Starting to start starting a C4 conversion on my 84 SWB GMC

[Tagg33]

This has been in the works for several months now. I purchased a complete front and rear '94 C4 suspension, after dismantling it I started grinding the casting marks on all these aluminum parts. Some of you may have seen this first picture already. I blasted one of the rear knuckles to see if the finish looked good enough to just clear coat. I like it and plan to clear it all. Next, I got in on the last "group buy" for a dropmember from Nate at Porterbuilt. I'm going with the C4 dropmember since I already fell in love with the C4 IRS. My dad was really the one that changed my mind about sticking with C4 all the way around. I was going to purchase the regular dropmember originally to save money because it doesn't require ART Shockwaves. The idea of having all Corvette suspension and all this beautiful aluminum won me over. It also helps that I got a great deal on the complete C4 suspension. I was trying to buy just the rear setup from a guy locally on Craigslist but he didn't really want to sell just half of what he had so he made me a deal I could not refuse. My wife was pissed for about a month, but she got over it.

So far, I have about 75% of the corvette parts ground down smooth and I purchased a set of Energy Suspension polyurethane bushings, 20 each Heim's & Bungs for the rear four-link and cantilever setup. I will probably mount the IRS and use my existing coil-over shocks and wait on creating the bag cantilevers for a few more week after that.

This weekend I removed all of the carpeted panels, the wheel tubs and notch cover from the bed of the truck. The tricky part was not damaging the subwoofer enclosure while cutting the wheel tub welds. I also removed the front fender wells.

[Tagg33]

Soon there will be no mo prostreet look.
Here's some more pics. The front and rear suspension pictured here is for sale in the "Parts For Sale" section of this forum.

[Tagg33]

Forgot to add the picture of the blasted corvette knuckle. And a couple other pics.

[Rokcrln]

Yep the full IRS and IFS is the way to go. I like how your cleaned up parts turned out I may have to try that on my 72 4 door Tahoe build. I did the rear first and then just installed the DM C4 last week end and started on the front Bag set up today. I did not want the Shock Waves for the front so I spent a few hours on a mock up for a set of RE-7's and so far I really like how it is turning out. I still have the shock and sway bar to fab mounts for but it should go well. Here are a few pics but keep in mind non of it is done just a lot of mocking things up that will be finished once the body comes off.

Here is the rest of the build if you want any more pics. http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=306237
Kevin
LFD Inc.

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[Tagg33]

Wow, your tahoe build is turning out great. I've been following it as I am "subscribed." I've been wanting to ask you about the bracket you made shown in the link24 pic, why was that necessary?

Great job on the front bag mount! I plan to avoid Shockwaves too.

[Rokcrln]

I wanted to keep my floor as low as possible and the stock link mounts made things to high. Also the range of motion and link lengths did not work right for 10" of travel. So this is what I ended up with, it works for my needs.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[smashingchuck]

This is an awesome project. Wish I could find someone around here that could mandrel bend exhaust pipe like that.

[aggie91]

I dig the look of the blasted knuckle! Can't wait to see more progress.

[Tagg33]

Finally got going on the front susp. today. My dad came over this morning and we pulled the engine and then removed the front crossmember and all the stock susp. This is the first time I have ever pulled an engine, yay it went great. My brother loaned his engine hoist to a neighbor of his a couple years ago and just by chance when we called him he still had it and was very happy to let it go. The hoist worked perfect today and free is a good price. I bought an engine stand yesterday that was originally $50 but was 20% off and with the coupon I had in hand I got another 20% off so it was like $32, not bad. We found a lot of fairly loose nuts everywhere, a good lesson that you should check these things once and awhile. We made very good progress today, next I plan to weld up every hole in the firewall. Still need some advice on how to completely smooth the passenger side, getting rid of the horizontal seam/line.

Thursday my brother and I got the old rubber bushings out of the corvette control arms. And I spent a couple hours cleaning all the old grease off these parts in the solvent tank. They are nearly ready for bead blasting and clear. I just waiting on Nate to finish my lower bag mounts so all my Porterbuilt items can go to the powdercoater. Since my frame is light silver and I don't think we can perfectly match it with powder, I plan on going with a medium grey powdercoat. It's almost a metallic gun metal color. It should contrast nicely with the silver.

[Tagg33]

A couple more pics.
By the way my stock front susp is for sale. PM me if you are interested in it. Complete front susp; control arms upper and lower, cross member, spring pockets, springs, disc brakes, sway bar. My truck was converted to the camaro bolt pattern of 5x4.75 which seems normal for me now going to corvette stuff with the same bolt pattern. My Centerline Convo Pros and the rear susp are also for sale all has been listed in the for sale section. Just thought I would mention it again.

[Dinos63]

NICE WORK LOOKS GOOD (PM SENT)

[screamindemon]

sweeet!

[lolife99]

Subscribing!

[justpball]

looking good bro!

[Tagg33]

Well you know how this goes; while the engine is out I might as well get the firewall done. My brother came by and welded for me, my skills are not sheet metal worthy yet. We got the passenger side welded today. After he left I drilled out all the spot welds that hold the brake and column bracket. With that bracket removed I used the wire wheel to prep more area for welding. It's a start, we will weld up the rest soon. I have lots of grinding to do.

[Dinos63]

Nice work, lookin gooood

[Tagg33]

Thanks Dino, lookin forward to meeting you in-person soon and seeing your fleet.

[BuiltByBrooks]

Awesome! Going to look so much better...

[LMDGUY]

Very nice! smooth firewalls look great

[Tagg33]

Thursday I went to pickup the rest of my C4 Dropmember parts from Nathan Porter. I want to thank him for encouraging and motivating me to work on my own project. That might sound weird but what I mean is I was relying heavily on my brother to do the welding, body work and paint on my firewall. I am new to welding and I have never welded sheet metal. My truck project is not about getting done on any timeline, it is more about the experiece and it is my only hobby. Nate reminded me that I need to be hands on with every step in my build. When I get done I want to say "I did this," with some help and I want to learn how to do it again. So with this motivation I spent 6 or so hours in the garage yesterday and made some more progress on the firewall by myself. I circled the points of interest in most of these pics.
Pic1: Before pic of windshield washer line recess.
Pic2: My first ever complex filler piece, rolled the front edge with hammer and dolly, 90 break on the back.
Pic3: After weld and grind.
Pic4: Curved filler piece tacked in.
Pic5: I did remove a fender, nice to have easy access.
Welded up lots of small and medium size holes. Now the passenger side is done and I can tackle the driver side. I've got a plan for cleaning up the steering column mount, hopefully I'll get going on it soon.

[hotrodrookie]

Sweet progress! It feels good getting your hands dirty and making something to be proud of.

[Tagg33]

My dad came over today and we worked on the firewall somemore. I welded up most of the holes on the driver's side with the exception of the large wiper motor hole. We cut out the large area around the brakes, steering and fuse panel and used some 16 ga sheet to make a new piece. We got lots of small holes welded up and we were just about to weld in that new large piece and we ran out of time. I think it was good not to rush it because I have plans to weld some bolts to the firewall for the throttle pedal mount and we have better access for that with the huge hole in the firewall. Once the pedal is mounted again I will finish welding the firewall and be ready for some filler and paint. Then I will start on the C4 dropmember. I did get my Delrin bushings and some hardware from Nate so I am a little further along. Since my C4 dropmember will have RE7 bags just like LFD's Tahoe I will also have to figure out shock and sway bar mounting.

[COMP]

looking good

[aggie91]

Any progress is good. It is shaping up and looks good so far.

[Tagg33]

While I had the driver side opened up I had great access to weld in the throttle pedal bolts and I came up with a way to re-use the fuse block mount that used to be in the firewall. Now it is welded to the kick panel.