Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

Have you tried looking through here: http://www.jegs.com they have the cap and length dimensions listed for the conversion series joints. My guess is 1350 x 1330 sized.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

Good answer. Must have been optional though. Mine doesn't have a magnet.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

I went by Oriellys today and spent an hour researching. A young employee and the store manager went through several dozen combinations and we couldn't find the right fit. Tomorrow I'm going to a local drive shaft shop. If they can't figure it out, I'll get a new yoke put on my old drive shaft.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

Ken I had this same problem a couple years ago, turned out two parts stores in town had u-joints placed in the wrong box from the manufacturer. I've got the correct part numbers on the wall in my garage somewhere I'll grab them tomorrow if you'd like.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

I'd bet it did at one time....a couple of guys that worked in dealerships I worked at would pull those out and leave them in the drain pans or use them to post stuff on their tool boxes....the rear suspension is really looking great!

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

Adam I truly appreciate your offer, but I got it resolved.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

The kid at Oriellys gave a valiant effort to finding what I needed, but just couldn't find it. Talking with the Manager I said my next stop was at a driveshaft shop. If they didn't have what I needed I was going to have it built.
The store manager suggested Northwest Drivetrain Service so I gave them a call. The man said the magic words. "I have what you need" and "we're open on Saturday ". Folks we have a winner!

What this conversion requires is a 1310 / 3R combo U joint. This uses external clips in the driveshaft and internal clips on the differential. This took some effort for a fairly common conversion but I feel like it's worth it. I went from a 12 bolt with 3.08 gears to a 10 bolt with 3.42 gears for less than $100.00

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

To back up just a bit, I'll go back to Friday night. My shipment from Switch Suspensionarrived. As mentioned I opted for a pair of ViAir 444 compressors in satin black.

I unpacked the box from Switch and discovered a couple of extras in the box. Seth sent a shirt and stickers along with the stealth black air pumps.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

I played with the placement of the compressor location, but there's not a lot of options. The intake filter should be somewhat protected from the elements if possible. The output hose is rather rigid so the location chose it self.
Time to call it done for now

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

Saturday morning we took care of pure driveshaft issues. After Chris got that painted he moved on to the gas tank. It was in good condition, but had a factory undercoat sprayed on randomly. He grabbed a grinder with a wire cup and went to work.
After he stripped the tank it was blasted with coats of sealer primer, then topped with satin black. Rather than try to suspend it for painting, he opted to spray one side at a time.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

Score on the u-joint! Makes it all worth the work :cool:
Sometimes the simplest things......

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

Its always something.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

I'm starting to wonder if the new system will go as low as the old. Regardless, I decided to address your concern. I started thinking how close the top of the differential was on the old system, and decided to make some changes.

I used the original bracket but reversed it, and flipped it over. I also cut it shorter so its much smaller. I had to drill and tap a new hole for the through bolt, but I think it looks much cleaner now.

With all that done, I had no choice but to make new brake lines as well. I'm starting to figure this tube bending out. Lets hope I dont have any leaks. :banghead:

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

What was the part # for that u-joint? Just curious because I’m putting a 12 bolt in my 87 so it would be the same for me. Just opposite application from yours. Thanks.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

Here ya go.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

Thanks sir!

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

Sunday morning Chris and I took a road trip to Sculpt Garage to pick up the seat for Elwood. Brent opened the shop early and gave a tour of the facility. Sculpt is a full feature interior shop with the ability to build a project from the ground up.

The original 77 seat was updated with contemporary vinyl from Snowden Upholstry Supply that has a retro grain. The inserts are OEM material from early Squarebody trucks.

I wanted to maintain a OEM look while improving comfort. I believe Brent accomplished that.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

Nice crisp work on the new brake lines...mirror image left and right..looks simple and is hard (at least for me) to do. Looks great!

Love the seat too. Sculpt Garage has some impressive looking work.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

I have been attending the "Learn from Burn" school. I can proudly say my scrap pile is getting smaller each time.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

Sunday afternoon when we got back from Sculpt Garage, we got busy again. Chris had prepped and painted the bottom of the gas tank and let it cure over night. It was time to do the same for top. He had already stripped it, so he wiped it down and masked it off. He sealed and primed it then followed with satin black.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

While Chris worked on the gas tank, I focused on the bottom of the cab. I had previously stripped and painted the floor. Now it was time to top it off with undercoating. We masked the frame, transmission and RideTech valve system.

I crawled under and laid down a few coats of Dupli-Color undercoat. I use this on the floor pan because its much easier to apply an aerosol than use a spray gun in close quarters. By using multiple coats I manage to get a decent build thickness.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

Monday I finished my Christmas shopping. I still managed a bit of shop time too.
The gas tanks straps were stripped and primed. With the cool damp temps the primer is slow so I left them to cure.
To be productive I went on line and ordered parts for the fuel system.
The pressure line between the pump and filter uses push-lok fittings. I had to cut the old line to get it off so I ordered new 3/8" line and clamps.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

Tuesday night I worked on the center of the floor pan. I needed to get the undercoating finished, but there was a heat shield in my way. I removed all of the bolts but one, and it was almost impossible to access. It was on top of the frame and no room to reach from either side.

I noted that it was near a body mount so i loosened the mount bolt and was able to jack the cab up about 1/2". just enough to gain access and declare victory. One bolt, one hour, but I kicked its ass.

With the heat shield out, I was able to gain access to the rest of the floor up to the transmission cross member. I'll do the front half when I get the front of the truck. For now, I have the undercoating done.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

I know exactly what bolt your are talking about on that heat shield. What a PIA...

Your nice work continues!

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

What did you do to get it off? I hated to jack the body up but it was driving me crazy.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

You really don't want to know...:lol:

Since my build goal was quite different, that bolt is still there and part of the heat shield is still bolted to the frame. Let's just say I took out my frustrations on that heat shield :devil: and it was not really useable after that...

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

I was close to that point myself. Unfortunately I couldnt find a way to cleanly cut it free so I resorted to lifting the cab away from the frame.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

I uncovered the frame last night and worked on prepping it for paint. As I progressed over to the drivers side I realized that the heat shield in we have been discussing needed to be mocked up. This shield was originally there to deflect heat from the massive catalytic convertor used in the 70s. Thats no longer a concern, but my exhaust system layout will require me to put a muffler in that area.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

I set the shield in place and determined that it really needed some improvement aesthetically. I decided it would look less obtrusive with some vent holes. Initially I put a few in, then decided if some is good then more is better.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

Once I got it properly ventilated, I added a couple of layers of protection. This should be functional and blend in much better now.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

Tonight I finished up the frame rails under the cab. I scuffed them again to knock off any overspray from the undercoat. After that I wiped it clean and blasted satin black on it.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

That's a great touch on the heat shield...gives it the race inspired look....keep after it! It looks like a million bucks!

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

You do really nice work!!

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

Damn that seat is sweeeeeeet! I that means a lot because I don’t typically like red interior.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

Thanks. I'm hoping to get caught up some this weekend:metal:

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

I had originally planned to go with a buckskin color. It seemed as if every project I looked at was going with a tan color. I decided red was traditional, and should never go out of style.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/a...1&d=1513613045

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

Great work man. Maybe its just the camera angle but it looks like the shock mounts hang really low. How much ground clearance do you have?

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

They lower mounts do extend down quite a bit. When I first saw them I was concerned too. The folks at Ridetech assured me there is no scrubline concern.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

Friday a received my shipment from RideTech. They included the rear swaybar and additional fitting for the air system.

Re: "Elwood" the 77_remix
 

I mocked up the swaybar and measured for center. I snugged the bolts down and marked the bottom brackets. These will be welded on later. The lower swaybar bracket is the only part of the 4 link kit that's not bolt on .