Newbie with a simple 64 Stepper Build...

[MadRatt]

Originally Posted by T.J. MCCAULEY

Cool build! Looks awesome!

Thanx!

Originally Posted by WhippinSaw

Moving along pretty fast, looks like a nice shop to keep you motivated. an organized shop will save you a lot of time. I seem to spend most of my time in the shop looking for something. I like the red chair with the tool bin below it. That crate motor looks like it found a good home. enjoy

Yea you should have seen the shop prior to this Pic. I cleaned out and reorganized everything so that i'd have a clean area to work on the motor. Feels good with everything back where its supposed to be..

Originally Posted by Captainfab

That seemed fairly quick on the delivery of your engine.

I see yours got the Pro Filer heads. Those are supposed to be really good heads. I did notice the large 'D' port exhaust ports. Have you checked into what headers will accomodate those exhaust ports?

I ordered it on sun. and they called back on Mon. to state it was scheduled to be built and would be shipped in 2 to 3 weeks. it showed up the following tues. 8 days. Not bad as far as the heads go. It was one concern I had because I hadn't heard of them. the guys at ATK said that their engine builder was also the designer on these heads for his championship winning drag team. and that they were some of the best heads they had used. google also had some good reviews so I thought what the hell.
Glad you've heard they are good as well.

Originally Posted by Captainfab

Looks good

I hope the family matters are working out.

all is good.. thanx for askin

Originally Posted by 1963chevyshort

Looking good keep up the good work it will pay off in the end

Thanx.

Originally Posted by bj383ss

Nice Score on the go fast parts.

Bret

Thanx.. cant wait to have it running

Originally Posted by Bomp

Nice selection on the motor. That truck is gonna have some serious GO

Thanx.. Should be a fun ride.

[dwcardfan]

That motor is sweet! Keep posting pics.

[MadRatt]

Well I hope u all had a Merry Christmas. I'm down in Fl. With family for the Holidays. Between all the family stuff, my dad and I have been Working on his 57 9 passenger chevy wagon. He put in a new gas tank before I got down here so we're running all new fuel lines and buttoning everything up so we can take it for a ride. No pics its to tight in the garage. Well maybe I can get one of how tight it is in the garage. Lol

Hope u all have a ...
Happy New Year!

[MadRatt]

Well the Holidays are over and I'm back home. I got some work done detailing and starting to assemble the motor. I don't know how you guys put text between the pics so i'll list them first here.. lol

1.& 2.some photos of the intake pieces before
3. Base painted texture black
4. top cap texture black and brushed aluminum insert
5. quick mock up

[MadRatt]

some more..

1. valve covers after cleaning and giving brushed look.
2. after painting blue and clearing and painting texture black
3. lower base final install. injector harness tucked and installed everything else just mocked into place

4. a more complete one

5. a look as if looking down into the engine bay.

I'm making everything that would normally be chrome the brushed look. just trying something different for once.

So far I'm liking the look. kind of a stock, kind of industrial look.

[familyfast64]

Nice job

[bj383ss]

Looks great man. The second set of valve covers look much better on there than the cheap stamped chrome ones. The black accents really set it off.

Bret

[chakah]

beautiful job on that motor

[lolife99]

Engine looks sweet!

[Captainfab]

That's looking awesome

I don't typically care much for those valve covers in their original form, but I'm really liking them with the black, brushed top and blue lettering and bowtie. I like what you did with the manifold also. This should be one sweet running engine.

[Ta2Don]

Diggin' the motor...

[TJ's Chevy]

AWESOMENESS!!!! Great work! Dig it!

[MadRatt]

Originally Posted by familyfast64

Nice job

Thanx!

Originally Posted by bj383ss

Looks great man. The second set of valve covers look much better on there than the cheap stamped chrome ones. The black accents really set it off.
Thanx.. I'm digging the new covers now to.
Bret

Originally Posted by chakah

beautiful job on that motor

Thanx

Originally Posted by lolife99

Engine looks sweet!

Thanx

Originally Posted by Captainfab

That's looking awesome

I don't typically care much for those valve covers in their original form, but I'm really liking them with the black, brushed top and blue lettering and bowtie. I like what you did with the manifold also. This should be one sweet running engine.

Thanx and Yea I really didn't like them either, but I disliked the stamped ones more. So I thought while I was painting everything else I would see what they would look like. And now they are my new favorite thing on the motor. funny how that works sometimes..

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Diggin' the motor...

THanx man much appreciated..

Originally Posted by T.J. MCCAULEY

AWESOMENESS!!!! Great work! Dig it!

Thank you..

Thanx for the all the complements guys...

I did manage to get some other small work done on the truck today.. All new rear brake lines and hose. bled the system and got em working.

also removed the front windshield and rear window. So happy that no rusty surprises showed up. Pretty solid. SO next is to get the interior stripped and ready for paint and then wiring. So much to do so little time..

[MadRatt]

Just a quick update..
Haven't got a lot done recently. I got my underbed tank. got it mocked up, waiting to see where I end up mounting my air tank first. If I mount the air tank behind the gas tank, i'll have to move the gas tank forward and shime it so the bolt heads for the air tank are accessible.

Took my rear end cover off and spider gears out to see what axle spline I have. I got a 30 spline so that saved me alot of money on a Auburn LSD kit. should be here tomorrow. I also had alot of slop in the rear end and I wanted to see what I was getting into. Everything looked really good inside there except the spider gears were missing the washers or weren't shimed. so they were just sliding up and down about a 1/4 of an inch when you moved the yoke. but the ring and pinion have good lash and look new. Hopefully the new LSD install goes smooth and I can have it all buttoned up by the weekend. so the truck will have a nice new posi with 3:73 gears. I'll post pics of the new unit and how the install goes.

[MadRatt]

ALRIGHTY THEN!! The New Auburn LSD arrived Wed. night. Got the old carrier out. Diff all cleaned up. Everything look to be correct so I went ahead and had the shop down the block press the new carrier bearings on. I had to change the factory shims out to set the pre load and lash, and its money. Couldn't have gone smoother. So now I got a new LSD 3:73 rear end that I can trust to work well with this new motor.. Putting new axle seals and outer bearings in today. then that's 1 more thing off the list of to do's..
Pic description:

1.New Auburn LSD
2.New bearing and shims kit
3.Ring gear on
4.Clean and in good shape
5.New LSD installed

[MadRatt]

Just a quick trick tip.
The ring gear is lightly pressed on the carrier.. DO NOT USE A TORCH TO REMOVE.. They say a heat light or soak in hot water.. Huh? Soaking a greasy carrier in hot water sounds like a mess, and soaking the new carrier in water just sounds dumb. so I used a heat gun and gently moved it around the gear until I could see the gear oil starting to evaporate. and then used 1 bolt to tap up on the gear and it POPED ever so easily. same for the install. lined it all up and used the heat gun again and taped it with a piece of wood (very lightly, doesn't need much) as I heated it and it slid on ever so smoothly..

[MadRatt]

Some updates on the old girl... Got the fuel tank and air tank installed.
Had to cut out the rivets on the cross member and move it up an inch. The cross member is formed in a z shape and the top of the z was keeping me from moving it forward closer to the fuel tank, and the bottom of the z was not allowing the air tank to sit far enough forward. So I cut them off and moved the crossmember forward and welded it in which gave me enough room to mount the air tank. I made some brackets and welded them inside the frame so I could bolt the tank to them. with some frame shaving and grinding everything fits pretty good. Hopefully everything fits under the bed. I seem to be within a 1/8 of an inch from the rear of the bed fitting or not. wont know till I'm ready to fit the bed. Deal with that when It comes time.. Also got my rims and tires last weekend. Installed and i'm digging the look.. Simple Cragar smoothies with spinners.. Heres some pic's

[64chevtruck]

Nice Motor Madratt~! Keep the pics coming and keep up the good work.


Have a good week

[Bomp]

Lookin Good

[Captainfab]

Nice work but I think that air tank is going to interfere with the rear bed sill.

[MadRatt]

Originally Posted by 64chevtruck

Nice Motor Madratt~! Keep the pics coming and keep up the good work.


Have a good week

Thanx.. You too

Originally Posted by Bomp

Lookin Good

Thanx. Not as custom as your stuff but it'll have to do.

Originally Posted by Captainfab

Nice work but I think that air tank is going to interfere with the rear bed sill.

Hey Capt. its going to be close.. I cut out the cross member and moved it forward for clearance. I have 4" from the bed bolt to the inner bed sill and the back of the tank is exactly 4" If I have to i'll trim that inner bed sill out.

[Victorf55]

MADD rat digging your build! Just a quick question I'm fixing to also order a atk engine . I'm going with the 350hp vortec engine hp32. My question is did summit charge you sales tax ? I know if you go directly through atk they do charge sales tax just wondering if summit charged you the tax?

[MadRatt]

Originally Posted by Victorf55

MADD rat digging your build! Just a quick question I'm fixing to also order a atk engine . I'm going with the 350hp vortec engine hp32. My question is did summit charge you sales tax ? I know if you go directly through atk they do charge sales tax just wondering if summit charged you the tax?

Yea i had the same issue. So i went thru summit and No tax thru summit. Saves ya some money for sure.

[wayno]

I just need to bring my truck down and drop it off... your skill level is out in left field. Looking great man.

[MadRatt]

Originally Posted by wayno

I just need to bring my truck down and drop it off... your skill level is out in left field. Looking great man.

Hey thanx Wayno. Much appreciated..

So I got a little bit done in the last couple days..
Remounted the air solenoids, made a bracket to mount the air compressor, and then set the bed and front clip on to check all my clearances. Not bad only a little adjusting of the fuel tank and a little trimming of the rear valance and it will fit like a glove.. tires are super close to the fender lips so i'm going to trim them up just for good measure.

All in all a real good test fit. and i'm really digging the stance. This is going to be a daily driver, and used as a truck to haul my motorcycles to events and pick up Cycles to work on for fun.. so it has to have a usable bed and not bottom out.
Now for the Pics