67 Short Fleet getting some new shoes!

[Old Bluey]

Hey Guys! I'm new to the site, I've loved the trucks since I was 13, and finally picked one up from Eastern Washington USA last December, and brought it up to my home in Vancouver.

I'm about 16 hours through a disc brake job on my 67 Shortbox Fleet. I've owned the truck for just over a year, and happily paid it off (my loan) this January. My 1st priority was to make the truck reliable, then start making it safer. It's my daily driver and I tote my kids around. The inline 250 runs great now after some initial electrical work. It's great having a girlfriend who loves cars, as well as her Dad...who's an electrician...who's owned a 72 Cheyenne, and a 71 Longhorn.

The brakes are now installed, tested, breaking in, and the front end has been aligned and everything double checked by the local alignment shop. Here's a look at before & after part 1...

This one was from the summer with a 3" front spring drop that put the frame right against the bump stops.



Old front drums....


Old master...


New kit with drop spindles and New Master + Booster...


Digging & Cleaning...


Everything installed on upper control arm while lower ball joints are getting pressed in....


Lower Control Arms get a coat of paint and mounted up...


New Tires with the rotors peeking thru..


New Stance with 2.5 drop spindles and 2" lowering springs.


Side Shot (showing recently installed exhaust, but thats another story)


A Couple Notes:
-Motor is an Inline 250 and the front springs are rated for a small block. When we originally installed them they sat way too high. I swapped them out for some 3" drop springs. But put the small black springs back on once the drop spindles were installed.

-Original Proportioning valve was a little heavy in the rear. They'd lock up quickly under (not that hard) hard braking. I currently have the same master with the disc in the front which is working better, but will soon be swapped out again for the new master/booster/proper proportioning valve. I've popped into neutral and tried some hard braking, and it's making a world of difference.

- Extras that were installed - upper / lower ball joints, outer tie rod ends, U bolts & idler arm (previous recent job).

As soon as I bend new lines, and build up the new master/booster/bracket combo, I'll post some more pics.

[Palf70Step]

Very nice looking ride.

Welcome to the board from the southern end of Mississippi.

[1LoC10]

very nice ride.. put all the chrome on the front end and your good to go

[Retro68]

Very nice truck to start with. For every chevy truck saved it's one less Japanese car gone!! Nice to see a face with the project. Don't ever sell it just make it better.

[jkaylor68gmc]

sweet ride

[franky69c10]

nice...

[bad6772]

looks great.....great color btw

[Old Bluey]

I've got a love-hate relationship with the colour (canadian spelling eh?). The blue absolutely pops in the sunlight. But I bought it with that colour already slapped on it. The 2nd owner painted it and it's Dodge colour. It's also the same colour as my girlfriend's Mom's Neon..... Parking beside her car always generates some interesting looks.

I've got a GM car (Camaro/Chevelle/Nova/Corvette) colour palette from 1967 and I'd like to repaint it Marina Blue with a bot of pearl just to get that pop back.

In the mean time, I'm painting a lot of the parts the Chrysler Electric Blue and trying not to park near any Neons, PT cruisers, or whatever. (sigh)

[Old Bluey]

Adding Power!!

After painting the new master/booster/bracket assemly and removing the stock master, I bolted it all up. Ran the vacuum off the pcv, bent some new lines, and bled the sucker. It was my first time bending lines, so please forgive the "coat hanger" straightness of the lines. It was wicked fun, but I'm glad this project is just about done!



There's obviously a lot more power to the system, it stops great, but a few bugs still need to be worked out. I'll rebleed this weekend as it still feels like there are a few bubbles.

[1LoC10]

coming along great

[kyull67]

Nice!

[BigSky71]

Yes, very nice!

You know a committed truck owner when you see them working on their truck in the winter wearing a warm hat because its damn cold outside! Keep up the hard work! I think I will have to paint my next project a nice blue like that.

[72BlckButy]

That thing is coming right along... where did you pick up your rotors/calipers/spindles?

[Old Bluey]

I went local for the kit. There's nothing like handling this stuff before you actually throw the money down. KMS car parts (part of KMS tools) is a local hot rod shop in Coquitlam BC (about 25 min west of Vancouver), and they had the kit in stock. http://www.kmscarparts.com

The spindles are Early Classic, stamped right into the casting, and the rotors/calipers are from ABS.

Like everything, the small parts are the killer. Finding the fittings for the new master, and new dual front lines cost more time and gas than the fittings themselves. Any suppliers listening - it would be great to include hardline fittings, elbows, vacuum lines & T's, firewall grommets etc etc in the kits. I realize they're specific to the model/year, but it saves a lot of headache and down time.