17 lbs. Mounted on the frame, the total weight is probably between 25 and 30 lbs so it is easy to move to a workbench, or the floor, or a storage shelf.
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Yup, I need to build something like that for myself. I like your frame design better than some of the stuff I've seen out on the market. Thanks for sharing!

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These two cowl pieces are the last two body panels to strip and prepare for primer.

I think these are the only two panels on the whole truck that were not slathered in layers of Bondo covering dents, holes, and rust. :lol:
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Re: Wampus Cat
 

I'm thrilled, great solutions to the problems, your saw is great.

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Thank you for your kind words.

By the way, my great-great-grandfather Peter Seiler (born 1828) and his wife Katherina Seiler (born Koehler 1829) emigrated from Ingenheim, Palatinate, Bavaria in the late 1840's and settled in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA which is where I was born.
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A few hundred kilometers away from me. There were bad times in Europe, famine and economic hardship forced Germans, French, Irish and Scots to leave their countries and start anew. I think the ancestors made a good new home.

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When I was installing the stock S10 upper mounts for the tailgate cables in Post #135 above, I just used a nut on the backside that was accessed through the taillight opening (long, slim fingers are helpful for this).

However, I’m trying to finish prep work for primer and decided these nuts were a pain to take on and off. So, I replaced these with some M8-1.25 rivet nuts.
I don’t have the $50+ installation tool so used a couple nuts and washers to fashion a tool.
Only had to work twice, but worked great.
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Good idea, if it works it works right?

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Well, at least I finished one project truck.......

The two grand-daughters aged 5 and 2 were outgrowing their little 6-volt red truck, and with only one under powered driven wheel it would never go well in the grass anyway.

Someone gave my daughter-in-law an old Power Wheels 12-volt, two drive-motor truck that had been sitting out in the weather for quite some time and was very dirty and faded. I took it apart, cleaned it, "restored" the sun-faded plastic by rubbing it with a 60/40 mixture of paint thinner and boiled linseed oil, cleaned up all of the electrical wiring/contacts, and added a decal kit.

Also found a junkyard GMC emblem for the tailgate so it matches their Daddy's truck.

The girls have a lot more room, and the truck got lots of use this past weekend in our one acre yard.
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Oh how nice, the ladies are sure to be proud of that

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More Bed Work

I had been delayed for a little while in finishing the paint stripping because I couldn’t find more of the abrasive fiber discs that I was using for that. I recently found some more discs, and started up again on stripping paint from the inside of the side panels and the fender wells.

I also drilled the ¼” tread plate floor for some lifting eyes which can eventually be used for tie downs. I’ve welded nuts to the underside of the treadplate so that the eyes can be unscrewed and removed from the top.

While doing the paint stripping, I noticed that the metal panel below the tailgate was bent inwards about 3/8”. Not sure why I didn’t see that before, but I’m guessing that the damage was done when the tailgate was bent (see tailgate straightening in post #161 above). In any case, I rigged up a fixture with a few blocks of wood and a couple pieces of angle stacked on top of each other for stiffness. With this, I could use a large C-clamp to pull on this lower panel and its supports to straighten it. After working my way back and forth across the panel, pulling with the C-clamp, I was able to get the panel straight within about a 1/32” compared to a 4 ft straight edge.
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Work Shop Art

My sister recently gave me a birthday card on which she had water-color painted my truck modeled from a picture taken before I disassembled the truck for rust/body repairs.

The picture on the card is 4"x6", but I made a copy printed at 11"x14" and added it to the work shop art.
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Power Steering

I found a 1984 C10 power steering gearbox and a steering column collapsible lower section at a local Wrench-A-Part.

The gearbox seems in pretty good shape, smooth operation and no substantial backlash. However, it was apparently leaking, so I installed a pitman arm shaft seal kit and an input shaft seal kit. Big thanks to Tx Firefighter for his excellent instructions on seal replacement! http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=619634

I also bought a Captain Fab power steering gearbox mounting bracket which is supplied with a very useful mounting template. I punched holes in the template at the old/existing bolt holes, then using three of the old bolts, aligned the template to the existing bolt pattern in the frame and matched punched the locations for drilling the new holes. A test fit of the new gearbox appears to show everything in alignment, so I’ll weld the new bracket to the frame (optional) and then clean/paint/install the gearbox.

For attaching the collapsible steering column section to my existing steering column (which is a three on the tree standard shifter), I intend to cut the existing steering column at the right length and then grind/file the double D flats on the end so that it matches the collapsible shaft. I bought a Unisteer 8050300 ¾” DD x ¾” DD U-joint to attach the two shafts. I particularly like this Unisteer item because it clamps on to each of the shafts rather than having through bolts or some other means of attachment. Plus the clamping bolt requires a slight cross groove cut in the shaft for the clamp bolt to pass; this feature also prevents the shaft from pulling out of the u-joint. Seems like a pretty sturdy attachment configuration.

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I decided to completely rebuild the front suspension while switching from a manual to a power steering gearbox.

I had previously installed 2 inch lowering springs and new upper ball joints when I rebuilt the brakes. At that time, my inspection had led me to believe the rest of the suspension and steering linkage was in pretty good shape. However when I started disassembling things, I found more wear than what I could find with the suspension or steering all assembled. For example the rear bushings on the lower a-arms were worn very badly even though I could not feel movement or wobble in the a-arm. Fortunately the threads in the a-arms for the bushings were not damaged.

I’m currently in the process of cleaning and painting all the parts and installing new Moog parts.

I’m also making the modification to improve caster by moving the A-arms 3/4 inch forward. I decided to compensate for that by modifying the shock absorber mounts on the lower a-arm to move them back to their approximate original position to maintain the original shock orientation.

Oh, I also recently found a basket-case, badly used/abused 20-ton hydraulic press and refurbished it for use in the shop (rebuilt the hydraulic jack; found or made replacement parts; straightened bent parts; fabricated a caster base). The press worked great for removing the old lower ball joints.
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This is going to be good

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I recall rebuilding my upper and lowers.

My one lower is a replacement as the truck must have had a serious hit at some point in its past.

Looking good.

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I finished the installation of the power steering gearbox and the rebuild of the front suspension which were started in posts #175 and #176 above.

I used the collapsible steering column section that was attached to the Wrench-A-Part ’84 C10 power steering gearbox. I cut my existing three-on-the-tree manual column a few inches below the shifter mechanism and used a cut off wheel to rough cut the ¾” DD shape, then finished it with a file to get a nice tight fit in the Unisteer U-joint.

I initially planned to do the caster improvement modification by moving the A-arms 3/4 inch forward, but when I mocked this up I found that the coil springs rubbed on the inside of the upper spring pocket. When I bought the 2 inch lowering springs they were described as heavy duty, higher rate springs and I suspect that they are larger in diameter than stock. In any case, when I drilled the lower A-arm shafts, I only moved the locator pocket by ½ inch instead of ¾ inch. That seems to work with the springs, and I get at least some of the caster improvement.

The power steering gearbox adapter plate from Captain Fab and the Moog “The Problem Solver” front suspension parts all made these tasks go pretty smoothly.
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Cab Removal

I've been doing all of my rust repair and metal work with the cab on the frame, and hadn't planned to remove it, but then I realized that in its current state of disassembly it only took removal of about a half dozen bolts, wires, and steering column to set it free. So, after seeing some other posts about applying Raptor Liner to the cab underside, I decided I wanted to do that to protect all of my work.

I made a simple wood support frame to fit inside the cab, and notched it to fit around the weatherstrip flanges on the door openings. I then attached that to my overhead hoist (see post #111) and lifted the cab. After rolling the frame back out of the way, I then set the cab on the floor and moved the hoist straps to the two inner-fender attachment points on the front of the cab, and hoisted from those points so that I could pivot the cab on its back on to a pallet with casters.

This worked really well to single handedly remove the cab. I did bend one of the drip rails slightly with the lift strap, but this is an easy fix, and I'll add some features to the wood frame to prevent that before the next lift.

Next up is wire brushing the bottom of the cab, degreasing, cleaning, and applying the Raptor Liner.
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Cab Bottom

Cleaned, Primed, and Raptor Lined
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Re: Wampus Cat
 

Looking good. You do good work

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Rolled the cab back upright after coating the bottom, and mounted it on a cart for body work.
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Re: Wampus Cat
 

Very nice effort going on here. You've got some good momentum going 😎

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txcajun why did you want more camber ? is that a problem with these trucks? 3/4 of an inch sounds like a lot or is that what is recommended? I don't understand front ends much so what dose the extra camber do to the driving quality? Thanks Denis

Re: Wampus Cat
 

Caster. Increasing Caster improves tracking. The mod gets one get closer to 'modern' Caster specs w/o a bunch of shimming to get there.

Negative Camber vs. positive Camber is also an improvement that allows for better tire contact when navigating corners.

Re: Wampus Cat
 

Good progress

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My understanding is that our trucks were designed with almost 0 degrees caster for typical road speeds of the day, and for lower steering wheel effort. The modification to the lower A arm pivot shaft adds caster for better tracking and stability.

This is one of the better threads that I found on the subject: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=501241

Re: Wampus Cat
 

Thank you all for your kind words regarding progress!

With the help of my brother who is visiting, we finished a little metal working, clean-up, and epoxy primer on the bed this week.
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Re: Wampus Cat
 

After the primer cured, we installed the bed front and the tailgate.

I plan to leave these installed with the bed on the cart while doing the body filler work and sanding in preparation for the next primer stage.
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Not exactly truck related, but sort of. How much of a total run do you have in your copper pipe air dryer in the background. I will be building on of these in the spring. Does it work well for painting and anything you would have changed? Just looking for advice before I build mine.
Rob

Re: Wampus Cat
 

Thanks for the question! Most visitors to the shop don't know what that is. :-)

The 8 straight vertical sections of 3/4” diameter tubing are 5 feet long each so I would estimate that the total length including all of the fittings is about 45 feet.

It can be pretty humid here in central Texas, and this arrangement works well so far. I don't get any moisture out of the last drain valve, and you can progressively see less moisture from each drain valve as you get further from the compressor. When I'm running the compressor hard for painting or sandblasting, I generally drain the compressor tank and all the tubing drain valves about every hour.

I've only done primer painting, some Raptor Liner, and sand blasting with this arrangement so far, but I have had no water issues. I do have a small filter dryer at the end of the run as a final stage backup.

With regards to changes I would make, if a person had a way to bend the tubing and eliminate some of the solder joints/fittings, that would make the assembly easier and reduce the number of potential leaks. Also, I'm thinking of adding an automated drain valve for the main compressor tank. Beyond that, I'm pretty happy with the results.

Just as an fyi, I bought the long runs of tubing in 10 foot sections locally at a big box store due to shipping costs. All of the fittings were sourced from Zoro.com as they appeared to have the best prices, and I think all of the ball valves used for the drains were Harbor Freight. Three years ago, the parts were around $80 total.
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Maybe my logic is flawed, but my air setup is long horizontal runs rather than long verticals. The runs are angled down slightly ~.25"/foot. Water has to drain back to the tank or blow through the water separator. I don't like the 5 valves that have to be drained after water condenses or it gathers and turns real nasty.
I used black 3/4" pipe and made it modular with unions in the verticals so I can add 40' sections easily. The filters, regulator and dryer is also attached w/ a union so they come off as a ~3' section.

Re: Wampus Cat
 

TxCajun,
Thanks for the info. In MD where I am, it also gets very humid in the summer. I will check the online source for the fittings. Copper has gotten very high at least where I am. for the 3/4 inch pipe, it is going to cost me more then that. I too was figuring I would need a filter/dryer of some sort at the end of it just as a precaution. I don't plan on opening a paint both or anything like that, but do want things to look decent. I have other painting projects besides the truck stuff.
Thanks for the info.

Re: Wampus Cat
 

It prob works just fine w/your angled horizontal runs but the vertical runs would seem better to me. I would think gravity favors each vertical 'run' (2x uprights into a drain) vs the angled-horizontal w/o as many drain accumulation points. I

I did this using cheap Northern Tool China sourced 50' neon-orange airline on my garage wall after looking into a copper plumbed arrangement. I figured while the copper would offer better cooling vs the plastic hose, the hose should still be effective & was much cheaper/faster @ the time. I originally routed the airline in angled sloped runs but changed it to vertical runs w/drains @ the bottom of each loop like TxCajun.

I came off the compressor discharge & straight into the cheap hose. Each run up the wall had a brass drain tied in @ the bottom (180° loops top & bottom). The very end of the line had a drain as well & the discharge routing back into the compressors tank was 'T'd inline18" above the 'end of loop' drain. It was all tied together w/serrated fittings & worm-gear style hose clamps. Worked well & allowed using my plasma cutter w/o issue (that was my main reason for the set-up. PC's apparently DO NOT like moisture).

I took the set-up down when I moved out of the house. it lasted far longer than I expected given the hose quality (~9yrs w/o issue).

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My original chrome bumper was very scratched, dented, bent, cracked in several places, and rusty.
While my brother was visiting, and I had a second set of hands available, we used my 20-ton hydraulic press to do our best at straightening it and pressing out the dents. I then welded and ground the cracks. Afterwards, I stripped the remaining chrome and rust with an abrasive fiber wheel, and finished with 120 grit sandpaper.
I applied Krylon primer, then a couple of coats of Krylon “metallic aluminum”, which looks pretty sharp, but is maybe a bit too bright. I then applied Krylon “gloss, crystal clear coat”, and that turned it into more of a subdued finish, which matches what I’ve done on my rear step bumper.
The things I’ve read on the interweb say that Krylon Clear won’t yellow in the sun, so we’ll see how it holds up.

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Great Job, looks really good.

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Bench Seat Pivot Bushing/Spacer

I received a seat upholstery order from ricksupholstery.com, and I'm excited to see what it looks like installed, so I've jumped ahead to preparing the bench seat. There wasn't much left of the old upholstery/foam, several broken springs, frame rust, and a few other issues.

The previous owners/drivers of my truck must have been big people because the bottom seat frame where the back attaches and pivots was cracked on both sides, and the weld nuts on the inside of the frame for the pivot bolt were either broken or missing.

I welded the cracks in the frame and made some nut plates for welding on the inside of the frame to replace the original square weld nuts.

One of the bushing/spacers that fit between the seat bolt and the arms of the seat back was missing and they don’t appear to be sold by the usual parts vendors.

I don’t have access to a lathe so I went looking for something that is near net shape that I could easily modify. I found that a piece of 1/4 inch schedule 40 pipe is the correct outer diameter to fit in the seat back frame hole, and the inside diameter only has to be opened up slightly with a 3/8 drill bit to fit the pivot bolt. All you then have to do is cut a short piece to the correct length and file or sand the end square, and you have an almost exact copy of the original steel bushing/spacer.

A short piece of quarter inch schedule 40 pipe or nipple is only about two bucks.
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Bench Seat Tracks Modification

I’m 6’ 2” and decided I’d like the bench seat to be a little lower and moved further back. I’ve seen the “fixed” brackets that are offered by some vendors for lowering the seat, but I wanted to retain the adjustability.

I made a fixture from steel angle to which I could bolt the stock seat track to retain the orientation of the mounting bolts. I then scribed a line about 1” up from the bottom and cut the supports with a grinder cut-off disc. I then hammered the remaining “feet” flat and then trimmed them to match the width of the vertical supports. (Since these supports are angled, when you cut them off, the resulting mounting points are narrower, so the “feet” have to be made wider.) When re-mounting the seat tracks, I also moved them rearward about ¾” relative to the feet. I tacked the seat tracks to the modified feet, and then mounted the seat tracks and seat in the cab for a test fit to make sure everything aligned.

After I was satisfied with the fit, I finished fully welding the feet to the tracks, cleaned them with a wire brush and pressure washer, then a spray coat of semi-gloss black.

This modification lowered the seat about 1” and moved the rear most adjustment position about ¾” back.
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Seat Frame

Replaced a few broken springs by bending new ones from some "S shaped" seat spring material that I picked up somewhere in the past.

Wire brushed and pressure washed the frame, then primer and paint.

The old foam is deteriorated and smelly. The 18 support wires in the bottom of the foam are rusted and broken. I've ordered some .045 diameter music wire, and I picked up some upholstery foam to try to make a replacement.
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