Winter Beater Build 2.0- '66 Short/Fleet BBW

[theastronaut]

The NP440 swap.... this was supposed to be a quick swap to make it to Run to the Sun, but when I took it apart "just to add new gaskets" I found that the bores in the case for the countershaft had pounded out oversize and needed to be bored and sleeved.




http://youtube.com/shorts/eAlnyHWEN_...cIkpNI7KQfqRRL


Since the bore was no longer the original size I couldn't just find the center and use that location to bore it. I used the countershaft pulled tightly against a small unworn area and superglued it in place, then used a tenths indicator to sweep around it and find the original center.







I double checked that I had the correct location by setting up the boring head so that it just barely took a cut, which evenly cut only across the unworn area. I took it from (off the top of my head) roughly .945 to 1.350 to make room for a steel sleeve, and added a step around the edge. I machined a sleeve with a ~.003" interference fit and a matching step. I also left the sleeve's bore slightly undersize so I could ream it for an exact fit after it was pressed in.











After both holes were bored and sleeved, I cut one side for the locating keyway, then reamed the sleeves to a slight interference fit so that the countershaft needed to be tapped into place with no clearance. I've read that originally the aluminum case version of the NP440 had .005" clearance between the case and the shaft which caused it to wear oversize, but the iron case version had a slight interference fit and never had this problem, so I replicated the iron case's interference fit.







When we cleaned out my granddad's workshop after he passed, I found an original bellhousing for one of these trucks and tucked it away. I pulled it out of storage to use for the trans swap, thinking I'd use it for mock up. It turned out to be in really nice condition with no rust, no stripped holes, and a really nice coat of the original 230/250 blue that I was able to use to color match new paint.





I chucked the input bearing retainer in the lathe and turned it down to fit the original bellhousing's ID. This cut into the oil return slot so I had to weld that up to prevent it from leaking.







Quick test fit. Notice the difference in tone in the aluminum castings- I used aluminum brightener acid on the tailhousing and it cleaned it to almost looking like new.





The seal area of the input shaft was very pitted, so I chucked it in the lathe and lightly turned it down until it cleaned up. I did keep checking that the seal still fit snugly, I think I had to remove .013" to get it to clean up. The seal still fit snugly so hopefully this won't cause a leak from being undersized.







Reassembly. I used a heated ultrasonic cleaner for all of the internals which saved hours of cleaning by hand.









Completed assembly.





I attempted to DIY shorten the driveshaft after watching a few YT vids. Before cutting it I put it in the lathe to check runout after zeroing the yoke in the four jaw with a tenths indicator. The high spot was /043" directly opposite of the weight added to balance it. I think I took 5 3/8" off and got runout down to .008" via aligning it before welding, then peening the tube/welds after welding with a smoothed chisel I modified for linear stretching sheetmetal. I'll balance it using the two hose clamp method once its back together.









At the moment it's dropped back into the truck to work out the new shift rods, then I'll pull it and go through all of the engine gaskets and repaint the engine. I'll swap in the power steering box and Dellorto carb when it goes back together, and maybe a header or 292 manifold to open up the exhaust. The old exhaust system has been hanging on for dear lift since I originally got it running so I'll redo it with 2.5" tubing and a Vibrant Ultra Quiet resonator.




I repaired the clutch linkage while the engine was out, the joints were worn pretty badly. I drilled the holes in the Z-bar oversize and added oil impregnated bronze bushings. Not sure what the Z bar arms were made from but my HSS drill bit wouldn't touch it and my boring head won't adjust down that small so I used the torch to make them soft enough to drill.

[Braunschweiger]

Great work, you really don't take care of your truck.
I'm excited to see the results of your work.
I wish you a great season.

[theastronaut]

I got the four speed swap buttoned up in time to make it to the C10 Fall Revival but didn't get many test miles on it, and my brother in law just bought a new 2500 and was itching to pull something with it so we decided to tow it. Still feels wrong to see it on a trailer






It had a vibration at speed after the swap so I pulled the drop blocks and flycut them to correct the pinion angle.






The rear brakes have been acting up, I pulled them apart to inspect everything and found grooves in the backing plates so I welded them up. They're still noisy and grabby so I might disc swap it, but then I'd have to change the offset of the wheels since the outer sidewall is already almost touching the bed.









I got all the pieces together for the power steering swap, so I rebuilt the pump and added Borgeson pressure reducing shims. I don't like over-boosted steering.






Had to file the blank splines in to be able to center the box and slightly offset the pitman arm to account for the frame adapter thickness. Used prussian blue to find the tight spots and kept filing until it fit well.









I've kinda had my eye out for a roller cam block for awhile, the 250 doesn't run as smoothly ever since the cam swap and its still underpowered for towing. The .73 overdrive with tall tires and 3.73 gears is a bit steep for it to pull well up hills, especially with the added weight and wind resistance of the camper shell. I ran across a super nice 5.7 Vortec block for $75 that was from a low mileage replacement engine, the main tunnel measures perfect and the bores have almost zero measurable wear. I have a friend that thinks he has a large journal 327 crank I could throw in it, and I'm looking into the possibility of using LS2 rods and slightly flycut flat top pistons to make an easy and cheap short block with a better rod ratio than an original 327.





With the sbc swap in the back of my head, I've been halfway searching for a quad Weber IDF intake for about a year and finally found one on facebook. Webers or Dellortos would be infinitely tunable for really good mpg and still flow enough for 400+hp.




A neighbor gave me this truck to get it out of his yard, I'll use it for random engine hardware to complete the bare block and for the serpentine setup.

[Paul Y]

Quick question.

Whats with all the content not viewable in your region where the pictures should be??

P.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by Paul Y

Quick question.

Whats with all the content not viewable in your region where the pictures should be??

P.

I'm seeing images in the latest updates.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by Paul Y

Quick question.

Whats with all the content not viewable in your region where the pictures should be??

P.

Imgur has been blocked in the UK since September 30th.

[rbruno68]

I see your truck all over social media from the C10 Fall Revival. Clearly it was popular. I hope to be there next year.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by rbruno68

I see your truck all over social media from the C10 Fall Revival. Clearly it was popular. I hope to be there next year.

I noticed that as well!

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by rbruno68

I see your truck all over social media from the C10 Fall Revival. Clearly it was popular. I hope to be there next year.

I've seen it in a few post on Instagram, was able to get that parking spot Friday afternoon so it was in a good spot for pics. It's a must-attend event!

[Paul Y]

Originally Posted by theastronaut

Imgur has been blocked in the UK since September 30th.

Didn't realise.

Time to break out the VPN.....

P.

[theastronaut]

PSA to always use fresh gear oil...





I initially filled the trans with gear oil I had at the shop and it barely would shift, and really didn't want to downshift. I dumped it and swapped it out for Synchromesh and it up shifted like normal but downshifting wasn't super slick and you could hear the second gear syncro matching rpm of the collar and gear. It hit me that the gear oil had been at the shop for 3-4 years, so I found one of the bottles in the trash and cut it open, and all of the additives had separated out and were stuck in the bottom of the bottle. With the synchros not working like they should this led to the teeth the synchro hub mesh against to wear down and second gear started grinding. I pulled it out to inspect it and found some steel on the magnet, very fine brass in the oil (pretty much only visible with a flashlight) and the tips of the of the hub engagement teeth were worn on first and second. The input shaft was also slightly leaking from where I turned down pitted spots, so I'll have to get a new one or weld that one up and turn it back to normal OD if they're not available.

[rbruno68]

How many miles did you go to cause that much wear?

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by rbruno68

How many miles did you go to cause that much wear?

Not a lot on the initial old oil, only drove it a couple of days before I changed to fresh Synchromesh. Then drove it about 700 miles on the new oil. I think most of the damage was done before the oil change though, there was brass in the oil when I drained it.

[theastronaut]

To get it back on the road quickly, I threw in a spare long tail 3 speed I had laying around. It sorta acted like it wanted to pop out of third (never actually did) but the shifter would move up under power around an inch. The overdrive was too much for the 250 to pull and actually made mileage worse, I'm guessing the lower rpm with less manifold vacuum while going up hills made the power piston richen the carb up more often than before, it was getting around 10 mpg. So I decided to rebuild the original three speed using parts from the spare three speed to make one good trans. I'll redo the 4 speed and use it with the 327.




The original trans had multiple issues- the needle bearings on one end of the countergear got destroyed which took out the bore of the gears and shaft. The input bearing retaining nut had backed off which chewed up the face of the retainer, and that may have been the initial source of shavings that took out the needle bearings in the counter gear. The shift detent levers were worn very thin and were barely hanging on, so I welded those up and filed them back to the original diameter. The c-clips and washers were also bent so I straightened the washers and got new clips. The countergear, shaft, and bearing retainer from the spare 3 speed were in good shape, so with a rebuild kit I was able to put get the original trans back in good condition and I got it swapped in this week. It's smoother and quieter than ever now.













Back together.





I got the parts engine pulled from the free 1500, so far it looks like the longblock is ok but both heads have cracks between the center bolt hole and water jacket. Seen a lot of post where people use them anyway with no problems, they might could be saved via a thin sleeve with Loctite sleeve retainer/sealer. They wouldn't work as-is with the old bolt pattern intake I have though, unless I made adapter plates which would be pretty easy and would align the ports better. Not sure if I'll try to use them, or pick up a pair of the AFR Enforcer/Skip White NKB/Bluepring aluminum heads for it. The Vortecs would have better low rpm power and probably better mpg so they're tempting to try out. It would be super easy to swap heads later on if the cracks caused problems down the road.









Stripped the modern stuff off the 5.7 and gathered up random carbs I had laying around for a quick mock up. I'm going to Run to the Sun so I'll check the swap meet for a large journal 327 crank.





Dug through the wheel collection to see what I can scavenge to make wider front wheels that clear discs, put more tire under the spindle for a better scrub radius, and have a deeper outer lip. I have a couple late 60s Kelsey Hayes wheels that look to have disc inner barrels, if those will actually clear the discs that'll give me 1.5" more backspacing relative to the stockers with 1.5" spacers that's on it now. I can cut the outer half of the barrel off and weld on a 1.5" wider barrel half to get the look I want on the outside- still staggered front to rear but with a deeper lip than stock.