1955 12 Valve NAPCO Clone

[OrrieG]

6bt 9" hot rod type from Performance On Line designed for GM MC. I actually copied the idea from someone else on the board, yes it was to get the length. I broke or drilled out the plastic piece so it would lengthen, I kept about 2.5" overlap. I think all 70's GM shafts have the same feature for crash compression. I will need to look and see what year the Astro Van was, I think its in the build thread. I know it is the same range of years guys use the keyless columns from. I got the last one in our local yard, out of a dozen vans.

[1985-GMC]

Awesome build, I'm glad you saved it from the crusher!

[6BT 56]

Hi Luther

I meant to ask . How do you get the stock steering shaft out of the stock box? looks like Im going to use the stock column as you did and take Orrie's advise on wrecking yard steering shafts. Then mount my Ram box on the frame as Orrie did. If you have any pics o clearence around the front of the eng I'd love to see those as well.

[Luther Grimace]

Originally Posted by 6BT 56

Hi Luther

I meant to ask . How do you get the stock steering shaft out of the stock box? looks like Im going to use the stock column as you did and take Orrie's advise on wrecking yard steering shafts. Then mount my Ram box on the frame as Orrie did. If you have any pics o clearence around the front of the eng I'd love to see those as well.

The stock steering shaft has a roll pin that you have to knock out to pull the shaft off the gear box. If you need me to take a picture I can. I finished the steering on my truck late last night after a late night.

[6BT 56]

A few pics would be super. I got my 5.9 out tonite , the old 235 left sat am. Going t have a bud with a hot watr powerwasher come by and clean the 5.9 up. Then I'll dro the T/C and try a test fit.

Lookig forward to anymore pics you may have .

Merry Christmas to you and your family .

[Luther Grimace]

Here are some pics.










I ended up having to use a Chevy truck 73-87 steering gear box. The dodge box didn't have a flat spot on it. I got two steering sector shafts from a late model Astro van with hydroboost, I used parts off the both of them to sleeve and make one long one. It costs me $20 compared to 2 or 3 hundred for Borgeson joint setup. All props go to OrrieG for telling me about this. I wanted to get yalls opnion on what I did for converting from 3/4" round to 1" DD. I used some parts off the dodge column and plug welded them and welded the perimeter. Does this seem safe enough for yall?


And this is a truck my Dad got. The plan is to get it going and throw a T5 in behind it and get it in the weeds.

[Luther Grimace]

I have some updates. I have been busting it on this truck trying to get it mobile. It has been tying up my shop for too long. I atleast need to get it where it will move on its on power in an out of the shop.

I got the astro steering shaft finished, painted, and installed.


I then got the final mockup for the core support done and painted it.



You can kinda see the feet I made to tie the core support to the frame.

This is one of the bracket I made for it. I welded nuts on so one person could put it on by themselves.


I took the flap wheel to about four spots on the frame to give me just a little extra room for hoses and the petcock.


I installed the brake booster and connected it for what is hopefully the last time. I also got the brakes bled. The clutch master cylinder is installed but I lost the quad ring/o ring for it so I am going to have to find one for it.


Here is the radiator and intercooler installed.


Here are some pics I took the night before for you 6bt56. It shows my room between the engine and radiator. Hopefully enough to fit a slimline electric fan in.




This is what I have left on my "to-do" excel spreadsheet to get it mobile:
Connect radiator and intercooler
Provide electric fan
Install battery
Install crossover steering
Install slave cylinder and connect to clutch master cylinder
Accelerator pedal

I ordered components to do crossover and high steer from Ballastic Fabrication and I ordered some Moog tierods from Rock Auto. Hopefully these will come in soon.

This is just a side note but my daily driver rolled 350K Saturday. I was stoked.

[6BT 56]

Looken good Luther . I dont think im going to use the inercooler . I want to put a electric fan on the front of my rad pushing . I have one crossmember to cut out of the 56 frame and then i will be ready for a test fit .

Can you explain what you did to the end of thew 56 column to support the shaft . i got my colum out and now need to get the shaft suported inside it !

Keep up the good work .

Happy New Year to All.

[Luther Grimace]

Originally Posted by 6BT 56

Looken good Luther . I dont think im going to use the inercooler . I want to put a electric fan on the front of my rad pushing . I have one crossmember to cut out of the 56 frame and then i will be ready for a test fit .

Can you explain what you did to the end of thew 56 column to support the shaft . i got my colum out and now need to get the shaft suported inside it !

Keep up the good work .

Happy New Year to All.

Here is the conversion bearing I used.

http://www.classicparts.com/1947-59-...ctinfo/76-987/

I cut the outer column tube square to the right length and then I drove this bearing up in it. Then you just slide your steering shaft down in it with the wheel attached and put 3/4" shaft collar on below the conversion bearing to keep the shaft in place. I pushed down on the column because there is a bearing preload spring up by the steering wheel. It just help take the slack out.



After that is done the column is now like a normal column. You just have to shorten the shaft to the right length. I salvaged a piece of tube out of the dodge column the is 1" DD on one end and 3/4" id pipe on the other and welded it on below the shaft collar so I could connect to the astro steering column. I welded it around the perimeter and did 4 plug welds also.



I disassembled the shaft to weld it on so I wouldn't put excessive heat on the new conversion bearing.

[Luther Grimace]

I tried mocking up the big diesel battery but i'm not sure if I like its position or not. Seems like that is a heavy battery to be hanging off the firewall. I am getting a different exhaust manifold so my turbo would not be under it if I do put it here.

[6BT 56]

Ya that is a little stuffy isnt it. My batt is a bit smaller 1000 cca marine batt that fits the stock box. I agree tho . That is a bunch of weight off the firewall. Sounds like your 6.2 chevelle will be real cool.

[Luther Grimace]

Side note: I got a surplus 6.2L Hummer Diesel to put into my Crewcab 65 Chevelle. Hoping to run it with a 700R4 and try to knock down 30 mpg while running under GM power and parts




Back to the truck. I had to move it outside and got a dark picture of it sitting besides my buddies 1 ton 81.


I also got my crossover steering parts in. I got the steering arms, dom tubing, link inserts, and jam nuts from Ballistic Fab and I got the Moog tie rod ends from RockAuto. I went ahead and got all the stuff to do high steer because Ballistic had a sale.



I had known that one of my kingpins was shot in the front 60 but I didn't know it was this bad.

[6BT 56]

Yep that is what I would call bad aswell. Ive got to do that to mine as well. will likely find the same good stuff insider when I open it up. Love the high steer stuff. I dont really want to spend the extra $$ rite now to do that. you are going to have to start a build thread on the 65 ? CC diesel your building as well. Lol.

I meant to ask earlier . did you have any particular fan in mind for the truck? i will be shopping for one soon as well I guess.

Oh ya . I friggen love the mirrors on your truck. mine has the little factork ones on the doors. shake so bad you cant see a thing. And the drivers one only gives you a view of the fender mounted spare anyway. Keep those for sure. They will be like gold to you once you hit the road.

[Luther Grimace]

Originally Posted by 6BT 56

Yep that is what I would call bad aswell. Ive got to do that to mine as well. will likely find the same good stuff insider when I open it up. Love the high steer stuff. I dont really want to spend the extra $$ rite now to do that. you are going to have to start a build thread on the 65 ? CC diesel your building as well. Lol.

I meant to ask earlier . did you have any particular fan in mind for the truck? i will be shopping for one soon as well I guess.

Oh ya . I friggen love the mirrors on your truck. mine has the little factork ones on the doors. shake so bad you cant see a thing. And the drivers one only gives you a view of the fender mounted spare anyway. Keep those for sure. They will be like gold to you once you hit the road.

Good luck on yours. Mine also has bad u joints on each axleshaft. It's always something I guess. I like the crossover/high steer stuff but I really hated buying it cause it broke my budget, but it was needed. My factory 4wd location steering bracket for the Dodge broke on me when I was towing that blue truck home. I didn't want to have to find another one and risk the same thing because having loose steering on a 50 mile trip home wondering if your box is gonna fall off is not for me! I have read on Dodge sites that the steering is very loose on these old trucks and the best thing that you can do is crossover steering and put a u joint sector shaft to replace the old block and pin setup. I figure it should steer like a Cadillac now. I don't know how big time off roading people can afford buying top of the line lockers, gears, steering and suspension components.

Yeah I hope to do one on the Chevelle maybe in the alternate tinkerings section. This guy inspired me on youtube. He is getting a best 31 mpg in a big Olds 88 4 door with a turbo 400. I think I should be able to match that with my smaller car and overdrive with the lockup converter. It will be awhile before I can get around to it because I am getting married in June and moving and most likely won't have a shop anymore.

the build of the " MATROD " , 1964 Olds...

The fan I have been looking at is this one on Summit.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hfm-zfb16/overview/
I need a slim design and I was shooting for around 3000 cfm. I have read that the stock mechanical fan is around 10,000 cfm at max rpm but you don't run that high all the time. I figured I should be fine with 3000 cfm. If you think about it as area under the curve, the constant speed fan should be pretty close. I have heard of Cummins guys not even running fans in the winter months.

Yeah i'm interested to see how I like driving it with the swing pedals. I'm so ready to get it done just to loosen up some free time before the wedding.

[Luther Grimace]

I got some work done last night. I got the rear frame extended from its previous life when I bobbed the bed on the Dodge. I used some frame rail pieces I had left from a 65 truck to weld onto the Dodge frame. It is not the same material thickness but it is the same height luckily.





I then had to trim the bed/step supports to fit over the frame. Only had to pie cut it since it was about a half inch on each side needed.




Then I set the bed on to check for lining it up. Looks like I left the frame long after I welded the piece on so I will trim it to fit to let the back sit down some more. I can tell that I need to lift the rear up a little because that 36" tire really fills up the fender well with no rear lift.





I think I might pull the bottom leaf out of the front 52" de-arched junkyard leaf pack i made for the front to make it lower. The front prolly does not have as much weight now that I moved the engine back about 6 inches. The weight bias when it was still a long bed dodge with 37s was 3700/1540lbs F/R. I haven't taken it to the scales since I shortened and now since I moved the engine back.

[Luther Grimace]

Here is a little back history on the Dodge.

Here is how it looked when I drug it out of a field.







The reason I bought the truck was to mount these tires so I could go riding with my buddies.


"Test fit" them on a 1 ton dually truck that I was putting power disc brakes and power steering on.




Found the transmission problem the previous owner had. The input shaft was stripped off. The Getrag G360 is known to have common problems of failure because of heavy hauling in 5th gear and overheating. I upgraded the input bushing to an input roller bearing and had the flywheel machined to accept it. I also overfilled the trans by a quart and have no concern about it anymore.

[Luther Grimace]

Bought some H2 wheels and tires. Sold the tires and mounted the 37x12.50R17 Goodyear Wrangler MT/Rs. I machined the centers with a wood router to fit over the big Dana hubs.





I got the wheels installed and loved the stance and look of the truck but my front springs were shot and I didn't want to buy new ones so I built a leaf pack to support the weight of the Cummins and dearched them to get the right ride height. It is still a little tall for my taste but o well.

[Luther Grimace]

The engine developed a #6 cylinder knock about a week after I bought it. Pulled the engine and the thrust bearing was bad. Replaced all main and rod bearings to get this new upgraded one piece thrust bearing. Apparently the manual truck are more like to split off the thrust piece since the clutch pedal drive the crank foward. Tabbed the KDP and put it back together and it still knocks but who cares. It's a diesel. Probably an injection pump problem but the truck runs fine. Been like that for a year.




These Dodges are very easy to work on. I can pull the trans in 45 minutes and the engine in about the same by myself. These trucks were definitely stuck out of their time.

Ran it like this for a long time. Until I got tired of the long wheelbase and the extreme weight bias to the front. It made it great for pulling long hills on trails but not so much other times.

Ronkus Red Ram - YouTube

Someone gave me a wrecked D150 red bed and I bobbed it to match my short frame.








Then I had to shorten the frame to match.









Ended up taking 16 inches out of the frame to make it like a truck Dodge should have offered. A shortbed W250 with a Cummins and manual. I thought it looked pretty awesome then.

I got frustrated with my white Chevy daily driver because what I thought was trans trouble which I had done about two years earlier. Took my frustration out on the Dodge and sold the wheels and tires with the intent to part the whole project out and trim the herd.


Changed my mind and thanks to a friend who gave me an old set of 36x12.50-16.5 H1 bias ply tires. I found a set of 8 lug steel Chevy 3.4 ton 16.5 wheels and painted them black and mounted the tires. The wheels wouldn't fit over the Dana 70 so I did a hack job of making the holes bigger. I will have to find another pair and get them professionaly machined.






I drove this truck to help my Dad tow a junk mail Jeep he bought to the junkyard.


And that junkyard is where I found this. So it comes full circle! You can actually see the Dodge mirror in the picture.

[XJAbuzer]

This will be awesome when it is done.

Just curious, did you add any fish plating to the joint when you shortened the frame?

[Luther Grimace]

Yes I did. I just don't have a picture of it.

[XJAbuzer]

Sweet. Nice to see you are doing it right. Keep up the good work.

[6BT 56]

Hi luther.

Any updates? had you got to the gas pedal and cable yet ? Was just wondering if you were able to make the dodge pedal work as you did with brake and clutch.

Cool history of the dodge. I really like those trucks. I will have another one some day.

I'll have to make a trip south to find one that isnt rusted out tho.

[Luther Grimace]

I will have some updates here in a few days. I haven't tackled the gas pedal yet but I see no problem mounting it. I have been having major problems with the high steer/crossover so hopefully I can get it sorted out.

[Luther Grimace]

It's alive - YouTube

Good news! I cranked the truck for the first time since I tore the truck apart back in September. It fired right up. I hope to get a video up later.

I will just pick up where I left off.

I have been working on the kingpin install and the crossover steering. The high steer will not work with the crossover steering so basically now I have an expensive kingpin cap on the drivers side. The arms I bought are from Ballastic Fab. They are good quality but they are too long. I should have bought some Offroad Design arms to begin with. I am just going to stick with the crossover for now.




I drilled the lower kingpin out to recess the zerk fitting.



Also my I got new tires for my daily driver and came to a sad realization. It's bad when your daily driver has bigger tires than your 1 ton solid axle truck.

[Luther Grimace]

My steering stop bolt on the passenger side was messed up so I fixed up a new one. I chucked it up in the drill and took a flap disc and some emory cloth to it to round the head like the original.




Made a new battery box today to hold my big ole battery. I also used some 2/0 gauge battery cable to help relocate it far back in the rear of the truck. I think it will help out with the weight bias of the truck moving this battery to the back. I am going to make a board flip up to gain access to the battery incase I need to jump someone off or be jumped off.