Byrd's underhood and front clip clean up

[byrd]

I have been kicking around the idea of going to the national meet in July and if I go I am taking my driver and didn't want it to look like crap.
The hood has been fubarred for a while, ps fender is full of bondo, and the ds fender and grill are my doing(d$%^ neon driving little punk)
I have had a straight front clip(wrong color of course), a great looking grill,
rust free GM inner fenders,
new heater core
rebuild heater box,
new valve covers, breather,
front shocks 6 lug disc brake up grade with 2.5" drop spindles,
power brakes,
new plugs and custom fit wires,
totally rebuild the front suspention( ball joints, inner outer tie rods, control arms bushings,
add front sway bar and poly bushings,
4" drop springs in the rear, new adj track bar, new trailing arm bushings, will most likely blast the trailing arms while I have them out for the bushings, replace front light harness,
put new intake gaskets on the engine(probably a water pump too while I am in there) and clean and repaint it,
remove front crossmember and have it blasted along with the uca and lca, replace the front hard brake lines and the brake hose in the rear along with new rear drop shocks.
New carpet and dash pad
maybe even throw my black buddy buckets that I have saved up for Frank in there for now.
I also ordered a set of wheels for it, here is the photoshop link..
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=292063

So I have about 5 weeks to get this done and should not be a problem. I started on it a week ago and have gotten the front clip off, firewall cleaned and painted(most of it anyway) new heater core installed got the front susp tore apart and the engine out on a stand ready to be cleaned up. I have almost got the front crossmember out, 3 of the bolts are really in there so I stopped on it and started cleaning the frame to get it ready for eastwoods two part converter, rust inhibitor and top coat of high gloss chassis black(front portion up to the cab only for now).
Anyway enough of that on to the pics, the first few are the before pics and the rest is well you know...

[byrd]

Wow under the hood looks like total crap!! I have been wanting to do this FOREVAH!!! Anyway on to the progress pics...

[byrd]

last pic for now, more in a day or two...

[jamie72]

looking good randy,good luck on it!!

[72BlckButy]

Looks great Randy!

[49m]

looking good

[byrd]

Well I FINALLY got the front x-member out. After messing with 3 of the bolts holding it in and eventually having to cut one with a sawzall and trying it on another one, I ended up x the head of the remaining 2 and using an air chisel to pop the pieces out, what a PITA!!!
I also got the frame in front of the cab scraped, oven cleaner and a scrubbing pad to finsh it off, and ready it for eastwoods two part rust converter, there isn't any rust in the frame just some surface spots that need a little attention. I also got the brake and fuel lines cleaned up to paint, and applied the gasket to the outside heater box and new fan motor seal and set it to dry up. I didn't get any pics,but I got the intake, exhaust manifolds, water pump, alt, dizzy and plug wires off the motor. I am going to take the front x-member, uca and lca, intake, swaybar, and brakets over to my mom's in the morning to use oven cleaner and a really nice pressure washer to get them cleaned up and ready for the two part converter. I will be using high gloss chassis black from eastwoods for the frame and suspention. I also picked up some brake caliper paint and hope to have enough to do the inner part of the rotors to keep them looking nice and not rusty. I got a tracking # on my wheels and they are do in Wednesday and same for the rest of the drop components and steering parts. Iordered dropped sway bar mounts, and poly mounts from ece. I also ordered almost all the rest of the parts needed to get her back together. Here are the pics I took today, the garage is going to get cleaned up tomorrow before I paint, it is a disaster!!!

[byrd]

Another update. I got the uca and lca and x-member, engine standes, intake manifold cleaned up and ready to go to the blaster to get them cleaned up a little better before I paint them. I got the two part on the front frame rails as well as the rust inhibitor and two top coats of chassis black. The frame lookes really nice especially for a driver. I installed the blower motor gasket and got the heater box installed on the firewall. I shot some color in the middle of the firewall where I couldn't reach beofre I pulled the engine.
I also went to the pull a part here and scored a straight complete 67-8 grill and turn signals for $32.00!!!!!!! Here are a couuple more pics...

[49m]

Where did you get the grill? what yard did they have any more trucks from 67-72 What are you doing with your old wheels

[jamie72]

lookin good randy, so what crate motor is that?? how do you like it??

[byrd]

Another small update, I got the motor out of the garage and spent about 2 hrs cleaning it and getting it ready for paint. It started to rain a little and I rolled it under my carport and shot some plastic cote gloss black onit and I think it turned out really nice!! I will have the intake blasted and paint it the same black and have my sis in law paint the edelbrock name and made in usa in red apint to match the valve covers and breather. I also got some more chassis paint on the way and some stock gray high heat for the exhaust manifolds, and some cast gray for the pulleys, new booster and M/C combo,mounting brackets for the alt and power steering pump.Here are a couple pics of the motor..

[byrd]

Originally Posted by jamie72

lookin good randy, so what crate motor is that?? how do you like it??

Jaime,
I am not totally sure on the specs, and the numbers are generic due to being a crate motor, but my guess would be the 260 hp 350 ft lbs, flat tappet 350. With the edlebrock intake and carb with 65K HEI I am guessing I am getting close to 300 out of it. It has been a great motor with about 50K on it, and has performed flawlessly.
The block #'s are 10066036
and the head #'s are 33417369 76cc
It seems that mortec.com is down or not working right now for me to get more info....

Found the info..

This universal 350ci engine uses a brand new block and can be used as a replacement for most GM vehicles from 1970-85. It produces 260 HP and 350 ft/lbs of torque with a 4-bbl carb and headers.

Specifications

4-bolt main with 2-piece rear main seal
Cast iron crankshaft
LT1/LT4 powdered metal connecting rods
Cast pistons (dished)
Hydraulic flat tappet cam (.383''/.401'' and 112° lobe separation)
Cast iron cylinder heads with 76cc chambers
8.5:1 compression ratio
Left and right hand dipstick
4-quart oil pan
Timing tabs for a 6-3/4'' or an 8'' balancer

[SCOTI]

Did you do anything to the heater airbox or just clean it up & re-install? They look much nicer w/some attention (blocked w/a top-coat) & some detail type fasteners (chrome, billet, stainless).

I was suprised how nice mine turned out vs. just scrubbin' the pi** out of it.

[byrd]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

Did you do anything to the heater airbox or just clean it up & re-install? They look much nicer w/some attention (blocked w/a top-coat) & some detail type fasteners (chrome, billet, stainless).

I was suprised how nice mine turned out vs. just scrubbin' the pi** out of it.

No not really, just scrubbed the crap out of it, paint the blower motor and installed new gaskets and heater core and slapped it back on. There is a lot of little things like that I want to do,but if I am going to make the national meet I need to let some of the stuff go. It will be one of those week end projects over the next year that will be done

[byrd]

More parts came in today, the front end rebuild kit, disc brakes, carpet, and dash pad. I pulled the brakes apart and painted the spindles with the chasis paint and the calipers and hubs of the rotors with duplicolors caliper paint kit.Wheels will be here tomorrow and more on Thursday. I am going to try and get the tie rods and drap lin together tomorrow and the sway bar cleaned and brakets cleaned and painted. I am going to the hardware store tomorrow to get some of the bolts, nuts and washers I am going to need to start reassembling the truck over the next two weeks.The guy I usually have do my sandblasting is on vacation so I may forgo any blasting of parts due to time constraints. Anyway here are a couple more pics...

[*Dylan]

Looking good, best of luck with meeting your deadline. Looks like your well on your way.

[byrd]

Wheels showed up today!!!! I got the spindles, rotors and calipers mocked up to make sure the disc brakes were going to clear the wheels, and yep they do with about 3/8" clearance. I stopped by my local flaps and picked up new motor mounts and a new water pump. I hope to get the front suspention cleaned up and ready for paint by the end of the weekend, but we'll see Anyway here are the pics of the wheels..

[byrd]

Another update...

Got all the rear susp pulled and trailing arm bushing replaced, cleaned and painted the arms. Got the rear springs painted as well as the spring cups and got all the hardware for the rear susp. Still ahve to get the old panhard bar out of the frame bracket, it is in there purty good and will most likely require some heat to remove it
So I did get the uca and lca, eahaust manifolds, front x-member and the sway bar blasted, I have gotten the manifolds painted and installed, the x-member painted and installed. I have the uca arms almost ready to paint, but the lowers are a different story. I ad the lower ball joint pressed in but the new control arm shafts I got are too big ?? So I will look further into that tomorrow. I got the front springs in today and go the first coat of paint on them, also got the power brake kit and pulled the M/C to paint is up beofre installing.The booster,brackets,prop valve are all zinc coated so no need to paint.

I have gotten the motor almost ready to go back in, got the block heads and intake painted and installed, manifolds on,pulleys painted and installed. brackets painted and almost complete(need a couple of bolts) vavle covers on and alt mounted up. I need to get the dizzy in and make up the wires and she will ready to go in. Anyway enough typeing here are a couple pics of the progress....

[Rokcrln]

Nice choice on the pulley/acc. color it really looks good!

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[byrd]

Got quite a bit done over the past wekk. I finally got the dizzy back in right(should have been easy,but was a pain) I got all the rear susp bolted back in and torqed down, I had some used lowered shocks for the rear and I just painted and installed them. I have everything done o the rear except the flexible brakes hose(parts house gave me one for leaf rears) Panhard bar installed, and new shoes and maybe wheel cylinders. I installed all new stainless brake lines from Inlinetube and they fit perfectly, second time I have used them and they are geat!! I pulled the gauge cluster and the dash pad and sanded the red off the dash to repaint it flat black, and install a new black dash pad. I went and got some cheap roof patch to use for some cheap sound deadner as the cab will not be used for the restoration of this truck down the road. Still need to get the power steering cleaned up and painted, get plug wires and make them up, finish control arms, paint them up and install them,power brakes are coming along slowly, but hopefully I will have it all done in time. Once I get the motor back in and running I am going to ddrop the truck off at a front end shop, thne exhaust shop and them onto and local hot rod shop for test and tune, to ready the truck for the trip.Here are a couple of pics of my progress....

[49m]

moving on quickly

[byrd]

OK Big time update!!! I have gotten the plugs wires finished up, and got the motor back in!!! new rubber fuel hoses(at tank and fuel pump), carb back on with new braided and chrome fuel lines, got the power steering pump painted and installed with the correct brakets this time. I sanded the red off the top of the dash and repainted it satin black and replaced the cracked red dash pad with a new black one. I also got started installing the new black carpet, and the wiring harness back into the truck. I drilled out the two front rivets that needed to be removed for sway bar brackets, which are in and wating for the bar. I still have a long way to go but I can see the end!!!

The upper and lower control arms will be ready to pick up tomorrow and I wll get them painted and ready to install over the next two days. I had some new u bolts for the fronts made up locally and will get them painted and ready to go in as well. The goal is to have it runing by the end of next weekend to start making the little trips around town to get it ready for the road. Anyway here are the pics...

[byrd]

one more pic

I also found out that either the bolts for the tranny vibrated out or they have been missing in action for some 6 years??? I didn't know they were mising but they are in there now!!!

[byrd]

I got the upper and lower control arms back from the alignment shop(they installed and torqued the control arm shafts, I didn't have big enough sockets and had never done them, so I thought it was best left to the pro's!!) and I torqued down the upper ball joints and cleaned them back up and started with Eastwoods rust encapsulator(small spots of surface rust has started due to our lovely humid weather here), followed by high gloss chassis black.I got the uppers done, but the lowers still need one side painted.
The u bolts I had made for the front were a little long, so I got a porta band from work and used the old ones as a guide and trimmed them down where they will look right when installed. I cleaned them up and hit them with the encapsulator and chassis black as well.


I mocked up the brake booster and pedal and got the adjustment right on the first try!!, although I still need a brake rod boot(not sure why it didn't come with the power brake kit??)

I also found out the A&N fitting on the end of the braided fuel line doesn't fit my fuel pump, so I will have to make a trip to the local hot rod shop and pick up the right one

No pics due to the small progress, but the week is YOUNG!!!

[5150]

looking good byrd, can't wait to see it at Ron's