My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

1975 Project FrankenTruck

Hello everyone I'm starting this build thread to post the progress of my build. I've been a member on this forum for a while but mostly on my last build in the 1947 - 1959 message board.

Back in the end of May I picked up this project 1975 FrankenTruck down in Southern Alberta Canada near Strathmore. Its been sitting in the garage since the end of May and has only been tinkered on a little bit (busy summer). Now that I've gathered some parts it's time for the work to commence and get this project started.

Its got SBC 350 and I believe a TH400 trans. The truck idles smooth and drives but has no brakes if any because the pedal goes to the floor. The main goal for this season is to get the truck moveable under it's own power and the suspension done. Then I can work on the interior over the winter and drive it come spring.

Its needs the complete interior done, some wiring re-done and a full suspension rebuild. Some think this might be over kill but I want everything to be new. I'll be starting by lowering the rear then leveling it up to the front of the truck. The parts I've gathered so far as follows.

-Rear flip kit
-Shock extenders
-Front Wheel Seals
-Front Shocks
-Front Brake Hoses
-Rear Brake Hose
-Front Calipers
-Adjusting Sleeves
-Front Outer Bearings
-Front Inner Bearings
-Outer Tie Rod Ends
-Front Rotors
-ACDELCO Master Cylinder
-Rear Shocks
-Idler Arm
-Pitman Arm
-Inner Tie Rod Ends
-Front Break Pads
-Brake Booster
-Dorman Upper Control Arms
-PV2 Proportioning Valve

Needed Parts:
-New drums(or have them turned)
-New brake shoes
-New Wheel Cylinders
-New Lower control arm bushings
-New Lower Ball Joints
-MaxTrac Front 2"-3" drop springs
-MaxTrac Front 2.5" drop spindles

This isn't no show truck or a complete restoration. It a 20 footer looker cruiser I call it on a budget lol.

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Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

More pictures

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More Pictures

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

Good looking truck. You have a great specimen to start a project.

I like your "new everything" approach. I'm a firm believer that brakes, steering, and suspension wear parts should be as new as possible. Some might say that you're just throwing parts at it, but I think it makes a lot of sense to start with fresh, known good, parts, especially with safety systems. Anything original left on the truck is 50 years old. That's the same age as me and I can tell you from experience, 50 year old parts are worn out!

A 5" drop is a little low for my taste, but I like where you're headed. Lowering the center of gravity will make it handle much better. Add some anti-sway bars and get those brakes sorted out. Then, drive the wheels off it!

Have fun with your project and update here as you go. I'm eager to see your progress.

John

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

John,

Thanks for getting back to me. For the drop, I’m thinking around 4.5"–5" up front using 2" springs with 2.5" drop spindles (the springs should settle a bit). I’m planning to start with the rear since it currently has heavy-duty springs with about eight leaf's. I’ll remove three leaf's and install the flip kit, which should give me roughly a 6" drop in the rear, then I’ll adjust the front to level it out. I definitely don’t want it to have that “Carolina squat” look.

I also want to avoid rubbing issues up front because I’m going to run the 15x8 rally wheels with Cooper Cobra tires. From what I’ve read, the 3" drop spindles tend to cause a lot of rubbing problems, so I’d rather stay away from that setup.

Jarid

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

We all like something different in our trucks, and we're all correct. My son has a '77 C10 that sits like a K10. He has tall street tires. He likes the extra height. On the other hand, my 65 C10 is lowered a couple of inches and it handles like it's on rails. Total opposites. To each his own. I'm not a fan of the slammed truck look, but I can certainly appreciate the improved handling of a lowered suspension. I'm with you 100% on the Carolina squat. Tail dragging is for lead-sled mercs, not for pickups. That look should be avoided at all costs! With all of that said, I really do like the looks of the 5/7 static drop square bodies that Harrison's Rod and Customs builds. They level the truck with the drop, then they raise the rear back up a couple of inches with larger rear wheels and tires. The trucks end up with a perfect hot rod rake.

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

Had a little time over the weekend to work on the truck. The main point was to finally get the truck up on jack stands. I got the rear tires pulled off to take a look at the brakes. I'll need 2" shoes, new drums and a couple hardware kits.

One issue I noticed in the pictures is that I’ll need to cut the exhaust back, since it will hit the rear diff once I install the flip kit. I’ll have the exhaust shop redo it later with a proper over the axle bend. Right now, you can see they laid a large piece of steel across the frame on both sides, bolted it down, and used U-bolts with another piece to create a makeshift hanger. Since that piece of steel is really the only thing holding the exhaust in place, my plan is to slide it forward toward the front of the truck and cut the pipes off before the rear differential. I need something to hold the exhaust up for now.

What a mickey mouse job!

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

You've got a lot of leafs back there. Is/was that truck a heavy half?

I had a very similar plan to yours when I lowered my 81, ended up with closer to a 5/7 drop. I love it.

Very very few people who lower their trucks feel like they have lowered theirs too much. And with all those new suspension components it'll be a nice handling ride.

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

dagnabbitt all I know is it's a Silverado with the HD package according to the SPI. So it has the 1.25" rotors up front and the HD springs in the rear. Since it has 8 leaf's I'm going to remove 3.

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

Great looking truck, nice start to a project!

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

Picked up all my rear brake parts that finally came in on Saturday.

-New AC Delco Brake drums X2
-2" Drum Brake Shoes
-Brake hardware Kit
-Self adjuster repair kit X2 (left/right)
-Wheel Cylinders X2

Hope to get some time this week/weekend to get the rear brakes done. Then I can work on getting the flip kit in.

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

Had a little time on the weekend to work on the truck. Decided to start on the rear passenger side brakes. In the first pic is the before disassembly. Picture two is after removing the shoes and cleaning everything up with a wire brush. Went to removed the wheel cylinder and snapped the brake line right off. As a pre-curser to this I've been soaking everything down with penetrating oil for days ahead of time. Lets just say the fitting spun fine but the line did not lol. That's what you get with 50 year old brake lines.

Next thing I did was grab a pair of vice grips and crimped the rubber line just on top of the diff to stop the fluid from coming out. That really didn't seem to stop it so I grabbed a zip lock some paper towel and some zip ties. It seems to have stopped for now.

On to picture five is the new wheel cylinder installed with freshly cleaned and greased brake shoes links and the last is a picture of the rear wheel cylinder. I didn't finish the shoe install because by this time the garage was sweltering hot (faces south) so it was time to call it a day.

I have two six foot pieces of copper-nickel brake line left from my 52 build. I just need to find my fittings and my crimper to make up some new rear lines. I have a new rear brake hose going on as well so I'm wasnt worried about crimping the line with vice grips. I hope replacing that rear hose doesn't cause me any grief as well (crosses fingers).

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

One more picture.

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Had a little time on the weekend to work on the truck. I got the drivers side brake line off without snapping the line like on the passenger side. I was going to make the replacement lines myself with some left over copper-nickel brake line and 3/8-24 ends. I did a rough measurement and took a look on the NAPA site and I needed roughly 25-30" lines and low and behold they were only $6.79/each for the 30" lines. I cant even build the lines for that price when you look at the cost of the brake line (I had), the fittings (I have somewhere) and having to purchase spring armor it wasn't worth the time or cost for $6.79/each.

Next project will be getting the passenger side brake line off. Install the new rear brake hose. Bend up the new lines and get them mounted and connected to the wheel cylinders. Next will be to install the new brake shoes and new drums.

One thing I am worried about is when I go to install the flip kit is that the HD springs might be to thick and not have much flex to them. What I mean by that is you if look at the pictures of the rear leaf's, they don't seem to have any arch to them. There pretty flat. I'll have to remove the bump stops and I think that rear diff is going to be almost touching the frame. I plan on removing the bottom two leaf's but there is still not much arch to the leaf so I think I'm going to end up putting in a c-notch to make more clearance.

I know on the drivers side the bottom leaf is cracked from what I can see but it will be removed anyway. I'm just wondering if they should be replaced or find a good used 1/2 ton set to replace them with. I'm including a picture from the Dorman site or pickup something similar from RockAuto. Look at the arch in those springs. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

One more picture.

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

I had the HD leaf packs under my old '74. There's a night & day difference in how yours appear vs what mine were. The flatter arch & the obvious gaps between the various leafs = time to replace. The Dorman stuff should work just fine.

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

Looks like I'm on the hunt for some leaf springs. Thanks for the tip SCOTI.

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

As I was thinking about it afterwards as to why they look like they have no arch to them. I have the jack stands under the axel to hold the back of the truck up in the rear. So the leaf's would appear to be less arched as if it was sitting on the ground. But as you mentioned SCOTI they are 50 years old and they do have gaps so they will still need to be replaced.

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Took a ride out to a guys place not to far from me on Saturday afternoon. Picked up my new/old wood grain bezel and dash trim. I'll be replacing the 'Sierra Classic' emblem with the Silverado emblem. Considering how old the pieces are in pretty good shape and to find one that doesn't have the stereo hacked apart is amazing lol. Probably put in a retro sound stereo at some point.

Over the busy weekend, I found a little time to bend up my rear driver’s side brake line, and I think it turned out pretty well. I ended up returning the two 30" lines I bought and went with 40" instead, since I didn’t measure correctly at first. I just grabbed a tape measure, went from the axle to the diff, and eyeballed 30"—which is about right in a straight line, but once you factor in the bends, it ends up being longer. When I had the line out, I measured it properly with a soft measuring tape and got about 36–37", so the 40" line was the best fit.

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

Nice pieces, those are hard to find in that condition.

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Minus the one I bought and the dash piece he still had a couple left. These are the pictures he initially sent me.

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

Had a little time on Saturday to work on the truck. I started out with trying to remove the passenger side rear brake line. In the days coming up to removal I was soaking everything down with penetrating oil at least once a day. Well the removal of the line from the diff didn't go so well and that fitting rounded right off. So I said f*ck it and ended up cutting it off. Didn't really matter anyway because I have a new replacement line. I'll make a new hardline and get that bent up this week.

Now onto the mainline. I had to unwire a little bit of the spring armor to get my flare nut wrench on. Well let me just say that didn't go as I thought it would, damm thing is now rounded off. So now what I need to do is cut the line off and see if I can re-flare the end. Problem is I believe the line is 1/4" line and the fitting should be a 7/16-24 but my flaring tool I have when I did my 52 is only for 3/16' line.

This is the one I had for the 52 when I did the brake lines and it worked great.

https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-on...16-tubing.html

So now I'll have to either rent or buy another flaring tool for the 1/4" line, the fittings should be easy enough to find. Then I also got the drivers side shoes on, skinned my pinky finger, got a brake shoe return spring in the forehead and now the spring is no where to be found lol. I'll have to pickup a brake shoe return spring kit to replace the missing spring.

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

Picked up a new drum brake hardware kit (Raybestos H7018) because of the missing spring I still cant find lol. No one had the return spring kit (Raybestos H324).

Sourced the 1/4' double flaring tool off Amazon so that's on it's way.
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08W8D3J2K?...sin_title&th=1

Sourced the inverted flare nuts I'll need for the rear hardline to the rubber line.
https://greggdistributors.ca/hose-an...0?srcid=search

Had a little time on Saturday and I got the passenger side brake line bent up. I was able to get the passenger side brakes shoes on.

Next on the agenda is getting the new rear brake lines installed. Cutting and re-flaring the rear hardline and installing the rubber line to the diff. I'm still on the search for some rear leaf spring but my posts online are coming up empty. I don't really want to shell out $400/side for new rear leaf springs.

Anyway just a small update.

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

Had a little time on the weekend to work on the truck. Jacked up the truck from the cross member and positioned my crip blocks under the frame. Had to do a little modification to each crib block do to the frame being different on each side (e-brake bracket on the drivers side and some bolts on the passenger side) but over all turned out pretty good and rock solid safe. I also put one of the front tires under the cross member for extra safety.

Starting out on the passenger side things don't look to bad. Tons of old grease on the zerk fittings, mud and every bushing is shot. I'm not to worried because everything will be replaced with new parts.

Can someone tell me about he shock bolt? Never seen anything like that before. It must be removed from the inside.

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

Onto the drivers side it's more of the same. But at least the previous owner didn't lie when he said it had new brakes on it. The pads appear to be newer but they will also be replaced with all the new parts. Once I get everything torn apart I'll paint the frame and clean things up before re-assembly. Still haven't got to the rear brake lines yet but I did receive my 1/4" flaring tool.

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

Seen more than a few shock studs like that. Like you mentioned, it gets removed by removing the nut on the inside of the frame rail.

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

Thanks SCOTI. I figured that was the case.

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

Had a bit of time on Saturday, so I started tearing down the front end. Friday night, I soaked everything with PB Blaster knowing it was going to put up a fight. The caliper bolts were stubborn but eventually came out, the calipers came off with a little persuasion thanks to the rust. Once the caps, pins, and nuts were off, I noticed there wasn’t much grease in the bearings. I also pulled the backing plates to clean and paint them.

The rubber gaskets actually look to be in decent shape, but I’m trying to track down new ones. From what I found, they’re AC Delco part #15699959. I called around to a few parts stores, but none of them carry it. I’m going to check with my local Chevy dealer next. RockAuto has them for $1.60 each, but shipping is $20!

Do you know if the gasket is absolutely necessary if I can’t find replacements or is it something I could make myself?

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

Those seals help keep moisture & debris out of the bearing cage so they serve a purpose. I'd replace them if possible but not @ $20 shipping for a $2 part. Instead, I'd try & find some sort of similar size flat rubber washer or seal. Try McMaster Carr....

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

I'll see if I can pull them off gently and save them. Called my local chevy dealer and no local dealer stocks them. He can get them but they were $5.20/each and I had to order 10 so $52. I was like WHAT!!! lol. They would also be ordered out of the US and he cant order 10 and sell me two because he wouldn't be able to sell them he said.

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

Have you checked local sources?
Summit Racing/mail order?

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

Had a bit of time yesterday to tinker with the truck. Since it was such a nice day, I pulled my brand new brake drums out of their boxes, gave them a good spray with brake cleaner, and once they were dry, coated them with VHT clear caliper paint. I really like how the grey finish turned out it looks almost black in the photos because of the sunshine.

I also broke out the wire wheel and started cleaning up the passenger side backing plate. Managed to save the rubber seal by carefully working it loose with a razor blade. Once I get the other backing plate cleaned up they will be painted black. Still have a little cleanup to do on the seal area but it's almost there.

I'll get better picture of the drum color once I get them on the truck.

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

Not much got done on the truck this weekend. But on Saturday morning I had some time to run out to 'The Drop Shop' and pickup my new MaxTrac 2.5" drop spindles and Maxtrac 2" drop springs.

There a Canadian company and only 30 minutes from where I live. If anyone is interested there website is https://thedropshop.ca/ and found there prices pretty reasonable compared to other retailers and they have local pick-up.

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

Hope everyone has a great Christmas break and a Happy New Year. I had two weeks off during the Christmas break but didn't get much done on the truck as I was hoping. Between hosting family and friends multiple times over the break it didn't leave much garage time for me. Plus it was bitterly cold out over the break so working in the garage was not the top priority in sub -20 Celsius weather. My garage is drywalled and insolated but not heated. I do have a heater which takes away the chill but the cold still comes up through your feet through the floor.

Anyway, from my last update on 11-10-2025 where I had the both front suspension stripped down to the spindles I was able to get the passenger side sway bar off & shock off. The tie rod end popped off pretty easy with the pickle fork but the upper/lower ball joint was a bit of a pain. I tried to break them loose the day before but my arm was getting soar from whacking on the pickle fork and spindle to try and break them loose. So I soaked the upper/lower ball joint down with penetrating spray and left it over night. I went back at it again but this time decided to use the pitman arm pickle fork which is fatter. I gave them maybe 10-15 wacks each on the upper/lower and they popped free. Now that the ball joints were broke free I got my jack under the lower ball joint and jacked it up to remove the nuts. Once the nuts were removed I lowered everything down slowly to remove the spindle and spring using a pry-bar to push the lower control arm down to get the spring out.

I have a question for the people out there. I will be rebuilding the lower control arm with new bushings and lower ball joint. I found this video online where he recommends removing the bump stop all together. If you recall I will be using a new 2.5" drop spindles and 2" drop springs.

In the YouTube video time mark 6 min - 10 minutes he talks about removing the bump stop all together.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM5rf09-_ag&t=2287s

In another video I found on YouTube the guy said that he just cuts down the rubber bump stop to about 3/4" but different from the link above in he removes it all together.

I will be installing brand new upper control arms from Dorman which come with a new upper ball joint and upper bump stop. Thoughts?

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

Here is a link to the other video. He talks about it at the 50 minutes mark.

https://youtu.be/NQz32sSl_tU?si=GIGSMlGdGyJh66cY

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

It's a personal call. Some just trim the bump stop down & others will go w/no stop at all....

If you're the 'throw caution to the wind kind of guy' you can knock it off & run nothing.

If you're a safety fist when on the road, then trimming the factory rubber is the way to go.

You could also remove the bump stop base/stand & mount the factory height bumper to the flat surface of the a-arm as an in-between solution. This would allow increased travel before making contact w/the stock height rubber bumper. If/when it does make contact, it's a factory calculated/spec'd rubber stop.

** If the factory bump stop base is removed, the 'steering stop' portion should be left in place or a different steering stop put into place (for safety).

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

I don't like the idea of removing the bump stop/steering stop from the lower control arm entirely. I'm a safety kind of guy so I will do what the guy says in the second video and trim down the rubber bump stop down to 1/2 to 3/4" so at least something is there. Might have to buy new ones cause I haven't really looked on how good of shape the one's are on the lower control arm as of yet.

I'm not sure what other people are doing regarding this but I definitely don't want to bottom out metal on metal. Anyone else have any input?

Does anything need to be done with the upper control arm and it's bump stop. Image is from the Dorman site.

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

Depending on tire sizes, even a <5" drop can make contact with the top of the inner fender well so that's a bump stop in itself. Unless the truck sat in an atmosphere regulated container, the lower bump stops have almost 40yr old rubber exposed to breakdown. Just replace them.

The bump stop under the upper arm just limits droop. No real need to mod them.

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

Thanks for the info SCOTI. No modification needed to the upper arm. Its a shame they don't make the lower arms anymore. It would save allot of hassle rebuilding them.

Re: My 1975 Project FrankenTruck
 

Had a little time on the weekend to work on the front end again. Continuing on with the passenger side I was able to get the upper control arm off (one shim in the rear and four shims on the front). I was able to get the cotter pins removed and bolts loosened on the passenger side tie rod end and idler arm. I used the pickle fork to get the tie rod end separated which was really stuck but it finally broke loose.

I had to do quite a bit of scraping and cleaning to remove the built-up grease and dirt so I could access the lower control arm U-bolts. Before loosening them I read online that it’s a good idea to loosen the cross-shaft bolts first since the cross-shaft is locked into the guide pin and doing this makes things easier later on for bushing replacement. After that I loosened the U-bolts and dropped the lower control arm down. I’ll likely reuse the U-bolts after cleaning them up, as they’re probably made of stronger steel than most replacement hardware now a days.

Only thing left to do is remove the idler arm and shock then its off to work on the drivers side. The brake line and caliper will be replaced on re-assembly. Once I disassemble the drivers side I'll drop down the sway bar as well to replace the bushings.