Knomadd '71 SWB C-10

[77ChevySharkBite]

Sweet!!! Looking forward to, I'm sure you can do it! This is where you get thankful for Daylight Savings time!
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[knomadd]

Well, I didn't get it all torn down on Friday evening. Had a little trouble with the upper shock mount. The passenger side had already been removed and bolted back in but the drivers side was still riveted in place. And I didn't have a large enough socket or wrench to get the control arm u-bolts off. Saturday morning I made a trip to Ace hardware and bought my tools. Took me all day with hand tools to get the drivers side done. I did take a lunch break with the wife though and quite just as the mosquito's were coming out.

Here's some pics of the progress for Saturday:
Drivers side inner fender. Obviously the stock panhard bar was pushing the rearend too far to the passenger side. Glad the deluxe drop kit from CPP came with the adjustable panhard bar.


All torn down


New 3" drop spring from CPP and old McGaughy's 5 or 6" drop spring. hopefully this will give me a less brutal ride.


Shock relocation mounts, 2" drop blocks and longer u-bolts, shocks and springs installed.



Inner fender and frame painted.


That's about where I stopped on Saturday.

[77ChevySharkBite]

Looks sharp man!! Hope the drop works out for you, hopefully you solved the rubbing.
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[knomadd]

Finished up the rest of the truck on Sunday. Here's before (didn't think to take the photo while it was on the ground )


and after:


It looks relatively close to the same ride height. It might be a half inch taller now, but that's alright by me. It definitely doesn't throw me around quite as much. And, I even adjusted the panhard bar so I have a nearly identical 1" clearance from the back of the tire to the inner fender on both sides.

[77ChevySharkBite]

In my book that still looks beautiful!!! I like the way it looks, so how's the ride quality now?
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[Zoomin]

Looks real good Duane!
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[knomadd]

Originally Posted by 77ChevySharkBite

In my book that still looks beautiful!!! I like the way it looks, so how's the ride quality now?
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I still need to change out the front shocks and springs, but for the back, the ride quality is better. Not a lot better or quite as nice as I'd like, but it's still a lowered old truck, so I can't expect it to ride as nice as my GTO or a new car. Until I go air that is... (I should say IF I go air) I'm happy with how it looks, except I still want to replace the wheels. I'm going to get a set of Coy's C-57's in chrome, 20x8.5 & 20x10. It will likely be around Christmas, or next year before I'll have the funds for them though. The wheels on it now are 22's with 35 series rubber, so the 20's with 45 series rubber should help soften the ride a little.

Originally Posted by Zoomin

Looks real good Duane!
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Thanks Steve! I'm enjoying the progress on your build as well. Tom looks good. I read about your firewall painting turned complete truck just a few minutes ago.

[72BlckButy]

Looking good!!!
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[67ctener]

Great looking truck, love the stance
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[67cheby]

Looks GREAT !

[knomadd]

Originally Posted by 72BlckButy

Looking good!!!
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Originally Posted by 67ctener

Great looking truck, love the stance
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Originally Posted by 67cheby

Looks GREAT !

Thanks guys! I'm enjoying the build. I drove her to work today so I can make sure the suspension flexes enough that I can recheck the bolts this weekend and retighten any that might have come loose. Don't want to have anything fall off when I'm driving.

[dmw319]

looks good! i enjoyed looking through your build

[knomadd]

Thanks!

Got the truck inspected today and had quite a few people checking it out. Was showing the guys at the shop some of the mods that I had done and they were blown away by the hidden hitch. It's funny how I start to take things for granted when I’m used to seeing these things from other builds I see on here. All it takes is one person who hasn't seen things like that before to make me appreciate the work I've done. Is that weird?

[knomadd]

Finally took the fuel cell out of the bed. Still need to weld up the holes in the floor though so no pics until that's done.

Started doing some research for going air ride eventually. I'm planning on going with Porterbuilt "stage 1 front" and "stage 2 basic rear" as I want to keep the bed floor where it is. Looks like I'll be going with Accuair e-level air management too. I'll also be getting the 1" forward LCAs from PB.

Since I'm on a tight budget and funds aren't always available to save and drop a ton of money on everything at once, I like to buy smaller groups of parts and save them for later. (my wife hates it when I buy things that sit , but I bet she'd hate it more if I dropped high 4 figure $ amounts on stuff to do it all at once.)

To do list is as follows (for now)
*Brakes
*Air Conditioning (for those hot/humid Houston summers)
*Bed cover & liner (need to strip the old off and patch the holes from the fuel cell)
*Air Suspension
*other stuff lower on my list

My plan is to tackle the brakes first. Install the hydratech booster and upgrade to the Wilwood D52 calipers and slotted rotors, upgrade the lines as necessary and replace the ugly/rusty proportioning valve. I have the booster now, so I just need the calipers, rotors, prop. valve & lines.

What should I do? Should I buy the Wilwood D52s, slotted rotors and replace the lines and prop valve, or just install the hydratech booster and use the factory disc stuff for now and move on to the A/C and suspension parts?

[77ChevySharkBite]

Originally Posted by knomadd

Thanks!

Got the truck inspected today and had quite a few people checking it out. Was showing the guys at the shop some of the mods that I had done and they were blown away by the hidden hitch. It's funny how I start to take things for granted when I’m used to seeing these things from other builds I see on here. All it takes is one person who hasn't seen things like that before to make me appreciate the work I've done. Is that weird?

No it just makes you normal, I know that's the way I am with mine I'm used to seeing certain things and a friend will come over and see something that I haven't done and well it gets me a talking

Originally Posted by knomadd

Finally took the fuel cell out of the bed. Still need to weld up the holes in the floor though so no pics until that's done.

Started doing some research for going air ride eventually. I'm planning on going with Porterbuilt "stage 1 front" and "stage 2 basic rear" as I want to keep the bed floor where it is. Looks like I'll be going with Accuair e-level air management too. I'll also be getting the 1" forward LCAs from PB.

Since I'm on a tight budget and funds aren't always available to save and drop a ton of money on everything at once, I like to buy smaller groups of parts and save them for later. (my wife hates it when I buy things that sit , but I bet she'd hate it more if I dropped high 4 figure $ amounts on stuff to do it all at once.)

To do list is as follows (for now)
*Brakes
*Air Conditioning (for those hot/humid Houston summers)
*Bed cover & liner (need to strip the old off and patch the holes from the fuel cell)
*Air Suspension
*other stuff lower on my list

My plan is to tackle the brakes first. Install the hydratech booster and upgrade to the Wilwood D52 calipers and slotted rotors, upgrade the lines as necessary and replace the ugly/rusty proportioning valve. I have the booster now, so I just need the calipers, rotors, prop. valve & lines.

What should I do? Should I buy the Wilwood D52s, slotted rotors and replace the lines and prop valve, or just install the hydratech booster and use the factory disc stuff for now and move on to the A/C and suspension parts?

I keep going back and forth on my truck whethe to do air or keep it the way it is, well I contacted Porterbuilt they suggested doing a coilover kit, which is what I'm going to do in the future, tad bit more pricey than running air, but they also told me I would be saving about 2k by not doing air, just a suggestion didn't mean to get sidetracked.

[knomadd]

Originally Posted by 77ChevySharkBite

No it just makes you normal, I know that's the way I am with mine I'm used to seeing certain things and a friend will come over and see something that I haven't done and well it gets me a talking

At least I'm not the only one.

Originally Posted by 77ChevySharkBite

I keep going back and forth on my truck whethe to do air or keep it the way it is, well I contacted Porterbuilt they suggested doing a coilover kit, which is what I'm going to do in the future, tad bit more pricey than running air, but they also told me I would be saving about 2k by not doing air, just a suggestion didn't mean to get sidetracked.

I'll have to give PB a call. I haven't made up my mind 100% yet. I know I want to use the truck as a truck and that will include towing a trailer at some point. I like coil overs and I plan on going that route on my GTO, but I'm not sure they'd be great for towing. I'm not educated enough on the subject to know so I'll have to ask the experts.

Thanks for opening my eyes to this though. Now I'll just need to do more research. Usually a good thing when a lot of $$$ is involved.

Got a suggestion on what I should do regarding the brakes? Install new booster and leave the rest alone, or go all out with new calipers, rotors, lines and prop valve??

[77ChevySharkBite]

Originally Posted by knomadd

At least I'm not the only one.

yeah your not so no wories

I'll have to give PB a call. I haven't made up my mind 100% yet. I know I want to use the truck as a truck and that will include towing a trailer at some point. I like coil overs and I plan on going that route on my GTO, but I'm not sure they'd be great for towing. I'm not educated enough on the subject to know so I'll have to ask the experts.

Thanks for opening my eyes to this though. Now I'll just need to do more research. Usually a good thing when a lot of $$$ is involved.

Got a suggestion on what I should do regarding the brakes? Install new booster and leave the rest alone, or go all out with new calipers, rotors, lines and prop valve??

Yeah I agree, Dave will help and answer all the questions you need. There e-mail is actually porterbuiltdirect@gmail.com, I still had it in my phone so I figured I could make it easier on you.

All good quality things cost, it's the way I view it you want the best got to pay the price.

I wish I could help you out there, but I have a 77 so I'm not sure how much different they are. I myself on my project I'm thinking of replace the front with disc brakes, and just leave the rear drums alone yet again that's something I'm going back and forth with myself. Are you going to be doing all the brakes or just the front kind like what I was planning to do?

[knomadd]

I was just going to do the fronts. Leave the back as drums for now. Until I see a really good reason for ditching the rear drums, they're going to stay. I'm not racing the truck and a lot of modern trucks still use drum rears (last I checked) and don't seem to have any problems, so why would my 71 be any different? That's my thought on it anyway.

I have the factory drums, but they are single piston and the Wilwood D52s are direct replacement with twin pistons for better pressure distribution on the pads. I've also upgraded all of my vehicles to a slotted rotor and figured I'd do the same for the truck. Since what I have still works, I'm debating on using my money for the A/C and other stuff instead of switching everything out until I need to or decide I want the upgraded brakes instead of the next item on my list. I'm still going to replace the booster either way, I just can't make up my mind on the rest of it.

[77ChevySharkBite]

Originally Posted by knomadd

I was just going to do the fronts. Leave the back as drums for now. Until I see a really good reason for ditching the rear drums, they're going to stay. I'm not racing the truck and a lot of modern trucks still use drum rears (last I checked) and don't seem to have any problems, so why would my 71 be any different? That's my thought on it anyway.

I have the factory drums, but they are single piston and the Wilwood D52s are direct replacement with twin pistons for better pressure distribution on the pads. I've also upgraded all of my vehicles to a slotted rotor and figured I'd do the same for the truck. Since what I have still works, I'm debating on using my money for the A/C and other stuff instead of switching everything out until I need to or decide I want the upgraded brakes instead of the next item on my list. I'm still going to replace the booster either way, I just can't make up my mind on the rest of it.

I understand ya there, I mean for now you know our Texas weather just like I do, I say go with the A/C like you stated I mean there's no real reason for it to be done this moment or anything get the A/C call it a day. You could always make your brakes a Christmas present to yourself

[knomadd]

Sounds like a good plan. Thanks for helping me make up my mind.

[77ChevySharkBite]

Haha quite welcome sir! Yeah I need to get a/c and heater on my 77 Texas weather is brutal as you very well know it.
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[knomadd]

yep... I don't even have a heater for these cold fronts we've had lately. But that's what a jacket is for. It's just bad when the windows fog up and I cant turn on a fan to defrost the windshield. I'd still rather deal with that than no A/C in the summer.

[77ChevySharkBite]

I would have to agree with you 100% we always have jackets, but our summers are killers ain't no denying that! I think we have a love hate relationship with Texas what you think?
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[knomadd]

I got a response from PB yesterday. Not sure who it was since they didn't sign the email, but they said coil-overs are more for handling and they usually recommend a light spring rate that isn't suitable for towing. Air springs are still good for handling and ride quality and should handle towing a lot better. After my AC, I think I'll start collecting parts to add air, at least to the rear.
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[77ChevySharkBite]

Hmmm......I was never told that, I was told that it'd be a big suspension upgrade but nothing about not good for towing. If that's the case I might be doing some reconsideration myself, because I plan on using my truck to pull my boat and would hate to not be able to pull it because of my suspension.

Do you have your a/c ordered yet or trying to set aside the lumpsome of cash to be able to pay for it?